The Reverse Ark

Three stacks of materials take roost in the gallery– in preparation for the flood. This limited inventory of materials was usesd during a four day residency to build "the Reverse Ark". The gallery became a living laboratory for learning, inquiry and improvisation including mini-workshops, lectures, video screenings and frameworks for reflection. Invited guests included an environmental scientist, Los Angeles Mayors Office, Department of Water, and a computer scientist.

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The Reverse Ark was prefaced with a symposium:

March 13-14, 2008
ANYTIME, ANYPLACE: A
Art Collectives in the 21st Century.

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Schedule

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10am: Mike Mullen Lecture/Charrette
Stormwater Water Biologist
Mayors Office, Los Angeles

Lecture: History of Water in Los Angeles

Design Challenge: How do we get the Ark from PCC to the Pacific Ocean via the civic water system?

Result: We proposed to cut the Ark up into pieces small enough to distribute to a network of drains that would eventually link up at the Pacific. Mike alerted us that this would be pollution, but he enertained our desire to play out our story. By doing this he mapped all the storm drains, wash basins, rivers, water treatement facilities and outlets at the sea (see map below). We decided it might be more interesting to use several methods to transport the Ark to the Pacific; public transportation, hitchhiking, water system, U.S. Postal Service, walking.. Once each piece reached its destination, it might be a more diverse story to recount.

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1pm: Writing Workshop
David Elliot, MFA Candidate, UCLA Design, Media Arts
Link:
http://hadto.net/

2 + 2 = 4 = 2 * 2
We will work together to write a book in the least amount of time possible. If it would take one person 10 days to write a book of creative free prose it should take 10 people 1 day to write the same. And as a bonus it should be 10 times as good. That only leaves one problem, authorship. What happens if the book turns out to be a classic? Who will get the attribution of genius? This has always been the fatal obstacle with group think. But the answer is simple. Let the machine that is us receive the accolade. This is the seed that corporation is born from, but it's not the only fruit that it might bear. By using a system of abstraction, individuals may be freed from concerns of originality and authorship and revel in the lofty weightlessness of the collective body. We will share whatever successes and failures our machine might bring but only in so far as we might enjoy anyone else's work, as readers, and the machine will inherit all the sovereignty and rights of the individual, for better or worse. For once in our creative lives will as the maker will finally be reunited in the complete sense with our soul mates, the audience."

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5-6pm
Townhall Meeting: Reverse the Ark?

Meet w/ students, faculty, administration + gallery crew to discuss the future and fate of the ReverseArk.

Futurefarmers Proposal:
Return the materials to the original 3 stacks that were presented at the opening of the exhibition. Through this attempt to repair , restore and reverse the process many of the issues that had been addressed over the course of the residency would be embedded and visible.

Pasadena Student Proposal:
Keep the space going as an experimental learning experiment.

Result:
The space has two months of student initiated programming.
Link:

Schedule
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Links:

Writing Workshop Outcome

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Mike Mullen Lecture/Charrette Design Challenge: How do we get the Ark from PCC to the Pacific Ocean via the civic water system? Result: We proposed to cut the Ark up into pieces small enough to distribute to a network of drains that would eventually link up at the Pacific. Mike alert us that would be pollution, but he enertained our desire to play out our story. By doing this he mapped all the storm drains, wash basins, rivers, water treatement facilities and outlets at the sea. We decided it might be more interesting to use several methods to transport the Ark to the Pacific; public transportation, hitchhiking, water system, U.S. Postal Service, walking.. Once each piece reached its destination, it might be a more diverse story to recount.