A Forest Year by Samuel Orr. How landscapes change over time

This Saturday Sustainable Diary does not have many words. It leaves pictures to tell the story today. A year long story, which you can see in three minutes. Photographer Samuel Orr for about 2 years in 2006-2008, lived just outside Bloomington, Indiana, at the edge of one of the more wooded regions in the midwest. He was there because at the time he was creating several nature documentaries on the natural history of Indiana for PBS. His house was into the middle of a large nature preserve.

Every day for 15 months, took photos out of the window of his house, then put the accumulated 40,000 photographs into an amazing time-lapse video, A Forest year.

Samuel explain:"Over 40,000 images were taken, and I made little movies of 5-8 seconds for each of the key days/events/seasons, and blended them together into the finished film at 30 frames a second. The audio was added to give another dimension. I tried to put in wildlife songs and calls appropriate to the season. For instance, the honking during what is late winter are Sandhill Cranes, which used a migratory flyway that passed directly overhead".  

At the moment Samuel has a new project, you can see, and help, here...

More info

website Samuel Orr

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Starving Artists Project tells the stories of homeless artists

Despite their massive presence, the homeless are widely ignored. They are part of city invisible culture. But every day this people communicate to us, telling their basic need for help through a piece of cardboard. Each sign expresses a basic human need in a creative way completely unique to the creator’s life.

StarvingArtists Project is a new initiative, it try to change all of that by giving NYC’s homeless community a platform to showcase their cries for help. The program seeks to turn the cardboard signs we see being held up on street corners and in subway stations into art that funds social change.

The creators of the project, Nick Zafonte and Thompson Harrell, worked with world-renowned photographer Andrew Zuckerman (famous for shooting portraits of politicians, humanitarians, artists and entertainers) to capture beautiful, dignified portraits of each “artist” as well their handmade artistic signs and turn the images into a collection of art to inspire change.

The Starving Artists Project Film from Thompson Harrell on Vimeo.

The collection of diverse cardboard signs, along with portraits , debuted at the Dumbo Arts Center in January, 2012. The project showcases 35 handwritten signs, accompanied by portraits of the 30 artists who wrote them. A giant 4 ft tall collection cup was constructed and placed in the center of the gallery - all donations were given to the New York City Coalition Against Hunger and Holy Apostles SoupKitchen, two local charities focused on feeding the local community.

Zafonte and Harrell explained to the Huffington Post: “Everyday the homeless reach out through the only means they have, scraps of cardboard and their own creativity. The problem is we don’t ever look, seeing their messages as an interruption to our day. Our mission and solution was to change the way society interprets their messages – by presenting their signs as art, allowing their own voices to inspire meaningful action.”

More info

website Starving Artists Project

Photo credit © Starving Artists Project

 

 

 

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NLE architects and Makoko community in Lagos: floats idea for life on the water

Today is a rainy day here in Milano and maybe for inspiration, Sustainable Diary speaks of a water story. As you know on our planet water levels are steadily rising, and along west Africa's densely populated coast many waterfront communities are finding themselves inundated with the problem of adaptive housing solutions that withstand swelling tides and swift currents.

NLÉArchitects has been working on a three-phase plan for the waterfront community of Makoko in Lagos, in Nigeria. An estimated 250,000 people live here, they trade, shop and build aquafarms on the lagoon's waters. This slum was said to be created in the 18th century as a fishing village, but has ballooned as others have sought to find a home.

Each year, the tropical rains that lash Lagos, overwhelm the colonial-era drainage system. The NLÉ's project will transform the already buoyant city into a contemporary community on the water's surface with independent floating structures made of local materials applied in new ways.

First step of the project is the realization of the Makoko Floating School, a triangular form in section constructed with timber on a platform supported by empty blue plastic drums. The 3-storey structure contains a common area for children to play on as its base, with two floors for classrooms above it. The energy supply is based on renewable technology, this with the water catchment systems make the dynamic educational facility partially self sustainable.

The school is expected to serve the urgent needs of educating children in the community, and also as a floating building pilot project for African water communities.

"Particularly in view of climate change, there's a need to adapt buildings. We decided to use this as a prototype for developing something whether the water level rises or goes down, the building responds to that," said architect Kunle Adeyemi from NLÉ.

The school was completed in the end of February, the floating houses being finished in September of this year and the Lagos Water Community project by the end of 2014 which will herald a new era for coastal developments in Africa.

More info

website NLÉ Architects

Facebook page

Photo credit © NLÉ Architects

 

 

 

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Hang Hao tell his stories through daily life found objects

Hong Hao, born in Beijing in 1965, will be showing an eclectic spectrum of works in an upcoming exhibition at the Pace Gallery in Beijing from March 16th through to april 27th, 2013. This is a comprehensively retrospective of the artist's works from various periods of his career, as well as new works.

