mnartists.org: Art Shanty Projects 2007

Cactus Conservatory

Art Shanty Projects 2007 — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 20:14:56 GMT

The MN Cactus Conservation Facility // Medicine Lake Mission Statement: To advance the appreciation of and respect for the local environment of Medicine Lake, and to engage the community in a conversation about sustainability, eco-friendly design and cactus. The art shanty I propose will be a warm, dehumidified conservatory for dozens and dozens of cactus. Built to demonstrate how buildings can be sustainably and efficiently heated, the shanty will be a straw-bale construction. Thus, an inexpensive and common agricultural byproduct becomes a valuable structural element and effective insulator, protecting the cactus and their caretacker for the duration of the project. I am in contact with an energy consultant and part-time eco-design devotee who is helping me strategize about the structural details. I hope also to engage the support of several manufacturers and use some cutting edge eco-friendly materials. Solar heating will provide most of my heat, while other systems will be in place to ensure that on cloudy days the temperature, and the health of the cactus, remains constant. The facility will include a loft for the caretaker (me) to sleep in, and a small to serve as a drawing studio. The majority of the floor space will be occupied be the plants. Why the cactus? I am from New Mexico where the main environmental issue is water management. Here in Minnesota one of the big issues is how to heat one's home. This shanty will combine and contrast two example respective solutions. Landscaping in NM with native, drought tolerate plants helps ease the burden placed on water systems. Building structures to cope with MN winters will ease the strain placed on energy systems and pocketbooks. The incongruity of cactus on a frozen lake mirrors that of swimming pools in Nevada or two-acre lawns in Arizona, which are accepted without thought. This project is also about sharing where I am from with the Minnesotans I will meet on the Lake this winter. The cactus are like me, transplanted into new, northern soil. Viewers to my shanty will be invited to learn both how the structure is built and heated and about the cactus housed inside. In addition to researching and building a sustainably heated shanty, I will educate myself about cactus so i can answer visitors' questions knowledgably. My role as caretaker will involve living in the conservatory with the cactus as much as I can. In between visitors I will complete a series of detailed scientific drawing of my specimens, perhaps to be bartered into the sub-economy of artists or to visitors. I also plan to set up a relationship with the people who lend me their cactus where I will deliver drawings of their own cactus to them in return for the loan. I recognize that building a cactus shack on a frozen lake is essentially a silly action and it will be carried out with a light heart. My goal is not to preach to others, but to myself learn a few things and engage as many people as possible about these ideas. To share a few surreal moments of a minnesota winter spent with cactus is a bonus.

Jack Shack Team

Art Shanty Projects 2007 — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 20:01:23 GMT

The Jack Shack Our house will be the one where kids want to hang out till after their toes turn blue. The idea is aimed at attracting, involving, and entertaining the younger set of ice house fans (or to make fans out of those who are dragged along with their parents). The plan is an extension of the Jack Pine Collective, which founded a community center in South Minneapolis designed to "... foster self-expression, self-representation and activism by providing a family-friendly space for skill sharing, events, meetings and art." One of our goals at the Jack Pine is to create welcoming spaces centered on kids--in events and areas not particularly geared for them. At last years Art Shanty shindig, we saw families making use of a great and unusual opportunity to spend some time together and we'd love to be a part of that this year. Most of our activity ideas are as appealing to adults as to kids. We will have a melamine wall with erasable markers, a picture book corner with daily storytimes, finger-puppet making with regular shows, and Lincoln Logs (who doesn't love Lincoln Logs?) There may also be nap mats, but the jury's still out on whether that would repel some sleep-resistant kids. We come up with new goings-on all the time; the above are just a few of the ones that have made the unanimous cut.

OurBrr

Art Shanty Projects 2007 — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 19:58:08 GMT

The OurBrr shanty: Brennan Vance, Sam Soule, Mark La Venture, Jamie Barber The OurBrr shanty is an interactive arboreal landscape on ice...a diorama of the summer prairie...a central park for the art shanty community...an aural journey into the sounds of Minnesota's most notorious fauna as interpreted by you. Stop in and give us your best moose...or indigo bunting and listen as the shanty begins to teem with traces of other wildlife.

The Art Cars

Art Shanty Projects 2007 — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 19:46:50 GMT

ArtCar Taxi Service The ArtCars will drive you from the shores of Medicine Lake across the ice out to the Art Shanty's and back in a complimentary taxi service. You can catch a ride in the parking lot off of 17th Avenue. ArtCar Taxi Service will be available on Saturdays and Sundays from 10am -5pm. Look for the ArtCar Taxi Service sign to catch your ride.

