‘Children’s Activity and Learning Centre’

The unique ‘Children’s Activity and Learning Centre’ at the 6-star Soneva Kiri resort in Thailand is a study in sustainable construction. Dutch firm 24H-architecture designed the bamboo building as a way to provide visiting children with a wide range of entertaining activities that could raise their level of ecological awareness. The “Den,” as it is called, provides a number of outposts, including an auditorium for films, lectures and plays; a library filled with books on permaculture and local traditions; an art room; a music room; and a fashion room offering children both a creative and ecological destination to learn. The center’s manta ray-inspired bamboo dome is perched at an elevated position, seemingly ready to launch itself into the bay from the location on which it is perched.

Artist: Beatrix Potter

Study of a spray of elderberries
About 1895

Study of a spray of rose hip
About 1878

Study of a spray of honeysuckle
About 1895

Study of narcissus flowers
About 1895

Study of harebells and marguerites
5 July 1880

Study of carnations
2 September 1880

Bedstraw and hazlenuts
(pen, brown and watercolour; no further details)

'Study of forsythia'
About 1885

Artist: Georg Dionysius Ehret

Georg Dionysius Ehret, 'American Turk's cap Lily, Lilium superbum', about 1750-3. Museum no. D.589-1886

Georg Dionysius Ehret (1708-70)
American Turk's cap Lily, Lilium superbum
About 1750-3
Watercolour and gouache on vellum
Museum no. D.589-1886

Georg Dionysius Ehret was an outstandingly successful botanical artist with connections across Europe. This meant that he was well-placed to capture new species soon after they arrived on the continent from abroad. For example, the American Turk's-cap Lily illustrated here was studied in the garden of Peter Collinson, an important figure in the field of early botanical investigation.

Amongst Ehret's associates was the Swedish botanist Linnaeus (1707-1778), the first scientist to classify plants not according to the way people used them, but rather by the physical similarities between their reproductive parts.

The influence of Linnaeus's new system is apparent in each of these three works: whereas earlier illustrations had shown plants in their entirety, botanical artists were now beginning to privilege the reproductive elements - the flowers and the fruit - above other plant parts.

This print can be found in Print Room Box DP2 at the Victoria Albert Museum.

Artist: Pierre-Joseph Redouté

Pierre-Joseph Redouté, 'Canterbury Bells, Campanula medium', 1787. Museum no. E.91-1947

Pierre-Joseph Redouté (1759-1840)
'Canterbury Bells, Campanula medium'
1787
Watercolour on vellum
Museum no. E.91-1947

Redouté made this watercolour as a gift to the botanist James Lee, whilst staying in his house in Hammersmith in 1787. Such was Redouté's skill that over two hundred years later the flowers remain alive on the page and we can almost hear the insects buzzing.

This piece is also a good example of the ease with which Redouté moved between painting plants professionally and for enjoyment. During his career he worked alongside established botanists producing drawings for serious study whilst simultaneously making illustrations for publications devoted to nothing more than the simple enjoyment of beautiful flowers.

This print can be found in Print Room Box DP3 of the Victoria Albert Museum.

Taichung Convention Center / MAD Architects

By Karen Cilento

MAD Architects shared their recently completed design for the Taichung Convention Center with us. Conceived as “a continuous weave of architecture and landscape that blurs the boundary between architecture, public space and urban landscape, proposing a futuristic vision based on the East’s naturalistic philosophy,” the convention center is the first project in Taiwan commissioned by the Taichung city government. The project is meant to surpass the traditional metropolitan landmark to become something that pushes Taichung “into the arena of world class cultural cities…. through unique architectural concepts and proposing a new kind of architectural philosophy.”

More about the convention center and more images after the break.

The form, with its crater-shaped formation and rotundas, is an abstracted representation of the existing landscape conditions. ”It simultaneously shapes and influences the surrounding environment, opening up a dialogue between architecture and landscape,” explained the architects.

The project’s billowing skin is a high-tech, eco-friendly pleated skin system. The envelope provides enough air flow through the building to naturally ventilate the spaces, and the pleating integrates a double photovoltaic glass that will reduce energy consumption levels. The materiality of the “eco-skin” changes as one side is transparent to allow light to penetrate the interiors, while the other side is solid.

