"In a musical context, the word dissonance is defined as ‘a combination of tones contextually considered to suggest unrelieved tension requiring resolution.’ In other words, the creative resolution of dissonance is harmony.
Dissonance of the cognitive variety abounded at last week's G20 meeting in Seoul where world leaders once again declared they would "spare no effort" in addressing climate change. Yet when it came to acting on their promise to phase out fossil fuel subsidies, a measure which would cut nearly 6% of energy related CO2 while bolstering the growing clean energy sector, they were clearly not singing from the same hymn sheet."
Kelly Rigg, Executive Director of the GCCA
So, what inspires YOU to make a difference?
Announcing mosaic:EARTH, a collaboration between HARMONY and tcktcktck....
There's no time like now to join mosaic:EARTH, an interactive virtual installation currently under construction in real time by communities, organizations and plain ordinary people like you! mosaic:EARTH is a composite image of thousands of photos representing the work of tck's NGO partners on environmental and social justice campaigns united in the vision "for a fair, ambitious and globally binding climate treaty."
Joining 'mE' is the simple part. Zoom in and out of the mosaic and double click to view text related to embedded images of film. To upload, click "Tell the World", select an image from your computer write your message and click the orange "Finish" button.
Get some SKIN in the game
It's what you do next that's important. The mosaic widget links to link the Tck Action website where you can connect with dozens of action campaigns "from poverty alleviation through sustainable agriculture to wildlife conservation and clean energy initiatives." Link
A sampling of featured campaigns:
* Oxfam: Sow the Seed and support local farming initiatives
* 10:10 Global: Cut 10 percent of your carbon emissions starting in 2010
* ForestEthics: Sign a petition to keep pipelines out of the Great Bear rain forest
* Sierra Club: Encourage President Obama to "move beyond oil"
* Rainforest Action Network: Tell the U.S. EPA to veto the Spruce mountaintop mine
* Live Earth: Sign a petition to support clean water for all
* WWF: Help increase wild tiger populations at SaveTigersNow.org
* Climate Counts: Download an iPhone app and support climate-smart companies
* Suzuki Foundation: Encourage local leadership in a climate Race to the Top
* GermanWatch: Help Germany get to 100 percent renewables by 2050
* GCAP: Support poor communities affected by climate change
* It’s One Humanity: Share your message of hope for Cancun
* Post-Carbon Institute: Get the Post-Carbon Reader
* The Converging World: Attend Community Energy Open Day
The collaboration between tcktcktck and Harmony, The Price of Wales movie "is to show that the will of civil society is growing — to forge a sustainable and just society that works in partnership with nature," says Burkhart. "The solutions are available to us now; we just have to try out a 'new way of looking at our world'."
Take note of what's nearly slipped under the radar in the past few days with all the foolish fuss and folderal following the announcement of Prince William's upcoming wedding. The Prince of Wales, has truly had his sites on something of significantly true consequence.
HRH speaks to us commoners tonight in the television debut of his chef-d'œuvre
HARMONY, a film which aims to rally the global community to action to defend and heal the planet.
Harmony looks at the root causes of the global problems we face and offers solutions. HARMONY paints a picture of an awareness that is arising in people around the globe across boundaries of geography, race religion and socio-economic status. At a moment when we hear daily about challenges on an unprecedented planetary scale, Harmony proposes a way forward and provides the audience with a new perspective on the need to change our relationship with the planet. Harmony is a global call to action. We invite viewers to get involved and join those who are working to restore balance in their lives and on the planet. Harmony is narrated by HRH The Prince of Wales and produced and directed by award winning filmmakers with Academy Award and Directors Guild nominations to their credit.
Harmony screens Friday Night at 10PM PST on NBC.
Let it Grow. Photo by By NaPix -- Hmong Soul
Hmong, Sapa -- We are planting the Rice now.
Khu, with her son, Mi Tu, on her back, fertilizing after planting.
Hmong people are highly intelligent, resourceful and survivors in high altitudes and scares resources. They live off the land and at the same time in harmony with the land. They are animistic and believe everything has a soul, a stone a rice paddy, a mountain. People have several.
