As Above, So Below UPDATE

COVID has put the kibosh on most everything.

Exhibitions have been cancelled or delayed. Plans scuttled.

Undaunted, creative souls are rising to the moment with new ways to experience art. Under the directorship of Rebecca Hoffberger, museum founder, visionary among visionaries, the American Visionary Art Museum is offering online virtual docent-led tours and hands-on workshops. The Secret Life of Earth exhibition has been extended until September 2021 with the hope that by then COVID will be long gone.

The virtual tour is here : Episode One:

A longer video with a Q&A with us and other artists in the exhibition:

Plastically Impossible Puzzles

At long last, the Plastically Impossible Puzzles are HERE!!! 

The Ocean Recovery Alliance folks in HK have partnered with Ocean River Institute, a non-profit in Cambridge MA, to fulfill orders from the US: 

https://ocean-recovery.myshopify.com/collections/frontpage

Happy to be featured in their newsletter:

Volume 188 November 30, 2020 Two Artists, A Whale, A Beach, and One Titanic Snarl of Plastic When a dead sperm whale washed ashore in the Point Reyes National Seashore, scientists discovered that it had died of starvation. In a tragic irony, more than 450 pounds of fishing nets and other plastics scraps were extracted from this 51 ft. mammal.    After the scientists had investigated, The Marine Mammal Center located in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area asked Richard and Judith Lang if they wanted to create an art experience from the “eight boxes full of snarl” that was from the belly of the whale.   Ghost nets are one of the most pernicious pieces of debris in the ocean. Commercial fishing gear that have become untethered with floats at the top and weights at the bottom continue to fish until, in this case, they are swallowed by a 51-foot whale and are “Really not good for things that live in the ocean.    "The Ghost Below" a multi-faceted exhibit opened in December 2012 to engage visitors and enlighten them about the perils of plastic in our oceans.  The “Ghost Net Monster” a hulking and thought-provoking sculpture, proved to be so popular that it continues today to stand guard in TMMC center courtyard. Visitors can see, touch, learn and be inspired to make the ocean a healthier place for all. (TMMC is temporarily closed.)  View the making of The Ghost Below video  Add your voice to 1,000 individuals who have spoken out in support of The Break Free from Plastic Pollution bill. Kehoe Beach Walking and Picking Up Pieces of the Puzzle Since 1999, Richard Lang and Judith Selby Lang have walked the same 1,000 yards of Kehoe Beach in the Point Reyes National Seashore hundreds of times where they carefully collect and “curate” the plastic flotsam and jetsam that washes ashore. Back in their studio they shape their findings into works of art. Trash from our throwaway culture arises into artworks that elicit thoughtful reflection on how we could do better, how to be more caring of the lives of others, be they sanderlings, schools of fish, or massive animals seldom encountered, the stuff of legends. Each artistic piece has a story to tell.  For more information on Judith Selby Lang and Richard Lang’s path-breaking work visit their website at About One Beach Plastic Ocean Plastic Buffet The Langs are eager to find fun and puzzling ways to engage people in discussion and in action about the problem of plastic pollution. They say, “We want the puzzle doers to be enticed by the bright and colorful arrangements and to experience the surprise of discovery as they look closely at the plastic in the picture. Some of it might look familiar, and some might spark the recognition that evokes the question - was that toothbrush once mine? And, yes, we want them to experience that uncanny sense of “puzzle pleasure,’” the feeling of accomplishment when a piece fits into place.”    Plastically Impossible Puzzles (myshopify.com) Treasures in Trash Since any plastic on the beach, even one piece, is heartbreaking, the Lang’s have developed categories that help turn the despair of their cleanup task into a game, into the sport of collecting. They compete with each other to find the hardest to see or a piece that has traveled the greatest distance. They have a playful rivalry with other plastic beach combers and a fierce competition with each other to find the best piece or the most of a given thing and, of course, they thrill when they find a rare treasure.   Plastically Impossible Puzzles (myshopify.com) Two pick up on the enormity of the problem   They say, “It is important to emphasize that all of the plastic used in the photographs for our puzzles was collected by just two people from just 1,000 yards of one beach. We have focused our attention in this way, to make a metric that folks can understand about the enormous problem of plastic pollution.”   Plastically Impossible Puzzles (myshopify.com) Beach Plastic Puzzles by Judith Selby Lang and Richard Lang Plastically Impossible puzzles are almost like a ‘reverse beach cleanup’. Instead of picking up from the beach, you put it all back together. Here’s an activity that brings challenges and question as to how these plastic pieces got onto the beach in the first place. Our hope is to inspire young and old to take better care, make a difference and go the distance for cleaner beaches and a healthier world.  Plastically Impossible Puzzles (myshopify.com) Boy on the River Puzzle was photographed by Doug Woodring, of the Ocean Recovery Alliance, in the Philippines. The puzzle is part of the “Littoral” collection of the Plastically Impossible series that examines ocean plastic pollution.  Plastically Impossible Puzzles (myshopify.com) Choose from three puzzles in the “Littoral” collection.  Plastically Impossible Puzzles (myshopify.com) Practically Impossible Puzzles were created by Doug Woodring of the Ocean Recovery Alliance. Doug lives in Hong Kong. The Ocean River Institute has partnered with ORA to make these puzzles available in America. ORI ships puzzles by priority US Postal Services (USPS) from Cambridge, Massachusetts.  When you buy a puzzle, you improve the health of the ocean by supporting the work of Judith and Richard Lang, the Ocean Recovery Alliance, and the Ocean River Institute.  F or the price of one puzzle y ou can advance the work of a couple of artists and two ocean advocacy organizations.  Plastically Impossible Puzzles (myshopify.com) Join with the Ocean River Institute to practice responsible stewardship, slow climate change,  eliminate harmful algal blooms, restore ecosystems,  and put a stop to the death of ocean wildlife.    Vote the ocean Make waves to slow rising seas  Practice better stewardship – Act to take better care.  What's in your ocean?  Become a Deep Sea Canyon Ranger and  Ocean Seamount Guardian.    Visit our Website  ‌   ‌   ‌  Cleaning the Waters, Greening the Land, Healthy Soils.

