FoAM - Greening

Rainforest Etiquette

theun — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 20:45:25 +0000

Start: 2011-10-16 00:00 GMT+2

FoAM is organising and hosting a lecture by Suprabha Seshan. She is the spokesperson of the Gurukula Botanic Sanctuary in Kerala India. At the rainforest sanctuary local tribal women are trained to become parataxonomists and ecosystem gardeners. Through their work over 20 years Suprabha and the team have seen human pressure, demands and damage on the rainforest increase. She will speak on several topics including the failure of environmental education. The forest needs a particular type of support if it is to survive at all. This lecture series is an attempt to bring this type of support to a general and expert audience. The lecture in Amsterdam is followed by a workshop that translates Suprabha’s knowledge to a European context; can we start ecosystem gardening in the city?

more details: http://shibumifriends.nl
for the 16 oct workshop please register: shibumifriends@gmail.com

Dates for the full series:

01 oct 2011 Brockwood Park Educational Centre, UK
03 oct 2011 Department of Philosophy, University of East Anglia
04 oct 2011 CEEC Seminars, Dept of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia
05 oct 2011 Forderkreis, Zurich
12 oct 2011 Public Lecture, University of Lugano
16 oct 2011 Studio Maria Blaisse, Amsterdam including FoAM workshop
17 oct 2011 Gaia 1 Wageningen University
18 oct 2011 Hogeschool van Hall Larenstein, Velp
27 oct 2011 University of Kansas, Lawrence, Public Lecture Centre for Global Studies
28 oct 2011 Resilience Lecture, organized by The Land Institute, Salina Kansas
07 nov 2011 Oakgrove School, Ojai California
17 nov 2011 Public (invited) lecture, Yewfield, The Lake District, UK
20 nov 2011 Musical Event with KT Tunstall
22 nov 2011 London School of Economics

London dates are approximate. There may be one of two additional talks.

Resilients

maja — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 14:44:14 +0000

Resilients are people of all ages preparing for uncertain futures, by experimenting with resilient forms living & working as a form of artistic practice. The Resilients project collects, creates, shares & supports these emergent practices, while grounding them in historic cultural roots.

Resilients’ core activities are five case studies, public experiments with materials, media & technologies in the context of endangered crafts, urban gardening, sustainable forestry, contemporary pilgrimage & future preparedness. A programme of residencies, apprenticeships, workshops, gatherings and publications will allow a wide involvement of practitioners and enthusiasts across Europe and beyond.

Resilients' Philosophy

For humans to thrive in uncertain, turbulent times, resilience is an essential tactic. We can never be certain about the kind of cultures that could materialise in the future, but we can speculate about how could they look. The Resilients project experiments with possible futures by applying whole systems thinking to the integration of cultural traditions with emerging arts, sciences, design & technology. Through unexpected alliances between these fields, speculation becomes rooted in the real world. For a resilient culture to arise, a stable support infrastructure is required – open systems, cultural laboratories & knowledge pools. Resilients are committed to building this infrastructure, through a pilot project leading towards the formation of a Guild of Resilients.

A resilient system is both fexible & robust. It is continuously engaged in the delicate balancing act of growing & evolving, adapting to change & discarding unsustainable elements. Change is a never-ending process, growing less predictable as our habitats, societies, economic & technological systems increase complexity & become more interdependent. To respond to unpredictability, we can look at improving human ability to face & embrace change, whether perceived as positive, negative or neutral (e.g. birth of a child, environmental crisis, or moving house). By integrating different approaches to developing resilience, we can strengthen the 'immune system' of a culture as a whole.

In progress: http://lib.fo.am/resilients

Project partners: FoAM (BE), Central Saint Martins’ Textile Futures (UK), nadine (BE), Performing Pictures (SE), Projekt Atol (SI) and Time’s Up (AT).

With the support of the Culture Programme (2007 - 2013) of the European Union and the Flemish Authorities.

Pop up Park

theun — Thu, 12 May 2011 08:36:34 +0000

Start: 2011-05-28 11:00 GMT+2

End: 2011-06-12 17:00 GMT+2

Pop-up Park,

design your own park.

This festival is aimed at designing a public garden or park with local residents under guidance of 4 experts. The garden in question is located behind the Meester coupeur opleiding on one side and the Jan Evertsenstraat on the other side. (It is located at the same square as FoAM's edible garden.)

In 4 design sessions participants are invited to join the design process centred on 4 themes: urban farming with farmer Dirk van Berge, urban fauna with city ecologist Maarten Melchers, garden economies with Fransje de Waard and recycling / sourcing local materials with 2012 Architects. (some to be confirmed)

festival blog: http://popuppark.posterous.com/

Middle Kingdom of Weeds festival

theun — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 14:45:27 +0000

Start: 2011-05-08 10:30 GMT+2

End: 2011-05-08 12:00 GMT+2

Be part of mapping the energetic value of the Dutch urban landscape; how much energy does it take for semi-skilled contemporary foragers to gather wild foods and what energetic value is contained in nearby urban environments? On May 8th the Middle Kingdom of Weeds festival features a forage psychogeographic expedition that will starts at 10.30 from Station Sloterdijk, Amsterdam. Using .walk algorithms this foraging expedition will map and explore the caloric potential of the area.

