Bermuda at last…

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After 20 days of travel and work, passing by Dubai, Beijing and LA I arrive triple jet-lagged in Bermuda. Luckily the departure is delayed a bit because of some additional instalment of a CO2 sensor to measure the changing acidity of the ocean.

The crew is exited to leave however. Below captain Clive on right is pointing at the center of the North Atlantic Gyre, our first goal.

Exhibition: La Conquête de l’Espace

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14/11 – 13/12/2009: ‘La Conquête de l’Espace’, HISK/Higher Institute of Fine Arts, Ghent, Belgium
Location: Charles de Kerchovelaan 187a, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Curated by Oscar van den Boogaard
With works by: Mike Carremans, Ermias Kifleyesus, Emi Kodama, Niklaus Rüegg, Ruth Sacks, Bastiaan Schevers, Anne Schiffer, Joris Van de Moortel, Frederik Van Simaey, Maarten Vanden Eynde, Sarah Westphal

The Higher Institute of Fine Arts (HISK) organizes postgraduate education in Flanders in the field of the audiovisual and visual arts. It provides approximately twenty-five young artists from Belgium and abroad with a studio of their own for the duration of two years along with specific, tailor-made guidance.

At the HISK, emphasis lies mainly on individual practice with an international focus. The visiting lecturers are crucial.
Artists, curators, critics and theoreticians pay individual studio visits at regular intervals. There are also frequent visits to significant art events and lectures, seminars and workshops are provided. The HISK also offers technical facilities and production opportunities.
Thanks to the unique HISK concept, the participants are given every opportunity to invest in critical research of their work in order to situate it within a broader artistic, cultural and societal context.

At the end of the two-year working period, the participant receives a certificate of ‘Laureate of the HISK’. The HISK is officially recognized as Higher Institute and is financed by the Flemish Community – Ministry of Education and supported by the City of Ghent.

Since 1997, 148 laureates have graduated from the HISK. The largest part of them are currently building up a successful professional career in the Belgian and international art world.

Pangaea Explorations

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In September 2009 I went to Lagos, Portugal to meet the team of the Sea Dragon, a 19m steel hulled sailing vessel built in the UK in 2000. One of twelve identical yachts commissioned by Challenge Business, these boats took part in the toughest yacht race in the world, the BT Global Challenge, sailing around the world against prevailing winds and currents. In 2007 it was acquired by Pangaea Exploration LLC and refit to function as a research vessel with the aim to host and collaborate with different organisations and foundations investigating the pollution levels of our natural environment and the global impact on societies worldwide. In January 2010 I will join them together with Lam Moreels and Marjolijn Dijkman to cross the North Atlantic Gyre, from Bermuda to the Azores.

Lam Moreels talking to Ron Ritter of the Sea Dragon

Exhibition: The Biennale Knokke 2009

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11/06 – 06/09/2009: The Biennale Knokke 2009, Knokke, Belgium

Initiated by Hoet Bekaert Gallery. With works by hannes vanseveren (BE), kelly schacht (BE), erik schmidt(DE), adam leech (USA/BE), david adamo (USA), surasi kusolwong (THA), birgit brenner (DE), joris van de moortel (BE), mekhitar garabedian (BE), chris newman (DE), matthieu ronsse (BE), pietro roccasalva (IT), international festival(SE), maurizio, elletrico (IT), fien muller (BE), takaaki izumi (J), aaron van erp (NL), amanda ross-ho (USA), masato kobayashi (J), veerle beckers (BE), lars rosenbohm (DE), caroline mc carthy (GB), stefano cagol (IT), maarten vanden eynde (BE), michael borremans (BE), koen van den broek (BE), thomas bogaert (BE), celine butaye (BE), emilio lopez-menchero (BE), the *** imshoot (BE)

Workshop: Plastic Island

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01/07/09: Workshop ‘Plastic Island’
Organised by Rudolph Eilander

With: Wubbo Ockels (TU Delft / ID ASSET), Rinus Van den Berg (DSM), Vincent Hendrickx (Boskalis / Hydronamic), Jan Willem Verweij (Vuyk Engineering Rotterdam), Harrie Camps (Plasti cs Europe), Gerrit Klein Nagelvoort (AKG Polymers), Alfons Smale (Witt eveen en Bos), Peter Nossin (DPI, Dutch Polymer Institute), Ruth Van de Moesdijk (M2i, materials innovations institute), Polite Laboyrie (Rijkswaterstaat), Michel van Schie (Spark design & innovation), David Biloen (European Patent Office), Jos Karstel (KPC management), Maarten Vanden Eynde (visual artist – Plastic Reef)

Lecture: World Ocean Day 09

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08/06/2009: World Ocean Day 09, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, NL

Throughout the world scientists, politicians and the fishing industry will meet to discuss our Oceans’ problems and to talk about the possible solutions to preserve wildlife, while at the same time fish economically and sustainably. The Netherlands too is celebrating World Ocean Day. Delft University of Technology and Erasmus University rotterdam are organising an international conference at the Oceanium of rotterdam Zoo on this special day.

