Samantha Clark in Stromness: ecology/art/landscape

Last week Samantha Clark gave a presentation to the second forum meeting of
CORE (Creative Research into the Natural Environment) which was held
at the Pier Arts Centre, Stromness, Orkney 23rd September. The CORE
network, funded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh, brings together
artists, writers, landscape architects, anthropologists and
scientists to explore creative responses to environmental change,
with a view to forging interdisiciplinary collaborative research
projects on the theme of 'Measuring the Environment: Morphology/
Mythology'. Also presenting in Stromness were Dr Jo Lee Vergunst,
anthroplogist based at the University of Aberdeen, Dr Richard Irvine,
anthropologist from the University of Cambridge, and (via Skype) David
Storch Leed, a young Inuit from the remote community of Rodebay,
North West Greenland.

Sam gave a presentation on her recent project 'A Year of Breathing'
which is leading onto a new project 'STILL' for Gentle Actions, a
series of art and ecology events at Kunsternes Hus, Oslo which will
take place next month. These interconnected projects explore our
personal and bodily relationship with global atmospheric carbon,
raise the issue of what we choose not to do, and explicitly value
stillness as a counterpoint to urgent calls for 'action' on
environmental concerns.

A Year of Breathing Blog site is here: http://
www.yearofbreathing.blogspot.com/

The blog site for Gentle Actions is here: http://
gentleactions.wordpress.com/about/
Watch this space as the project unfolds.

and more info here: http://weadartists.org/oct-23-nov-14-gentle-
actions-conference

While in Stromness, Sam also was a participating lecturer in a week
long international workshop for Landscape Architects. EMILA (European
Masters in Landscape Architecture) brought together students and
academics from five European institutions (in Spain, Germany,
Holland, France and Scotland) to explore and consider future
scenarios for the predicted rapid social and environmental change
facing the Orkney Islands as they develop new renewable energy
infrastructures.