[-empyre-] week three: ArtTechFood

[Amanda McDonald Crowley]

Hello -empyre-ians,

So as we enter week three of our ArtTechFood discussion, I am thrilled and honored to introduce this week's discussants, Nicole Caruth, Leila Nadir, and Jodi Newcombe. 

We've heard from Stefani and Marina on their mapping projects, as well as Hernani's urban ag interventions. Week 2 we had encounters with futuristic and practical art and food strategies from Mary Mattingly and Shu Lea Cheang. And many other interesting projects have been introduced besides. Personally, I have found it really useful to reflect on projects that have inspired me, and discover new ones besides. 

Nicole and Jodi will bring a curatorial eye on food justice and environmental justice issues, and I feel sure that Leila will talk to practical strategies on bio-futures (and pasts) that help us to contemplate more healthful futures.

Over to our new discussants to talk about their work. I trust that past discussant will chime in as they feel inclined, and that you - empyre-ians might also contemplate contributions.

I am re:sending this week's discussants bios below, for reference. Check out their web sites: they all do amazing work in this field and beyond...

Amanda


Nicole J. Caruth (US) is a writer, curator, and art education advocate. Her writing has appeared in a range of publications including ART news, C Magazine, Gastronomica, Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art, Public Art Review, Walker Art Center Magazine, and the Phaidon Press volumes Vitamin  D2 and Vitamin Green. She is the founding editor of Art21 Magazine (est. 2013). Currently, Nicole is the director of pedagogy and public practice at The Union for Contemporary Art. Situated in the historically African American enclave of Omaha, Nebraska, The Union addresses local social justice issues through an artist fellowship program, exhibitions, performances, youth classes, and more. Deeply committed to helping people live healthfully, in 2012 she founded With Food in Mind, a nonprofit developing art-based approaches to child obesity and nutrition disparities in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color. Nicole has written extensively about food in contemporary art and has been called one of the leading voices on the subject. 
http://www.nicolecaruth.com/

Leila Nadir (US) works as an artist, critic, and creative writer to explore evolutions of food, ecology, community, media, and memory. In collaboration artist Cary Peppermint, shecreates participatory situations that facilitate recovery from a cultural memory disorder they call "industrial amnesia," bringing endangered environmental practices into poetic visibility, feeling-perception, and simple acts of everyday life. Their projects have been supported by Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, Center for Land Use Interpretation, NY Foundation for the Arts, NY State Council on the Arts, Franklin Furnace, and numerous academic fellowships. Leila earned her PhD in English from Columbia University, is an Andrew Mellon Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow of Environmental Humanities, and currently teaches at University of Rochester as Lecturer of Sustainability and Environmental Humanities. She spends most of her time in the kitchen, and is currently writing a childhood memoir about the colorful marriage of her Afghan father and Slovak-American mother, including their frequent fights about food. 
http://ecoarttech.net

Jodi Newcombe (AU) founded Carbon Arts following an international career as an environmental economist and sustainability consultant. Her work on natural resource management and policy design, green technology and low carbon urban design inform her work with the creative sector. Carbon Arts generates and evaluates creative models for engaging society in imagining and shaping a more sustainable future. Straddling the arts, economics, science, and technology, our projects foster innovation and dialogue between disciplines and the public as a means to address contemporary environmental challenges. We do this through targeted and timely public art commissions, events, workshops, exhibitions and research. We work with forward-thinking governments, businesses, artists and designers to inject creative talent and thinking into decision-making and to reach broad audience.
http://www.carbonarts.org/about/


--
Amanda McDonald Crowley 
Cultural Worker / Curator
http://publicartaction.net

@amandamcdc

food nostalgia is currently on view at Radiator Gallery until March 13

-emprye- currently moderating thematic email listserv conversation on the topic #ArtTechFood through March 2016