In the evening a major event will be held in the auditorium of Erasmus University Rotterdam for the general public. In the aula, which accommodates 1,000 people, inspirational individuals associated with our ocean will take the stage: Fabien Cousteau (oceanographer and grandson of the legendary Jacques Cousteau), Captain Paul Watson (founder of Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace), David Doubilet (underwater photographer National Geographic), Maarten Vanden Eynde (Visual Artist of ‘Plastic Reef’) and Professor Dr. Michael Braungart (Cradle-to-Cradle) will share their visions regarding the ocean and in particular the opportunities it affords humanity and the entire planetary ecosystem.

(left to right: Maarten Vanden Eynde, Captain Paul Watson, David Doubilet and Fabien Cousteau)

Plastic flotsom from Hawaii

Plastic Reef, 2009

B.E.A.C.H.

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In February 2009 I went to the Hawaiian Islands to collect more plastic. They are located in the middle of the North Pacific Gyre and get a lot of plastic flotsom on their beaches. For one day I joined the volunteer group B.E.A.C.H. who is collecting, categorising and counting every piece of plastic they find. They shipped five boxes after my departure which I melted on to the first Plastic Reef.

Beach Environmental Awareness Campaign Hawai`i (B.E.A.C.H.) is a non-profit, volunteer organization concerned with bringing awareness and solutions to the problem of marine debris and litter on Hawai`i’s beaches.  B.E.A.C.H. organizes litter prevention campaigns, educational presentations to schools and community organizations and beach clean-ups in order to educate the community about the need to care for Hawai`i’s beaches, coastline and marine life.

Lecture: USC / University of Southern California

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11/02/2009: Lecture about the ‘Plastic Reef’ project at ROSKI School of Fine Arts @ USC / University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA

The University of Southern California Roski School of Fine Arts offers Bachelor of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Arts degrees at the undergraduate level, and Master’s degrees in Fine Arts (MFA) and Public Art Studies (MPAS). Approximately 275 students are currently enrolled as undergraduate majors, and 50 students are enrolled in the two graduate programs.The school currently employs 21 full-time faculty and 42 part-time faculty.

The school was founded by artist William Lees Judson as the College of Fine Arts in 1895, making it the oldest art school in the region. Originally located in the historic Pasadena Arroyo on the site now occupied by the Judson Stained Glass Studios, the school moved to the USC campus in 1919, further enriching students’ education within the inspiring and stimulating context of downtown Los Angeles.

In 1919 the school became known as the School of Art and Architecture, eventually splitting into separate professional schools in 1975. For a time the school conferred degrees in art history, though since 1996 the Department of Art History has been located in the USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.

With a major endowment gift from Ed and Gayle Roski in 2006, the school officially became the USC Gayle Garner Roski School of Fine Arts. Gayle Roski is an alumna of the school and a member of the school’s Board of Councilors. Ed Roski is an alumnus of the USC Marshall School of Business and currently serves as Chairman of the USC Board of Trustees.

Today the school is dedicated exclusively to the visual arts, offering courses in painting and drawing, design, photography, digital media, printmaking, ceramics, sculpture, and theory and criticism. Approximately 75 students graduate each year with 15 of those receiving their graduate degrees.

Exhibition: This Is The Future Before It Happened

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Exhibition curated by Julie Deamer, director of Outpost
February 7 – March 14, 2009
The Glendale College Art Gallery
1500 N. Verdugo Rd, Glendale, CA 91208
Featuring work by Jeff Cain, Krysten Cunningham, Tom Dale, Veaceslav Druta, Adam Frelin, Olexander Gnilitsky, Vlatka Horvat, Tim Hyde, Yuliya Kostereva + Yuriy Kruchak, Nebojsa Milikic, Maarten Vanden Eynde, and Angie Waller

Maarten Vanden Eynde
Plastic Reef – sample, 2009

Algalita Marine Research Foundation

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Alguita Alguita.

In January 2009 I went to Los Angeles to do preliminary research for the ‘Plastic Reef’ project. I met Charles Moore, who discovered the North Pacific Garbage Patch in 1997, at Algalita Marine Research Foundation in Long Beach. He gave me the first samples of plastic debris collected on his previous research expeditions in the North Pacific Gyre which I used to make the first ‘Plastic Reef’ for the exhibition This Is The Future Before It Happened in Glendale College Gallery, Los Angeles. Afterwards I went to his house and to his boat Alguita, which is used for all the research expeditions of Algalita Marine Research Foundation.

Charles Moore.