M.A.R.I.N. is a networked residency and research initiative, integrating artistic and scientific research on ecology of the marine and cultural ecosystems.
For the first three years M.A.R.I.N.’s operational focus is a mobile residency program set on a catamaran sail boat, redesigned and equipped to be a sustainable environment for transdisciplinary research in arts, sciences and technology. Emerging from long experience of collaboration within media art, M.A.R.I.N. develops a new, integrative arts/science/technology practice model.
The name of the project is an acronym of Media Art Research Interdisciplinary Network. The founders of the project, Tapio Mäkelä (FI/UK) and Marko Peljhan (SL/US/LV) emphasize that M.A.R.I.N. is a collaborative platform that acts as a catalyst between organizations, and forms a social network between individual practitioners. The residency allows for concentrated dialogue and work: it is the depth of the ocean, while networks are horizontal.
Marin Association has been founded in Helsinki to coordinate the initiative. Core funding for the vessel is secured, and several applications for residency and production funding have been submitted. We are now building a partner network, and look in particular for partners in:
- art & science or media art organizations, especially in harbor cities
- institutes or departments for marine biology or oceanography
- developers of low-power computing, open source and free navigation and GIS software
- developers of sustainable life and ecological technology solutions
- organizations that work concretely in reducing human impact on marine ecosystems
- developers of energy efficient and low carbon footprint boat designs
- developers of sustainable marine farming and wave power generation
- research teams and individuals who are interested in developing articulate discourse and methodologies for art and science as an integrated practice
- and organizations that are interested in presenting M.A.R.I.N. and its results in public contexts, hosting workshops.
Our main target is to establish 30-60 day residencies, which will begin on the Baltic Sea and will be extend via North Sea and Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean and the Arctic Ocean during the proposed three-year program. We are building a viable and sustainable model for continuing M.A.R.I.N. beyond 2011 based on the results of the first two years of interdisciplinary artistic research.
The main research regions of the first phase are the Baltic Sea, Mediterranean and Northern seas, with an emphasis in the fields of marine ecology, littoral cultures and their interconnection. These regions were chosen because of their intercultural richness, ecosystem degradation and geopolitical significance. On both micro and macro levels of the need to sustain the natural and human ecosystems, dominant discourse on ecology runs the risk of “running out of fuel”. There is a heightened need to be articulate about ecological phenomena and how they relate to locations, communities, and media practices. We feel that artistic and scientific research integration offers an important exploratory and insightful voice to create such discourse, raise the awareness, maintain interest in these fundamental topics and urge localized action.
Research outputs will vary between workshops and events, installations and performances, mobile and net based interfaces, different forms of social networks, open source software for ecology and navigation, sensor networks, low power computing and energy technology concepts, ecological and biological innovations and other similar topics.
We believe that the symbolic value of M.A.R.I.N. is significant, and the attention it will get in different forms of media will have a wide impact. M.A.R.I.N. artists and researchers will visit harbors and several media and art festivals, exhibitions and expos. The scientific and artistic relevance will be made further felt through public outreach by publishing activities, documentation and interaction using new media platforms (Internet, social networks, location based mobile applications). In other words, both direct and indirect media attention to M.A.R.I.N. and work on board will generate further eco-sensibilities among the general and expert publics. So far, there has been an immediate expressed interest in the project from several partners.
We propose that the distinction between artistic and scientific creativity is minimal. While methodologies, goals and disciplinary praxis differ, as reminded in the seminal book by Barbara Maria Stafford titled Artful Science, art and science have through centuries been interconnected, in particular at seminal points of creating new paradigms. In as much as cybernetics in the 60s and 70s paved the way for new media of the 90s and this decade, we find the borderline of ecology, biology, media, arts and engineering of today to hold the potential of discovering new paradigms. With M.A.R.I.N. we are constructing transdisciplinarity in action, colliding science with interaction design and artistic research methods, and beyond. At the same time we strongly believe in social innovation that emerges from working in special conditions, being able to reflect and produce in intense cycles. All this enables the wider public presentation of work with a strong impact.
Please get in touch if you are interested to come aboard the M.A.R.I.N. network.
Tapio Mäkelä Marko Peljhan
tapio@translocal.net marko.peljhan@c-astral.com