Pete Mulvaney stopped by the office to record his presentation from our Call to Action workshop. Pete has worked with the city of Chicago in a variety of capacities managing water. He does a fantastic job, and goes into great detail explaining the state of the Illinois region’s water system.
His presentation, in four parts:
Robert Krulwich of RadioLab, my favorite sciencey podcast, posted a fascinating short history of the transformation of the Mississippi river. Read the full story on Krulwich’s blog.
The Mississippi, like all great rivers, is constantly rearranging itself, filling in where it used to be, cutting new watery paths through fields, creating islands.
The Chicagoist posted an interesting commentary on the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District’s budget shortfalls.
Chicago alone is facing a budget gap of $654 million next year. Too bad they can’t use the $1 million of taxpayer money the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District spent over three years on lavish dinners and trips.
Our parade of the ‘Call To Action- Water’ group this past Saturday on Michigan Ave.
Sans Shakespeare and dribble in a little Henry David Thoreau, “Water is the only drink for a wise man.” And we drank and got drunk and we were wiser.
One summer now in twilight. Reflections on or about the water. A marathon experiential learning experience and a band of brothers and sisters.
Guest post by Reuben Keller.
You wouldn’t know it now, but Chicago was once an enormous swamp. If you’d begun at the lake and walked West, you would have crossed a series of dunes and swales, and then found yourself in miles of marsh and wetland. Only occasional ridges and high points would have supported any trees. Running through this was the small, seasonal, Chicago River. Not much to look at before Chicago was founded, Sieur de LaSalle commented in the 1680s that it was “ten to fifteen yards wide, and only a few inches deep”. At this time, the River that now sports tour boats, barges and yachts was “not even navigable by canoes, except after [the Spring] flood”.
If the river was so small, where was all of the region’s water going? Not a bad question, and the answer lies in the swamps. It used to rain about as much as it does now, but swamps act like giant sponges, soaking up and storing the rain. Not only that, but water sitting on the surface evaporated, and plants transpired huge volumes of water back to the atmosphere. About 70% of the rain the fell on the region went back into the atmosphere through one of these routes. The rest seeped into the Lake, into groundwater, or flowed into Lake Michigan through the Chicago River.
I was able to incorporate two songs from the upcoming Soundtrack of Design Interventions on Water, “Be Water, Be Cause.” The video here highlights a singular moment in early August of 2010, but it represents multiple moments to come. View Sound In Motion:The Blue Yarn Project from Rich Klevgard on Vimeo.
Saturday, August 28, 2010 came and went like the watery tide lapping at the shore. The sounds of the waves and the unbelievable churning of the water activism that began June 15th that would be Design Interventions on Water. A tour of a dirty river over drinks and conversation, 5 weeks of lectures, idea making, and planning the next “Be” in, captivated our attention. Such a diverse crowd that 16 of us were, or are I should say, smart, talented, inventive, and driven to carve a path of awareness.
I had my own share of enlightenment in this workshop that came in the form of humor, anxiety and wanting. The humor for me is in our language, the superb and superfluous entanglement of our talks and our quiet pauses. The puns that came and went, the longer lines of lexicon bridging us closer to defining our cause, or further complexing us as we tried to attach our movement to some firmament. Hah, the liquid and solid, colliding and slipping aside of each other. An unwieldy lovers’ embrace, all of us and the entire world in a relationship with water. In a breath our past able to be washed away, a life of wastefulness cleansed. One flush, 1.5 gallons down the drain. My showers are shorter, and my teeth are clean but not at the cost of water waste. I used the language we learned to teach. To teach my family, my two young sons, an inordinate number of soccer players young and old, and those in my community that water conservation is a “Yes!”, not a “…maybe.”
The anxiety came from a plethora of ideas, concept, visual demonstrations, and a brilliant recant time after time of projects that took effect. Big ideas with simple messages fusing themselves to our group week after week. It was a lot. I have been a stay at home father for my kids and my wife for almost 10 years. I eschewed work opportunities to forge endless possibilities in domestic quality control in the Klevgard home. The anxious sweat of working with grownups to create, interact, and execute was daunting. Our group was a deep tunnel of creativity, with its endless stream of thought, attitude, and D. I. Y.
