Horse Hair Weaving by Marianne Kemp

I was really floored recently when dear friend Annouk Post of Hiphonest turned me on to the amazing textile work of Dutch artist and designer Marianne Kemp. Looking beyond the texture and strands of fiber is inherent to Marianne's exquisitely crafted work. Why? Because she uses delicate and gossamer strands of Mongolian horse hair to create sculptural, wall, and interior installations. Kemp's portfolio site, Horse Hair Weaving, provides an alluring glimpse into an environmentally-charged world inhabitated by forms such as 'crawling hedgehogs, golden ringlets, gods, and caterpillars'.

Marianne Kemp's work will be on view in 'Beauty Can Save The World' at thekey, the sustainable design fashion showcase at Berlin Fashion Week.


* above images courtesy of Marianne Kemp

Final Salon at Pocket Utopia

Over and Out

Pocket Utopia presents: 'Finally Utopic'
The Final Salon
Sunday, June 28th at 4:00 pm
1037 Flushing Avenue/Bushwick
Open Saturday and Sunday 12-6 p.m. and by appointment
visit www.pocketutopia.com

* top image by Austin Thomas. Title: "Think of your ideas" (2008), 5 x 7 inches, gocco ink on paper, edition of 10

Old Growth Equals New Growth

Recent images of vine-like vegetation prevailing in my neighborhood in Sofia. Everything 'old' seems 'new' here. I love that nature makes this regional architecture seem so contemporary, despite the lack of funding for public works or formal renovation initiatives. It is quite humbling and eye-opening, all at the same time.

Ready Made Street Art from Sofia

* unaltered street collages from my neighborhood here in Sofia

LAND/ART Symposium This Weekend

For all of you land art lovers out there, do not miss the LAND/ART symposium in New Mexico this weekend. An exploration of the relationships between land, art, and community through exhibitions, site-specific art works, lectures, and a culminating book. The collaboration seeks to address our changing relationship to nature, and to offer a new or previously unconsidered understanding of the place in which we live.

Also opening at The Albuquerque Museum, 'Experimental Geography'

June 28 – September 20, 2009
Reception Sunday, June 28, 2-4pm
Panel Discussion Sunday, June 28, 1pm

* LAND/ART 2009 events
* THE LAND/an art site

Ceca Georgieva's Textiles in Nature

'Tors', by Ceca Georgieva, made from burdock burrs and dried vegetation

'The Next Birthday', by Ceca Georgieva, made from burdock burrs for the International Textil Mini, Como, Italy

I finally had the good fortune to meet the Bulgarian textile and nature artist, Ceca Georgieva, here in central Sofia this week. Known for using natural materials, specifically burdock burrs and vegetation, for both figurative sculpture and environmental art installations, Ceca's spirit is as captivating as her expressions with the raw materials of her environs. This internationally-exhibited artist is also the organizer of the 'International Symposium of Artist-Nature', originally created to highlight the (textile-related) qualities and uses of natural materials in the environment. She is, in all honestly, working completely on her own here in Bulgaria, where ecologically-based art has yet to catch on as a movement or legitimate practice.

I look forward to possibly collaborating with Ceca on future textile and nature-based projects. I also send her and her husband my sincere thanks for the tiny oaklings that they brought for my family to be planted here for future generations.

* View Ceca Georgieva's artist blog here.

Textil in Nature by Ceca Georgieva

Textil in Nature by Ceca Georgieva

A Day of Reflection in Iran

* 'Call for day of mourning in Iran' via the BBC
* images courtesy of Ahmad Nadalian

Spinning New Threads in Iran

* More images of projects by environmental artist friends in Iran. The work of the brave and the hopeful is never truly complete.

