<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
<meta content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Leonardo, Co-sponsor of the YASMIN
Network, is pleased to announce a new topic, moderated by Janine
Randerson:<o:p></o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Can Art be a 'mediator' between
climate, science and society?<o:p></o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: windowtext;">Discussions will
take place beginning in November on both the YASMIN and Aotearoa
Digital
Arts (ADA) discussion lists</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">.<o:p></o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">YASMIN list:<a
href="http://www.media.uoa.gr/yasmin/"
target="Collaborating Organization">http://www.media.uoa.gr/yasmin/</a>
<br>
Aotearoa Digital Arts list: <a
href="http://www.aotearoadigitalarts.org.nz"
target="Collaborating Organization">http://www.aotearoadigitalarts.org.nz</a><o:p></o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">The November YASMIN-ADA discussion
focuses on the relationship between art and climate science, within the
broader
framework of science-art discourse. Art is often framed positively as a
"mediator" between science and society. However, negative readings of
the relationship between climate science and art have positioned
artists as
"appropriators" of techno-science, who simply
"aestheticize," or relate to science in a "shallow" way or,
still worse, "misread" climate science. In recent<span style=""> </span>years,
art has been widely considered
elitist, anthropocentric and unreceptive to social requirements. <o:p></o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Science also has a public relations
problem. In the book <i style="">Making Climate
Forecasts Matter</i> the scientists Stern and Easterling admit,
"…research
addressed to questions framed by climate science is not necessarily
useful<o:p></o:p></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">to those whom climate affects."
(Easterling, 1999: 3). Results from a <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">UK</st1:place></st1:country-region> poll published through <i
style="">The Guardian</i> (July 2007) found that the
public is highly informed about climate change, yet most people are
still
skeptical about the seriousness of the threat. The majority surveyed
believed that scientists and politicians are overstating the
anthropogenic
effect on the weather.<span style=""> </span>We have reached
an impasse where there is a high level of public awareness about
climate
change, indeed an over saturation, yet there is no corresponding mass
action or
direction.<o:p></o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">So how can art, science and the
public reception of these knowledge fields, overcome perceived failings
and
differences, and link together productively to face an uncertain future
for
sustainable life? This open provocation aims to generate perspectives
from
artists, scientists, curators and the public on the following questions:<o:p></o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">- Is an emergent mode of
"relational" art developing that is more receptive to public
anxieties and concerns about climate and atmospheric pollution? <o:p></o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">- Does climate science need art? Is
the collaboration between artists and scientists useful for both
parties and
for society-at-large?<o:p></o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">- Does the ambidextrous figure of
the "artist-scientist" or "scientist-artist" become more
relevant at a point of crisis like climate change? <o:p></o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">- What expectations do curators and
artist-participants have for the<o:p></o:p></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">audiences of current group
exhibitions such as Eco-Media, (<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on">Madrid</st1:State></st1:place>,
<o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">2007) Weather Report (<st1:City
w:st="on">Boulder</st1:City>, 2007), and The Trouble with the Weather (<st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Sydney</st1:City></st1:place>, 2007)?
Are new
audiences expected?<o:p></o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">- How do art projects and exhibitions
function in relation to climate activism? Are aesthetic experience and
political consciousness diametrically opposed? <o:p></o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">- Can art influence public policy on
climate change? Is there a social imperative for artists to act
politically? <o:p></o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">- Roger Malina proposes in the
introduction to the Eco-media catalogue (2007), </span><span
style="font-size: 12pt;">"The arts, as all other forms of human
activity, must be
contributors to the new cultural vision of a different kind of
techno-scientific society. Currently artistic interactions with science
and
technology are "homeopathic"; they need to become systemic."</span><span
style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">- How can this call for a systemic
reconfiguration of science-technology-art interactions be actioned? <o:p></o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Janine Randerson,<o:p></o:p></span>
<br>
<i style=""><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Leonardo
Lovely Weather Art and Climate Project,</span></i><span
style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">October 2007<o:p></o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Confirmed participants include:
Sabine and Karin (Eco-media), Out of Sync (Maria Miranda and Norie
Neumark, AUS), Danny Butt (Ecomatics and<span style="">
</span>Geomatics), Sally McIntyre (NZ), Ruth Wallen, Aviva Rahmani,
Andrea
Polli (Weather Report, <st1:country-region w:st="on">USA</st1:country-region>),
Ramon Guardans (<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Spain</st1:country-region></st1:place>)
and others. All contributions to the discussions welcome.<o:p></o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">How to Register: Visit the YASMIN
(Your Arts-Science Mediterranean Network) site and register your email
address:<o:p></o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a
href="http://www.media.uoa.gr/yasmin/index.php?yasminText=form"><span
style="color: rgb(0, 33, 231);">http://www.media.uoa.gr/yasmin/index.php?yasminText=form</span></a><o:p></o:p></span>
<br>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p><br>
Leonardo/ISAST is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Donations are
tax-deductible in the U.S. To learn more about Leonardo/ISAST's
projects, programs and activities, visit <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://leonardo.info">http://leonardo.info</a></o:p></span>
<br>
<br>
</body>
</html>