The wanting proved to be an odd discourse with myself. To be in a crowd of such monstrous ability and to lust for a language that was simple, directed and to the point. I talk myself in circles sometimes, a repetitive wave that sometimes forgets to listen. This summer I heard the voices, I saw the visions, I tasted the water, I got the religion. I believe in water. The want, or the thirst was apparent in me, but it was recognizable in all of us.
The two billion gallon man costume was brilliant. I remember handing some earphones to Rick hoping to give the soundtrack to an immeasurable dance that only he could choreograph. How naive. The sound was in his ears already, he didn’t need to hold the conch to his ear to get the beat. A whirling shaman leading a parade. I could feel Lisa Korpan’s ice message melting. I started handing out cards. More people began to hand out cards. I started to tie blue yarn onto people’s wrists. The watery message of our cause was sliding away. Thankfully the beach opened itself to us, and our march that was short, suddenly felt redeeming. The shiny water reflections of Julie Heyduk tickled us and we moved forward. The dancing shaman wiggled, and jiggled in way that only a Kool Aid man could know. A slip and slide, sand sculptures, more ice messages, and finally a baptismal closing photo to round up our day. Orchestrated by Rick and his brother Bill, we gathered and one by one and then stepped out of the photo with finally only the two billion gallon man remaining. “We’ll animate it in reverse!” he called out.
That’s exactly my sentiment as well. Let’s do it again, let’s do it everyday.Let’s animate it in reverse!!!
WATER IS LIFE!
August 21, 2010, 2:30 PM, Buena Avenue and Lake Shore Drive, Chicago;
3.28 gallons of fresh Lake Michigan water, intercepted on its way to the Gulf of Mexico
Using basic elements—sunlight, shade, reflective material—a message is shown. Simple—”Love Our Lake”. Let it be what it means to you. Bathe in it, swim in it, drink it, let it wash over you. KNOW it. Know that every drop matters. That every drop, every glassful, every open faucet of water that goes down our drains is collected with our sewage and sent down the river, into the Mississippi and into the Gulf of Mexico. Every drop, every glassful that is reserved or put back into the ground remains within the Great Lakes Basin.
Tune in, turn it off and put any possible back. Love Our Lake.
These photo’s are a personal response to the Lake Michigan. Not so much a quantitative but an emotional reflection on the lake as an indelible link bonding generations of Chicagoans and Midwesterns having grown up near its shores. Shared family memories and reflections has nurtured and sustained us emotionally as the water has nurtured us physically. The fact that the Lake Michigan can be compromised as a natural eco-systems and be allowed to degenerate and spoil and thereby lost to future generations is unfathomable.i More to the point (and see our informational resources at www.itsourwater.org/our).
Illuminations is a series of site specific public interactions employing projected messages in the vicinity of the Chicago River. The objective is to bring awareness to Chicago’s use/abuse of its most precious natural resource, Lake Michigan, and damaging effects of the reversal of the Chicago River. As a gently disruptive media presentation, the illuminated typographic messages unexpectedly draw attention to water issues through meaningful juxtapositions with Chicago’s cityscape.
This Call to Action project was initially performed and documented in August 2010. However, as additional projections are performed and documented, the video presentation will be continually updated with new footage, new messages, and new locations. It is truly alive.
It’s Our Water. It’s Our Responsibility.
—
Music by The Sundresses (song: The Barking House / album: Barkinghaus / courtesy of: the All Night Party / water type: Fresh).
