A visually startling look at consumption through statistical art.
Running the Numbers
An American Self-Portrait
http://www.chrisjordan.com/
This new series looks at contemporary American culture through the austere lens of statistics. Each image portrays a specific quantity of something: fifteen million sheets of office paper (five minutes of paper use); 106,000 aluminum cans (thirty seconds of can consumption) and so on. My hope is that images representing these quantities might have a different effect than the raw numbers alone, such as we find daily in articles and books. Statistics tend to feel abstract and anesthetizing, making it difficult to connect with and make meaning of 3.6 million SUV sales in one year, for example, or 2.3 million Americans in prison, or $12.5 million spent every hour on the Iraq war. This project visually examines these vast and bizarre measures of our society, in large intricately detailed prints assembled from thousands of smaller photographs.
My only caveat about this series is that the prints must be seen in person to be experienced the way they are intended. As with any large artwork, their scale carries a vital part of their substance which is lost in these little web images. Hopefully the JPEGs displayed here might be enough to arouse your curiosity to attend an exhibition, or to arrange one if you are in a position to do so. The series is still in its early stages, and new images will be posted as they are completed, so please stay tuned.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Permaculture Courses in OH, VA and IN, '07
Other courses / workshops for 2007
5 Weekend Permaculture Design Course:
Sustainability Strategies for the Blue Ridge
near Afton, VA
This course is sold out but taking reservations for next year. Consider one of the other courses below.
March 2-4, 16-18, 30-April 1, 13-15, 27-29
with Peter Bane, Dave Jacke, Dave O'Neill, and Christine Gyovai.
$895 fee includes tuition, meals, materials. Lodging options extra.
For more information about the course including registration, directions, and faculty contact Christine Gyovai at 434-982-6464 or christinegyovai@gmail.com
This Permaculture Design Course lays the foundation for understanding the workings of natural systems and for designing human environments that produce food, shelter, and energy. It also provides participants with models of community development and extension by which they can create networks of support for themselves and empower others to do the same. The course provides tools to help design and develop an individual's urban or rural property in a sustainable manner, revitalize local communities, and help restore ecological balance. Permaculture promotes land use systems that work with natural rhythms and patterns to create sustainable cultivated ecosystems. Participants will learn how to design and build gardens, homes, and neighborhoods that model living ecosystems. By understanding patterns in nature students will learn how to grow food, manage water catchment and storage, utilize renewable energy and build community.
This course covers themes such as: ecological systems understanding, organic food production, natural soil improvement, watershed restoration, water conservation and management, edible forest gardening, native medicinal plants, natural habitat restoration, healthy buildings and human settlements, community and consensus building strategies, renewable energy systems, sustainable community development, local economics, reducing our ecological footprint, and ecological planning and design methods.
The 72 hour certificate course, presented by the Association for Regenerative Culture and the Blue Ridge Permaculture Network, is a rare opportunity to learn from the best teachers in the permaculture movement including Peter Bane, Dave Jacke, Dave O'Neill and Christine Gyovai. The course will be held over five weekends at the Rockfish Valley Community Center (RVCC), which is nestled in Nelson County at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains (March 2-4, 16-18, Mar. 30-Apr. 1, 13-15, and 27-29). For more information, see the website www.rockfishcc.org. The cost for the course is $895, and a few work trade positions are available. Early registration is encouraged as space is limited. Lunches and snacks will be provided during the Design Course. Students will be responsible for their own overnight accommodations off-site, as well as transportation to and from the site. For a list of accommodations close to RVCC, go to the website: http://www.nelsoncounty.com/visit/lodging.
Times for the course (subject to change): Friday 5:30 – 9:00 pm Saturday 8:30 am – 6:00 pm Sunday 9:00 am – 4:30 pm
Register and pay with check or Paypal
May 31- June 14, 2week Permaculture Design Course
through Indiana University (3 credit hours for IU students),
at the Lazy Black Bear, Paoli, In.
Contact: Andy Mahler, 812-723-2430 or andy[at]blueriver.net
http://www.indiana.edu/~llc/permaculture.shtml
Instructors, Peter Bane, Keith Johnson, Rhonda Baird, and guests. The fifth annual life-changing Pc certificate course at this lovely location. Enjoy world-class education in a unique and artful setting within the Hoosier National Forest one hour from Bloomington; draft horses, swimming pond, orgainc farm, hot solar showers, excellent music on site, and great food. Lose your ignorance: find hope. $1000 fee includes meals, camping, course materials, and dancing.
