Panel Statement
Chair Persons: Elizabeth Monoian & Robert Ferry
Presenters: Patricia Watts, Nacho Zamora & Glen Lowry
As we endeavor to extricate civilization from fossil fuel dependence, the existential debate over the purpose of art deserves renewed attention in the context of natural ecology and human consumption. Is it possible for works of public art to contribute actively to the solution to the problems that confront us? Can interdisciplinary art inspire, through example, the type of social change required to significantly reduce the negative impact of human consumption on the planet? Papers presented will present examples of projects at various scales that seek to address ecological issues, beyond didactic expression, through the incorporation of technology. This panel discussion will address the continuum of public art, clean energy precedents, and contemporary technologies. Within this framework we will outline and illustrate the potential that interdisciplinary teams and communities around the world have to expand both the dialogue and actual change.
- Elizabeth Monoian is an interdisciplinary artist and designer who uses the Internet, public spaces, electronic noise, video, and performance. She is currently working on large-scale international public art projects that both address and expose models of environmental sustainability. Elizabeth is the founder and director of Society for Cultural Exchange, a non-profit organization that is developing international exchanges between communities, academics and artists. She is the Principal and Co-Founder of the Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI). LAGI is a worldwide public arts initiative that offers the opportunity for collaborative teams of artists, architects, landscape architects and designers, working with engineers and scientists, to create new ways of thinking about what renewable energy generation looks like. The LAGI project calls on design teams to conceive of large-scale public artworks for specific sites that, in addition to their conceptual beauty, also have the ability to harness clean renewable energy from nature, convert the energy to electrical power, and distribute the power to the utility grid of the city. The project has received featured articles in numerous local and international press outlets, including The New York Times and Dwell Magazine. Her work has screened and exhibited internationally in venues including: The First Biennial of Oran, Algeria; Video’ Appart, International Video Art Biennial, Paris & Dubai; the XXIII Moscow International Film Festival, Moscow, Russia; Anthology Film Archives, NYC; Open Screen Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia; Festival of Actual Kino, Novosibirsk, Russia; The Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland; and the International Media Art Festival at the Armenian Center of Contemporary Experimental Art, Yerevan, Armenia. Elizabeth received an MFA from Carnegie Mellon University and is currently Assistant Professor of Art & Design at Zayed University. landartgenerator.org studiedimpact.com/projects.shtml
- Robert Ferry, RA, LEED AP BD+C, is a USA licensed architect and a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University. His architectural focus is on designing buildings and other public objects that go above and beyond current popular notions of sustainability to achieve complete harmony with their local and global environments and with the people that use them. While based in the UAE, he has consulted on such projects as MASDAR City and ADNOC HQ. He is the designer of less-than-zero-impact or positive-impact buildings that double as a renewable energy power-plants. He is an Ambassador in the UAE for the Living Building Institute. He is the Principal and Co-Founder of the Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI). LAGI is a worldwide public arts initiative that offers the opportunity for collaborative teams of artists, architects, landscape architects and designers, working with engineers and scientists, to create new ways of thinking about what renewable energy generation looks like. The LAGI project calls on design teams to conceive of large-scale public artworks for specific sites that, in addition to their conceptual beauty, also have the ability to harness clean renewable energy from nature, convert the energy to electrical power, and distribute the power to the utility grid of the city. The project has received featured articles in numerous local and international press outlets, including The New York Times and Dwell Magazine. studiedimpact.com