Paris Is Burning (Jennie Livingston, 1990)
“Ultimately there is light and love and intelligence in this universe. And we are it; we carry that within us. It’s not just something out there, it is within us and this is what we are trying to re-connect with; our original light and love and intelligence, which is who we are, so do not get so distracted by all this other stuff, you know, really remember what we are here on this planet for.”
— Tenzin Palmo
Mpho Tutu
This Overview shows a deforested area of Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Since the mid-1980s, resettlement of people from the high plains of the Andes Mountains and a corresponding agricultural development effort known as the Tierras Bajas project has led to utter deforestation in this region. The pinwheel-patterned fields follow the San Javier resettlement scheme, with each pinwheel containing a central community that includes a church, bar/café, school, and soccer field. The light-colored areas of the formations are primarily fields of soybeans, and the dark lines running through the fields are “windbreaks” that prevent the erosion of the area’s unusually fine soil.
See more here: https://bit.ly/3r4P8V1
-16.622791°, -62.910703°
Source imagery: Planet
Elizabeth Gadd, we couldn’t tell the ocean from the sky. 2012
Saype, born Guillaume Legros, is a French artist living in Bulle, Switzerland. A self-taught artist, Saype’s giant biodegradable artworks adorn fields, are best seen by drones and last only days. The artist is represented by MTArt Agency since 2018. Beginning his career as a young graffiti artist, Saype’s work quickly gained recognition and became highly sought after, resulting in him landing his first gallery exhibition at age 16. Saype is a pioneer of the land art movement, focusing upon large scale biodegradable paintings with strong social messages.
Using 100% biodegradable paint composed of water, chalk, coal and casein, Saype’s ephemeral land artwork disappears after a month due to regrowth of the grass it is painted upon, the weather and the passage of visitors. With each project he completes, his recognition grows, capturing the attention of those on social media as well as landing extensive global media coverage. Career highlight for Saype have included gaining thanks from the Swiss President, Doris Leuthard, for the social vision of his art, in 2017, and following that in 2018, the publication of his book, ‘Green Art’, which highlights the innovative qualities of the biodegradable paint Saype has created.
Lucy Liu on what she hopes people take away from her art