AstroDime Transit Authority

Weed Science Society of America

Astrodime Transit Authority is working on a video about weeds.

In February 2011, AstroDime Transit Authority got a press pass to visit the Weed Science Society of America’s conference in Portland Oregon. Astrodimer Lena Munday asked members of the society “What is a weed?”

After two years of sitting on the editing room shelves, sam smiley is editing these series of interviews. Combining audio interviews, images from the conference program, and images from a book about plants written in the 1500′s, this promises to be a meditation on the nature of weeds and weediness.

So what is a weed? STS theorist Susan Leigh Starr might call it  “boundary object”, something that has different meanings to different groups of people.

I’m stumbling across all kinds of great sources, including an online library of public domain botanical books.

http://www.biolib.de/

I’m also looking at Asa Gray’s article “The Pertinacity and predominance of weeds” written in 1879

http://books.google.com/books?id=_48KAAAAMAAJ&lpg=PA234&ots=0iBRBGwJc1&dq=the%20pertinacity%20and%20predominance%20of%20weeds&pg=PA234#v=onepage&q=the%20pertinacity%20and%20predominance%20of%20weeds&f=false

and Gerard’s original text and images from his plant book written in 1633 titled The Herball, or, Generall Historie of Plantes

http://caliban.mpiz-koeln.mpg.de/gerarde/index.html

On August 8, 2011, AstroDime screened our latest draft of INtransit V.7: Ecology y Callejero at Helltown Workshop in Provincetown, Massachusetts, USA. It was very exciting, we got some great feedback, and now it just needs to be tightened up and subtitled in Spanish. We will do one more preview screening at Brickbottom and then go to print. We are always looking for donations for the cost of printing, you can donate from this website or email sam smiley at rocketscience(at) astrodime.org.

work by Joey Mars in the background

Just a quick update..AstroDime Transit Authority has been lucky enough to preview two screenings of our fall release, INtransit V.7: Ecology y callejero

119 gallery screening

The first one was at 119 gallery in conjunction with its show titled “Ecology”. We showed work by Mexican artist Gilberto Esparza, and a collaboration that animator Karen Aqua and musician Ken Fields made with the Sidney Gutierrez Middle School in Roswell, New Mexico. This also featured an interview with biologist David Morimoto on urban ecologies.

Ecology show opening

The second screening will be at the Helltown Workshop in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and in addition to including the above works, it will include an edit of “La Jam del Sur”, a graffiti party in Buenos Aires, and a video on the incoming tides in Hatches’ Harbor in Provincetown. It will be on Tuesday August 9 at 8:00 PM, in conjunction with the work of Joey Mars.

Here’s a link for more info!

hi folks..

AstroDime is proud to say that we will be presenting a 20 minute preview of Intransit V.7: Ecology y Callejero.

Check at the 119 Gallery web site for more info!

http://www.119gallery.org/?p=6073

Here’s our preview of the preview. Come take a look!

AstroDime correspondant sam smiley just came back from a trip to Buenos Aires..and in the process was lucky to be invited to a grafiti party and jam in an area neighborhood. All and all, she shot an hour of video. The final version will be on vimeo, and will also be included in INtransit V.7: Ecology/Ecología, as part of “ecología de callejero” or street ecologies.
Here’s an interview with Ariel (Scratch) one of the organizers. He is a DJ, and his cousin, Nelson (Next Graf) is a grafiti artist. Included are photos of the final works.

There’s a lot to report from this spring, but one thing that happened is that AstroDime had a chance to interview biologist Oscar Aranda, in Puerto Vallarta for the upcoming journal INtransit V.7: Ecology/Ecología. This journal will also be bilingual English/Spanish and should be completed by the end of this summer.

Oscar Aranda is the founding member of the Sociedad Ecología de Occidente. He is a biologist, and his work currently revolves around saving sea turtle eggs from the busy tourist beach of Puerto Vallarta.  His partner Mar Zuloaga Lopéz is the marketing director. The following is a video taking in the spring of 2011. For more info, or to donate or ask questions, go to http://www.vallartanature.org/.

As AstroDime searches for our new themes within the subtheme of “Ecology/Ecología”, we’ve come up with some good leads so far. If you are reading this and know of anyone who has work that works into these themes, please let sam know at rocketscience(at)astrodime.org by January 15, 2011.

Here are our themes..

-Kudzu (science, social, cultural)

-street art/ecologia de callejera

-gulf of mexico (oil spill)

-indigenous perspectives on ecology in the americas.

I’m sure there will be other themes as they develop.

-sam smiley

Here’s our intro to our latest journal: INtransit V.6: “scientific american”/La America Científica

Opening Sci Am Ciencia from AstroDime Transit on Vimeo.

Well, INtransit V.6: “scientific american”/La America Cientifica is on its way to being pressed! Here is a sample of the front/back cover. -sam smiley

Karen Aqua

One of the featured artists of INtransit V.6: “scientific american” is animation video artist Karen Aqua. Here is an interview exploring the process of creating “Twist of Fate”, a video piece exploring how modern illness intrudes and impacts one’s inner and outer experience. Her website is: http://aquak.home.att.net/index.html

1)   What was the process of making this film like for you?

Sometimes the film was really hard to work on emotionally. But most of the time it was very positive: empowering and cathartic, a sense of taking control. When I first drew an image visualizing a cancer cell, it was very important for me. Here was something totally invisible that was dangerous and threatening, that I was able to make visible.  In a way, I felt that I could see and confront the enemy.  Visualization has always been a powerful tool for me.

The process of animation is also very labor-intensive & repetitive and there are lots of mundane tasks (like coloring and cutting).  So the work was also very distracting and absorbing, as I spent many weeks/months/years simply creating the drawings (a very pleasant endeavor).

2)   Do you see the arts and sciences related? How?

Many artists incorporate the sciences into their work (including my studio mate, Jeanee Redmond, who works in clay). The sciences offer a rich source of inspiration, and the intersection between the 2 disciplines is open to endless possibilities of creative interpretations.

3)   Would you relate any part of your art-making process to therapy, in the sense that it allowed you to reframe or transform your way of looking at or experiencing this illness? Or in another therapeutic way?

For a while after diagnosis and starting treatment, I felt so not myself, identifying myself as a cancer patient who happened to be an artist.  A huge shift happened when I started to get back into my studio and get to work again.  I was able to identify myself as an artist who happened to be dealing with cancer. This was when I felt the essence of myself returning, and it really helped.

In the creation of this film and related drawings over eight years, I turned to my art-making is a necessary, nurturing, cathartic, and life-affirming endeavor, as well as a means for sharing this experience with others.

Still image from "Twist of Fate"

4)   What are some of your future artistic and/or personal goals?

I have recently started a new animation project inspired by New Mexico, using pastel drawings to explore elements of architecture and the natural world.  It connects to the natural sciences through an interest in and close observation of insects and plants.  With this new project, I am continuing to experiment with combining drawings with animated textures and found materials.