July 6-14, 2007 Permaculture Fundamentals Course
near Athens, OH
with Peter Bane, Keith Johnson, Rhonda Baird, and guests.
$475 fee includes tuition, meals, materials. Lodging optons extra.
Contact Peter Bane at pcactivist[at]mindspring.com or call 812-335-0383,
Appalachian Ohio is justly famous for herbal wildcrafting, pawpaw culture, organic farming, sustainable forestry, and a wealth of local economic initiatives. Join us in this trendsetting region of great natural beauty as we empower ourselves with ecological awareness and design literacy. This course, together with a Design Practicum, completes the standard 72 hour curriculum and awards students with the internationally recognized Permaculture Design certificate.
Register and pay with check or Paypal
August 24 - September 1 Permaculture Design Practicum
in Loveland, OH
with Peter Bane, Keith Johnson, Rhonda Baird, and guests.
Contact Peter Bane at pcactivist[at]mindspring.com or call 812-335-0383,
Second half of the certificate course taught in 8 days at Grailville. Wetland wastewater treatment, youth education, empowered women, and an emerging ecovillage distinguish this site on 300 Acres near metropolitan Cincinnati. Grailville will host the 10th Continental Bioregional Congress in 2008, and our design work will help perpare the site as well as realize the vision of Heartland Ecovillage. Gracious accomadations at the Grailville conference center make this an exceptional opportunity. Fundamental Course is a prerequisite for obtaining the Permaculture Design Certificate. $695 fee includes tuition, meals, lodging, and materials.
Register and pay with check or Paypal
through Indiana University (3 credit hours for IU students),
at the Lazy Black Bear, Paoli, In.
Contact: Andy Mahler, 812-723-2430 or andy[at]blueriver.net
http://www.indiana.edu/~llc/permaculture.shtml
Instructors, Peter Bane, Keith Johnson, Rhonda Baird, and guests. The fifth annual life-changing Pc certificate course at this lovely location. Enjoy world-class education in a unique and artful setting within the Hoosier National Forest one hour from Bloomington; draft horses, swimming pond, orgainc farm, hot solar showers, excellent music on site, and great food. Lose your ignorance: find hope. $1000 fee includes meals, camping, course materials, and dancing.
July 6-14, 2007 Permaculture Fundamentals Course
near Athens, OH
with Peter Bane, Keith Johnson, Rhonda Baird, and guests.
$475 fee includes tuition, meals, materials. Lodging optons extra.
Contact Peter Bane at pcactivist[at]mindspring.com or call 812-335-0383,
Appalachian Ohio is justly famous for herbal wildcrafting, pawpaw culture, organic farming, sustainable forestry, and a wealth of local economic initiatives. Join us in this trendsetting region of great natural beauty as we empower ourselves with ecological awareness and design literacy. This course, together with a Design Practicum, completes the standard 72 hour curriculum and awards students with the internationally recognized Permaculture Design certificate.
Register and pay with check or Paypal
August 24 - September 1 Permaculture Design Practicum
in Loveland, OH
with Peter Bane, Keith Johnson, Rhonda Baird, and guests.
Contact Peter Bane at pcactivist[at]mindspring.com or call 812-335-0383,
Second half of the certificate course taught in 8 days at Grailville. Wetland wastewater treatment, youth education, empowered women, and an emerging ecovillage distinguish this site on 300 Acres near metropolitan Cincinnati. Grailville will host the 10th Continental Bioregional Congress in 2008, and our design work will help perpare the site as well as realize the vision of Heartland Ecovillage. Gracious accomadations at the Grailville conference center make this an exceptional opportunity. Fundamental Course is a prerequisite for obtaining the Permaculture Design Certificate. $695 fee includes tuition, meals, lodging, and materials.
Register and pay with check or Paypal
Bloomington (IN) Permaculture Guild Series
Bloomington (IN) Permaculture Guild Series
Contact Rhonda at 812-320-9136 to register.
March 31, 2007 Introduction to Permaculture
with Peter Bane and Rhonda Baird, $75
Foundation Ethics and Principles.