Club Medicine Lake

Art Shanty Projects 2007 — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 19:29:04 GMT

Club Lake Medicine incorporates sound and poetry in a "members only" space, where membership is granted to those who contribute to the external/internal Graffiti Poetry project. The shanty involves an on-going sound installation based on the sound if ice, processed and sequenced in random configurations. As "members" engage with the space (making or not making poetry), sound bites of selected works of poetry and literature fill and emanate from the space's four internal/external speakers, triggered by a set of interactive MIDI sensors. Special opening exhibition event TBA, but will include the inauguration of the Graffiti Poetry project.

Knitting Shanty

Art Shanty Projects 2007 — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 06:02:45 GMT

You can learn how to knit here.

Lincoln log cabin

Art Shanty Projects 2007 — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 05:58:07 GMT

Concept: Inside the cabin, visitors will find an apparently inhabited space, with a simple bed, woodstove, shelves and desk. Over the trap-door and hole in the ice, a turn-crank will support a rope that hangs down into the water. Raising the rope with the crank will reveal a bearded skull with a bullet hole in the back. In the background, the low-volume sounds of static will issue constantly from an old transistor radio, occasionally interrupted by the faint sound of a Dixieland jazz version of Yankee Doodle Dandy accompanied by tap-dancing shoes. Sitting on the desk and hanging from the walls, a collection of papers and journals will reveal parts of the story of the cabin's inhabitant, how he came to possess (so he believes) the skull of Abraham Lincoln and the other objects (located throughout the cabin, to be chosen as writing/construction proceeds) that seem to follow the skull wherever it goes, and his plans to hide the skull until he has finished designing it's ultimate resting place. A small telescope at the window will add an extra dimension to the story if pointed in the right direction.

Richard Lindberg and Kurt Perry

Art Shanty Projects 2007 — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 05:53:03 GMT

Art Shanty Proposal For this years art shanty projects we would again like to have my shanty revolve around pin hole photography. Last years visitors had a very positive response to our camera obscura. Many couldn't believe that you could take a picture with nothing but a tiny little hole. They also were really interested in being able to come inside the camera and actually see the process in action. This year we would like to make it even more interactive for the public. We would like to have some pinhole cameras on hand for the public to use or even provide materials so they can make there own and then take pictures around the lake. The construction of my fish house will be a fairly basic. It will be an 8 x 8 foot square box. It will also need to be light tight because we would like to have my enlarger in there to make final prints for people to take home. In order to make this happen we will need electricity. To supply this we would like to include a wind turbine on my house. From my experience last year the one thing there was an abundance of was wind. Lately we've been having a growing interest in self sufficiency and have been researching home made wind generators. The concept is fairly simple, coils moving through a magnetic field create electricity. By harnessing the wind we believe can bring free quiet and environmentally friendly power to the art shanty projects. The generator should be enough to not only power our house but also charge batteries for other participants. With my new ideas and experiences from last year we believe we can make this a successful project that the visitors to the art shanty projects would enjoy.

Bigloo5

Art Shanty Projects 2007 — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 00:14:21 GMT

s Sean Connaughty and Matt Zaun In the Winter of 2005/2006 we built three igloos (known as Bigloos) and an ice amphithe ater as part of Art Shanty Projects 2006. Loosely based on traditional Inuit snow structures, the shelters were designed as environments for recording and playing back music. Musicians and non-musicians alike got together in this intimate, unique environment and played various cold weather instruments. We considered the project a big success and hope, this year, to pick up where we left off and build an even more refined structure in which we can continue our cold weather sonic experiments and music making. The structure will be built using natural materials (ice/snow) which will dissipate into the lake and leave no detritus behind. Trust that our structure will be safe, comfortable and will endure the fluctuating conditions on the ice. This year we will further refine our building process using what we learned in our countless hours on the ice during ASP 2006. We will upgrade our audio equipment to operate more efficiently and also incorporate the use of an underwater microphone that we can use to record and monitor the myriad of odd sounds coming from beneath the ice. As we did last year, we will compile a release of our recordings and provide extensive visual documentation of the entire process. Programming will be a large focus for us this year. We have already begun making arrange- ments to have prominent local musicians out for recording sessions in addition to having regular hours of operation where the general public can come and participate in the recording process and listen to the sounds from under the lake. We also have plans for a performance towards the closing of the project that will showcase all the elements of our project. We plan to use the stipend money largely for "living expenses" so that we can spend the majority of our time out on the ice interacting with the public and other shanty builders. We are open to collaborations, spontaneous or otherwise. We have collaborated on multiple projects including several music releases, video, visual art and sculpture. We feel that this project will offer a great opportunity for us to continue our col- laborative efforts and continue to challenge ourselves as artists and musicians. Please see the following page for more about us and last year's Bigloo project.