Team members include:
- a geographer, who maps the edibles on Boskoi
- a timekeeper, who maps the times spent walking and harvesting
- spotters and harvesters

On return the wild foods will be weighed to make a calculation of the energy harvested in the expedition.

On the basis of this a map is made of the caloric value along the walk, the energy budget of the group and the best foraging algorithms.

This expedition is open to all.

Hosted by Wilfried Hou Je Bek (Cryptoforesty) and Theun Karelse (Boskoi).

Groworld Games

dave — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 15:33:59 +0000

During 2008 and 2009 a small group of groworlders including members of FoAM and invited participants Tale of Tales and Six to Start worked on designs and prototypes for games that would strengthen the connection between plants and people.

Research Reports

Reports of research done and the work process:

Tales of Tales' research report

Dave's research report

Try the games

FoAM's games prototypes are available to download here:

Mac Version

Linux Version

Windows Version (copy the Fluxus directory to "C:\Program Files")

The code is included in these packages which you can play with (have a hunt around). The development repository is here here. These games are built using fluxus.

Screenshots of Tale of Tales's prototypes are here

Ongoing work

This project has fed into further work with Germination X. See also more work in progress.

Autumn Harvest Dinner

maja — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 16:47:58 +0000

Start: 2010-10-15 15:00 Europe/Brussels

End: 2010-10-15 22:00 Europe/Brussels

As autumn ripens, nature and its resources are slowly turning inwards, preparing for the seasonal rest.

This is a good time for various works in the city gardens - preparing plants and soil for the winter, harvesting the yield of the year and planning next steps for the coming spring.

As we all share the enthusiasm about growing edible greenery in our surroundings. To celebrate both the plants & their urban cultivators, FoAM and nadine invited urban gardening experts, beginners & enthusiasts alike, to sit around a table, overflowing with autumn goodness, to share experiences, challenges and discoveries.

The Autumn Harvest Dinner is an informal gathering for plant-enthusiasts from the Brussels region. A potlach meal, where everyone brings their harvest - raw or cooked, so we not only share our knowledge but also taste its fruits.

For those so inclined, there is a joint cookup in the afternoon.

Farming the City

theun — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 13:51:16 +0000

Start: 2010-09-11 00:00 GMT+2

End: 2010-09-19 00:00 GMT+2

CITIES Foundation together with the Municipality of Amsterdam, is co-organizing an exhibition/workshop about Urban Agriculture. This event will take place during the Week of Sustainability, a 9 days program made by the city of Amsterdam to support and promote sustainable projects in the city.

CITIES, a platform for urban research based in Amsterdam, is currently researching and promoting alternative approaches for the development of temporary urban agriculture practice. The exhibition is part of the 'Farming the City' project.

FoAM is exhibiting the foraging application Boskoi for mobile phones.

http://farmingthecity.net/

Tipping Point

nik — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 17:55:39 +0000

Start: 2010-01-25 09:00 Europe/Brussels

End: 2010-01-26 20:00 Europe/Brussels

FoAM will take part in the TippingPoint event held at the EESC.

"TippingPoint aims to ‘harness the power of the imagination to help stabilise the climate’. We offer a range of activities centred on exposing creative artists to the enormous challenges of climate change; at the heart of this lies a series of meetings involving very high quality, intense dialogue between artists, scientists and others close to the heart of the issue. These encounters provide a chance to explore the broader cultural challenges precipitated by climate change."

http://www.tippingpoint.org.uk/

Metabolicity workshop

maja — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 17:24:50 +0000

Start: 2009-02-26 00:00 Europe/Brussels

End: 2009-02-28 00:00 Europe/Brussels

Rachel Wingfield and Mathias Gmachl of Loop.ph conduct an exploratory workshop on lightweight structures and hydroponic techniques for vertical gardening.

http://www.loop.ph/bin/view/Loop/MetaboliCity

Launch of Culture|Futures

nik — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:28:28 +0000

Start: 2009-12-07 13:00 Europe/Copenhagen

End: 2009-12-07 19:30 Europe/Copenhagen

"Culture|Futures creates an enabling environment for those cultural actors who are moved to express their perspectives about creating an Ecological Age, by recognising, encouraging and supporting them.

The Culture|Futures expanding spiral of engagement begins its journey at the launch symposium on 7th December. Participants are invited to explore the Culture|Futures proposition and to grow the spiral of engagement supporting the COP climate change negotiations.