The planning season is almost over now. In the next few month, until harvest in September – October, they will tend the fields; watching water levels, weeding, fertilizing, guarding against animals and birds eating or spoiling the crop. Let us all pray for them to have a bountiful harvest. They really need it... to survive. link
By now most everybody's heard about Radiohead's Thom Yorke hooking up with the 350 EARTH project: "The plan is to make images from the skies // to remind those in Cancun that we’re running out of time // we can’t keep putting this off."
But, lest you forget, November 20 kicks off a 350's week long global climate art project. The dates were chosen to precede the COP16 UNFCCC talks in Cancun.
Our politicians have all the facts, figures, and graphs they need to solve the climate crisis. What they lack is the will. 350 EARTH will demonstrate the massive public support for bold climate action and the role that art can play in inspiring humanity to take on our greatest challenge: protecting the planet on which we live.
A few examples ...
New Delhi, India. November 23.
Location: Ryan International School, Rohini Extension, New Delhi
Description: In the second largest city in the world, over 5,000 schoolchildren will work with aerial artist Daniel Dancer to form the image of a giant elephant to ask world leaders to not ignore the "elephant in the room": climate change. The elephant is also the national heritage animal of India, worshipped in the form of Ganesha known as "the remover of all obstacles."
Daniel Dancer is a conceptual artist renowned for his sky art: giant living paintings made of people that are best viewed from above. Working in nearly every continent, Dancer leads "Art for the Sky," unique, large group, team building activities that "dissolve boundaries that often exist in our daily lives and awakens our ability to see that elusive Big Picture." These collaborative art pieces have regularly documented human impacts upon the natural world.
New York City: November 20
In NYC, we'll celebrate EARTH by helping to paint the roof of a school with a large climate change aerial art piece conceptualized by New York City based artist Molly Dilworth. This painting is being produced in conjunction with NYC CoolRoofs, a government program launched in September 2009 that focuses on painting the surface of rooftops to help reduce cooling costs, cut energy usage and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
The art project being done as part of 350 EARTH, Paintings for Satellites/561 Grand, is a graphic representation of the New York and New Jersey coastline after a 7 meter rise in sea levels. As with many coastal communities around the world, the New York harbor has infrastructure and a dense population living at or just above sea-level; even a small change in these levels threaten the livelihood and security of millions of inhabitants there and Dilworth is taking this opportunity to show what is at risk.
Broken Hill, Australia. November 26
Australian land artist Keith Chidzey and volunteers will travel to Broken Hill in the far north west New South Wales to create a giant work of art in the red earth of Australia’s outback. The art piece, a giant "350" made by volunteers with torches and lights, will be captured by acclaimed photographer Peter Solness. The display is being supported by Broken Hill City Council, the Silverton Windfarm and individual patrons on land set aside for creative works by the Land International Research Intiative at the UNSW research center at Fowler’s Gap.
Land artist Keith Chidzey received his Master of Fine Arts from the College of Fine Arts in Sydney. Peter Solness is a highly respected photographer who has worked in Australia and internationally for over 20 years. In 2006, TIME Magazine named him one of "Australia’s finest photographers." He is currently directing his energy towards fine-art photography, in particular the "Illuminated Landscape" essays, which explore the visual wonder of the Australian bush at night.
We need people to come and be "moving pieces of light" on Friday, November 26 at 9pm and 11pm.
Hill top view from the heart of the Cairo, Egypt Photo by'eindzel
Cairo,Egypt November 26
Join us in celebrating EARTH by taking part in a massive art piece that will be photographed from a satellite on Friday, 26 November. We will come together in the desert to create a traditional Egyptian scarab holding a "sun" composed of people and solar panels.
In ancient Egyptian culture the Scarab was associated with rebirth and regeneration and was often depicted pushing the ball of the sun across the sky – causing the succession of night and day. Using the scarab and the sun in this art piece is both a reminder of the integral part the sun has always played in Egyptian history, and a call for re-examining our modern relationship to this most abundant source of clean energy.
So what inspires you to make a difference? And what are you going to do about it?
spirit canoe by Fleur-Ange Lamothe