Moving Designer, Stacy Peterson, leads a secessionist movement unlike any other. With this headline: Great Lakes Basin Secedes and Forms New Nation! Stacy and her collaborative partner, Preethi Venkataramanujam stir the water with their 4 week workshop at the Chicago Art Department Studio, 1 night a week (Thursdays, 6:30-9:30). The dates of the workshop are September 9, 16, 23 and 30.. The workshop culminates in an art opening at our Pilsen gallery. The Chicago Art Department Studio is at 1732 West Hubbard.
http://www.chicagoartdepartment.org/2010/08/call-for-artists-great-lakes-workshop/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secession
Today marked the completion of our four day soccer camp. Our days were filled with excellent soccer matches, laughter, games, and an introduction to the stewardship of water. A simple yarn bracelet is tied on each wrist, and a moment is shared. An education and an awareness is given. The blue yarn is tangible but it is temporal. The most trusted knots slip away, threads become frayed and the wearable form erodes. Does it wash away or is the memory implanted? Is this knowledge of water stewardship remembered and passed on to others? Is the belief in water strong. Is our belief in ourselves strong enough to carry on a lifelong pledge to conserve and respect our most precious resource?
I believe in water, and the water believes in me.
As these works leave our physical, our issues (until addressed) remain evermore. Chicago is in need of reversing it’s relationship with water. From a one of abuse and mistreatment to one of respectful use and treatment. As a citizen of one of the greenest cities in the nation, I know Chicagoians want a sustainable and clean enviroment. We must not forget the blue while we think green.
“Chicago is the nation’s only major city that doesn’t disinfect its wastewater before pumping it back into the environment.” Obama, U.S. EPA push for cleaner Chicago River; June 01, 2010 Michael Hawthorne, Tribune reporter
A whirlwind tenacity replete with verve for the visual language is one way I describe Nick Adam. I caught his work in a gorgeous moment with my son Max while at the Johalla’s Projects Gallery in the Bucktown neighborhood in Chicago. Nick Adam believes and displays his passion for our Call to Action with vigor. I love the liquid flourishes he applies to his typographic message. It is visible and it is coy. It is an irresistible tug at our heartstrings.
I like it, immensely.
Dr. Masaru Emoto has proven that by producing different focused intentions through written and spoken words and music and literally presenting it to the same water samples, the water appears to “change its expression”. He developed a technique using a very powerful microscope in a very cold room along with high-speed photography, to photograph newly formed crystals of frozen water samples. Not all water samples crystallize however. Water samples from extremely polluted rivers directly seem to express the ‘state’ the water is in.
I took a side trip this past week. An excursion away from connectivity, I relied on spotty cel service to deliver emails to my phone that from time to time would fall in and out of range. This tiny device, so reliable and not so. A miniature vortex, that finally ran slowly out of battery. No beeps, no alerts, no ringtones, now I was left with the sound of conversing voices, birds and the sounds of my children and my nieces frolicking in the water of a valley long filled by the Tennessee Valley Authority. Oh, and by the way, it was filled with a lot of water.
I caught fish, I played innumerable sequences of my water soundtrack. I thought about activism and awareness, and I thought about all 16 of us. I thought about our collective efforts as a conduit, as a multifaceted interface between our call to action and the audience that awaits.
Today, I introduced the Blue Yarn Project to 32 soccer players, the youngest only 6 years old and the oldest 13 years old. Pausing on one knee they listened to my 3 minute talk of what we had accomplished today as soccer players and what we would accomplish tomorrow as we made our first step toward becoming water stewards, and water ambassadors.
It’s a leap of faith. It’s a vocal act of embrace, one generation to another, simple, singular and beautiful.
120 ice drops, and counting…Coming soon, our first ice message on a sidewalk near you!
Recently a friend commented that our water murals and ice messages might be seen as wasteful and counterproductive to our cause, asserting that we are using water for non-utilitarian purposes. But at this moment, there is an absolute need to capture the attention of the people of Chicago, to initiate a dialogue by expressing the preciousness of water.
Crafting our messages with water (and ice) is a deliberate and thoughtful use of our water. Running the water needlessly while brushing your teeth is a thoughtless use of water. At a larger scale, Chicago thoughtlessly discards 2 billions gallons of fresh water a day, diverting it to the Gulf of Mexico rather than giving it back to the Great Lakes.
