coal

Groenland, Spitzberg, Sibérie, Antarctique… Autant de noms qui évoquent le froid, la glace et les explorateurs en perdition. Jean-Baptiste Charcot qui parcourut les mers des deux pôles fut d’ailleurs victime d’une pathologie que sa formation de médecin avait quelques difficultés à diagnostiquer : « d’où vient, disait-il, l’étrange attirance de ces régions polaires, si puissantes, si tenaces, qu’après être revenu on oublie les fatigues morales et physiques, pour ne songer qu’à retourner vers elles ? »

Terres de liberté fantasmée où les fantaisies humaines n’ont plus de limites, zones arides où l’homme ne peut que survivre, espaces « vierges » symboles des ravages causés par l’être humain à notre planète… les Pôles sont devenus au fil des témoignages, récits, cartes et documentaires qui ont émaillé leur découverte et leur exploration cet objet paradoxal dont la « réalité » se nourrie tout autant de l’imaginaire collectif que des faits scientifiques, géographiques et ethnologiques rapportés. Pureté absolue des terres arides et noirceur de l’âme humaine : les régions polaires sont à la fois une maladie incurable et une drogue aux pouvoirs hypnotiques, un espace hostile où l’homme est confronté à son moi profond, à sa magnificence et à sa petitesse. 
Dans notre société où chaque chose et chacun est à sa place, où le temps, la lumière et l’espace sont devenus des denrées chiffrées et monnayables, l’horizon sans fin des pôles fascine et s’offre comme un ultime refuge pour les belles utopies, pour les « valeurs » de nos pères à jamais disparus.
Ces espaces sont aussi parmi les derniers où effort humain et dépassement de soi prennent tout leur sens, où l’élan primitif qui sommeille au plus profond de chacun de nous vient bousculer l’assurance de notre confort et de nos habitudes.

Ces motivations antagonistes où romantisme et pensée écologique ne sont pas en reste ont certainement quelque chose à voir avec l’engouement actuel des artistes pour ces territoires en voie de disparition. 
Désarroi profond face à un monde en mutation ou désir d’exotisme aventureux sont les deux alternatives (parfois antagonistes, parfois complémentaires) entre lesquelles oscillent les œuvres présentées dans cette exposition. Qu’elles prennent la forme du journal intime, du livre de bord ou du documentaire, qu’elles proposent une exploration physique, symbolique ou une expérimentation scientifique, elles tissent un réseau d’images, de sons et de mots où voyage initiatique et utopies sociales se rejoignent, où l’être redevient humain.

_{Note : la conception de cette exposition s’est nourrie de nombreuses lectures : romans, essais, carnets d’exploration. Son titre se veut aussi un hommage aux très belles réflexions d’Emmanuel Hussenet et Michel Onfray sur ces très hautes lattitudes.}

THE FESTIVAL

48°C Public.Art.Ecology, a combined initiative of Goethe-Institut/ Max Mueller Bhavan and GTZ, is an experiment set within the capital metropolitan city of Delhi. The ambition of this project is to interrogate the teetering ecology of the city through the prism of contem-porary art. Through a number of art interventions in various public spaces around Delhi, the festival attempts to draw a diverse public into the world of this critical imaginary. 

THE CITY

By any score, Delhi qualifies as one amongst the world's most dynamic and complex urban settings in contemporary times. Like most other urban centers of this country and of the south Asian region, the city of Delhi is characterized by multi-layered historicity and multiple urbanisms that get expressed in varying conditions within its cultural and physical fabric. 

THE ECOLOGY

48°Celsius is a reference to the exigencies of global warming, which can be felt in Delhi's continuously escalating summer temperatures, and also to its interconnectedness to a city in overdrive. Delhi's feverish building activity and rising sensex form a glossy veneer to the crumbling ecology  beneath. 

http://www.48c.org/

INAUGURAL AWARD OF 25,000 USD TO THE YES MEN, OCT 23 

http://creativetime.org 

Creative Time is pleased to announce the inception of a new, 25,000 USD award: The Leonore Annenberg Prize for Art and Social Change, presented by Creative Time to an artist who has committed her/his life's work to social change in powerful and productive ways. The first recipient of the prize is The Yes Men, and it will be bestowed during the opening ceremony for The Creative Time Summit: Revolutions in Public Practice, on October 23 from 6 to 8pm in the historic Stephen A. Schwarzman building of the New York Public Library. The ceremony will feature an introduction byAmy Goodman, the host of the award-winning program Democracy Now!. The award is generously supported by The Annenberg Foundation. 

The Leonore Annenberg Prize for Art and Social Change and The Creative Time Summit further Creative Time's 35-year-long commitment to commissioning and presenting groundbreaking, historically important artwork and fostering a culture of experimentation and change. 

The Leonore Annenberg Prize for Art and Social Change is named in honor of Mrs. Annenberg's life-long dedication to supporting the artistic voice in our culture, and to the vital role of art in educating and expanding our cultural dialogue. The Yes Men, a legendary group of culture jammers is, through their longstanding practice of invading and subverting modes of corporate communication, at the forefront of a movement to produce substantive change in our world. The Yes Men were selected by a distinguished jury of artists and thinkers. 

The Yes Men agree their way into the fortified compounds of commerce, ask questions, and then smuggle out the stories of their hijinks to provide a public glimpse at the behind-the-scenes world of business. Over the years they have also launched some very unconventional products—from the Dow Acceptable Risk calculator (a new industry standard for determining how many deaths are acceptable when achieving large profits), to Vivoleum (a new renewable fuel sourced from the victims of climate change. The gonzo political activists were the subject of a documentary film, The Yes Men (2003), and their new documentary film, The Yes Men Fix the World (2009), was awarded the prestigious audience award at the Berlin International Film Festival. 