Gone Viral

 October 29, 2020. 

It was a crystal-blue sea and sky day at the beach with nary a piece of plastic to be seen. With or without plastic there is always plenty of camaraderie and conversation with artist extraordinaire Rebecca DiDomenico who was in California to visit family. 

From a distance, a pinkish thing tucked into the sand at the far end of the beach was barely discernible. As I neared, the maroon appendages looked like a supercomputer rendering of the Covid-19 virus where the bright red spikes ring the body of the virus like jewel in a crown. Hence, the name “coronavirus.” 

Confounded, I could not figure out what I was seeing. So bright, so virulent. Is that the virus washed ashore?

Back home, at my computer, my Google search took me to “Belly Flops Octopus” a plastic Kong dog chew toy and yes, it came from China.

It has been a year fraught with tales and blame about where the Covid-19 virus originated and how it rapidly spread person to person, imperiling the entire planet.

A seafood market in Wuhan, China has been hypothesized as the source for the outbreak but recent studies are finding the virus was already in Europe in late 2019.

We’ve grown so accustomed to there being great amounts of plastic on the beach, that we are surprised when there is near none. We fear our successful cleaning will have us putting up the “out-of-business” sign. But, we say, that even one piece of plastic on the beach is one too many. And, in the case today, even one tiny infectious agent, gone viral, is one detrimental gene too many.

Reading Stones

Book object: Reading Stones

13 plastiglomerate stones in a cloth bag

Plastic may be with us for forever, as in these “reading stones” that were found on Kehoe Beach in the Point Reyes National Seashore. Stones like these are washing ashore onto to beaches everywhere. It is not known how these stones are formed but some scientists believe they are the burnt residue of plastic that was once shipped to Asia for recycling where it was partially incinerated, then accidentally sent adrift.

These stones are evidence of a new geology being formed by melting plastic debris into pyroplastic plastiglomerates. Theses facsimiles of stones are made from polyethylene, polypropylene, along with a smorgasbord of colorants and chemical additives. In these charred remains, as “reading stones” they ask us to decipher our present and future relationship to resource extraction and our dependence on petroleum-based products.