Fresh water is abundant in the Great Lakes region, but not infinite. Be thoughtful in your use of our precious resource.
That is if Chicago returned to the natural cycle of our water ways that once existed. Chicago’s use of Lake Michigan and the Chicago River is linear. All… 100% of our water be it from the faucet, hose, fountain, toilet, et cetera comes form Lake Michigan, 99% is never returned to the Lake or the Great Lakes. Ontop of that, Chicago sends that water downstream in an infected state, full of effluent laden with human waste.
As the title of my second mural depicted here states… “We could be forever”.
Love, The Lake project
Nick lines a dropped stroke adding depth and typographic impact.
Oscar Arriola, other wise known as Fotoflow is Chicago’s leading scene/street photographer and the highest ambassador through Chicago’s Art scene. I must graciously thank him for covering the removal of the first mural as well the installation of the second one at Johalla Projects.
More of Oscar’s photos from the series can be seen here: Oscar Arriola’s Flickr.
Oscar blog covering Chicago’s art scene: Oscar Arriola’s Blogger
Thanks and enjoy the day,
Nick
This photo is part of a short series “Second City, Third Coast”, investigating Chicago’s relationship with water. The full series is shown above. “Love Your Lake” will be on exhibit at the Chicago Photography Center from Sept, 10-Oct.1, 2010, as part of an exhibition of student work. Please join me at the opening on Sept. 10, from 7pm-10pm! (CPC is located at 3301 North Lincoln Avenue)
Mayor Richard M. Daley introduced an ordinance to the Chicago City Council that would protect historic water tanks from extinction by requiring an automatic review of all proposed demolitions.
For our last night of speakers, we had the pleasure of having Bruce Mau, Leslie Thomas, Andrew Fenchel, and Robyn Waxman (virtually) in our presence. They inspired us to refine our messaging and to think of effective ways to engage an audience. MORE
“An ephemera exposition dialoguing Water’s relationship with Chicago. Over seven days, communication-artist Nick Adam will remove and install one mural a day that anthropomorphizes our relationship with water. He’d like to personally invite you to literally watch all these works wash away.”
Johalla Projects, July 30th thru August 6th. 1561 North Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60622
Sunday’s install is 7pm-9pm during Wicker Park Fest. Watch from the North-Stage were Baroness and Torche will be performing live.
The water, it’s ours. Yours and mine, the birds and bees, all the plants and all the trees. Life is a relationship between being and water. MORE
This morning at Stanley’s Fruit & Vegetables I bought a pound of each for a total of $1.50. It takes 55-gallons of water to grow 1-pound of oranges and a 103-gallons for 1-pound of bananas. To help illustrate waters worth and roll in our diet I gave the fruit stand in this Logan Square community mural some Point of Purchase signage.
Another water related inset in this mural is an ode to Rich Klevgard’s concept of the Spanish Take Me to The River cover. “Lower left corner; Llévame Al Rio”, para ti Señor.
This is a sneak preview of the Illuminations project, which will be unveiled over the next few weeks along the banks of the Chicago River. These luminous, site specific design interventions are intended to engage, inform, and activate Chicago citizens on issues of water stewardship.
More to come in the following weeks.
This brings to mind one of the most known verses of Genesis…”For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:19). Perhaps we can begin to craft a new verse.
Yesterday Peter Mulvaney came to speak to us about Chicago’s sewer system. He hit all the major points from our privileged status as Chicagoans, to the big tunnel project, and storm water management. MORE
The perfect desk mantra for the citizen-resident-decision makers of this fine city.
Type by Sighn, Rendering by Rick Valicenti.
Last night Elliot Earls, Maria Scileppi, Mike Essl & Robb Irrgang shared their experiences with us as subversive influences. MORE
Chicago – We did a little reversing yesterday! Excitement is the wrong attribute for those italics… anger is much more appropriate. They put our fecal matter in Lake Michigan. The city of Chicago has issued a Swim Ban based on the amount of human waste and chemicals released into the lake. Yet they still invites citizens and tourist alike to “Come Out and Play”.
