SCANZ 2011: Eco sapiens event asks ‘What is our relationship to nature?’
For immediate release, January 6th 2011
Fancy wearing a dress designed to aid the pollination process of butterflies? Or learn how to mix yummy green smoothies on the front of a bicycle? Visitors to Taranaki may get the opportunity thanks to the event SCANZ 2011: Eco sapiens being held in Taranaki this month.
The 3rd SCANZ symposium and workshop event running at Owae Marae in Taranaki is to be the most ambitious yet, says symposium director Trudy Lane. The symposium begins on Friday 14th January and kicks off a creative residency event involving publicly installed art projects and workshops held throughout the city of New Plymouth, over the following two weeks.
With scientists and artists from Hungary, Belgium, France, the UK, Australia and New Zealand participating, Trudy Lane describes the interest in the 16 day event, as a real sign of an increasing desire to work across disciplines to share ideas about the state of human existence on the planet.
“Our ecological issues can feel overwhelming. We are interested to bring social and cultural play to the issues we face, to investigate our scientific and cultural understandings and to ultimately help us to re-imagine our relationships with nature”, says Trudy Lane. The SCANZ hui features discussions between artists and those involved in philosophy, astronomy, evolutionary biology, zoology, food science, physics and education.
Trudy Lane says that Owae Marae and the hui event structure is a perfect format for bringing together such a wide variety of people into discussions 
about evolution and adaptation, food, energy resources, culture and consciousness.
The SCANZ hui/symposium consists of 2 days of discussions and presentations, followed by a 3rd day of creative hands-on workshops which are free and open to the public, starting at 9am at Owae Marae.
Workshops include Wellington artist Dhyana Beaumont, teaching the art of making yummy smoothies with leafy greens and a bike-blender – a combination that will have all the kids loving their greens. Kids and adults alike will also enjoy making ‘Toothbrushes of Perception’ – tiny robots that mimic our own level of cognition 500 million years ago.
The two week creative residency projects that follow include workshops in which participants can learn how to create a co-beneficial system between biology and technology, develop solar powered art, question our perceptios of waste, maintain and pimp their bikes, create bamboo bike trailors and visit community fruit gardens.
Visitors to the botanical gardens at Pukekura Park are likely to meet the UK artist Karen Ingham wandering around in her ‘Daywear for Butterflies’ and ‘Nightwear for Moths’ dresses which have been designed to aid the pollinating process.
SCANZ 2011: Eco sapiens is supported by: Creative New Zealand, Govett Brewster Art Gallery, Now Future, Hive Taranaki, Let’s Go, PrimoWireless, Puke Ariki Museum and Library and the Western Institute of Technology.
Other highlights of the symposium and creative residency events include:
– Discussions of the cultures of trade with ethics philosopher Ruth Irwin
– Interdisciplinary discussions of the symposium
– Night sky tours of the scales of the universe with astronomer Paul Moss
– Toothbrushes of Perception workshop with zoologist Mike Paulin
– Biomodd Workshop combining biology and technology from Belgian artist, biologist, and gamer, Angelo
Vermeulen
To register or find out more information on SCANZ 2011: Eco sapiens go to:
http://www.intercreate.org/
For further information, participant interviews and photo opportunities:
Trudy Lane: 021 528 321, [email protected]
Trudy M Lane
Programmes Director, Intercreate.org
em_ [email protected]
http_ www.intercreate.org
Intercreate Research Centre, Western Institute of Technology at Taranaki
20 Bell Street, Private Bag 2030, New Plymouth, Aotearoa New Zealand
ph_ 0064 6 757 3100 x 8895
fax_ 0064 6 757 3232
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