At the working seminar on the following two days, 8th/9th December, cultural actors from many backgrounds and from around the world, will address the strategic role of culture in delivering an Ecological Age. Participants will collaborate to develop and crystallise the cultural messages about how the spiral of engagement will expand and involve ever more people."

http://www.culturefutures.org/

groworld workshop at sommercamp+workstation

nik — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:26:24 +0000

Start: 2009-08-10 05:06 Europe/Berlin

End: 2009-08-16 05:06 Europe/Berlin

The simulation-led workshop cluster presents constructive approaches to measurement, description and modelling of real world systems ranging across urban and ecological interventions. The world can be described by way of maps, diagrams, fiction, circuits and software. Desciptions, or representations, take on their own life as autopoetic systems, creating complex ecologies; describing becomes constructing (growing your own world). Workshops will range across the examination of spectral, electromagnetic ecologies (in city and forest), embedding of chaotic systems within analogue electronics, and novel approaches to constructive plant biology.

more details, and online registration can be found at http://www.sommercampworkstation.de/?page_id=10

LG - Time's Up

maja — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 14:32:01 +0000

Start: 2008-10-23 09:00 GMT+2

End: 2008-10-25 23:00 GMT+2

A Luminous Green satellite event, organised by Time's Up and the Guild for Reality Integrators and Generators:

Dates: 23rd | 24th | 25th October 2008

Luminous Green is an attempt to become more aware of our own ecological and human responsibilities. A moment’s pause, deceleration and self-reflection are a common core.

Within the workshop in Linz Time's Up would like to establish a widely self- sufficient environment and talk about aspects concerning new social- political models. Activists, manufacturers and researchers will work on small communal structures, outline their ideas with regard to environmentally friendly usage of future worlds and encourage boundary transcending confrontations and debates.

More information: http://timesup.org/laboratory/LuminousGreen/LG_details.html

Lectures:
* Foam: Grow your own worlds - http://fo.am
* Andreas Strauss: Build your own jacuzzi - http://andreasstrauss.com
* Folke Köbberling: City as resource - http://www.folkekoebberling.de
* Christian Siefkes: Peer economy - http://www.siefkes.net
* Paul Schausberger: Filtering water - http://economyaustria.at/Text/?id=2889840

Tinkering on:
* a water pump
* different types of ovens & jacuzzis
* water filters
* open resource walk and creation of an environment based on it
* ...

* For registration and any inquiries please contact workshop [at] timesup [dot] org

* There is no participation fee in order to encourage independent researchers and practitioners to attend.

* Time's Up will provide subsistence for people that register until Wednesday 22nd October.

Dialogue on Arts, Culture and Climate Change

maja — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 14:22:39 +0000

Start: 2008-10-09 09:00 GMT+6

End: 2008-10-12 20:00 GMT+6

The Dialogue on Art, Culture & Climate Change is an investigation into the role of culture and the arts in the cross-cultural dialogue on climate change between and in Asia and Europe. The project gathers 50 Asian and European artists, designers, architects, cultural practitioners, environmentalists and scientists.

Maggie Buxton will be representing FoAM as one of the event's facilitators.

More information: http://www.culture360.org/artandclimatechange/

greening

nik — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 16:55:35 +0000

Hands-on Change

maja — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 14:23:38 +0000

Start: 2007-07-08 20:00 Europe/Amsterdam

End: 2007-07-08 23:00 Europe/Amsterdam

Hands-on Change. An evening of discussions and presentations by Suprabha Seshan, Maja Kuzmanovic, Maria Blaisse and Cocky Eek. Hosted by Shibumi Friends International.

Deep in the forest beside a muddy little path stands a colorful sign which says 'Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary'.

This is the home of our first speaker Suprabha Seshan. Today in Amsterdam Suprabha with her pictures and Cocky with her video, showed us how a family tries to garden back the biosphere, simply because it needs to be done to improve life. Environmental awareness is often associated with restrictions; there are all kinds of things we will no longer be allowed to do. Suprabha looks at it in a much more positive way: improving the quality of life.

This is central also to the work of Maja Kuzmanovic. With her organization [FoAM] she tries to improve the relationships between
people and nature and technology. She showed children covered in mud to make seedballs that can bring flowers to hidden city-corners. And Open Sauces a dinner where the food serves as a powerpoint presentation. And she spoke about a project with the World Toilet Organisation and a visit to the Barefoot College in India.

In a similar way Maria tries to improve the relationship between people and materials, in design. There is hardly any waste if you work along with the natural properties of materials, instead of just pushing them into a machine to press it into shape. Maria showed us crisp ice crystals and the bubbling waters of cymatics: wave-phenomenons in liquids and emulsions. She suspects a direct connection between consciousness and matter.

In all these presentations we could see just how fruitful a good balance between ourselves and the material world (including our bodies) can be.

More info:
http://www.shibumifriends.org
http://www.gbsanctuary.org
http://fo.am
http://luminousgreen.org
http://www.mariablaisse.com