MORE
Photo follow up to Nicks posting about the opening of the locks at Wilmette and Chicago River . . . . and some research . . . From Wikipedia on sewage and the Great Lakes – ‘As the sewage mixes with the natural processes in the Lakes and surrounding areas, algae grows which results in rotting matter on the beaches, and good organic matter falling to the bottom. The more blockages there are in the water results in an oxygen deprivation, which pauses the natural processes of the Lakes.’ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Lakes
Beach Combing Day- After opening of Chicago River locks and bacteria spilling over onto beaches.
Nature has a way to level the playing field.
This “our” we speak of is not the royal tense, it is not the property of a city nor that of a government. The term “our” is used in a the universal tense, it is yours and mine… it’s the birds and bees… all the plants and all the trees. This arrow points to the Chicago River, Chicago’s internal waterway that legislation allows us to pollute to the point of poison, and send down the Mississippi for others to drink.
Chicago – as we are one of the greenest cities in America, we are capable and willing of so much more.
Fight the heat, stay hydrated, enjoy the day.
- Nick
Drought, lack of winter snow, circumstances of nature and perhaps some manmade influences help to cause the Traverse Bay to recede. This photo is of a young Max Klevgard navigating the rocks of the bay on Old Mission Peninsula in Michigan near Traverse City in 2000. Imagine if we depleted Lake Michigan?
I could not help but lose myself in the complexities of the bandwagon when Bill Linehan presented his gorgeous picture of his retro presentation screen erected at the beach. The screen, reminiscent of the home movies shown in so many living rooms across America that retold the past to audiences, both entranced and not so. The ironical placement of it on the beach in front of the glorious lake rather than positioned prominently in front of a sofa and a Barcalounger. All slideshows and home movies from the past, retelling that specific personal story of a family, any family. Something familiar here, yet not. Anticipate this! Again a torrential downpour of ideas of what to do, how to do it, what more to do, and how to improve on that cascaded across the room. The energy is an a spring of eternal impetus. Thank goodness. Here we sit however at the crossroads of strategy and execution.
MORE
All bodies of water a capable of Greatness. Lake Michigan is the second largest of the five Great Lakes (the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth), and the only one located entirely in the United States. This title “Great” speaks size. Greatness in reference to fresh-water must be defined to be: Drinkable, Usable, and Sustainable.
Monday August 9th —Thursday August 12th
10 am – 12 noon
Taylor Park Soccer Field in Oak Park, Illinois.
Each day during our annual event of Max’s and Sam’s Summer Soccer Camp I will be teaching a next generation of water stewards a little something gleaned from the Moving Design Intervention on Water sessions. To mark our solidarity each camper (ages 6-14) will receive a bracelet signifying their membership in The Blue Yarn Project.
Affixed to either their wrist or ankle this thin strand of blue yarn will serve to remind each of them of their relationship to water for as long as they wear it and beyond. Membership in The Blue Yarn Project encourages a personal sterwardship and encourages members to be the voices for our only non-renewable resource.
Stay tuned in as we promise to post a few of our pep talks from The Blue Yarn Project members as they share, comment and change the world!
Yesterday Edward Glatfelter spoke to us about some of the international policies around the Great Lakes and water conservation ‘hot topics’. He reminded us that water is a personal issue, and that stewardship at a personal level can make an impact.
Edward Glatfelter is the Water Conservation Program Director for the Alliance for the Great Lakes. Ed is responsible for the Alliance’s water conservation work in all the Great Lakes states, including advocating for strong implementation of the Great Lakes Compact.
