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Difficult but rewarding work: Planting trees to aid climate

MADRE DE DIOS, Peru (AP) Destruction of the forests can be swift. Regrowth is much, much slower.

But around the world, people are putting shovels to ground to help it happen.

In a corner of the Peruvian Amazon, where illegal gold mining has scarred forests and poisoned ground, scientists work to change wasteland back to wilderness. More than 3,000 miles to the north, on former coal mining land across Appalachia, workers rip out old trees that never put down deep roots and make the soil more suitable to regrow native tree species.

In Brazil, a nursery owner grows different kinds of seedlings to help reconnect forests along the country's Atlantic coast, benefiting endangered species like the golden lion tamarin.

They labor amid spectacular recent losses the Amazon jungle and the Congo basin ablaze, smoke from Indonesian rainforests wafting over Malaysia and Singapore, fires set mostly to make way for cattle pastures and farm fields. Between 2014 and 2018, a new report says, an area the size of the United Kingdom was stripped of forest each year.

Rebuilding woodland is slow and often difficult work. And it requires patience: It can take several decades or longer for forests to regrow as viable habitats, and to absorb the same amount of carbon lost when trees are cut and burned. "Planting a tree is only one step in the process," says Christopher Barton, a professor of forest hydrology at the Appalachian Center of the University of Kentucky.

And yet, there is urgency to that work forests are one of the planet's first lines of defense against climate change, absorbing as much as a quarter of man-made carbon emissions each year.

Through photosynthesis, trees and other plants use carbon dioxide, water and sunlight to produce chemical energy to fuel their growth; oxygen is released as a byproduct. As forests have shrunk, however, so has an already overloaded Earth's capacity to cope with carbon emissions.

Successful reforestation programs take into account native plant species. They are managed by groups with a sustained commitment to monitoring forests, not just one-off tree planting events. And usually, they economically benefit the people who live nearby for instance, by creating jobs, or reducing erosion that damages homes or crops.

The impact could be great: A recent study in the journal Science projected that if 0.9 billion hectares (2.2 billion acres) of new trees were planted around 500 billion saplings they could absorb 205 gigatonnes (220 gigatons) of carbon once they reached maturity. The Swiss researchers estimated this would be equivalent to about two-thirds of man-made carbon emissions since the start of the Industrial Revolution.

Other scientists dispute those calculations, while some fear the theoretical promise of tree-planting as an easy solution to climate changes could distract people from the range and scope of the responses needed.

But all agree: Trees matter.

___

On a spring morning, forestry researcher Jhon Farfan steered a motorcycle through the dense Peruvian jungle, his tires churning up red mud. He was following a narrow path cut by illegal gold miners in the heart of the Amazon, but he was not seeking treasure. Instead, he was on a quest to reforest abandoned gold mines within the world's largest tropical forest.

After three hours of difficult travel, he reached a broad clearing where knee-high saplings stood in rows, their yellow-green leaves straining for the sun. Farfan whipped out a clipboard with a diagram of the saplings planted months earlier, much like a teacher checking attendance.

"The goal is to look for the survivors," he said.

Within the thick jungle, only a sliver of light escapes to the forest floor. Often more can be heard than seen: a chorus of howler monkeys, the chatter of red-crowned parakeets reminders that the Amazon is home to more species diversity than anywhere on the planet.

But the rainforest is under increasing threat from illicit logging, mining and ranching. In a region of southeastern Peru called Madre de Dios, Farfan's job involves inspecting lands where the forest has already been lost to illegal mining spurred by the spike in gold prices following the 2008 global financial crash.

To recover the gold, the floor of the jungle was turned upside down. There are no gold seams in the lowland areas of the Amazon, but only flakes of gold washed down from the Andes mountains by ancient rivers, buried beneath the soil.

After cutting and burning centuries-old trees, miners used diesel pumps to suck up deep layers of the earth, then pushed the soil through filters to separate out gold particles. To turn gold dust into nuggets, they stirred in mercury, which binds the gold together but also poisons the land.

Left behind are patches of desert-like land dry, sandy, stripped of topsoil and ringed by trunks of dead trees.

Last December, Farfan and other scientists with the Peru-based nonprofit CINCIA planted more than 6,000 saplings of various species native to this part of the Amazon, including the giant shihuahuaco, and tested different fertilizers.

"Most tree deaths happen in the first year," Farfan added. "If the trees make it to year five, typically they're going to be there a long time."

A study of former gold mines in Peru by scientists at CINCIA and Wake Forest University several years ago found that seedlings transplanted with soil were more likely to survive than "bare-root seedlings," and the use of special fertilizers also helped growth. Some of the trees tested had absorbed trace amounts of mercury through contaminated soil, but it's not clear yet how this will affect them.

Since the project began three years ago, the team has planted more than 42 hectares (115 acres) with native seedlings, the largest reforestation effort in the Peruvian Amazon to date. The group is in discussion with Peru's government to expand their efforts.

"It's very hard to stop mining in Madre de Dios, since it's a major activity," said Farfan. The challenge now: to plant a tree that can grow in this soil.

___

While scientists struggle with tainted landscapes in the Amazon, activists a continent away are reckoning with flawed past attempts to heal the land.

After miners left West Virginia's Cheat Mountain in the 1980s, there was an effort to green the coal mining sites to comply with federal law. The companies used heavy machinery to push upturned soil back into place, compacting the mountainside with bulldozers. The result was soil so packed in that rainwater couldn't seep down, and tree roots couldn't expand.

