More than #Honey – Markus Imhoof (Official Trailer) [#geekgirl]

More than Honey – Markus Imhoof (Official Trailer) from CIBER Science on Vimeo.

“Searching for answers for the global bee declines director Markus Imhoof takes us on a trip around the world to meet people living with and off honeybees: almond growers in California, a Swiss mountain beekeeper, a German neuroscientist investigating bee brains, a pollen dealer in China, and bee researchers in Australia. We enter the fascinating world of a bee hive, encounter fighting queens and dancing workers face to face and experience their highly sophisticated swarm intelligence, where the individual constantly serves the requirements of the community. The film will have its world premiere on the 11th of August 2012, concluding the biggest film festival in Switzerland. It will be officially released in Europe end of October 2012 and will be distributed internationally in early 2013. More info: http://www.ciber.science.uwa.edu.au/blog/.”

#RIP Ralph Hotere [#geekgirl]

Ralph Hotere. Photograph: Marti Friedlander

“Ralph Hotere, one of New Zealand’s most important contemporary artists, has died aged 81…The artist, who has chronicled New Zealand’s social, political and cultural history through his art for more than 50 years, was made a member of the Order of New Zealand in 2011…His well-known Aramoana series expressed concerns about the adverse environmental impact of building of the aluminium smelter at Aramoana in Otago.

“He was one of our greatest artists, but he is gone and his works still here and that’s what we need to hold on to. We’ve lost Ralph but we haven’t lost the achievement,” Mr Keith said.”

[Via 3news.co.nz]

#Gorgeous + #Altruistic #Nest #Photos by #DillonMarsh [#geekgirl]

“In the vast barren landscapes of the southern Kalahari, Sociable Weaver Birds assume ownership of the telephone poles that cut across their habitat.Their burgeoning nests are at once inertly statuesque and teeming with life. The twigs and grass collected to build these nests combine to give strangely recognisable personalities to the otherwise inanimate poles.”

[Evocative photography from Dillon Marsh. Loving the fact that these "Sociable Weaver Birds" build such nesting structures much bigger than necessary so as to encourage other species to construct their homes inside. Wonderful.]

SCANZ 2013 3rd Nature Symposium :: #NewZealand #environment #intercreate13 #geekgirl

SCANZ 2013 3rd Nature Symposium / 1 – 3 February 2013 ::

“After Eden” an installation by Janet Laurence.

New Plymouth Nga Motu and Waitara, New Zealand SCANZ is a biennial event that includes a hui-symposium, a two week group residency and an exhibition. Intercreate Trust and event partner Te Matahiapo Indigenous Research Centre (TMIRC) are organising the symposium, which will propose that the solution to sustainability requires listening to the indigenous voice on the environment. Sessions of the symposium include: Matauranga Maori, Science and Art; Environment; Society; Indigenous Cultures; Data, Art and Ecology; and Futures. Views expressed include those from a Social Work perspective on environment, barriers to sustainability, working with remote communities, the body and the environment, art and data, biotechnology, little blue penguins and ‘Martian diaspora’ – among many others.

http://www.intercreate.org

Balance-Unbalance Conference Call out: Deadline Nov 20 #arts #science #technology #geekgirl

CALL DEADLINE: NOVEMBER 20, 2012
Balance-Unbalance is an International Conference designed to use art as a catalyst to explore intersections between nature, science, technology and society as we move into an era of both unprecedented ecological threats and transdisciplinary possibilities. We are thoroughly looking forward to hosting artists, scientists, economists, philosophers, politicians, sociologists, engineers and policy experts from across the world to engage in dialogue and action towards a sustainable future. Balance-Unbalance 2013 will also host a diversity of virtual components allowing global accessibility and significantly reducing the carbon footprint of a major international conference.

One of the main goals of Balance-Unbalance is to develop the role of the arts and artists in dealing with environmental challenges. The previous events held in Buenos Aires in 2010 and Montreal in 2011 (http://balance-unbalance2011.hexagram.ca) provided a powerful platform for reflection, debate, and ideas leading towards Balance-Unbalance 2013, hosted in the UNESCO Noosa Biosphere Reserve on the Sunshine Coast of Australia.