The history of the Earth can be read in the layers of built up sediments. Each stratification offers an insight into a moment in natural history. On the Geological Time Scale, the Anthropocene describes the human impact on the planet, the Age of Oil describes the planetary catastrophe of our petroleum-based consumer culture.

People often do not understand the equation of oil=plastic, but every year thousands of barrels of oil and natural gas are extracted and used to make plastic. That plastic straw in your beverage is extracted fossil hydrocarbons. 

The act of “reading stones” can refer to both the scientific practice of geological investigation and the ritual of lithomancy which seeks to interpret the patterns of stones cast by those wishing to divine the future.

Traditionally in Lithomancy, 13 similar stones were each assigned a symbol: astrological, planetary or elemental then placed in a bag. In a daily ritual, while pondering a question, 3 stones were drawn at random from the bag. From that group a message was read; a meaning was assigned in an intuitive way.

These “reading stones” serve in both capacities:

As a marker of the enduring impact of plastic on the planet.

As a message for the future. 

Take three stones from the bag. Upon inspection you might recognize the charred remains of a toothbrush or a bottle cap; a tuft of rope or a clump of melted single-use plastic bags.

Place these stones in an arrangement that invites a close reading.

Conjure a question that only the stones can answer:

What is it that is being extracted? Is our future as a species being extracted? Is hope itself being extracted? As the most powerful and destructive entity on planet Earth, what can we do?

The stones sing, “let’s face the music and dance.”

Emotional Numbness: the impact of war on the human psyche and ecosystems

 

Curators Atefeh Khas and Minoosh Zomorodinia write:

"The exhibition focus is the impact of war on environments, and war’s effects on inhabitants of war zones. Recent escalating tensions between Iran and the United States is creating an increase in anxiety about potential war between these countries. Thus, the goal of the exhibition is to create a platform to share, meet, discuss, and cross borders, by exhibiting art which considers the impacts of war and the varying relationships between Iran and the United States. We believe art has the ability to affect perceptions, develop meaningful dialogue, and bring awareness about critical issues to the public."

September 18 - October 16, in Tehran, Iran at Platform 3

To see one of our prints on the wall in Tehran and then to see gallery visitors looking close was a thrill beyond compare. Yes, Tehran... the perfect place to present one of our beach plastic soldier portraits from our series The True Cost of Plastic, an exhibition that explicates the oil=plastic equation and the impact of war.

For a virtual walk-though of the exhibition. HERE.

Happy Coastal Cleanup Month!!!

 

Coastal Cleanup Day has traditionally been on the third Saturday of September. This year, instead of large cleanup gatherings, people are encouraged to cleanup on their own, close to home, any Saturday in September. 

These days we’ve been challenged with beach closures and exhibition cancellations, but thanks to Jill Lessard, Evan Johnson and the great team at the Marin Community Media Center, the show will go on. 

To celebrate Coastal Clean Up 2020 we created Virtual Fiesta a virtual show of what we would have had on display at the CMCM offices (Sept 1-Oct 31) and have scheduled programs about the ocean/beach/plastic, Time and Tide that will air at 5:30 PM on Saturdays Sept 5,12,19, 26. Programs can be viewed on Comcast 26 in San Rafael, AT&T 99 in California, or online https://cmcm.tv/livecommunity

September 5 will kick off with Chris Jordan's remarkable feature film Albatross. During the month several NOAAshorts along with a couple of pieces about Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary will air. Ocean Recovery Alliance in Hong Kong and Ocean Conservation Research in Lagunitas also contributed stories.

For more about Coastal Cleanup 2020, every Saturday in September:

https://www.coastal.ca.gov/publiced/ccd/ccd.html

For more about Virtual Fiesta: 

https://www.marinarts.org/event/local-virtual-fiesta-a-virtual-art-gallery-exhibit/

For more about One Beach Plastic: 

https://www.beachplastic.com

Thanks for tuning in!

Stay safe.

Stay true.