Companies planted "desperation species" grasses with shallow roots or non-native trees that could endure, but wouldn't reach their full height or restore the forest as it had been. On Cheat Mountain and at other former mining sites across Appalachia, more than a million acres of former forests are in similar arrested development.

"It was like trees trying to grow in a parking lot not many could make it," said Michael French, director of operations for the Kentucky-based nonprofit Green Forests Work.

The Appalachian highlands once supported a large and unique ecosystem, dominated by 500,000 acres of red spruce forest a century and a half ago. But commercial logging in the late 1800s and later coal mining in the 20th century stripped the landscape, leaving less than a tenth of the red spruce forests intact.

Now French and colleagues at Green Forests Work are collaborating with the U.S. Forest Service to restore native Appalachian forests and the rare species they support by first tearing down other trees.

"We literally go in with a giant plow-like machine and rip the guts out of the soil," by dragging a 4-foot ripping shank behind a bulldozer, said Barton, the University of Kentucky professor and founder of Green Forests Work. "Sometimes we call it ugly."

This "deep ripping," as it's known, gives rainwater and tree roots a better chance to push down into the soil. A 2008 study found that disrupting the soil on U.S. brownfield sites through this method helped tree growth. After five growing seasons, trees planted on "ripped" sites had more roots compared to those where deep ripping didn't occur. Trees also grew taller.

The idea of ripping up the ground seemed startling at first.

"When we first started, a lot of our colleagues thought we were crazy. But 10 years later, we're well on our way," said Shane Jones, a wildlife biologist for the U.S. Forest Service.

Earlier efforts at reforesting old mining sites within West Virginia's Monongahela National Forest hadn't fared so well; sometimes, the majority of seedlings died. But in areas where the team has deep-ripped over the last decade, the survival rate of saplings has been around 90%.

Green Forests Work has now reforested around 800 acres within the Monongahela, and it is taking a similar approach to other former mining sites across Appalachia, having reforested around 4,500 total acres since 2009. Their ultimate goal is to restart the natural cycle of the forest so that scientists' work becomes invisible again.

___

Other reforestation crusades are more personal.

Maria Coelho da Fonseca Machado Moraes, nicknamed Dona Graa, runs a tree nursery that grows seedlings of species native to Brazil's lesser-known jungle the Atlantic coastal rainforest.

She collaborates with a nonprofit group called Save the Golden Lion Tamarin, which works to protect and restore the forest habitat of the endangered namesake monkey. "The Atlantic rainforest is one of the planet's most threatened biomes, more than 90% of it was deforested," said Luis Paulo Ferraz, the nonprofit's executive secretary. "What is left is very fragmented."

As she nears 50, Dona Graa says she is furious at what has happened to the forest, which was whittled down to allow for the urban expansion of Rio de Janeiro and other cities.

She deplores "the stupidity and ignorance" of people who have "destroyed most of the trees and continue destroying them. So I'm trying. I can't do too much, but the little I can do, I try to do it properly to rescue those trees."

And so, between feeding her chickens and raking the leaves, she grows seedlings of rare species pau pereira, peroba, "trees that people have damaged already, they don't exist anymore." She mixes limestone and clay, places it in plastic nursery bags and plants seeds in them; she irrigates them with water and cow urine.

Local replanting efforts which aim to reconnect fragmented parcels of forest often use the seedlings from Dona Graa's nursery, which gives her both income and great satisfaction.

She does this, she said, for posterity. "In the future when I pass away ... that memory I tried to leave for the people is: It's worth it to plant, to build," she said.

___

Federica Narancio contributed to this report from Peru and West Virginia, and Yesica Fisch reported from Brazil.

___

This Associated Press series was produced in partnership with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Heroic efforts to revive ecosystems and save species are being waged worldwide, aimed at reversing some of humankind's most destructive effects on the planet. "What Can Be Saved?," a weekly AP series, chronicles the ordinary people and scientists fighting for change against enormous odds and forging paths that others may follow

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Difficult but rewarding work: Planting trees to aid climate - New Canaan Advertiser

Wednesday, November 27th 2019, 12:57 pm - The claim has been making the rounds again this week in the wake of Australia's devastating bushfires, but experts are pushing back.

With climate change accelerating, stories about the latest extinction are increasingly commonplace, but there's one that particularly jerked the world's heartstrings this week: A report from Australia that suggested the koala, already under dire threat, is "functionally extinct" after bushfires devastated its already shrinking habitat.

It's quite the eyebrow-raiser, given how much of a beloved icon the little marsupials are worldwide, and the claim centres on the apparent loss of around 80 per cent of the species' range along with reports that approximately 1,000 individual koalas may have been killed during the bushfires.

But though it's making the rounds again this week, it's actually a months-old claim -- we'll come to that in a minute -- and, according to experts, not only is it likely not true, it wouldn't be possible to tell one way or another given what we know, and don't know.

"Theres every possibility that over the whole range, they may eventually become functionally extinct, but we certainly couldnt say that yet. Theres a long way to go," Dr. Christine Hosking of Australia's University of Queensland told The Weather Network.

Several media outlets repeated the 'functionally extinct' claim over the past couple of days after it resurfaced, including Forbes, but it was actually made earlier this year in May, by the Australian Koala Foundation (AKF), which claimed there were no more than 80,000 of the creatures left in Australia.

The 'functionally extinct' wording appears in the release at the time, and it raised some hackles even then, with pushback from several quarters, including Hosking, who penned a column debunking the claim.

Though koalas' are listed as a 'vulnerable' species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, Hosking says there's just not enough information on the koalas' remaining numbers and range to say whether the bushfires have pushed them to functional extinction.