April 14, 2007 Propagating Plants
with Keith Johnson, $75
Multiplying plants is easier than you think. Topics covered will include:
direct seeding, transplants, planting, divisions, layering, grafting, taking cuttings, and more. Students will take home new plants for their gardens.
May 19 & 20, 2007 Water Catchment:
Building Ferro-cement Tanks
with Peter Bane & Keith Johnson $150
Learn to capture this scarce and precious resource in tanks you can build yourself. This hands-on event will cover everything you need to know about constructing a 10,000 gallon rainwater tank at Keith and Peter's home in Bloomington.
August 4, 2007 Foundations for Natural Buildings
with Keith Johnson & Peter Bane $75
Hands-on class creating a new foundation for a timber frame, straw-clay infilled chicken coop / tool shed with rubble trench and urbanite. This 5,000 year old technology was used to create the Pantheon and most other ancient buildings of Europe.
August 11 & 12, 2007 Straw - Clay Walls for Natural Buildings
with Keith Johnson & Peter Bane $150
This hands-on class will install new highly insulative, fire-resistant walls for a timber frame chicken coop / tool shed. Centuries-old strategies for today. Basic grounding in theory and technique. Slide show showing many natural building styles and practices.
September 29, 2007 Earth Plasters for Natural Buildings
with Peter Bane and Keith Johnson $75
Learn to create and apply beautiful earth plasters over straw - clay walled chicken coop / tool shed. Various recipes and finishes will be discussed.
Contact Rhonda at 812-320-9136 to register.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Declaration of Seed Sovereignty - A Model for the Rest of Us.
The bold and courageous County Commissioners of Santa Fe County NM have created a document we can use to initiate similar resolutions in our own regions.
SANTA FE COUNTY Resolution No. 2007 - 9
A Resolution in Support of a "Declaration of Seed Sovereignty:
A Living Document for New Mexico"
WHEREAS, our ability to grow food is the culmination of countless generations of sowing and harvesting seeds and those seeds are the continuation of an unbroken line from our ancestors to us and to our children and grandchildren.
WHEREAS, our ancestors developed a relationship with plants that allowed their cultivation for food and medicine and this has been a central element of our culture and our survival for millennia in regions throughout the world.
WHEREAS, the concurrent development of cultures of Eurasia, Africa, and the Americas resulted in a plethora of food and crop types including grains such as maize and wheat; legumes such as beans and lentils; fruits such as squash and chile; vegetables such as spinach and those of the cabbage family; and roots such as potatoes and turnips.
WHEREAS, these foods and crops, though developed independently of each other, came together in New Mexico with the meeting of Spanish, Mexican, and Native American cultures to create a unique and diverse indigenous agricultural system and land-based culture.
WHEREAS, just as our families are attached to our homes, our seeds learn to thrive in their place of cultivation by developing a relationship with the soil, water, agricultural practices, ceremonies, and prayers; thereby giving seeds a sacred place in our families and communities.
WHEREAS, the way in which seeds become attached to a place makes them native seeds, also known as landraces, also makes them an important element of the generational memory of our communities.
WHEREAS, the continued nurturing of native seeds or landraces has provided the basis for the community coming together for communal work such as Cleaning acequias and preparing fields as well as in ceremony, prayers, and blessings thereby binding our communities, traditions, and cultures together.
WHEREAS, the practices embodied in working the land and water and caring for seeds provides the basis for our respectful connection to the Earth and with each other.
WHEREAS, our practices in eating for native seeds (Iandraces) and growing crops provide for much of our traditional diet and results in our ability to feed ourselves with healthy food that is culturally and spiritually significant.
WHEREAS, clean air, soil, water, and landscapes have been essential elements in the development and nurturing of seeds as well as the harvesting of wild plants; and that these elements of air, land, and water have been contaminated to certain degrees.
WHEREAS, corporate seed industries have created a technology that takes the genetic material from a foreign species and inserts it into a landrace and is known as Genetically Engineered (GE) or transgenic crops.
WHEREAS, seed corporations patent the seeds, genetics, and/or the processes used in the manipulation of landraces, and have gone so far as to patent other wild plants or the properties contained in the plants.
WHEREAS, GE crops have escaped into the environment with maize in Oaxaca, Mexico and canola in Canada and crossed into native seeds and wild plants.
