Greenpeace JugendSolarProjekt in Switzerland – Young people receive hands-on education about solar energy

Here's something that Scotland and its government(s) could emulate -- just in from Greenpeace Switzerland (original in German, translation by yours truly):


Welcome to YouthSolarProject


In 1998 the JugendSolarProjekt (JSP – YouthSolarProject) of Greenpeace Switzerland began to embark on new approaches to environmental education. Guided by the catchphrase "Actions are better than words", we have involved young people in the installation of solar plants on top of public buildings and/or social institutions. So far, over 10,000 young people have helped to install over 175 solar plants.

Today, Greenpeace Switzerland's YouthSolarProject (JSP) proudly presents its biggest solar energy project so far. For the past two weeks, apprentices from all over Switzerland installed a photovoltaic plant in Melchnau BE. With a surface area of 1,885 sqm, it is currently the country's biggest rooftop installation.

The project clearly looks to the future of energy supplies. A roof no longer simply provides weather protection – it is a power plant that produces a great deal more energy than is required for the actual building itself. The photovoltaic installation in Melchnau will produce enough electricity for 65 households.

A Swissolar study has shown that simply by making consistent use of appropriate rooftops, one third of the electricity needs of Switzerland can be met by solar energy. The transition to renewable energy is not a technological issue – it is a political decision to stand firm against producers of energy that has a negative impact on our climate.

This is the mission of Greenpeace and its YouthSolarProject. The time is ripe. Technologies are available. Switzerland can afford to invest into sustainable energy supplies. Join us in the fight for a sunny future – please support our work and the energy revolution.

Doors open to the YouthSolarProject and the photovoltaic plant in Melchnau BE
on 29th and 30th May, 2010 – come and see us!

8th ArtPosition, ArtPosition10 in Salavaux, Switzerland, 13-15 Aug 2010

Hiya
Have just been informed that a great little Swiss open-air art show will be held at the small town of Salavaux on Lake Morat/Murtensee from 13th to 15th August, 2010. If past experience is anything to go by, this is well worth a detour from almost wherever you may be
I'm really busy with paid work but here is the press release in German and French. English may follow later. Until then, cheerioh!

Inside the hangar at ArtPosition7, this blogger's floor impression, Aug 2007, © MP-J

Die ArtPosition10 findet in Salavaux statt

(texte en français suit en bas)

Die 8. ArtPosition findet vom 13.-15. August 2010 in Salavaux statt. Die ersten drei Kunstausstellungen „ArtPosition“ fanden in drei verschiedenen Industriehallen in Murten und die nächsten vier auf dem Militärflugplatz in Payerne statt.

Vom Militärjet zum Motorboot

Von 2006-2009 stellten jeweils über 100 Künstlerlnnen aus der ganzen Schweiz und dem Ausland in den Militärflugzeughallen U70 in Payerne aus. Dieses Jahr werden um die 100 KünstlerInnen in den Motorboothallen der Nautic Technic in Salavaux ausstellen. In Salavaux werden renommierte Kunstschaffende jungen, unbekannten Talenten eine ideale Plattform bieten, um sich einem breiten Publikum präsentieren zu können. Die ArtPosition09 wurde von über 2500 kunstinteressierten BesucherInnen aus der ganzen Schweiz besucht.

ArtPosition10
13. August, 17h-20h: Vernissage
14. August, 11h-16h: Ausstellung
15. August, 11h-16h: Finissage (Valiant Award um 15h)

Anmeldung: Ab sofort können sich interessierte Kunstschaffende via www.artposition.ch für die ArtPosition10 bewerben.

ArtPosition10 à Salavaux

Salavaux accueillera la 8e édition d’ArtPosition du 13 au 15 août 2010. Les trois premières éditions de l’exposition d’art „ArtPosition“ avaient été organisées dans diverses halles industrielles à Morat et les quatre suivantes sur l’aire de l’aérodrome militaire de Payerne.