For one thing, Hosking says the animals' plight varies from area to area, such that though they are certainly locally extinct in some areas, in others they're still doing well, such that they're actually locally overabundant.

Another challenge: Their range is enormous, sprawling across four of Australia's states, making it hard to get an accurate population count.

Until we can come up with some amazing drone technology or something that can go up and down in strips across that whole area and count them all, its just impossible to say," Hosking says. Even with the bushfires, we dont even know how many koalas have been affected there yet. We only know the ones whove been rescued."

As such, estimates vary as to just how many koalas there still are in the wild.

Dr. Stuart Blanch, Forest and Woodland Policy Manager for WWF-Australia, says estimates range from a high of 330,000 in 2012, to as low as 50,000, while WWF-Australia relies on expert advice suggesting the number is around 200,000 in the wild.

WWF-Australia doesn't agree with the 'functionally extinct' label, but what isn't in dispute, Blanch says, is that the numbers have likely plummetted some 95 per cent since British colonization, and there isn't much information on the genetic diversity of those that remain.

Blanch said they could be extinct in the wild in eastern Australia within 30 years, due to a combination of man-made factors such as tree-clearing for farming and urban development, and climate change. The bushfires which have been raging in the region may hasten that extinction.

"Unfortunately it is still too early to adequately assess the full damage to koala populations and their habitats, but there is little doubt that the damage is very significant," Blanch says. "Koala groups estimate the fires have killed hundreds of koalas in New South Wales and Queensland, a serious blow for a species in decline."

Claims about functional extinction can hurt conservation efforts, Blanch says, by eroding hope for the koalas' future and desensitizing not only the public but also decision-makers who can actually bring in policies that would help the marsupials.

Blanch says more needs to be done to halt the koalas' decline, a full spectrum that runs from stopping and reversing habitat loss while expanding protected areas, to increasing funding for landowners who protect koala habitats, to reintroducing Aboriginal fire management techniques to mitigate future bushfires.

Hosking, meanwhile, says there's been some progress, in the form of research into prioritizing areas to be protected, and the koala was included in Australia's equivalent of the Species at Risk Act as a 'vulnerable' species earlier in the decade. However, she says habitat loss due to land clearing continues apace, with little action.

Its in writing, it's great, but nothing happens on the ground in reality to protect the koalas, she says.

And though she, like most other conservationists who've been asked in the media this week, thinks the 'functionally extinct' claim is overblown, she says the flipside is that it's got more people talking about the koalas' plight. They're especially useful as a kind of 'canary in the coalmine' species, given their sensitivity to changes in their environment.

"If we look at the koala being a victim of climate change and land clearing and all these things, then the koala is the person to say 'hey, look, what's happening to me, everyone sit up and take notice of what were doing to our environment everywhere', she says.

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Are koalas 'functionally extinct?' Not so fast, say experts - The Weather Network

This is a plain sawn white oak veneer floor with 7 ply birch core and 4mm thickness veneer. The ... [+] manufacturer is From The Forest

Engineered wood, likeengineered stone,is manmade. Rather than using solid boards, manufacturers glue and bonded together multi-layers of materials; a top veneer or wear layer (a thin slice of hardwood), and a central core made up of additional layers all going in perpendicular directions. The number of layers vary by product from 3 to as many as 10 with 5 to 7 layers most typical. The process of using engineered wood for the flooring helps prevent the wood from expanding/contracting causing warping and bowing in humid or dry areas, the way a hardwood might.

Unlike most solid wood, this engineered wood is durable in a bathroom.

Most engineered wood comes pre-finished, unlike solid hardwood which is generally finished on site. They can have a high gloss, semi-gloss or a matte finish as well as different looks - distressed or wire-brushed. Aluminum oxide creates a very durable finish but must be factory installed. Oiled finishes often have a matte finish and allows you to repair superficial scratchesThis is used in lieu of polyurethanes, which can be applied by the do-it-yourselfer, however this product is more likely to yellow with age and release volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

The engineered wood is carried throughout this house, including the bedroom.

Engineered wood is an environmentally-friendly alternative to solid-wood flooring that requires cutting down fewer trees and creates less waste. Engineered wood is constructed in a number of ways. The top layer is always a hardwood and the core may be made with layers of plywood or a hardwood core. This construction minimizes the expansion andshrinkage of the flooring due to temperature and humidity changes.

The engineered hardwood was manufactured by From The Forest.

AAnother advantage of using plywood is the ability to choose from some very costly exotic woods, such as Brazilian cherry hardwood or Ope, which would be very costly using the solid planks. The engineered version would be much less expensive and easier to source.

Engineered floors are also more versatile than solid wood. They can be installed on a variety of subfloors such as floating (which means theyre connected to each other but not fastened to the floor), nailed, or glued down. They can go below, on, or above grade (solid wood cant be installed below grade). They can also be installed on floors where only thin flooring will fit. Unlike typical hardwoods, engineered flooring can be installed over concrete in basements and moist areas such as bathrooms. Solid wood flooring or engineered flooring may be used over plywood, existing wood floors, or oriented strand board (OSB) subfloors.

Engineered wood French oak was used for flooring on this modern kitchen.

Engineered wood comes in a variety of different species of wood and different thicknesses from 3/8 to 3/4 thick. The thicker the veneer, the more times it can be re-finished (but the less resistant it will be to denting?). From The Forest says their high-density fiberboard (HDF) core with their thinnest veneer is their highest performing product when it comes to dent resistance. Sawyer Mason, uses a hardwood core rather than plywood for their engineered floor construction to create a green product and offer maximum stability.