WHEREAS, organic farmers have been sued by seed corporations when these patented genetic strains have been identified in the farmers' crops, even though the farmers were unable to see or stop pollen from genetically engineered crops from blowing over the landscape and into their fields, thus contaminating the farmers' crops.
WHEREAS, the effect of this technology on the environment or human health when consumed is not fully understood.
WHEREAS, the seed industry refuses to label GE seeds and food products containing GE ingredients.
WHEREAS, the pervasiveness of GE crops in our area cannot then be fully known due to the lack of labeling and therefore carries the potential for genetic pollution on our landraces.
WHEREAS, countries such as Japan, England, and countries in Africa have refused genetically modified foods and prohibit the introduction of GE crops on their lands because of their unknown health effects.
WHEREAS, indigenous cultures around the world are the originators, developers, and owners of the original genetic material used in the genetic engineering of crops by corporations today.
WHEREAS, this declaration must be a living, adaptable document that can be amended as needed in response to rapidly changing GE technology that brings about other potential assaults to seeds and our culture.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of County Commissioners of Santa Fe County supports the following:
• The traditional farmers of Indo-Hispano and Native American ancestry of current day northern New Mexico collectively and intentionally seek to continue the seed-saving traditions of our ancestors and maintain the land races that are indigenous to the region of northern New Mexico;
• Seek to engage youth in the continuation of the traditions of growing traditional foods, sharing scarce water resources, sharing seeds, and celebrating our harvests.
• Reject the validity of corporations' ownership claims to crops and wild plants that belong to our cultural history and identity.
• Object to the seed industry's refusal to label seeds or products containing GE technology and ingredients and demand all genetically modified seeds and foods containing GE ingredients in the State of New Mexico to be labeled as such.
• Object to the cultivation of GE seeds in general but especially within range of our traditional agricultural systems that can lead to the contamination of our seeds, wild plants, traditional foods, and cultural property.
• We will work with each other, local, tribal, and state governments to create zones that will be free of genetically engineered and transgenic organisms.
• We will also work together to address other environmental abuses that contaminate our air, soil, and water quality that certainly affects our health, the health of our seeds and agriculture, and the health of future generations.
• We will work together with the traditional farmers representing various acequia, Pueblo, tribal, and surrounding communities to create, support, and collaborate toward projects and programs focused on revitalization of food traditions, agriculture, and seed saving and sharing.
PASSED, APPROVED and ADOPTED this 30th DAY OF JANUARY, 2007.
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
SANTA FE COUNTY Resolution No. 2007 - 9
A Resolution in Support of a "Declaration of Seed Sovereignty:
A Living Document for New Mexico"
WHEREAS, our ability to grow food is the culmination of countless generations of sowing and harvesting seeds and those seeds are the continuation of an unbroken line from our ancestors to us and to our children and grandchildren.
WHEREAS, our ancestors developed a relationship with plants that allowed their cultivation for food and medicine and this has been a central element of our culture and our survival for millennia in regions throughout the world.
WHEREAS, the concurrent development of cultures of Eurasia, Africa, and the Americas resulted in a plethora of food and crop types including grains such as maize and wheat; legumes such as beans and lentils; fruits such as squash and chile; vegetables such as spinach and those of the cabbage family; and roots such as potatoes and turnips.
WHEREAS, these foods and crops, though developed independently of each other, came together in New Mexico with the meeting of Spanish, Mexican, and Native American cultures to create a unique and diverse indigenous agricultural system and land-based culture.
WHEREAS, just as our families are attached to our homes, our seeds learn to thrive in their place of cultivation by developing a relationship with the soil, water, agricultural practices, ceremonies, and prayers; thereby giving seeds a sacred place in our families and communities.
WHEREAS, the way in which seeds become attached to a place makes them native seeds, also known as landraces, also makes them an important element of the generational memory of our communities.
WHEREAS, the continued nurturing of native seeds or landraces has provided the basis for the community coming together for communal work such as Cleaning acequias and preparing fields as well as in ceremony, prayers, and blessings thereby binding our communities, traditions, and cultures together.
WHEREAS, the practices embodied in working the land and water and caring for seeds provides the basis for our respectful connection to the Earth and with each other.
WHEREAS, our practices in eating for native seeds (Iandraces) and growing crops provide for much of our traditional diet and results in our ability to feed ourselves with healthy food that is culturally and spiritually significant.