The 2013 conference theme, Future Nature, Future Culture[s] is aimed to provoke discourse around what our elusive future might hold and how transdisciplinary thought and action could be used as tools for positive change.

Submissions are now being accepted for the International Balance-Unbalance 2013 conference to be held at Central Queensland University in Noosa, Australia from May 31 – June 2, 2013. Balance-Unbalance 2013 is being held in the beautiful resort town of Noosa, in parallel with the Floating Land 2013 Green Art festival and just prior to the ISEA 2013 (International Symposium on Electronic Art) conference in Sydney, so participants can maximise their time in Australia by attending all three events.

For more information see our website on www.balance-unbalance2013.org

Facebook www.facebook.com/balanceunbalance

Gauge world premiere event hosted by Arts House #Melbourne, a playground investigating #weather #water and #scale.

Gauge

(15 – 21 November 2012 – world premiere)
Madeleine Flynn, Tim Humphrey, Graeme Leak, Rosemary Joy and Cameron Robbins

A playground investigating weather, water and scale

In the grand surrounds of Arts House, Meat Market, five artists: Madeleine Flynn, Tim Humphrey, Graeme Leak, Rosemary Joy and Cameron Robbins; and two scientists: Dr Michael Roderick and Dr Adrian Pearce create Gauge – a contemporary Wunderkammer – a curious space of exploration into a critical concern for our time.

Gauge allows audiences to experience a hands-on encounter with a beguiling array of newly-created and historical apparatus – a collective artistic response to current debate around the water cycle and the distribution of water resources.

Researching and developing the work through a year of investigative excursions, both physical and virtual, the Gauge creative team have drawn on their collective reservoir of knowledge and imagination to develop these enigmatic inventions.

Expressed through the disparate processes of five artists working in contrasting ways across the disciplines of sculpture, music and new media, Gauge is informed by and with scientists working in areas of hydrology and complex systems.

The wondrous result of this unique collaboration is at once an exhibition, an installation, a catalogue, a set of talks, a series of performances by both performers and audience, and a real-time-data-created work – all rebounding and resounding within Gauge’s carefully orchestrated space.

VIMEO > Creative Development
http://vimeo.com/37091037
http://vimeo.com/36253569

Venue Arts House, Meat Market
Address 5 Blackwood Street, North Melbourne
Season Thursday, 15 November – Wednesday, 21 November 2012
Time 12pm – 8pm featuring ‘Weather Broadcast’ short performances and guided interactions at 6pm.
Opening night party 6pm Thurs 15 Nov
Tickets Free
Further information artshouse.com.au or +61 3 9322 3713

Governing City Futures Conference :: UWS, Sydney 16 – 17 August #cities #design #conference

Events

Governing City Futures Conference :: UWS, Sydney
16 – 17 August 2012 :: Registrations now open

This conference asks: What is the future of the low density city? What are its prospects in a context in which ecological and population pressures make the infrastructure that under-grid such cities no longer sustainably, if it ever was? In the wake of these intersecting pressures, how are alternate futures for this urban form to be imagined and governed? How are its populations to be managed? Individual lives conducted? Resources circulated? How do these questions impact of relations of gender, ethnicity, and class and those between City and Bush? In addressing these questions this conference will bring together international and Australian academics, politicians and other expert speakers and commentators in the fields of cultural studies, urban sociology, urban infrastructure and population to discuss the future of the low density city in an era in which climate change and the prospect of population increase operates as a major challenge to established forms of urban life.

http://www.uws.edu.au/ics/events/governing_city_futures_conference

Feature post: Next Nature – Fly like a bird, cooking apes, shoes that mend themselves and anthropomorphobia #design #nextnature #geekgirl

Fly like a bird, cooking apes, shoes that mend themselves and anthropomorphobia, public enemy number one. Welcome to another issue of the Next Nature newsletter, from the website http://www.nextnature.net/, which explores the nature caused by people.

