Lakeside Arts
Part of University of Nottingham
Lakeside Arts

Close up of the earth in the night sky

EARTH DAY 2020

2020 marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, a movement created to celebrate the wonders of the Earth and to remind everybody to treat the planet with kindness and gratitude. With over 75,000 partners in 190 countries, Earth Day plays a significant role in the activation of the environmental movement on a global scale. The arts can be a powerful force in which matter such as sustainability can be brought to a focal point of conversation. Here, we look at productions, concerts and exhibitions related to Lakeside’s past and future programme that demonstrate how art and the natural environment are closely intertwined.

ICE MUSIC

This November, we will be celebrating Scandinavian culture, tradition and nature, through traditional and contemporary music. One of Europe’s most accomplished artists, Terje Isungset, will mark 20 years of ice music. Isungset is unique in that he has specialised in using the pure material of ice to form his percussion instruments. Admittedly, this isn’t the easiest way to make music, given that in live performances his instruments melt in front of the audience, but the visuals of this starkly reinforce the climate crisis

Watch Isungset and Lena Nymark perform the song A Glimpse of Light in a cave underneath the stunning Nigard Glacier in Norway. Using ice instruments formed from the natural environment, the piece is a reminder both of the beauty of the natural world, as well as the incredible feats that it can achieve.

 

MICHELLE STUART: DRAWN FROM NATURE

Michelle Stuart is known for her interest in the natural world. In 2013, Djanogly Gallery was home to her Drawn From Nature exhibition, featuring works spanning from the late 1960s to the present day.

Combining maps of both real and imaginary landscapes as well as sculptures, books and photographic grids, the exhibition was broad in its nature and embodied Stuart’s love for creating unconventional materials.

Photos arranged in a grid on the wall

Photo Credit: Alan Fletcher. Michelle Stuart, Ring of Fire, 2008–2010.

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EURYDICE PREVAILS

In 2019, Elpida Hadzi-Vasileva created Eurydice Prevails. The piece is one of a series of inverted tree works that Elpida has made over the last ten years and is created from two Elm trees sustainably sourced from the University of Nottingham’s University Park Campus. The Elm trees used to create the work had been felled due to poor health, something that Elpida incorporates into the piece. Indeed, after being preserved through the ancient Japanese process of Yakisgui, the trees were overlaid with decorative metallic motifs that trace the marks created by Elm bark beetles.

Eurydice Prevails outside of Lakeside Arts

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SPAGHETTI JUNCTION

Corey Baker is an award-winning dancer and choreographer who has visited Lakeside on multiple occassions as part of a variety of different dance companies.

To mark Earth Day 2020, his dance company, Corey Baker Dance, in collaboration with Birmingham Royal Ballet and Hong Kong Ballet, have created a new short film called Spaghetti Junction. Having premiered this morning on BBC's Culture in Quarantine website, the piece uses contemporary dance to explore issues related to the changing climate. Shot beneath Birmingham's infamous Spaghetti Junction, the background emphasises the increasing industrialisation of modern society.

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THERE'S A RANG-TAN IN MY BEDROOM

In 2018, Greenpeace created an animation that told the story of a Rang-tan, an orangutan who found herself homeless following deforestation caused by palm oil production. Narrated by Emma Thompson, the film quickly became a viral sensation and has inspired James Sellick and Frann Preston-Gannon to turn the story into a moving picture book.

As part of the Nottingham Festival of Science and Curiosity, which will be taking place in February 2021, we will be organising a series of activities, workshops and theatre performances that combat the issue of climate change and sustainability, related to the issues covered in the animation and picture book. Keep your eyes peeled for further updates.