WHEREAS, clean air, soil, water, and landscapes have been essential elements in the development and nurturing of seeds as well as the harvesting of wild plants; and that these elements of air, land, and water have been contaminated to certain degrees.
WHEREAS, corporate seed industries have created a technology that takes the genetic material from a foreign species and inserts it into a landrace and is known as Genetically Engineered (GE) or transgenic crops.
WHEREAS, seed corporations patent the seeds, genetics, and/or the processes used in the manipulation of landraces, and have gone so far as to patent other wild plants or the properties contained in the plants.
WHEREAS, GE crops have escaped into the environment with maize in Oaxaca, Mexico and canola in Canada and crossed into native seeds and wild plants.
WHEREAS, organic farmers have been sued by seed corporations when these patented genetic strains have been identified in the farmers' crops, even though the farmers were unable to see or stop pollen from genetically engineered crops from blowing over the landscape and into their fields, thus contaminating the farmers' crops.
WHEREAS, the effect of this technology on the environment or human health when consumed is not fully understood.
WHEREAS, the seed industry refuses to label GE seeds and food products containing GE ingredients.
WHEREAS, the pervasiveness of GE crops in our area cannot then be fully known due to the lack of labeling and therefore carries the potential for genetic pollution on our landraces.
WHEREAS, countries such as Japan, England, and countries in Africa have refused genetically modified foods and prohibit the introduction of GE crops on their lands because of their unknown health effects.
WHEREAS, indigenous cultures around the world are the originators, developers, and owners of the original genetic material used in the genetic engineering of crops by corporations today.
WHEREAS, this declaration must be a living, adaptable document that can be amended as needed in response to rapidly changing GE technology that brings about other potential assaults to seeds and our culture.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of County Commissioners of Santa Fe County supports the following:
• The traditional farmers of Indo-Hispano and Native American ancestry of current day northern New Mexico collectively and intentionally seek to continue the seed-saving traditions of our ancestors and maintain the land races that are indigenous to the region of northern New Mexico;
• Seek to engage youth in the continuation of the traditions of growing traditional foods, sharing scarce water resources, sharing seeds, and celebrating our harvests.
• Reject the validity of corporations' ownership claims to crops and wild plants that belong to our cultural history and identity.
• Object to the seed industry's refusal to label seeds or products containing GE technology and ingredients and demand all genetically modified seeds and foods containing GE ingredients in the State of New Mexico to be labeled as such.
• Object to the cultivation of GE seeds in general but especially within range of our traditional agricultural systems that can lead to the contamination of our seeds, wild plants, traditional foods, and cultural property.
• We will work with each other, local, tribal, and state governments to create zones that will be free of genetically engineered and transgenic organisms.
• We will also work together to address other environmental abuses that contaminate our air, soil, and water quality that certainly affects our health, the health of our seeds and agriculture, and the health of future generations.
• We will work together with the traditional farmers representing various acequia, Pueblo, tribal, and surrounding communities to create, support, and collaborate toward projects and programs focused on revitalization of food traditions, agriculture, and seed saving and sharing.
PASSED, APPROVED and ADOPTED this 30th DAY OF JANUARY, 2007.
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Peter, gifting circle
Peter Bane (publisher Permaculture Activist USA) presenting at IPC7, Motovun, Croatia. (photo by Keith Johnson)
Sepp Holzer / Krameterhof
Sepp Holzer describing his technique of prepping strawbales, by soaking, for inoculation with mushrooms. Sepp is a microclimate-managing genius with 70 ponds on a complex food forested (30,000 fruit trees)100A landscape at 4000ft in the Alps of Austria with a 1000 ft elevation change from top to bottom of his site. He manages it mostly with pigs and a few highland cattle.
Visit his site at http://www.krameterhof.at/
(photo by Keith Johnson)
Permies at Sepp Holzer's
Su Dennett, Veronika Holzer, and David Holmgren during IPC7 tour of Krameterhof (photo by Keith Johnson)
Group photo in Croatia IPC7
Permaculturists from around the planet at the 7th International Permaculture Convergence in Croatia. The next one is in Brazil, in May 2007. You can learn more about it at http://www.ipc8.org/entrypage.php
(photo by Keith Johnson)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)