Warranties vary on engineered wood depending on the grade of the wood and the wood species. Domestic woods, such as maple and oak might come with a 10 to 20 year warranty, whereas ax exotic hardwood, such as Brazilian Koa or ope, might have a 100 year warranty. Cost will also vary by grade and species.

This Oak Bluffs living room has engineered wood flooring.

One of the drawbacks to engineered wood, depending on the thickness of the veneer, is that it cannot be sanded as many times as solid wood. However, Sawyer Masons plank flooring offers the same amount of sanding and refinishing as solid wood. Thinner engineered flooring will not be as durable as hard wood, except in moist conditions, where it will be more dimensionally stable than solid wood. It is unlikely also that engineered wood will have the longevity of solid wood unless you choose an engineered flooring with a thick wear layer.

In general, engineered wood can be put throughout the house, requires less maintenance, is more moisture resistant, and generally at a lower cost - making it a good option to consider for your home.

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The Advantages Of Using Engineered Flooring In the Home - Forbes

Art and design museum Triennale Milano is launching its Year of Play, a multi-disciplinary project that will explore the nature of play and games in all forms over the course of a year. Kicking off the interactive series is South Korean artist Koo Jeong As fully-functioning skatepark, titled OooOoO. The site-specific installation, which was curated by Julia Peyton-Jones and Lorenza Baroncelli, is open to the public now.

Designed specifically for the Galleria on the ground floor of Triennale, the skatepark is completely covered in glow-in-the-dark paint and turns fluorescent green as the lights change. Music by Koreless, an electronic music producer based in Glasglow, animates the space; the melody interacts with the installation, creating an immersive and multi-sensorial experience for the viewer.

Since the 1990s, Koo has transformed traditional spaces with her participatory installations. This time, OooOoO brings the public together to solidify bonds and build community, as all visitors are able to enter the track or book a session through the Triennale.

The importance of skate culture to the museum is realized in the Triennale Milano Academy of Skateboarding, which was recently created to be the ideal meeting point between learning and having fun, and to further excite visitors and establish a unique relationship between the institution and its young guests. As art has become more digitally accessible, Triennale Milano understands the need for cultural institutions to invest in new interactive experiences for visitors, while utilizing their current exhibition spaces.

Take a closer look at OooOoO in the gallery above and head over to Triennale Milanos website for more information on upcoming exhibitions for the Year of Play. Koo Jeong As installation will be on view to the public from now until February 16, 2020.

Triennale MilanoViale Emilio Alemagna, 620121 Milano MI, Italy

For more art-related news, KATSU and Tsuru Robotics have launched their first for-sale smart painting drone, dubbed the KATSURU BETA.

Originally posted here:
Triennale Milano Installs Glow-in-the-Dark Skatepark for "Year of Play" Project - HYPEBEAST

Theres a lot to be said for laying floors. I dont really care what kind, Ill lay anything from your unique, expensive South American hardwoods to rough cut pine to durable laminate. If its wood, or looks like wood, Ill snap it together in your house.

I only get to lay floors occasionally. Its only when Im taking a break from drawing and writing to actually make real money that I work construction, and even then Im usually put to work on the more meatheaded tasks. Ill tear out that stupid wall between your kitchen and dining room fast. But when Im lucky, I get to lay floors with Wendell. Sometimes I wonder if I could quit drawing and let laying floors be my only creative pursuit.

Wendell has been selling and installing floor products for much longer than Ive been alive. He knows floors like a good guide knows the snowpack. Hes got an encyclopedic knowledge of products, and their merits, and the decades of experience it takes to just know certain things without having to think about them. But what really makes him special is that he reads all of the manufacturers instructions about every flooring product he installs. Having spent a solid portion of my life doing menial tasks in homes that are somewhere between the drywall is hung and the owner is moving in tomorrow, Im familiar with the general lack of instruction reading in the construction business.

Were men after all. Weve done this sort of thing before, instructions are just a waste of time so just push a little harder, hand me that sledge hammer, and well make it work. Working with Wendell is exactly the opposite. If you have to try too hard, youre probably doing it wrong, is his maxim. Hes repeated it to generation after generation of boneheaded workers; Im merely his latest helper.

On the first job I worked with Wendell, a co-worker walked off the job in a huff because he thought he knew better. He felt like he was being talked down to, hated reading directions and would rather just force it. Once he cooled down and got back to work, he refused to do it Wendells way, instead he slapped flooring around, breaking off tongues and crushing grooves. He ended up having to work a weekend, tearing up floor hed installed poorly and replacing it.

My first few hours installing a new flooring product always reminds me of my first few days backcountry skiing. I know what Im supposed to do, but things just arent quite clicking. Kick turns are hard. Im frustrated, wallowing, falling, angry. But just like backcountry skiing, its all about the attitude and experience.

Now I read the instructions. Now I make sure to fiddle with every product we install before we start on the house. I try different methods of clicking pieces together. I experiment with laying floor in the opposite direction the manufacturer recommends, a skill invaluable for closets and hallways. I learn how to deliver precise taps to encourage each piece to lock itself in. Usually on the job site I move with a reckless haste. Im used to tearing off roofs, scooping shingles into the truck below with abandon. Instead I fall into a shuffling rhythm. Small strides, careful not to damage the new floor. Its translated to the skin track too. I used to galumph around trying to keep up. Now its all about efficiency, barely lifting the ski, using my heel risers at every grade change.