Follow Next Nature on Twitter: and Facebook
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CONTENTS

-NANO Supermarket Call for Entries
-Next Nature Book Reviews + Discount
-Blog Highlights
-Next Nature Internships

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NANO SUPERMARKET CALL FOR ENTRIES

After two successful years touring the globe, the NANO Supermarket is now entering its second edition. Next Nature is calling upon designers, technologists and artists to submit their speculative nanotech products for the supermarket’s next round. A selection of the most innovative products will be shown in the physical exhibition space, and featured in the accompanying catalog. The best product overall will win a € 2500 prize. (some kind of money!)

Nanotechnology is an important emerging technology  – it radically intervenes with our sense of what is natural – yet most people are still relatively unaware of its consequences. The Next Nature NANO Supermarket is a physical “supermarket” that features debate-provoking visions on nanotech products that could be expected to hit the shelves between now and 2020.

For more information and examples of past products, please visit http://www.nanosupermarket.org

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BLOG HIGHLIGHTS

What is Next Nature?

In this snappy video from the 2011 Next Nature Powershow, Koert van Mensvoort answers the question: Just what is Next Nature?

11 Rules of Anthropomorphism and Design

In this 11-part series, we examine how designers can successfully integrate human-like forms and behavior into their work. Learn how to inspire with anthropomorphic design inspire, instead of confusing, irritating, or offending.

Apes Like Cooked Food and What that Means for Human Evolution

Humans are the only ape that cooks, but our ape relatives also naturally prefer cooked to raw food. Learn the surprising implications of cooked food for the evolution our super-charged brains.

Essay: Anthropomorphobia

Has fear of the uncanny valley become a major cultural affliction? This essay discusses how products are behaving more like people, and how people are quickly turning into products.

Protocell Shoe Mends Itself

If you’re tired of mending rips in your shoes, Rachel Armstrong has the (speculative) shoe for you. Using organic, semi-living cells, these shoes can sense and repair damage.

Fly Like a Bird? Get Human Birdwings

Engineer Jarno Smeets dreams of flying like a bird. Using accelerometers and a wiimote, Jarno is creating a pair of giant “wings” to propel a human into the sky.

Playing with Pigs

Ever wanted to play tag with a pig? Students at the Utrecht School of Arts have designed Pig Chase, an iPad game that allows players to remotely interact with piglets.

Fake Leaf is Twice as Efficient as the Real Thing

With a new “bionanodevice,” researchers have combined proteins from bacteria with nano-scale wire to create a “leaf” that generates electricity from solar energy and CO2.

Transitions Film Festival #Melbourne #SLF #sustainability #geekgirl

Transitions Film Festival
11th – 19th Feb, 2012

The Transitions Film Festival is a visionary film program dedicated to showcasing ground-breaking documentaries about our global culture in transition towards a sustainable future.

The festival takes place as part of the Sustainable Living Festival with the support of the United Nations Association of Australia (Victoria), the City of Melbourne, Red Energy, Hepburn Wind, Prosper Australia and Undergrowth.org.

The program features an inspirational line-up of world-changing documentaries including national and international premiers and culminates with a free state-wide synchronised screening of Yann Arthus-Betrand’s spectacular film ‘Home’. The major screening is taking place on the big screen at Federation Square at 7pm.

Screenings will include live introductions by international filmmakers and NGO’s as well as an interactive short film forum hosted by the United Nations Association of Australia.

PROGRAM

SCANZ 2013: 3rd Nature :: New Zealand #arts #residency #NZ #geekgirl

Expressions of Interest due 15 February 2012 ::
Solar Circuit Aotearoa New Zealand (SCANZ) is New Zealand’s premier art, technology, culture and ecology event and involves a symposium, creative residency, and public events and exhibitions. They have announced an early call for project concepts for the fourth SCANZ residency to be held in New Plymouth, New Zealand early in 2013.  Planned are: a two week residency and Open Lab beginning with a one night stay over at historic Owae marae, an exhibition at Puke Ariki museum, four projects in a local botanic garden, a Pecha Kucha night and a three day symposium with a presentation evening on the middle night.  The call is open to tangata whenua, artists, technologists, teachers, environmentalists, scientists, philosophers, educationalists, indigenous peoples, technologists and lecturers to contact SCANZ with ideas for talks, discussions, presentations, residency projects abd exhibition ideas.

http://www.intercreate.org/scanz2013-3rdnature

 SCANZ 2013 held 19 January – 4 February 2013