iLand Symposium

iLand (Interdisciplinary Laboratory for Art, Nature and Dance) is the organization that got me involved with the Ridgewood Reservoir project. On Saturday, March 28th, they are holding their first symposium. I have been asked to do a brief presentation on the Highland Park-Ridgewood Reservoir Alliance's experience with community activism and trying to save this unique habitat.

From the iLand press release:

iLAND will hold its first annual symposium in NYC this Saturday, March 28th. The event is free and all are welcome.

Connecting to the Urban Environment:
Creating embodied and relational approaches to environmental awareness

Saturday, March 28, 2009
9:30am - 1pm (no charge, registration opens at 9am)
Refreshments will be served

Hosted by the Eugene Lang College
The New School for Liberal Arts
6 East 16th Street, New York, NY
Room #D1009 (auditorium)

Connecting to the Urban Environment, iLAND's first annual symposium, will address issues emanating from the creative collaborations of past iLAB residencies. iLAB alumni will be paired with representatives from environmental organizations who are actively designing new relationships to urban space. Presentations will share the results of grappling with the project of finding shared language and processes across the arts and sciences while centering dance and the body as the mediator and resource for experience, imagination and knowing. The symposium will include oral and media presentations, workshops, and small-group discussions.


Schedule:

9-9:30 AM Registration and coffee

9:30-10:10 Opening remarks and introductions - Artistic Director, Jennifer Monson
Presentation on iMAP/Ridgewood Reservoir by Jennifer Monson and Robb Jett, Conservation Chair, Highland Park Ridgewood Reservoir Alliance

10:10-10:30 iLAB 2007 NYC From a Native Plant's Perspective, Choreographer Lise Brenner and BBG Native Flora Curator Uli Lorimer. Collaborators will discuss their residency activities at Floyd Bennett Field and Coney Island.

10:30-10:50 Regional Plan Association and Brooklyn Greenway Initiative: Rob Pirani, RPA's environmental director will discuss plans for the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway and other important projects in the metropolitan area.

10:50-11:10 iLAB 2008 Human Geography and the Practice of Presence: Choreographer Karl Cronin will discuss his residency along the East River and his approach to methodology and creative process.
Break, 10 minutes

11:20-11:40 iLAB 2008 Dead Horse Bay - a movement exploration: Sarah White will lead the audience through the processes she developed on site at Dead Horse Bay and will discuss the relationship of somatic practice to environmental systems.

11:40-12:00 PM Transcriptease- Living Sculpture: Mara Haseltine and James Cervino will discuss New York City's First Solar Powered Oyster Reef, a living artwork growing in the intertidal zone at College Point, MCNEIL PARK, Queens NYC.

12:00-12:40 An open panel on creative cross disciplinary collaboration
With Sarah White, Karl Cronin, Michelle Nagai, Lise Brenner, Uli Lorimer, Gerald Marks, Angel Ayon, Theresa Duhon, Colin Grubel, Mara Haseltine, and James Cervino.

12:40-1:00 Refreshments and small group discussions
3D Photo displays of Dead Horse Bay by Gerald Marks and Paul Johnson