Beginnings not Endings in Iran

Site-specific work by artist Mahtab in Central Iran's desert

Site-specific work by a young environmental artist from Isfahan

Site-specific work by Fershteh, courtesy of Ahmad Nadalian and the 22nd Environmental Art Festival in Iran (April 2009)

Ahmad Nadalian (in foreground) and students heading off to the Environmental Art Festival

Flamingo sand painting using red earth pigment by Ahmad Nadlian

Shining Cliff by Atefeh Khas

* see also Atefeh Khas and Ahmad Nadalian

What the World Needs Now is a Good Housekeeper

What the World Needs Now is a Good Housekeeper, an ecological artist's field guide for how to approach a site, by artist Aviva Rahmani

'What the World Needs Now is a Good Housekeeper', is a simple, step by step illustrated guide to restoring environmentally degraded sites as an ecological art practice. In ten clear steps, internationally renowned artist Aviva Rahmani describes her approach and techniques for working with scientists and engineers to address environmental degradation and global warming.

This is a highly informative soft cover, spiral bound 8" x 8.5" book, making it easy for students, educators, artists and scholars to tuck into a pocket and tramp off, as, to a local dump site that needs the attention of a good "housekeeper."

You can purchase this publication via PayPal at this link.

$26 includes tax, shipping and handling

or send check or money order to:
Ghost Nets, P.O. Bx 484, VH, ME 04863
Bulk rate and tax deduction inquiries: ghostnets@ghostnets.com

*Book Cover image: "Bed of Nets," fishing drift nets on an iron bed. Lost fishing drift nets, called ghost nets, were the inspiration for Aviva Rahmani's Ghost Nets project, which transformed a coastal town dump site into flourishing wetlands habitat. Ghost nets can extend over many ocean miles. They are invisible, indestructible and continue to fish and destroy marine life for many years, just as the habits and routines we take for granted can destroy our own lives. Installation by Aviva Rahmani 1994.

* see also Aviva Rahmani 'Virtual Concerts on Greenmuseum.org

Sod Earth Maiden by Kathy Bruce

How totally amazing is this hand-built sod 'earth-maiden' structure by artist friend, Kathy Bruce? I first met Kathy through mutual friends at THE LAND/an art site in New Mexico. I also featured her 'Three Graces' enviro-art installation in downtown Ithaca, NY last summer. Kathy was a recent visual arts fellow at I-Park in East Haddam, Connecticut. This sod mound structure measures 25'w x 22'd x 9'h, with an open tunnel to walk through from front to back. Totally green and gorgeous.

* above images courtesy of artist Kathy Bruce

The Highline Takes Flight

Joel Sternfeld image courtesy of Pace McGill Gallery

Joel Sternfeld image courtesy of Pace McGill Gallery

Congratulations to The Highline team, photographer Joel Sternfeld (who first highlighted its beauty and native plant richness), and all New Yorkers for supporting such a brilliant, design-forward project. I cannot wait to walk on air in Chelsea when I return to Manhattan this autumn.

Aziumth: Writing on Walls at THE LAND

Azimuth: Writing on Walls
June 6 - July 17, 2009
Opening reception June 6, 6-9 pm

A text-environment based on a free renga by Miriam Sagan and fourteen other poets at THE LAND/an art site gallery in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Miriam Sagan is the author of more than twenty books, including the recent Map of the Lost from University of New Mexico Press. Beginning with exerpts from poetry she wrote during a residency at THE LAND/an art site, she created this gallery-sized, collaborative poem with JB Bryan, Paula Castillo, Abigail Doan, Ephia, Dale Harris, Phyllis Hoge, J. A. Lee, Sabra Moore, Terry Mulert, Steve Peters, Suzanne Sbarge, John Tritica, Stefi Weisburd and Mera Wolf.

Austin Thomas @ Kris Graves Projects

Austin Thomas, Japanese Temple Sketch, 2009, collage on paper, 11 × 8 1/2 inches. Courtesy of Kris Graves Projects

Not to be missed Austin Thomas, Practice Space opens Thursday evening, though I will be tucked away in Eastern Europe. Austin is a true artist, curator, social space orchestrator, utopic thinker, and kick-ass mom. Just my kind of inspiration.

Kris Graves Projects
DUMBO
111 Front Street, #224, 212-796-7558
June 4 - June 28, 2009
Opening: Thursday, June 4, 6 - 9PM

* see also Austin Thomas