Video-poem as edible weeds field guide

With our recent project in Sydney I think we have achieved what we set out to do in showing how art can itself be a biophysical resource. In this new work, Natural Bitterness, I attempt a similar thing – the poem doubles as video field guide for edible weeds and wild foods abundant in our area this spring.



This poem is dedicated to Alexis Pitsopoulos, our local wild foods expert and cook.

Read more...

To be open to the world as much as possible

Amanita muscaria

"Once you abstract, to the extent that humans do, you lose the sense of connection to the earthly scentscience of another species... perhaps."

This is a beautiful example of budgetless (no waste) filmmaking – poetic, humorous, philosophical and essential; contiguous with mycelial, and in the spirit of interweb, networks.

Read more...

Big time crims come to Melbourne, welcomed by the government

The very same company who refuses to acknowledge its responsibility, pay out proper recompense and decontaminate the water in Bhopal in India twenty-five years after the world's worst chemical disaster, is currently building a chemical agriculture department at La Trobe University to deliver us more government supported monological and polluting commercialised science.

Here's how the Victorian Government's, Invest Melbourne, introduces us to Dow Chemicals:

Dow AgroSciences LLC, based in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, is a top-tier agricultural company that combines the power of science and technology with the "Human Element” to constantly improve what is essential to human progress. Dow AgroSciences provides innovative technologies for crop protection, pest and vegetation management, seeds, traits, and agricultural biotechnology to serve the world's growing population. Global sales for Dow AgroSciences, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company, are $4.5 billion. Learn more at DowAgro.

Really? Well we should all feel very secure and happy that we're in good hands after reading that.

But here's how independent filmmaker, Joel Gershon, introduces Dow (Union Carbide):



And here's the Yes Men's, Jude Finistera, expanding our understanding of what a real "Human Element" Dow could look like:



This would have to be one of the bravest, most brilliant actions against corporate intransigence in human history. Oh and in case you didn't know, Dow like Monsanto want to patent (privatise) the world's food seeds so as we will all be forced to eat chemical-reliant crops. Well, that's what you get when a chemical company buys/builds a science department in a university. Yippeeee! Brave Newer World.

Read more...

Greenwash #15 in Trouble - Grafting the Commons

I’ve been in the bush again, grafting a variety of fruit tree cuttings onto wild apples and hawthorns. I pruned quince, peach, apricot, Fuji, Granny Smith, and nectarine from local street trees. I spent six dollars fifty on grafting tape and from this I aim to make about a hundred grafts onto mature, wild stocks. My girlfriend Meg has nicknamed one of the hardy, well-established wild apples we’ve been experimenting on, The Fruit Salad Tree. It’s a work in progress to see how many different varieties of fruits we can grow onto it. Click image to read on...

Read more...