Biological Abstraction Sculpted By a Changing Environment:
Tom Leavitt talked about the declines of fisheries. Our environment is ever changing...there have been an exceedingly vast disappearance of species. However, there is unconscious "scultlping" by our the behavior of our population on our environment. Brandon is a trandisciplinary artist working in biology with art with othters.
John James Audobon has been one of his "heros' as an artist, writier, philosopher. Although he is often know as a bird artist he was so much more. Brandon Ballengee has participated as a biological researcher particularly in researching amphibians. They are in trouble. Of the 5,000 speciies 1/3 of tem are declining. Amphibian deformities have been increasing.
Malamp: The Malformed Amphibian Project from 1996 to current is a artistic/biological project commissioned by Arts Catalyst, London UK. (an arts/science organization)
What can be some of the causes of these deformities? Eco Actions: Public participation in collecting specimens for preliminary and primary research experiments. He has also set up Biological Laboratories as an art installation this becomes a public platform for discussion and debate. In some cases controversy morphs into collaboration.
Parasite hypothesis is one that suggests that a parasite host onto the buds of the frog limbs causing "intercalation" causing mitosis in the genetic formation of the frog.
Brandon scultes tissue through micro surgery also causing Intercalation.
He also has done a project called RSA Experiments 2002 to ongoing...using mechanical disruptions to study regenerative response.
There are also natural causes of deformities..
Traumelia: Greek terms for "injured" and "limb"
Through Brandon's research he has found that these small amphibians actually do survive. As an artist he takes high resolution of these deformed toads and does artistic alterations by using watercolor on blown up images.... . iMAFES ARE BLOWN UP 3'X 4" from very high resolution scans.
These images have been installed at the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati in 2002 where still imagery, lab specimens, and installational exhibits work together.
He also has exhibited at the Yerba Buena Center for te Arts in San Francisco. Customized Light Boxes light the xleared and stained speciments.
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Earth Art Conference 1969
Cornell University's Society for the Humanities and the Department of Art hosts the 40th Anniversary conference celebrating the February 1969 Earth Art Show. The conference held on October 17th and 18th entitled "Earth Art to Eco Art" will feature many special guests among them, Thomas Leavitt, former museum director and Dennis Oppenheim, artist participant. For more information contact mea4@cornell.edu.
To make an official post
- stop by the blogging station any time during the conferrence.
To add a comment
- follow the link under each post.
Live Video Streaming on October 17 to 18
Cornell Earth to Eco in Cornell Chronicle
Earth Art History
Earth Art Conference 1969
3 comments:
Thank you to Tim Murray, Patricia Philips, and the other organizers of this great event! It is a great pleasure and honor to participate!
Presentation 18X08
"Sacred Monsters: Biological Abstractions Sculpted by a Changing Environment"
Statement of Intent
For the past decade, I have collaborated with developmental biologist Stanley K. Sessions of Harwtick College, numerous students, and the public to conduct laboratory procedures and field surveys investigating the occurrence and causes of deformities in amphibians. My actions as an artist participating in the realm of primary biological research is an extension of artistic investigation and challenges traditional boundaries between disciplines. Through hands-on field trips and workshops, “Eco-actions”, I attempt to bridge local participants to specific ecosystems. This dual art and science research practice, attempts to be a transformative catalyst towards environmental and social change. Through multi-visual components the Malamp installations, such Water-colour prints (IRIS) from high-resolution scanner photographs and displaying actual chemically cleared and dyed abnormal specimens, I attempt to engage viewers both psychologically and intellectually.
In the photographs, the frogs are scaled to the size of a human toddler attempting to induce empathy in viewers instead of fear. The subdued pallet is modeled after 19th Century water-colour works by John James Audubon yet reveals disfigured life-forms found in today’s unnerving landscape. The hapless frogs are isolated and appear to levitate on a fibered neutral background with oscillations of white and grey attempting to invoke an almost silent pictorial environment. They are titled after characters from Greek antiquity by the French Poet, KuyDelair, whom finds comparisons between their anatomical structures and classical mythology.
Amphibians are the environmental canaries in the coalmine. Of the over 5,000 species of known amphibians, about one-third of them are threatened, critically endangered or already extinct. Amphibian deformities have been found on six continents and also appear to be increasing. At some sites in North America 80% of sampled frogs, toads, and salamanders exhibited some kind of abnormality. It has also been suggested that the occurrence of malformation may affect already declining species. No one knows for certain what is causing increased levels of deformed amphibians. Currently there are a number of hypotheses being investigated: Parasitic trematodes (Riberoria ondatrae); increased ultra-violet radiation from ozone thinning; chemical pollution from pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, or fertilizers; partial predation or cannibalistic activity; or a synergistic combination of culprits.
www.artscatalyst.org/projects/global/ballengee.html
www.ysp.co.uk/view.aspx?id=446
www.ybca.org/about/press/press_images.aspx
www.comafosca.net/comafosca/item.php?lang=2&id=319&cd_format=11
www.hartwick.edu/biology/def_frogs/index.html
Dear Brandon, yesterday I presented your work at an ECO art festival in Yangpyeong in Korea. There were no comments but I think I planted a seed. Here in Korea these ideas are understood as NON art related subjects but they need to be introduced, I do my best! Thanks and best from Anke
Brandon, So glad you were able to participate at the Cornell conference and was thrilled that the live feed was linked into the other conference. Renate Ferro
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