Page 19 - the Noise November 2017

SEEING THINGS WHOLE: CONVERGING ON ARCOSANTI
A long time ago in 1869, John Wesley Powell at 35 years old, took 9 men and 4 boats down the unexplored (by Europeans) Colorado River, not too far north of Flagstaff. While out West, he made friends with the Kaibab Paiute tribe, who called him Ka-pu-rats, which meant “no right arm” (he had lost it at the Battle of Shiloh in the Civil War).
Powell returned to Washington DC to head the US Geological Survey, and there he testi- fied before Congress with the news that the American West was arid and ... dry! He pointed out the US government could not continue its course of dividing the continent into individ- ually-owned 160-acre tracts. Populating the fragile ecosystems of the West, Powell noted, would have to be carefully planned, with slowly growing communities created to take ad- vantage of known watersheds and rare fertile soils. Seeing Things Whole, a book about the explorer by William DeBuys, describes Powell’s line of thought.
Of course, not too many Congressmen see things whole. Powell’s warnings went un- heeded, and much of what has been developed in the West since has been destructive to humans and ecosystems alike.
One hundred years after Powell, italian architect Paolo SolerI began construction of the “urban laboratory” ArcosantI in 1970, modeling a way an entire community could live sus- tainably on a marginal landscape in desert conditions. Since then, some 8,000 people from around the world have participated in construction workshops at the ArcosantI site, creat- ing a series of interconnected buildings and public spaces that explain how a culture-rich urban life might be lived successfully in harmony with a town’s natural surroundings.
These days, around 80 people live at ArcosantI year ’round, in the beginning stages of what SolerI termed “Arcology” — architecture and ecology as two parts of a complete, whole system. ArcosantI is meant to become a place for several thousand people, and eventually is meant to model how 8 billion humans might inhabit the planet successfully.
ArcosantI explains itself this way: Cities are living things; if they were to be designed and managed to evolve the way the rest of life on Earth has — contained in compact, complex, three-dimensional forms — not only could they sustain connected human lives within a dense urban experience, the architecture of the city would be more clearly understood as a working part of an area’s ecology — truly a long-term proposition.
Through a series of plans, models, publications, lectures, museum exhibitions (Reposi- tioning Paolo Soleri: the City is Nature is currently showing at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art through January 28, 2018), and ultimately the construction of a group of elegantly connected buildings near Cordes Junction, ArcosantI continues to demon- strate how a compact and complex design for cities could lead to gains not only for human life and culture, but gains for all life on Earth.
Now comes ArcosantI Convergence, November 10, 11 & 12, a weekend of next-genera- tion ideas, music, art, and workshops. Developed by members of the ArcosantI community, speakers, artists and musicians, the Convergence invites conscious individuals to become part of an expanded community for several days of serious exchange and great fun.
Jessica Hernreich, executive director at ECOSA, an ecological design school based in Prescott, will be among those presenting. “It’ll be a great opportunity for our students to interactwithArcosantIresidentsinamoreimmersivefree-formway,”shesays. Notingthat ECOSA founder Tony Brown headed engineering at ArcosantI in its infancy, Ms. Hernreich imparts: “It is important we garner each other’s success in solidifying the pathway between the ECOSA and ArcosantI cooperative.”
ArcosantI board member Mary Hoadley relates, “Convergence allows for such rich inter- action, the possibility of people to act out, which was a part of Paolo’s intent, both individu- ally and collectively — to practice citizen’s traits: consideration, good listening, and being open to new experiences in a materially frugal but experientially rich way.”
Convergence is a part of the ongoing experiment, part of nudging reality toward more coherence, experiencing beautiful architecture, music, and one another in the midst of an extraordinary natural landscape. For a sense of the fullness and to get involved in the Con- vergence Weekend, visit arco.life/convergence .
ARTSBRIEFS: NOVEMBER2017
A NOVEMBER SEDONA
Sedona Arts Center is featuring incred- ible multi-media works through December 31. Explore the culmination of 45 years of Batik work by Lydia Dillon-Sutton, as she takes this centuries-old process to a new and intricate level, focusing on Native American and animal subjects. See how Adryanna B. Ciera brings her sculptures to life with her accurately sculpted animals and her delightfully elongated human forms. Using Manzanita wood as her base, Mary Flaisig designs three-dimensional forms to color and delight any environment, while glass blower George Averbeck shares over 30 years of experience through his magnificent works. And take home one of Joan Roberts’ precious metal clay, silver, gold, bronze, and copper handmade works of jewelry art.
A reception for the show will be held on Friday, November 3 from 5-8PM, where local favorite George Averbeck will be in attendance. Come by to meet this artist who is as col- orful as his blown glass creations on display! His sense of humor and resounding laugh are sure to warm up the chilly fall night. Mr. Averbeck incorporates many colors and designs as he is blowing to create the elegant platters and Datura Vases he is known for, in addition to the functional tumblers, stemless wine glasses, bowls, and oil bottes for everyday use.
if you miss the reception, you can still see the exhibition at the Sedona Arts Center Gallery daily between 10AM and 5PM. More information at SedonaArtsCenter.org.
LAURA HINES’ EVOCATIVE WORK AT CREATIVE GATEWAYS
On the heels of its first anniversary celebra- tion, artist collective and gallery, Creative Gateways, is pleased to welcome artist Laura Hines into the space. An artist and illustrator, she is renowned for her evocative work that captures the sensitivity of her subjects in a pro- found overarching storyline.
As an illustrator, past clients have included photographers, perfumers, rock bands, jewel- ers, adventure resorts, and department stores. Her work has appeared in Creative Quarterly and Juxtapoz Magazine.
Ms. Hines’ work primarily focuses on animal and human portraiture, using graphite pencils to render the delicate details of her evocative, monochromatic images. With time and nature as constant themes in her work, she explores the hazy veil between the past and the present, man and beast, living and dead.
“My primary source of inspiration is 19th and early20th centuryphotography,”saysMs.Hines,
“Where the living, conscious gaze of the dead becomes unsettlingly palpable.”
She finds this same phenomenon in the animal gaze, where there’s an almost discernible spark of consciousness and spiritual recognition between species. “In that moment of con- nection,” she explains, “linear time and physical isolation fall away, revealing the invisible
corridors that connect human beings to otherwise intangible realities.”
Born and raised in the quaint, pastoral surroundings of Southern Ohio, Ms. Hines grew up immersed in nature and fascinated by its cycles of life, growth, and death. She graduated from Earlham College with a Bachelor’s in French in 2007, and after several years toiling at
the lowest rung of the corporate ladder, she began pursuing her lifelong passion for art.
in 2010, she earned a certificate in Natural Science illustration from the University of Washington in Seattle and that same year she worked for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as a Bartels Science illustration intern in ithaca, New York. A year later, in 2011, she participated in the illustration & Visual Storytelling summer residency at the School of Visual Art in New York City. Following the death of her father in 2013, Ms. Hines took a three-year hiatus from her art-making to explore her love of music and opera; but in late 2016, she decided to return to her true passion. Her work has been exhibited in Seattle, New York City, italy, New
Zealand, and throughout Arizona.
Visitors are welcome to meet Ms. Hines at work in her studio at Creative Gateways, 45
— Jeff Stein & Joey Bono
Birch Boulevard in Sedona. CreativeGateways.com
— Mindy Mendelsohn
www.thenoise.us | the NOISE arts & news | NOVEMBER 2017 • 19