Exodus

Moving to Atlanta from Detroit in 2006, I was immediately struck by the pace of growth in the area. I knew I had to make work that addressed this issue, but I also wanted to avoid rehashing the architectural imagery of new home construction that often defines urban sprawl. Instead, the images in this series were created using motion sensor cameras placed in two cities lying approximately 20 miles northeast of Atlanta: Suwanee, which has seen its population nearly double from 8,725 to 15,355 in the last ten years (1) and Buford, now home to the largest shopping mall in Georgia and the 14th largest in the United States. It is an area very much on the frontlines of urban sprawl in America (2).

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Simulsuck and Womble Tumble Slide

My process involves the collection and reassembly of discarded materials. A recurring theme that
unites my work is reassigned (or voided) utility through a new context, and I work in
several media—sculpture, video, drawing and performance. I scavenge large plastic appliances
or electronics lying in the street or in garbage bins. By harnessing discarded materials, I
utilize waste rather than produce it. Amidst the detritus that is continuously
thrown away in a consumerist society, I search for connections and relationships between materials
and concepts.

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Creating a Sustainable Desert Metropolis

Artists have long appreciated the desert for its otherworldly landscape. Painter Georgia O’Keefe devoted much of her late career to capturing the distinct elements of the American Southwest, and architect and designer Frank Lloyd Wright felt a strong connection to the desert – a place, he said, which inspired its own singular style of architecture.

Environmental artist Joan Baron is no different in her appreciation of the desert’s unique attributes and the creative opportunities they present. Such opportunities are the subject of Baron’s ongoing urban landscape installation, The Edible Landscape Project – a unique rental property for those who crave the hands-on approach to their food source.

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The Problem with “Sustainability”

By Robert Kutter

It might seem like a strange message from the soon-to-be former editor-in-chief of a publication on sustainability, but I don’t like the word “sustainability.” It hides the truly admirable part of what my classmates are trying to do: solve difficult problems with new approaches for the benefit of people and the environment. Actually, sustainability connotes keeping things the same, which is the opposite of what my classmates are trying to do: change things for the better.

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Radishes for Adoption: A Network of Ad-Hoc Food Producers

Motivated to build relationships around local food production and self-sufficiency, “Radishes for Adoption” brought about the playful transition of verandas, rooftops and unused space into tiny, food production areas in Kyoto, Japan.
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Building Businesses through Cleaner Cooking Fuels in Ghana

by Edward Burgess, Research Editor for The Sustainability Review

For this interview, we spoke with Dr. Mark Henderson, Director of the Global Resolve project at Arizona State University. We discussed some of his latest research efforts in Ghana, Africa where he and his colleagues are working with local villages to design technologies and businesses that could improve the health and well-being of the local people and their environment.

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Flying False Colors (The Sixth Day)

Carlo Zanni’s pieces are “data cinema”: he uses live, Internet data to create time-based, social consciousness experiences with games, photos, films and installations that investigate topical issues. … Continue Reading

Closing the Energy Efficiency Information Gap for Small Businesses

Small businesses are vital to the health of the United States’ economy. They provide essential goods and services, employ millions of Americans and generate half the U.S. nonfarm GDP (1). Businesses of all sizes prioritize cost reductions, but small businesses‘which lack the monetary, personnel, and technological resources of large corporations‘are often more sensitive to cost variability. This sensitivity to cost fluctuations is especially pronounced for energy expenditures, which cost U.S. small businesses approximately $130 billion each year (2). By decreasing energy expenditures, small businesses can increase efficiency across their operations, strengthen their financial prospects and minimize their impact on the environment.

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Parquet: A Social Floor Covering in Berlin-Neukölln

Raw materials for the “social parquet” (2010) come from unofficial refuse dumps on the streets of Berlin-Neukölln and residents’ cellars and attics. For example, this parquet includes Muhammet’s kitchen table, a childhood bed that once belonged to Kerstin, Güler’s wardrobe, and a plank from Bernhard’s ship. These are among the roughly 550 found items and donations which compose the “social floor covering.”

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Skills for Sustainability Professionals

In response to a growing need to move the world toward sustainable development and sustainable practices, a whole new professional track has emerged in the last decade. In 2010, the International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP)—the professional association that serves the needs of people working in this field—undertook a research study to answer the question, “What should a sustainability professional know how to do?” What we learned should inform everyone entering and working in this field.
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