Warming Shanty

Art Shanty Projects 2007 — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 16:22:16 GMT

Warming Shanty: Ashley Duffalo, Megan Leafblad,Joel Schwarz,Loren Smith,Angie Vogt, John Vogt By extending the visual vocabulary and design strategies of modernism to work within the physical/environmental constraints of Medicine Lake, we hope to connect art and life by creating a space conducive to social engagement. The challenge inspiring our structure is how to create a warm and comfortable space that is a retreat from the cold, but still connects people to the outer landscape and to one another. The cozy, inviting interior calls for relaxation and friendly interaction, while multiple windows of varying size and color provide contemplative views of the lake. Visitors are encouraged to make a voice recording, which will become part of an archive documenting the collective experience had in the Warming Shanty.

Vista Shanty (green shag rug)

Art Shanty Projects 2007 — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 16:20:15 GMT

Vista Shanty: Sarah Peters, Sarah Petersen, Kristen Murray, Bryan Kennedy, Zvie Razieli The Vista Shanty is built around a parcel of green shag rug. It is returning with a newly engineered and constructed structure for more exspansive views and games. Please take your boots off.

Norea Shanty

Art Shanty Projects 2007 — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 16:18:32 GMT

Norae Shanty: Michael Hoyt The Norae Shanty is based on Korean karaoke rooms called "Norae bangs" (song rooms). The Norae bang (pronounced "nō-rāy-bŏng") is essentially a scaled down version of a karaoke bar, a small room with karaoke equipment and comfortable seating that groups of people rent by the hour. These bangs provide participants with simultaneous visual, audible, and emotional experiences. Yet unlike the sometimes competitive and embarrassing nature of the karaoke bar experience, the norae bang provides up to a dozen participants a cheerful and supportive environment for a more comfortable exchange. Ice fishing and ice house culture is similar to the bang phenomenon in Asian urban centers. Bangs, like ice houses, serve as a retreat, a small and isolated space for groups to participate in a shared activity away from the stress of everyday life. The Norae Shanty was developed to provide new and intersecting populations with the opportunity for soulful exchange.

Science Shanty

Art Shanty Projects 2007 — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 16:16:35 GMT

Science Shanty: Jim Hood The 2007 Science Shanty group will have 2 goals: (1) First, introduce visitors to the winter inhabitants of the lake and the basic tenets of Limnology. (2) Second, invite each visitor to share his or her families' lake stories. (1) We hope to introduce visitors to lake organisms and Limnology in two ways. First, we will stock the shanty with scientists every weekend from January 14th through February 17th. These budding limnologists and ecologists will introduce visitors to lake organisms and limnological concepts. Visitors will be given an opportunity to sample the lake and examine lake microorganisms under microscopes. Young visitors will be asked to make artistic renderings of their findings. Second, by placing posters on the outside of the shanty, we hope to interact with visitors who arrive during off-hours. These posters will display information about Medicine Lake, aquatic organisms, and basic principles of limnology. (2) Last year, one of the most enjoyable aspects of staffing the science shanty was interacting with visitors. This year we will make this interaction a focal point of our project. We will invite visitors to record their ecological/historical lake stories in a journal. In addition, the scientists manning the shanty will ask each visitor about their lake story and help record it for prosperity. Our shanty will continue to have a simple and utilitarian design. There will be room for 2 tables and a hole in the floor for fishing and water sampling. In general, we will salvage parts from last year's shanty and improve upon its design and appearance. This year's stipend will be used to renovate and improve last year's shanty, print informational posters for the shanty's outer walls, and purchase equipment for lake sampling.

The Shanty of Misfit Toys

Art Shanty Projects 2007 — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 16:15:27 GMT

The Shanty of Misfit Toys has semi-transparent walls which are stuffed with discarded toys, which will act as insulation to the shanty as well as decoration. The shanty will be used by families visiting the Art Shanty Projects for diaper changes, bottle warming, breastfeeding, play and community building.

Postal Shanty

Art Shanty Projects 2007 — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 16:13:57 GMT

Postal Shanty: Jes Schrom, Robert Marbury, Brian Lesteberg, Gabe Welker

image: Postal Shanty