Once I find my rhythm, laying floor feels just like spinning my mountain bike up a smooth climb, or skinning on the pass. Its as close to meditating as I get, a peaceful monotony that allows my mind to wander. If Im lucky, and I usually am, the house Im flooring has big windows that face the Tetons or Big Holes. Every time I look up from my work I explore those hills in my mind, reliving adventures and contemplating new routes. Meanwhile, the patch of new floor grows. Tap! Click! Grab another plank.

Soon enough the snow will fall and Ill trade my planks for skis. Ill put down my tapping block and hammer, and grab an ice axe and ski poles. This house will be ready for trim and baseboards, and Ill be out searching for fresh snow and new lines. But until then, Ill be reading instructions, shuffling slowly, and tapping gently. And when I finally click into my skis, trying to wrestle my touring bindings into uphill mode, Ill remember, If you have to try too hard, youre probably doing it wrong.

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Mountain mumbles: Handy work meditations and the return to adventure - Jackson Hole News&Guide

Each week, we search New York City for the most exciting and thought-provoking shows, screenings, and events. See them below.

Tricia Wright, Pandoras Box (detail, 2019). Courtesy of the artist and BRIC.

1. Present Bodies: Papermaking at DieuDonn at the Gallery at BRIC House

The BRIC gallery is presenting a curated collaboration with DieuDonn, the Brooklyn-based studio where artists can learn paper-making techniques. The exhibition features the work of eight artists (Swoon, Noel W. Anderson, Lesley Dill, Candy Gonzalez, Lina Puerta, Paul Wong, Saya Woolfalk, and Tricia Wright), each of whom are presenting works based on the theme of paper as a repository of memories.

Location:Gallery at BRIC House, 647 Fulton StreetPrice:FreeTime:Opening reception, Wednesday 7 p.m.9 p.m.; TuesdayFriday, 11 a.m.7 p.m.; Saturday & Sunday, 11 a.m.5 p.m.

Caroline Goldstein

A promotional image for John Dowell: Cotton: Symbol of the Forgotten. Courtesy of Laurence Miller Gallery.

2. John Dowell: Cotton, Symbol of theForgotten at Laurence Miller Gallery

John Dowells sobering works reflect on the histories and legacies of race relations in America. This show focuses in particular on the lives of black Americans in New York state, and includes a digital rendering ofSeneca Village, a once-vibrant community that was founded in 1825. InDowells work, the hub, which was razed to make space for Central Park, is imagined alongside the apartment buildings that replaced it.

Location:Laurence Miller Gallery, 521 West 26th Street, 5th floorPrice:FreeTime:TuesdaySaturday, 10 a.m.6 p.m.

Nan Stewart

Calvin Tompkins, The Lives of Artists: Collected Profiles. Photo courtesy of Phaidon Press.

3. The Lives of ArtistsAn Evening with Calvin Tomkins at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

TheNew YorkersCalvin Tompins will discuss his latest book box set, The Lives of Artistsa compilation of over 80 of his most important artist profiles from 1962 to 2019with artist Paul Chan.

Location:The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 5th AvenuePrice:Free with registrationTime:6:30 p.m.7:30 p.m.

Sarah Cascone

Portrait of Michela Marino Lerman. Photo: Luis Guillen, courtesy of the Whitney.

4. Jazz on a High Floor in the Afternoon: Michela Marino LermansLove Movement at the Whitney Museum of American Art

What better way to spend a frigid winter evening than cozied up in the Whitney listening to jazz? As part of the programming for composer and pianist Jason Morans exhibition, Moran and curator Adrienne Edwards have orchestrated live performances alongside Morans installations, which riff on iconic jazz venues from around New York.

Location:The Whitney Museum of American Art, 99 Gansevoort StreetPrice:$25 general admission; $18 for members and students

Time:Friday, 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Saturday, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.

Caroline Goldstein

Isaac Mizrahi narrating Peter and the Wolf. with choreography by John Heginbotham, for the Guggenheim Works and Process series. Photo by Robert Altman.

5. Peter & the Wolf With Isaac Mizrahi at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

Fashion designer Isaac Mizrahis version of Sergei Prokofievs childrens classicPeter and the Wolfhas become an annual holiday tradition at the Guggenheim. In addition to providing the costumes, Mizrahi narrates the 1936 symphony, reimagined here to take place across the street in Central Park.

Location:The Guggenheim Museum, 1071 5th AvenuePrice:General admission $45Time:Friday, 6:30 p.m.7 p.m.; Saturday, 1 p.m.1:30 p.m.;2:30 p.m.3 p.m.; 4 p.m.4:30 p.m.; Sunday,2:30 p.m.3 p.m.; 4 p.m.4:30 p.m.

Sarah Cascone

Fiona Banner, Self-Portrait as a Publication (2009). Courtesy of Susan Inglett Gallery.

6. By/Buy Me at Susan Inglett Gallery

In a new group show at Susan Inglett Gallery, curator David Platzker has brought together editioned artworks that have been self-published by artists. The show, which explores themes of commodification and the role of an artist in a commercial art world, includes works by Fiona Banner, Tauba Auerbach, Dan Graham, Hannah Wilke, Richard Prince, and Lynda Benglis, among others.

Location:Susan Inglett Gallery, 522 West 24th StreetPrice:FreeTime:TuesdaySaturday, 10 a.m.6 p.m.

Caroline Goldstein

Installation view of Elias Sime: Tightrope at Hamilton Colleges Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art. Photo by Janelle Rodriguez.

7. Elias Sime: Tightrope at Hamilton Colleges Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art

Repurposing electronic waste such as old computer keyboards, motherboards, and electrical wires,Ethiopian artist Elias Sime creates densely detailed, layered colorful sculptures. He imbues these unexpected materials with a sense of beauty, drawing comparisons between the workings of such manmade machinery and the pathways that spring up organically in the natural world.