Their film The Yes Men Fix the World recently debuted in theatres in the UK and on HBO in the United States, and will be released nationally in theatres in October. More information about the film and a trailer can be found at http://theyesmenfixtheworld.com

The Yes Men perfectly capture the spirit of the award, which honors an artist or artist group for historically significant work that has an expansive impact on society. At the ceremony, they will give an interactive, performative lecture. 

The prize will be awarded in a ceremony that also opens The Creative Time Summit: Revolutions in Public Practice. The Summit is presented by Creative Time and LIVE from the NYPL as part of the LIVE from the NYPL fall season. The Summit continues on October 24, from 10am to 7:30pm, with over 35 international cultural producers whose work has made an impact in the world giving presentations. 

These artists, thinkers, and activists range from anarchist collectives to art world luminaries. Their approaches intend to not only reflect, but also act upon moments of historic change, breaking the traditional barriers between art, culture, and politics. The Creative Time Summit will give attendees a chance to see a vast array of artistic practices in rapid-fire presentations, taking place back-to-back all day. These artistic practices defy easy museological categories, and aggressively blend art, politics, and space. Presenters include Okwui Enwezor, Thomas Hirschhorn, Temporary Services, Baltimore Development Cooperative, Not An Alternative, and many more.

For a detailed schedule with a full list of presenters grouped by theme, visithttp://creativetime.org/programs/archive/2009/summit/summ...

Available concurrently with the presentations will be a separate, flexible conversation space, where each of the presenters will gather to be available for one-on-one conversations with attendees. This space will replace the traditional question-and-answer model, in favor of a more discursive, interactive approach. 

ABOUT LIVE FROM THE NYPL
LIVE from the NYPL is a series of lively and provocative conversations, debates, and performances at The New York Public Library curated by Paul Holdengräber, Director of Public Programs.

Past participants have included Werner Herzog, Christopher Hitchens debating Al Sharpton, an opera based on The Elements of Style by Maira Kalman and Nico Muhly, Gunter Grass in conversation with Norman Mailer, Miranda July with David Byrne and Becky Stark, Aline and R. Crumb, Mario Batali and Anthony Bourdain, Harold Bloom, Nicholas Kristof, and Orhan Pamuk.

For more information, please visit http://www.nypl.org/live or email live@nypl.org.


ABOUT CREATIVE TIME 
The Leonore Annenberg Prize for Art and Social Change and The Creative Time Summit continue Creative Time's 35-year history of igniting the cultural development of New York City and supporting artists who work toward social change with ground-breaking art. Creative Time: The Book was published on the occasion of the institution's 33rd birthday, exploring each of its projects presented since 1974. Creative Time's recent projects include Jeremy Deller's Conversations About Iraq, Paul Chan's Waiting for Godot in New Orleans, Tribute in Light; and PLOT09: This World & Nearer Ones, New York City's first public art quadrennial. The organization has worked with 1,400 of the world's most dynamic artists in 17 states across the nation. 

SUPPORT 
The Leonore Annenberg Prize for Art and Social Change is made possible through the generous support of The Annenberg Foundation. 

Support for the Creative Time Summit is provided by the Lambent Foundation, a Project of the Tides Center, the Trust For Mutual Understanding, the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation and The Consulate General of the Netherlands in New York.

Creative Time is funded through the generous support of corporations, foundations, government agencies, and individuals. We gratefully acknowledge public funding from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; the New York State Council on the Arts, a State agency; New York City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn; and New York State Senator Thomas K. Duane. The official hotel partner of Creative Time is The Standard.

MEDIA CONTACT
Nicholas Weist, Creative Time
nickw@creativetime.org
212.206.6674 x205

Dossier scientifique sur l'environnement
Rédaction : COAL
Le dossier scientifique propose une information synthetique sur les thématiques suivantes :
Ecologie, Ressources, Energie, Eau, Déchets, Facteurs démographiques, Systèmes de production & modes de consommation, Changement climatique, Biodiversité, Droit de l’environnement, Biens publics
Scientific Information about environment (in French). Themes : ecology (as part of biology), natural resources, energy, water, waste, population growth, patterns of production and consumption, climate change, erosion of biodiversity, environmental law

Artistes impliqués
Rédaction : COAL
COAL présente une selection d'une vingtaine de travaux d'artistes contemporains autour des thèmes de l'environnement et du développement durable. Parmis eux : Art Orienté Objet, Amy Balkin, Mark Dion, Héhé, Thomas Seraceno, Maria Thereza Alves, Hans Hakasson, Simon Starling, Olivier Leroi....
A selection of twenty artists about environment and sustainability.

Sélection de penseurs contemporains( Philosophie, Sociologie, Politique...) sur l'environnement
Rédaction : COAL
A selection of contemporary authors about Envionment (in French)

- Sélection de films de fiction sur les grands enjeux du développement durable
Rédaction : Vincent Boucheron, cinéphile & Jean-Michel Valantin, membre du Comité Scientifique COAL
Selection of movies dealing with the majors issues of sustainable development 

VOIR AUSSI : La rubrique "Art magazine", qui propose une veille des actualités art et développement durable.
SEE ALSO: "Art Magazine" rubric, which offers a regular news watch on art and sustainable development.