Du jet militaire au bateau à moteur

Entre 2006 et 2009, les expositions avaient réuni à chaque fois une centaine d’artistes de Suisse et de l’étranger dans les halles U70 de l’aviation militaire à Payerne. Cette année, près de 100 artistes exposeront leurs oeuvres dans les halles des bateaux à moteur de Nautic Technic à Salavaux. À Salavaux, des artistes de renom entoureront de jeunes talents encore inconnus et leur offriront une plateforme idéale pour se faire connaître du grand public. En 2009, ArtPosition avait attiré plus de 2500 amateurs d’art de toute la Suisse.

ArtPosition10
13 août, 17h-20h: Vernissage
14 août, 11h-16h: Exposition
15 août, 11h-16h: Finissage (remise du prix Valiant Award à 15h)

Inscription: Les artistes intéressé-e-s peuvent postuler à ArtPosition10 et s’inscrire en ligne sur le site www.artposition.ch.

Greenpeace and Spencer Tunick have done it again

Hiya

Remember my post on a Greenpeace/Spencer Tunick co-operation on the Aletsch Glacier in Switzerland in July 2007? Well, they have teamed up again to try and save the vineyards of France.

The following is based on information gleaned from the Greenpeace website on the subject, some of it in French (my translation):

On Saturday, October 3rd 2009, in a vineyard in Fuissé, in the South of Burgundy, 713 individuals joined together in a militant artistic installation organised by American artist Spencer Tunick to highlight the impacts of climate change being felt all around the world. In France, they are already affecting the wines and the vineyards. If we don't act here and now, humankind and its cultural heritage will ultimately be condemned.

For more than 15 years, Tunick has staged mass nude installations all over the world. His collective landscapes always question humankind's relationship with its environment.

Under a magnificent sun and in a wonderful ambiance, Tunick achieved four different installations, two of them involving all participants, and one each involving only the women and the men, respectively. The participants and the Greenpeace team were all very happy to be part of an event relayed to most TV stations in France and to many international agencies.

In July 2007 I participated in "a large living sculpture, [to] be a part of a body landscape expressing humankind's vulnerability to climate change." Why? Because, with all those other people, I believe that "Another future is possible." (Greenpeace)

Another great photo from the Aletsch Glacier is on that site. It brings back some magnificent memories ...

Talk soon! Peace.

The Perseids – Shooting Star Gazing

Hello again

It is not often that I use quotes from my own translation work to post here, but I want to make an exception here. Tonight is the culmination of the Perseids, a shower of shooting stars. Each year on or around 12th August, they make an appearance in the skies of the northern hemisphere. Sadly, here in Oban, the sky is anything but clear so I doubt whether I can make a wish tonight and know it will come true.

But if you live in Switzerland or in the Lake Constance area, you might stand a chance.

German concept artist Olaf Nicolai has created a series of events called

Welcome to the Tears of St. Lawrence –
An Appointment to Watch Falling Stars

So, if you're interested in art and astronomy, you might want to travel to Kartause Ittingen in Thurgau, Switzerland, tomorrow Wednesday, 12th August, 2009. Be there for 9pm to catch a talk by astrophysicist Dr. Roland Brodbeck, who will explain the phenomenon of the meteor shower from the astronomer's perspective.