Location: Hamilton College, Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art, 198 College Hill Road, Clinton, New YorkPrice:FreeTime:TuesdaySunday, 11 a.m.5 p.m.

Sarah Cascone

Michael Apteds 63 Up.

8. 63 Up at Film Forum

In 1964, Michael Apted was tapped to work as a researcher on 7 Up, a British documentary that took a peek into the lives of 14 seven-year-old children from around the country, examining the differences across social classes. Every seven years since, Apted has followed up with his subjects, directing one of cinemas most enduring documentaries. The ninth and latest edition, likely the lastApted is 78 and in failing healthdebuted on the UKs ITV in June, and you can catch it this month at Film Forum.

Location:Film Forum, 209 West Houston Street, west of 6th AvenuePrice:General admission $15Time:12:30 p.m., 3:20 p.m., 6:20 p.m.,9:15 p.m.

Sarah Cascone

Installation view of John Chamberlain & Donald Judd at Paula Cooper. Photo courtesy of Paula Cooper.

9. John Chamberlain & Donald Judd at Paula Cooper

Paula Cooper pairs the giants of John Chamberlain and Donald Judd in this two-person exhibition that highlights their friendship in the 1960s. The two influenced each others work, with Judd experimenting withmotorcycle lacquers after encountering them in Chamberlains work, and even supplying the raw materials for a series of his friends crushed metal sculptures.

Location:Paula Cooper, 524 West 26th StreetPrice:FreeTime:TuesdaySaturday, 10 a.m.6 p.m.

Nan Stewert

Installation view of Gilles Barbier: Laughing at clouds at the Chimney. Photo courtesy of the Chimney.

10. Gilles: Barbier: Laughing at clouds at the Chimney

A native of the Oceanic island republic of Vanuatu, Gilles Barbier presents his first solo show, channelling Rene Magritte with a surreal installation of floating umbrellas that transform the gallery into an otherworldly landscape. The show was inspired by a photograph of President Donald Trump abandoning his wife Melania to stand in the rain as he engaged with reporters from underneath an umbrella.

Location:The Chimney, 200 Morgan Avenue, BrooklynPrice:FreeTime: Saturday and Sunday, 2 p.m.6 p.m.

Tanner West

Tianyi Zhang, installation view of 99 Agreements (2019). Courtesy of Elijah Wheat Showroom.

11. Tianyi Zhang: 99 Agreements at Elijah Wheat Showroom

China-born, New York-based Tianyi Zhangs new gallery exhibition explores gender identity and power dynamics through media-informed role playing. In the titular multichannel video work, Zhang inhabits 99 different high-femme personas, all vocalizing the word yes in a different situation. Viewers are left to intuit each characters emotional state and broader narrative based only on minimal visual context and the tone of their respective acquiescence. Together, the 99 simultaneous vignettes nod toward the overwhelming number of women who feel pressured to comply in a whole range of personal and professional scenarios every dayand how much would change if they instead decided to bear the (sometimes significant) risks of refusing.

Location: Elijah Wheat Showroom,1196 Myrtle Avenue, BrooklynPrice: FreeTime: FridaySunday, 12 p.m.6 p.m.

Tim Schneider

Installation view of Lucien Samaha: A History of Digital Photography. Courtesy of Pioneer Works.

12. Lucien Samaha: A History of Digital Photography at Pioneer Works

Red Hook-based Pioneer Works is showing three decades worth of works by New York-based photographer Lucien Samaha, whose career coincides with the inception and rise of digital photography. In 1990, Samaha won the inaugural Kodak Professional Photography Division scholarship, which allowed him to use the companys newfangled digital camera system before anyone else. In the intervening years, Samaha has documented just about every place hes been, and the fruits of his labors are the focus of this show.

Location:Pioneer Works,159 Pioneer StreetPrice:FreeTime:Wednesday-Sunday, 12 p.m.7 p.m.

Caroline Goldstein

Vanessa German, Serena as Black Madonna #2(2015). Courtesy of the artist, Pavel Zoubok Fine Art, & Fort Gansevoort.

Vanessa Germans works are like Mickalene Thomass photo-tableaux in three dimensions, crossed with Niki de Saint Phalles colorful sculptures. In the press release accompanying the exhibition, German says: I am in love with the deep survival, elastic resilience, and ordinary creative genius of Black people.

Location:Fort Gansevoort, 5 9th AvenuePrice:FreeTime:Opening reception, 6 p.m.8 p.m.; TuesdaySaturday, 10 a.m.6 p.m.

Caroline Goldstein

Travis Boyer, Boyersock. Courtesy of the artist and False Flag.

14. Travis Boyer: Amongus at False Flag

Though Travis Boyers work is grounded in performance, the range of his practice is diverse, and includes painting, sculpture, cyanotype, videos, and textiles. Inspired by familiar scenes, such as drinking games and group fitness classes, his performative works meld the private with the public. As the artist himself explains:it is about the activity being really legible in such a way that you, as a participant, can take it or leave it, project onto it or ignore it.

Location:False Flag, 1122 44th Road, Long Island City, QueensPrice:FreeTime:Opening reception, 6 p.m.8 p.m.; TuesdaySunday, 12 p.m.6 p.m.

Eileen Kinsella

Jamal Penjweny, from the series Saddam is Here (2010). Courtesy of the artist.