The exhibition will be show his 2013 series Deja vu, and pieces from one of Hong Hao's best known photographic series, "My Things", started in 2002. The pictures are composed of thousands of scanned images depicting objects from his own life. Hong tells us his life story through daily life found objects, including maps, books, tickets, receipts, banknotes, food, and containers.

These commonplace things are arranged and assembled by Hao using only a computer, and represent over 20 years of accumulation on the part of the artist while others could have just been part of that day's lunch.

These micro universes encompass the various flotsam and jetsam - important or trivial - that fill up a life. Hong Hao’s art is not strictly auto-biographic, is a discovery of contemporary China and a chance to pick out what we would find in our own homes.

 

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A local solution for the next generation of global food supply

A common thread between the post of Sunday and the one of today. Another story about food, a topic that Sustainable diary love.

Sourcing food that is grown locally and sustainably is integral to solving the environmental problems we face today. The innovative minds at FreightFarms create access to food in areas of the world where the climate or the urban condition cannot support traditional farming methods.

They retrofit used shipping containers into little modular farms that can be strategically placed to supply the needs of communities.

By employing a vertical farming system, they can maximize the the growing space within the container and is possible have year-round growing season. This system brings a high volume of fresh, quality and affordable food within reach of everyone along the food supply chain.

The Freight Farms method uses less water and energy than traditional farming methods and can be done without pesticides or herbicides.

 

Freight Farms offer an immediate foundation to grow a local food economy and sustainable food system.

By enabling high-yield crop production in any climate, Freight Farms offer an immediate foundation to grow a local food economy and sustainable food system.

More info

website Freight Farms

Facebookpage

Photo credit © Freight Farms

 

 

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Afghan Dreamers, a project book to break stereotype on a country

Afghanistan is probably best known in the world for its poverty, destruction, terrorism and oppression. But Afghanistan is not just a ongoing conflict. We are all half blind by the influence of the world of mass media, seeing only one part of a story. Against this backdrop, are the dreamers and visionaries. Artists, musicians, innovators, activists, media moguls, and politicians. Just like any other country – the dreamers and the free thinkers are often those whose stories are quieter than the stories of violence and anger that shout more loudly. That doesn’t make them less powerful.

Afghan Dreamers is a book project that seeks to tell these stories; the ones that draw a different picture of Afghanistan. A picture that shows the innovation and inspiration that can be born out of destruction.

The book will bring together interviews with 20 plus Afghan innovators and dreamers, these include: the artist Shamsia Hassani, the musician and filmmaker Ariana Delwari, the mayor of Kabul Muhammad Yunus Nawandish, the bass player for District Unknown, Afghanistan's first metal band, Abdul Qasem Foushanji and much more...

the artist Shamsia Hassani

Afghan Dreamers is a partnership between Sharp Stuff, an independent publishing project, working on new ways of storytelling and engagement, and Mountain2Mountain, a burgeoning nonprofit organization. This is a project that amplifies the voice of these dreamers. Forty years of war may have destroyed much in this region, but these stories, these dreamers, show that it hasn’t destroyed the pride and spirit of Afghanistan.

What is very important is that they need your help to make this book project a reality. You can help amplify these voices and show the world that stereotypes need to be challenged and our eyes and ears need to be opened. You can support this project and be part of the story. It takes the global community to hear these stories, believe in the dreamers, because it is the dreamers that will change the world!

More info

website Afghan Dreamers

Facebookpage

Photo credit © Afghan Dreamers

the musician and filmmaker Ariana Delwari

the bass player for District Unknown

the mayor of Kabul Muhammad Yunus Nawandish

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Sunday's Tale: Mandela Foods Cooperative take care of food system of West Oakland, California

Sunday's Tale: a post from the past

Just three days ago on Sustainable diary we wrote of the cool song FoodFight, by Earth Amplified and with today's story we really recognize how people need for being more conscious about our food and food systems.

Until a few years ago West Oakland, a neighborhood situated in the northwestern corner of Oakland - California, had 53 liquor stores and no grocery stores at all. The community had the nearest supermarket, with a full produce section, at one hour's walk away.

In the video we can see James Berk, a local inhabitant, explain that for this lack is diet used to consist of Fritos, Cheetos, and Doritos, and not much more.

But in june 2009 with the opening of Mandela Foods Cooperative the thing started to change. It is a worker owned grocery store (Berk is became one of them!) and nutrition education center that brings healthy, local produce to the neighborhood, and even delivers healthy food to local corner stores. 

Mandela Foods Cooperative is one component of Mandela Marketplace's FoodEnterprise Network that builds a local food system and entrepreneurship opportunity for residents in West Oakland, and establishes a model to catalyze a local food economy within the inner-city.

They purchase from and support small scale farmers, local and cooperative businesses, non-GMO growers, organic producers and fair trade organizations. They carry an array of pesticide free, organic whole foods and grocery items.

So if food kill more people then guns for the moment the situation here is save.

More info

website Mandela Foods Cooperative

website Mandela Market Place

Facebook page

Photo credit © Mandela Foods Cooperative

 

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