Although there are individual “mountains”, the project was conceived as a whole, and open courtyards connect the pieces to create an integrated sequence of outdoor spaces. “This project seeks greater meaning in its non-material qualities, spaces encircled with the utmost naturalistic spirit,” concluded MAD.

All images courtesy of MAD.

Credits

Location: Tai Chung, Taiwan
Type: Office, Hotel, Retail, Exhibition, Convention Halls
Site Area: 70,318 sqm
Building Area: 216,161 sqm
Building Height: 39m-85m
Structure: Vertical Circulation, Enclosure System
Skin: Pleated Skin System with Double Photvoltaic Glass
Director in Charge: Ma Yansong, Dang Qun
Design Team: Jordan Kanter, Jtravis Russett, Irmi Reiter, Diego Perez, Dai Pu, Rasmus Palmquist, Art Terry, Chie Fuyuki

Artist: Paula Hayes, Nocturne of the Limax maximus

Paula Hayes's assistant, John Gray, installs the plantings for the installation Nocturne of the Limax maximus

When Hermes and Aphrodite had a son, Hermaphroditus, who was fused with a nymph, Salmacis, the resulting person possessed the physical traits of both male and female—hence the term “hermaphrodite,” used in biology as a description of similarly dual reproductive traits in both plants and animals. Applied to humans, the term is considered derogatory—as the term “hermaphrodite” developed, in the Victorian age, a dehumanizing fetishistic/pornographic/freak-show connotation—and is now preferably replaced by “intersex.”

The Limax maxumus—the Leopard slug referred to in the title of my commissioned installationsimultaneous hermaphrodite” that is not capable of self-fertilization. It takes two to tango: with each being fertilized by the other via male anatomical delivery systems that protrude from the sides of their heads, dispensing sperm into one another’s internal ovaries during an unusually sensual and beautiful mating process. on view in MoMA’s lobby—is a “

So, the possession of both female and male “parts” occurs in many manifestations in both plants and animals with many nuances, characteristics, and abilities. What separates this physical classification of gender in humans is the pressure to conform to a binary gender system when other human dimensions come into play in the continuum of gender identification. Most specifically the spiritual, psychological, and emotional realms.

Close-up view of plantings for Paula Hayes's installation Nocturne of the Limax maximus

In a giant leap, I will go as far to say that our own particular nuances of gender, which are repressed by the pressure to uphold a binary system, seep into infinite areas of cultural expression. The areas that fascinate me most are the comparisons of female roles in not only art as an object, but in the practice of art making itself. The female’s status as a subject, through possibly marriage or genetic lineage (in portraiture), and divisive fetishistic roles since the beginning of human art production, potentially distracts us from a cultural feeling of the feminine forces of gestation, birth, and nurturing as not only subjects in art, but in the actual performance of art making and the literal transference to future generations in living art forms, forms that require varying degrees of participation to enact the intention of the work versus the conservation of a period of time known as the “time of execution.” Living art literally involves the attentive and continuous role of participants and caretakers in all aspects of the continuum of its manifestation and life; this reality is at its core—a core that is performed by humans along any point in the spectrum of gender. It is essential that there be an internal, collaborative maintenance of the life of the work so that it can exist as an artwork. Binary systems (such as owner/object) become irrelevant, while interrelatedness and continuously active and attentive devotion become essential.

November 30, 2010 - from the MoMA website

Environmental Art Works by International Artists at Ping Ling Farm in Shuang-XI, Taipei County, Taiwan

Ping-Ling Farm, in southeastern Taipei County, hosted 3 international environmental artists from November 10 – 21, 2010. The artist-in-residency project introduced visitors, the local community and school children to environmental art and international artists and promoted cultural exchange about environmental issues. Ping Ling Farm is a private nature preserve and recreational park that promotes environmental education and nature awareness. This artist-in-residency project was the first time that Ping Ling Farm has invited artists to be in residence there and create works relating to the natural environment and educational programs at the Farm. The 3 international artists created site-specific environmental art installations from local natural materials and offered public programs for the visitors and local school groups. The artworks remain on view at Ping Ling Farm, and the public is invited to go and see them. This project was supported by the Taiwan Forestry Bureau and Ping Ling Farm.