15. Theater of Operations: The Gulf Wars 19912011 at MoMA PS1

This ambitious exhibitionwhich examines the impact on visual culture and art of American-led wars in Iraq over the past 30 yearsis not really the kind you can spin through on your lunch hour. Instead, come back two or three times, taking in a floor or two during each visit. The show features more than 30 works by more than 80 artists based in Iraq and its diasporas, as well as artists considering the warthe first to be televised during the rise of 24-hour cable newsfrom the West. Its a slow burn that will stay with you for a long time.

Location:MoMA PS1, 2225 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, QueensPrice:$25 general admissionTime:MondayThursday, 10 a.m.5:30 p.m.; Friday, 10 a.m.9 p.m.; Saturday & Sunday, 10 a.m.5:30 p.m.

Julia Halperin

Excerpt from:
Editors Picks: 15 Things Not to Miss in New Yorks Art World This Week - artnet News

(December 2, 2019 / Israel21c) Who would have thought an exhibit about wheat could be so emotional?

An Israeli installation titled Goren won first prizethe Big Emotions Awardas part of the Jerusalem Design Week delegation at Design Art Tokyo 2019 in October.

Visitors to the show at Japans Spiral Arts Center, held in cooperation with the Israeli Embassy of Japan, were mesmerized by the cloud of chaffdesigned from actual wheat and 2,500 meters of brass wireappearing to float up from the threshing floor (goren in Hebrew).

The ethereal chandelier of wheat was the brainchild of New York-based Israeli architect Nati Tunkelrot and Israeli designer Guy Mishaly, graduates of the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem.

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The Middle East, for the last 12,000 years, has been home to thousands of genetically diverse varieties of wheat, explained Tunkelrot. Sadly, over the last hundred years this important building block of humanitys history has been driven to the brink of extinctionbeing replaced by a handful of high-yielding and uniform strains. We wanted to give voice to this topic and spark a dialogue.

Telling the story of the scientistsGoren originally was created for Jerusalem Design Week in 2018, which explored the role of design in conservation.

All wheat started in the Middle East region, between Egypt and Turkey, said Mishaly.

The wheat genome is six times more complicated than the human genome. But all this biodiversity doesnt exist anymore. In the 1950s, a new wheat was developed by a U.S. scientist, that was easier to grow with higher yield, and the other species went extinct.

Visitors to Design Art Tokyo examining specimens of wheat. Photo courtesy of Hansen House Jerusalem.

Through their research, the two artists discovered that the Weizmann Institute of Science and the Volcani Center-Agricultural Research Organization are working to gather, examine and conserve wheat strains indigenous to the Israeli region.

The Weizmann Institute and the Israel Plant Gene Bank [at the Volcani Center] have collected seeds of 890 species out of about 4,000 that once existed. They are growing them to find new and better types of wheat, researching and analyzing the valuable genome they hold inside, Tunkelrot told ISRAEL21c.

We were amazed by the tremendous scientific research that has been done for so many years, and decided to create a visual outcome to that story and reveal it to the public.

Cereal crops including wheat contain edible grain kernels covered by an inedible hull (chaff). When the chaff is separated from the grain on the threshing floor, the chaff rises.

An illustrative image of wheat being separated from chaff. Credit: Courtesy.

Our vision was to let the visitor walk inside that experience, said Tunkelrot. We wanted to capture the wheat chaff floating in the air, uniting ancient wheat varieties with new types so you can see the differences.

The installation changes its form to fit the architectural space. In the courtyard of Jerusalems Hansen House Center of Design, Media and Technology, the wheat chandelier nearly touched the ground.

People were standing in it, walking through it, and sitting in it, said Mishaly. When the wind picked up, the whole exhibit shifted form, and even the birds came to visit throughout the day.

In Tokyo, the installation was indoors in a round gallery. Tunkelrot noted that its form seemed to change as you went up the ramp inside the Spiral Arts Center, saying the whole piece sparkled like a talisman of golden jewelry.

Some viewers chose to lie down on a podium at the base of the spiral to get a different perspective of the installation.

Guests asked a lot of questions about wheat, an issue that had never crossed their mind. They were intrigued by the investment Israeli scientists are making in trying to preserve the most important agricultural crop for the Western world, and they were genuinely curious about what they could do to assist these efforts, said Tunkelrot.

Even before leaving Tokyo, Mishaly and Tunkelrot had a few offers for their next exhibition location.

It is precisely due to these interactions with visitors to Goren that provide us with great motivation to continue presenting Goren in many diverse metropolises around the world, so that we might spread the story of wheat and the loss of biodiversity, they said.

This article was first published by Israel21c.

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Israeli wheat exhibit stirs up big emotions in Tokyo - JNS.org

Museum of Modern Art Addition by Diller Scofidio + Renfro with Gensler | 2019-12-02 | Architectural Record This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more. This Website Uses CookiesBy closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Learn MoreThis website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more.

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Museum of Modern Art Addition by Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with Gensler - Architectural Record

Construction of the long-awaited Orillia Recreation Centre, which began with site preparation work in September2016, is finally in the home stretch.

The facility,which features a lap pool, leisure pool and therapy pool in addition to gyms, walking/jogging track, fitness centre, preschool room and multi-purpose rooms,is expected to open in early 2020.

The $55.5-million project, the largest in the citys history, was originally expected to be open last fall. The massive facility, located at 255 West St. S., has now been under construction for 38 months.

Orillia Mayor Steve Clarke said the target opening date is the end of January,just in time for the city to christen the facility during the Ontario Winter Games it is hosting Feb. 27-March 1.

He said in recent weeks, the site has been a beehive of activity.

To help expedite the process, the city has added a senior person at the site to help coordinate with the contractor and our staff.

He added, the head of Atlas (the contractor) is also spending more time at the site to ensure the work is finished.