MORE
Alan Bell’s talk last night brought to light his approach to generating a campaign that is inclusive and without barriers. I start to examine this within our various projects. The water murals come to mind first as they are visually driven in a public space. They also are accessible in so much that minimal tools and materials are required. The canvas is an air polluted wall, the tools or brushes are brooms, and the “paint” is simply water. Imitating this mural in a viral way is both inexpensive, though somewhat time intensive, and relatively easy, making the push or spread of the viral message take on a more dynamic edge. Who else can spread our message, or perhaps even their own through cityscapes and urban areas? The question herein lies, “Who’s listening?” So Alan Bell’s message of no barriers takes on yet another layer, the audience and their involvement. First off, the campaign gives them a personal stake, if the message or its medium allows some ownership, then perhaps imitation or evangelizing can take place; i.e. “Let’s talk, lets engage!”
Early today my son Max and I did our own experiment in the private space of our garden. Inspired by both Nick Adam and Andy Goldsworthy, we crafted our message from paper, with scissors and then arranged it on slate rock. Stencils misted by water spray, then removed to leave the underlying words.
Last night, we were joined by three idea catalysts: Dean Donna V. Robertson of IIT/College of Architecture, Alan Bell of The Elements Group, and Jeanne Gang of Studio Gang Architects. They shared their experiences with us and catalyzed our thinking. MORE
A week ago I felt the energy of a roomful of zeitgeists What a whirlwind. From one evening of contemplation and energy from two dynamic artists: Christopher Baker and Lincoln Schatz, to a slight lull. I could feel the tide of water concern recede, and we all found ourselves hesitant. We challenged ourselves. Did we have a purpose? Had the ownership of the cause been set adrift without direction, without wind in its sail? MORE
On Tuesday, July 13, 2010 Reuben Keller came to speak to the Call to Action group. Reuben is a community ecologist from the University of Chicago and spends a lot of time thinking about invasive species in fresh water ecosystems. Most of his research deals with the traits of species that make them capable of entering new regions and becoming prolific.
After earning his PhD at the University of Notre Dame, Keller held research positions at the University of Cambridge, and then at the University of Notre Dame where he edited the book Bioeconomics of Invasive Species. His presentation on invasive species in the Great Lakes enlightened us on the severity of the situation. MORE
I spent some time contemplating this journey our water takes; 2 billion gallons of it down the Mississippi everyday. So I pulled a Huck Finn and took a virtual trip with it.
Just to the east of Michigan Avenue one block south of the Wacker Street bridge is a construction barricade re-contextualized for our design intervention. While these images could benefit from an informative didactic, today they are out there in public. The first image illustrates the 2,000,000,000 drained each day from our Lake. The other two splish/splash a reminder of these hard summer rains and their impact on Chicago’s storm water management system. Shedd, Navy, Pier, and Marina, all unintentionally perfect tags. MORE
Watch it wash away… just as our water, as our waste, our chemicals this too shall wash way. Our issues are not with, what is as-clear-as-day… but with what is as-clear-as-water. MORE
“The Barkinghaus” by the Sundresses
A protest song documenting a battle set along the Ohio River. A nightmare or reality? Who controls the river? Smoke & mirrors infrastructure? Price fixing? Could it be?
They’re coming through the roof!
This song written and performed by The Sundresses of Cincinnati, OH. Released on their 2009 album, The Barkinghaus.
Brad Schnittger, singer/songwriter of the Sundresses and longtime friend, has agreed to perform troubadour style at the Moving Design grand event (pending it works with his tour schedule). He knows a lot of songs about water and protest, plus several baptismal hymnals.
The immediate focus of the Moving Design Intervention on Water is to begin by establishing and exposing our personal and local relationships to water. We have given ourselves permission to define ‘our’ however we desire.
Our approach is simple and challenging—unite content with expression. Or more directly, be (one with) water.
For the next 3 weeks we will leverage our individual and collective assets:
creativity / imagination / mistakes
personal voices
collected data
public spaces (digital & analog)
colleagues (here or elsewhere)
your ability to work/play within the
extreme constraints of no time & money
and
everything that has come before us.
We hope you will join us in the deep end.
Here’s what to anticipate from us:
http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/06/ehlers_hoekstra_urge_obama_to.html
Bud Rodecker07.6.10 3:04 pm