CRASH Talk: Kelp, Health, Wealth, and Art [Saturday February 22nd]
How can seaweeds tell us everything we need to know about our health and well-being?
Seaweeds play a significant role in our lives. They are an invaluable platform for the growth and transformation of ocean economies, socio-cultural habits, food security, and renewable energy resources. In my project “Anthropocene Kelp Forest,” I mediate data of the Southern California Kelp Forests through my weavings made with marine debris collected on the Channel Islands.
How do artists act as cultural mediators to translate scientific data? How can scientific innovation and technology drive, transform, and reinvent human culture? How can we embrace nature, culture, and science as an inseparable trio?
This presentation traces the uses of seaweeds in Art and Art history to inquire upon the direction that seaweeds, bio-design, energy tech, and Science + Art collaborations are innovating a responsible and adaptable future.
When: 3-4:30pm Saturday February 22nd
Where: 10526 Venice Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232
RSVP on Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/crash-talk-kelp-health-wealth-and-art-saturday-february-22nd-tickets-91898658361
RSVP on Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/CRASH-Space/events/268275339/
About the Artist:
Emma Akmakdjian is an installation artist that collaborates with scientists to translate processes of complex ecosystems, scientific laws, and object personifications in her woven art. Her creative research draws comparisons between systems of the body and the environment to
understand how we personify place and develop identity through our interactions with non-human nature.
Before beginning an installation, Emma harvests discarded artifacts of society, such as old fishing ropes, nets, tires, and plastics. The waste she collects becomes the materials for her sculptures that inquire about the sequestration of natural resources and the interwoven dynamics of globalized ocean economies that permeate our daily customs. These projects take shape in videos, performances, and woven installations that re-evaluate our daily habits of fishing, cleaning, cooking, weaving, and the subsequent roles we play inside the ecosystem.
Emma received her Bachelor of Arts from California State University Channel Islands and has studied at L’Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze in Florence, Italy. She resides in Southern California, where she collaborates with scientists and cross-cultural communities to bridge Science and Art.