It is truly beginning to look like a complete project, said the mayor who, when first elected in 2014 made building a recreation centre - something that had been unsuccessfully attempted multiple times over the past three decades - his and council's top priority.

On Friday, city councillors received their monthly progress update on the facility.

As anyone who has driven by recently will already know, the digital sign out front has been put in place and is operational.

The gymnasium scoreboard an impressive, modern scoreboard that can be split to be used in both gyms or used together when both are being used for the same event was recently installed.

Tiling of the large lap pool, which could only begin after a lengthy leak test, is now 90 per cent complete; tiling of the leisure and therapy pools is half done.

The top layer of concrete is starting to be poured around the north, east and west sides of the pool deck area in preparation for the final grade before tiling.

The pool timing clock has been installed; final wiring is expected to occur soon.

Wall tile in the pool change rooms and lower gym and fitness area change rooms is complete, while floor tile has also been installed in all lower-level change-room floors.

Some countertops and faucets have also been installed in both the main and lower-level change rooms.

Drywall installation is 95 per centcomplete with taping and mudding continuing.

The installation of interior doors continues as does interior painting.

The ceiling areas above the fitness centre, gym and running track have been painted.

The ceiling lights in the gym have been installed.

According to the report to council, the phenolic panel installation around the track area above the fitness centre is 97 per cent complete and panel installation around the gym has started.

Mechanical work continues in the lower level pool mechanical room, while the east-side gym viewing area glass has been installed with other interior glass areas being prepped for installation (ie. fitness centre).

The west-side upper pool viewing area is being prepped for floor sealant application.

Basketball backboards and net prep work has begun in the gym in anticipation of basketball nets being installed.

Work is also proceeding outside.

The north lot is now paved, while grading continues on the south side of the building. Grading and prep work continues for the retaining wall at the north-west corner of the building.

The report notes there are several milestones being tracked for completion within the next few weeks. They include:

There are some things that will have to wait for better weather. Those include final landscaping and site seeding and the final layer of asphalt for the parking lot.

When the tender was awarded to the Atlas Corporation, the approved price of the project was $48.45 million.

That price tag has jumped to almost $55.5 million, although the final cost may be below that.

City council approved more money for a contingency fund that could be used to cover the cost of any changes required.

To date, 247 change orders have been approved; those include both credits for removal of work and additions for work not specified in the tender documentation.

According to the report to council, the current value of all changes to date is $2,828,674.86 of the $3,485,000 total available for contingency.

Continue reading here:
Orillia's new recreation centre expected to open in late January - BarrieToday

When a senior architect at the Office of Public Works overseeing the installation of an 808,000 printer in the Oireachtas noticed the problem with its size, it was already too late to apply the brakes.

The full cost for building works needed to fit the printer inside Kildare House runs to nearly 400,000, almost double the original 236,000 estimated after the measurements mistake forced significant alterations.

May 30th, 2018: Siobhan Malone, facilities manager at the Houses of the Oireachtas, emailed senior Office of Public Works architects Hilary Vandenberghe and Brendan Dillon.

The dimensions of the machine have been provided: 2130mm high and 1960mm wide, with need for 250mm clearance. Minor works including the temporary removal of doors would be needed.

May 31st, 2018: Final contract is signed with Komori.

August 9th, 2018: Ms Vandenberghe emails Richie Roe, the Oireachtas printing manager, and other Oireachtas staff, and again on August 10th, to confirm measurements.

August 14th, 2018: Ms Vandenberghe notices that the printer is too tall. She emails Mr Roe and Alan Ruane, deputy head usher /office keeper at the Houses of the Oireachtas.

I note that the 3160mm head height for operating the machine would not be achievable without significant structural works and mechanical works to the services floor overhead, she says. It is, she writes, a matter of urgency.

August 16th, 2018: Ms Vandenberghe emails a critical note to Oireachtas staff . Delivery on September 1st cannot be met because of the height problems.

The delivery of the printer could be delayed; it could be stored elsewhere while works went on, or works could take place around it. The old printer could be brought back into use, she suggested.

The positioning of structural steel supporting the floor above is a major issue, since it cannot easily be removed without substantial changes. Supports would be needed for the floors above.

Officials discuss housing the printer in Print Room 2.

August 28th, 2018: Ms Vandenberghe emails Mr Roe to say that definitiveinformation is needed. This is specialist-designed equipment and we do not have the competency to make assumptions on this, she says.

September 4th, 2018: In an email Garret Nolan, HEO at the OPW, asks Ms Vandenberghe and others if a smaller machine could be procured.

December 12th, 2018: The Clerk of the Dil Peter Finnegan is briefed by Derek Dignam the only direct correspondence sent to him.

It became apparent in September that some structural works would need to be undertaken to ensure that new newer press could be accommodated . . . In the end these works transpired to be more significant than was initially realised. This work is now proceeding . . . and is expected to be completed early next year.

January 8th, 2019: Mr Roe e-mails Komori and Ms Vandenberghe: Theres a lot of internal pressure to get the project finished so hopefully the floor will be up for the job and we can get moving shortly.

March 14th, 2019: In a handover document to Ciaran Smith, Derek Dignam writes:

The new press which we bought last year and paid for with 2018 funds. It is currently in storage awaiting commissioning. The print facility ceiling is not as high as required and this is being addressed by OPW. Whatever they are this is a 12-year investment or longer for both the press and the ceiling work.

July 8th, 2019: Ms Malone outlines the envisaged building costs will be 236,000.

Excerpt from:
The Oireachtas printer: how installation costs hit the ceiling - The Irish Times