The Kunstmuseum Thurgau will host German concept artist Olaf Nicolai and his latest work, Welcome to the Tears of St. Lawrence. It directs attention to the visual sense and draws our gaze to the meteor shower of the Perseids, also known as the tears of St. Lawrence.
The meteor gazing event is part of Olaf Nicolai's latest work, Welcome to the Tears of St. Lawrence, open from 8th to 13th August, 2009.
Visitors are invited to gaze at the sky streaked by the Tears of St. Lawrence. They are also known as the Perseids, an annual summer shower of up to one hundred meteors each night, culminating around 12th August.
The shower, which seems to radiate from the constellation Perseus, takes its name from its occurrence on and around 10th August, the feast day of St. Lawrence, whose hot tears the meteors are said to represent. According to legend, rather than handing treasures over to the Roman emperor Valerian, Lawrence distributed them among the poor, for which he was martyred by being roasted alive on a gridiron.
Welcome to the Tears of St. Lawrence was commissioned from Olaf Nicolai for the 51st Venice Biennale of 2005. The property of Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Nicolai's piece will be on permanent loan from August 2009 to the Kunstmuseum Thurgau at Kartause Ittingen, whose patron saint is St. Lawrence. The saint therefore provides a direct link between the museum and the work.
An essential part of Nicolai's work is the artist's invitation to gaze at the sky. His posters, advertisements and brochure complement this year's event at Kunstmuseum Thurgau.
The event launches Olaf Nicolai's solo exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Thurgau, from 18th October, 2009, until 11th April, 2010.

Biography
Olaf Nicolai was born in 1962, in Halle/Saale, in the then German Democratic Republic, and grew up in Chemnitz (formerly Karl-Marx-Stadt). He has a doctorate in German language and literature, and a diploma in applied arts. He lives and works in Berlin.
His works were shown at Documenta X (1997), and at the Biennales in Venice of 2001 and 2005. Having been awarded various grants and fellowships, he has participated in international solo and group exhibitions.
Nicolai's conceptual approach and use of diverse media question the way in which we view our everyday environment.

A flashback to olden times in Switzerland

Hello again

Susanna, one of my second cousins (our grandmothers on the father's side were sisters), has sent me the link to a superb album of photos taken when their local ski club celebrated its 75th anniversary.

The photos are a hoot -- and they were so lucky having a great day of sunshine and perfect snow. See for yourselves and enjoy the chuckle.

Thank you, Susanna, and Theo, the photographer.

Farewell to S. Ro..

Hello again
Let me share with you a few photographs taken last Saturday, when one of my Creative Writing friends invited us all to her lovely home in the countryside for a farewell feast for one of our other Creative Writing friends who is in the process of packing up her Swiss life to return to her roots, so to speak, in California.
Here she is, with her friends, blithely unaware of my camera ...
... but not for long: Susan is who Susan was peering at:It was pretty warm out despite the big parasol ...... but conversation was lively, hilarious, focused, searching ...
... until two graces grabbed all the attention:Roll over, David Hockney! What a great pool, Sue and Susan!
After some cool drinks, including lovely margaritas, and a sumptuous lunch, the heat chased us indoors. We enjoyed dessert and coffee before a mad rush for trains. This is the quiet before the storm, so to speak:Everyone looks really intent on what our Ozzie is saying.Ah, Susan, we'll miss you!

A Londoner by the rocks ...... an Ozzie ...... an African (well, ok, from Yorkshire originally) ...... a Swiss ...... an English Scotsman ...... a Yankee and a Virgin Islander ...... two earnest Africans ...... who don't want to leave you without a smile ... ... as well as a couple more Brits and Yanks plus this here Swiss -- all of whom didn't make it to the party or into a photograph -- we all wish you well, Susan! May you be very happy and successful -- and I'll be sure to look you up! :)
PS: These are all my photos, but if anyone else has digital images of our event and would like to share them here, I'll be more than happy to upload them (and to give you credit, of course!).

Open-air Art at Môtiers, NE, Switzerland - Take One

Hello again!
Today I want to share with you a few, just a few, of the 150 photos I took last Sunday during a multi-hour walking tour of one of the best open-air art exhibitions anywhere.