The artists selected for this project are Jane Ingram Allen from the USA, Roger Tibon from the Philippines, and Lo, Yi-chun from Taiwan. Jane Ingram Allen is an American papermaking artist who has received grants for artist in residency projects in America, Japan, Nepal, Brazil, the Philippines, Bali Indonesia, and Tanzania, Africa as well as in Taiwan. Jane is also an independent curator and writer who has lived in Taiwan since 2004 when she came here with a Fulbright grant. Jane selected the other two artists for this project from artists she has worked with at other international environmental art festivals. Roger Tibon, from Baguio City, Philippines, has participated in many international festivals of environmental art in Korea, the Philippines, and Taiwan. Jane selected Roger to participate in the 2008 Guandu International Outdoor Sculpture Festival, and Roger created an outdoor environmental sculpture installation at Guandu Nature Park titled “The Shield” using local bamboo and reeds. Lo, Yi-chun of Taipei, Taiwan, received her MFA degree from the Taiwan National University of the Arts and has participated in many exhibitions in Taiwan. Jane selected Yi-chun to participate in the 2010 Cheng Long International Environmental Art Project, Yunlin County, Taiwan. For the Cheng Long project working with local school children and the community, Yi-chun created a sculpture installation titled “Listening” made from local bamboo and recycled oyster shells.

Here are the details and artist’s statements about the newly created artworks now on exhibition at Ping Ling Farm:

Artist: Roger Tibon, the Philippines

Title: Budding Dreams

Date Made: November 10 - 21, 2010

Dimensions: Variable, 8 units

Materials: Bamboo, rice straw, rope, twine

Statement: A dream is like a budding flower.

Nurtured by the rain and sun.

Blossoming into its fullness.

We dream of many things.

Big and small. A dream of hope. A wish.

A delicate vision that we aspire for.

A journey we choose towards a

caring fullness blossoming inside us.

Artist: Yi-Chun Lo, Taiwan

Title: Transformation

Date Made: November 10 – 21, 2010

Materials: Bamboo, rattan, rice straw, rope, carpet

Dimensions: 250cm(H)×300cm(W)×780cm(L)

Statement: I built a cocoon-like shape on a pathway at Ping Ling Farm in between trees. It was made of 3 rattan rings and covered by several weavings of bamboo strips. I utilized the bamboo’s natural bendable quality, from the front to the back. The cocoon is a symbol of the process of creation and transformation, following nature’s delicate life cycles.

Artist: Jane Ingram Allen, USA

Title: Shuang-Xi Site Map – Come Together

Date Made: November 10 - 21, 2010

Dimensions: 150 cm x 80 cm, 2-sided suspended construction

Materials: Handmade paper created from plants of Ping Ling Farm, thread, acrylic paint and gel, natural and found materials

Statement: This artwork in the shape of Shuang-Xi reflects my experience at Ping Ling Farm for 10 days as an artist in residence. This township, known as the place where two rivers come together, is also a place where friendly people come together to welcome visitors, help make artworks and enjoy nature. One side of this map shows the natural world, and the other side shows the culture I experienced here.

Artist: Jane Ingram Allen, USA

Title: Butterfly Heaven at Ping Ling Farm

Date Made: November10-21, 2010

Dimensions: Variable, 125 units, each 30 x 20 x 25 cm

Materials: Handmade paper created from plants collected at Ping Ling Farm, found natural materials, string, glue

Statement: This installation, inspired by the tremendous numbers of butterflies I saw at Ping Ling Farm, calls attention to the importance of preserving habitat where butterflies can flourish. The many different species and tremendous variety in “butterfly heaven” are expressed with each piece being unique and created by an individual participant. Students from the local elementary school and adult volunteers and visitors at Ping Ling Farm made the many butterflies in this installation.

For more information, please contact:

Jane Ingram Allen

info@janeingramallen.com

Tel: 09-3037-5160

Ping Ling Farm

Email: msiscor@yahoo.com.tw

Tel: 09-1118-9406