Workshops
Workshop sessions involve extensive interaction between presenters and participants around an idea or hands-on experience of a practice. These sessions may also take the form of a crafted panel, staged conversation, dialogue or debate – all involving substantial interaction with the audience. [45 min. each]
Cast Your .net Wide: Web Archiving to Capture Internet Art and Art Ephemera
Workshop Presentation Mary Haberle, Lori Donovan, Karl Rainer Blumenthal
Digital formats native to the web are now central to both art production and documentation. As a result, web archiving is a critical preservation strategy for internet art as well as primary source information for future art historical research. Due to the transient nature of web content, much of this information is at risk. This workshop will introduce the basics of web archiving, share examples of arts organizations preserving online content, and demonstrate some tools that assist with its capture and preservation. Attendees will also gain insight into the creative and research potential of analytical tools applied to web archives data. A participatory small group exercise will introduce attendees to the policy considerations outlined in the Web Archiving Life Cycle Model white paper written by Internet Archive staff. This white paper will be distributed and each group assigned to review one section and then discuss its contents and implications for their own practice. Groups will report back on their findings to the attendees so that everyone learns about each policy consideration. No computers or tech supplies necessary.
Silent Spring and Eco-Activism Now: Lessons from the Poetic Vision and Scientific Rigor of Rachel Carson
Workshop Presentation Lisa Parkins
Rachel Carson is widely credited as the founder of the modern environmental movement. In her groundbreaking classic, Silent Spring (1962), Carson weaves poetic language together with rigorous science. Despite the chemical industry’s attempt to discredit her findings, Carson’s masterful use of literary devices interlaced with scientific data stirred the public to take action against the dangers of DDT. In this workshop, we will create our own aesthetic response to today’s environmental crisis. We begin by exploring Carson’s evocative portrait of a idyllic mid-century American town and its insidious destruction from pesticides. Drawing on Carson’s stylistic strategies including metaphor, alliteration, and detailed observation, participants will engage in spontaneous writing exercises describing the ecology of their local communities. Then, we will conduct on-the-spot scientific research on related global issues. Prompted by Carson’s probing questions, we will juxtapose poetic depictions of place with hard facts. Participants will be invited to share their writings as poet-performers in the form of a dialogic exchange which may culminate in a ritual enactment. Afterwards, the group will consider how this interdisciplinary process can serve as an arts-based model for participatory eco-activism