Môtiers is a lovely old village tucked away in the Travers valley in the Jura mountains near the French border. The old train route to Paris goes through there, Pontarlier is the border town. Just in case you want to look it up on Google Maps, say... :)
The approach by train affords some stunning views. This sheer cliff of calcareous rock rising high above the wooded hills, for example - Les Creux du Van:
This red arched bridge across the Travers river in the village before Môtiers resembles one very near where I live - the one in Bern is a little bigger, mind.
One of the architectural highlights of Môtiers, the Hotel des Six Communes. Might have been a storehouse for grain at one time (I'd have to research that, which I will do, on a rainy day, when I'm less busy).
The town has just a couple of streets. Most buildings are old, two-storey terraces, low-ceilinged, with just the right amount of asymmetry to be attractive. Many of them are beautifully restored, probably not least because the art exhibition has brought in a number of wealthy new home owners. Opposite this building is a beautiful old inn, La Tanière:On one of the hottest days this year, it was very pleasant to sit in the ancient porch.
At the end of the main road, this is the view looking back towards the village (above and below).
Not all of the place is quite so idyllic -- inspired by John Armleder, who declared a mundane chimney to be art (sans titre), I decided to find and photograph some landscape sculptures: I suppose one could even find this kind of thing beautiful. But this?
Not really, eh?
Farmer's art -- a shack full of rusting implements -- it's not only on Mull and elsewhere in Western Scotland that one finds this kind of thing...
... a strange kind of beauty ... ... time, the great artist.

******

But now, some "real" art (in brackets, the artists according to the brochure/guide one receives at the entrance in lieu of a ticket), by way of my very personal look at two pieces to get us started:
(Roman Signer, La même grandeur / la même forme Une autre couleur, frames Christoph Draeger's Wicker Man seen on the top of the hill on the horizon.)
An old "friend", so to speak, this whimsical sculpture stood on "my" crossroads all summer last year. It's a diving platform with a difference... Love the uselessness of it! (L/B, Diving platform) -- and that's why here's another view of it, with an orange/green/white caravan (Lori Hersberger, sans titre) standing equally uselessly at the edge of a copse:A mirror in a field, a logo in Boeing lettering that says "Baghdad" high above the valley (Marco Poloni) ...
... a "village" made of farmers' silos (Bob Gramsma: Chez Wälchli, Rust, Gossweiler, Fahrni, Stucki et Muff, Ol#7110, 2007 -- at the entrance a comment announced that anyone can take one of these monsters home if they like -- they're quite spacious, actually.)
In the nearby woodland, not far from a magical waterfall, mysterious objects float high above the ground:
(Erica Pedretti, Windhosen [Wind Socks]).
Four feathery, fairytale, scaley "needles" (Alexandre Joly, Escadron d'objets volants [Squadron of flying objects]) are actually -- let me be blunt -- kajaks or canoes covered in peacock feathers. Sadly, my photos don't to the real thing justice, at all!
(Victorine Müller, Le moment végétatif) -- a whisper of light among the trees.
A little further on, Excalibur is still firmly held in the giant's rocky grasp near the shallow caves and La Sourde waterfall:
(Artist unknown, remnant of a previous installation.)
On the path leading up to the waterfall, suddenly a glint of gold, a nugget, engraved with "Parle-moi d'un village" [Tell me about a village], then another, and another, each one bears a different phrase, some of which are obliterated by rocks that fell on them in the past bad weather seasons. (Artist unknown, remnants of a previous installation.)

Don't even dream of running away -- these feet and socks are concrete casts (Jean-Claude Schweizer, Et rêver d'évasion).
No, the dark patch in the field is not the couple's shadow, but ...
... a hole in the ground that alludes to the fact that the neighbouring village of Travers used to be famous for its asphalt mines (Katja Schenker, Bleu du ciel [Sky blue]).If you step down into the bottom, all you can see is an edge of green grass and the blue sky above you -- magical!
Katja Schenker's land-art installation really catches my breath.

Thank you for visiting! come again -- I'm hoping to find time soon for another look back at this lovely event (which will end with fireworks and the incineration of Ursi, Bernahrd, Basil, Brutus and Jwan Luginbühl's Finale, a wooden structure I did not photograph, on September 22, 2007 -- you still have time to go look at all these pieces yourself).