Longitudes

Longitudes cuts across Latitudes’ projects and research with news, updates, and reportage.

Latitudes qualifies as Active Members of the Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC)

 Wed, May 10 2023
https://galleryclimatecoalition.org/our-members/individuals/

We are pleased to announce that Max Andrews and Mariana Cánepa Luna of Latitudes have successfully qualified to be in the first cohort of Active Members of the Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC). To achieve this status we had to demonstrate that our organisation had implemented environmental sustainability best practices in line with GCC’s guidelines.

This initiative marks an evolution in GCC’s strategy from awareness raising and community building to one focusing on the near-term tangible progress of members following three key actions:

As part of the initiative, GCC provides qualifying members with a badge (see below) to recognise and celebrate the actions taken. These badges are year-stamped and members have to re-submit annually to retain the latest Active designation. 

Active Membership is neither a certification of sustainability nor a claim that we are doing things perfectly and have all the answers — none of us are at this point. Yet it does entail transparency in the assessment, reporting, and reduction of climate impact, the setting of targets in line with science, and the search for working solutions.

We encourage all of our peers and colleagues to visit the Gallery Climate Coalition website to learn more about the initiative and how to get involved.

Moreover, Latitudes is part of the founding committee of the recently formed volunteer team, GCC Spain. To get involved, please contact: [email protected]

Active Membership Press Release, 10 May 2023.


RELATED CONTENTS:


 2023, climate emergency, decarbonising the artworld, environmental responsability, Gallery Climate Coalition, GCC, GCC Spain, latitudes, press release
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Latitudes’ (extended) Environmental Policy Statement

 Mon, Apr 17 2023

“Postpetrolistic Internationale” choir performance by Christina Hemauer & Roman Keller on Maasvlakte, Rotterdam, 8 November 2009. Commissioned and produced by the Port of Rotterdam as part of “Portscapes”, with support and advice from SKOR and curated by Latitudes. Courtesy: SKOR / Photo: Paloma Polo.


Latitudes recently published an Environmental Policy Statement on the website, below is an extended version which we invite you to read:

Since its beginning in 2005, Latitudes’ curatorial practice has critically engaged with environmental concerns through contemporary art. This has included curating ambitious group exhibitions including “4.543 billion. The Matter of Matter” at the CAPC musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux in 2017, and “Greenwashing” at the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in 2008, or solo shows such as “Christina Hemauer & Roman Keller: United Alternative Energies” at Kunsthall Århus in 2011, as well as convening the three-day symposium “Art, Ecology and the Politics of Change” for the Sharjah Biennial 8 in 2007. 

Cover of “LAND, ART: A Cultural Ecology Handbook” edited by Max Andrews, and coordinated by Mariana Cánepa Luna. Published and commissioned by the Royal Society of Art in partnership with the Arts Council England, 2006. Photo: Robert Justamente.

Spread of UOVO magazine #14, a 500-page issue + two CDs guest edited by Latitudes, 2007. Photo: Alexis Zavialoff.

Cover and back cover of the exhibition catalogue “Greenwashing” (Archive Books, 2008), Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Torino. The 192-page full-colour catalogue embraced environmentally-conscious design with a degree of irony, each of the book's thirteen sections was printed on a different 'eco-paper' such as Shiro Alga Carta (produced by harvesting algae from the Venetian lagoon), KeayKolour Recycled Honey or Shiro Tree Free Naturale, alongside their corresponding eco-credentials. Photo: Latitudes. 

Pages of Lara Almarcegui's first monograph “Lara Almarcegui. Projects 1995–2010” (Archive Books, 2011) covering 15 years of her artistic practice, with new texts by Cuauhtémoc Medina, Lars Bang Larsen and an introduction by Latitudes. Photo: Latitudes.

Latitudes edited the landmark publication “Land, Art: A Cultural Ecology Handbook” in 2006, the 500-page green issue of UOVO magazine in 2007, and Lara Almarcegui’s first monograph in 2011, as well as writing texts including a catalogue essay for TBA21’s exhibition “Abundant Futures” entitled “Soil for Future Art Histories” (2023), and presenting the lecture “Curating in the Web of Life” for Garage Museum of Contemporary Art’s exhibition “The Coming World: Ecology as the New Politics 2030–2100” (2019). 

View of “Ocells perduts” (Stray Birds) (2021) by Laia Estruch in the exhibition “Panorama 21. Apunts per a un incendi dels ulls” (“Panorama 21: Notes for an Eye Fire”), MACBA Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona, 22 October 2021–27 February 2022. Curated by Hiuwai Chu and Latitudes. Produced by MACBA Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona with the support of PUBLICS, Helsinki. Research supported by a Premis Ciutat de Barcelona 2020 grant from the Barcelona City Council. Photo: Roberto Ruiz. 

In terms of related public-realm commissions, we worked with Danish artist Tue Greenfort for The Royal Society of Arts’ pioneering Arts & Ecology programme (2005–2008) and curated ten public art projects around Europe’s largest seaport, the Port of Rotterdam (“Portscapes” in 2009–2010). We have also organised thematic curatorial residencies around geological agency (“Geologic Time”, Banff Centre, 2017) and a touring film programme on the legacy of Land Art (“A Stake in the Mud a Hole in the Reel”, 2008–2009).

Last but not least, since 2008 we have been custodians of the website of RAF/Reduce Art Flights, a reference resource about the campaign initiated by the late Gustav Metzger (1926–2017).

RAF/Reduce Art Flights website reduceartflights.lttds.org

Latitudes’ environmental impact is small, yet we acknowledge that the largest impact comes from flights and the disproportionate mobility practices of the sector we work in. We believe that art and culture have a role to play in bringing about ambitious change, applying best practices and setting a positive example to position the climate crisis at the centre of the political and social debate.

In January 2023 we became individual members of the Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) and began to work with colleagues to set up the Spanish volunteer team, GCC España, that meets regularly to track progress on environmental targets and actions. 


Making of Jan Dibbets’ film “6 Hours Tide Object with Correction of Perspective” (1969–2009). Commissioned and produced by the Port of Rotterdam as part of “Portscapes”, with support and advice from SKOR, curated by Latitudes. Documentation included in the “Portscapes” multi-part publication box designed by Ben Laloua / Didier Pascal, launched to coincide with the “Portscapes” exhibition at the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, 2010. Photo: Latitudes.

Editors of Rotterdam-based magazine Fucking Good Art were ‘embedded’ in the port's Yangtzehaven for a month in the summer of 2009 from where they produced ‘Portscapes_ON AIR Station Maasvlakte’, a series of audio walks, field recordings and conversations with guests from different disciplines for the “Portscapes” website. Photo courtesy: FGA.


We will measure and publish our carbon footprint every year to comply with the GCC targets and commitments of reducing carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 (when compared to a 2019 baseline). Rather than purchasing carbon offsets, and following GCC guidelines on this matter, we are also setting aside a fund (€50 per tonne of emitted CO2 per year) to be spent on low-carbon purchasing options that would otherwise be unaffordable. Our intention is to eliminate unwarranted air travel, and we do not take flights when there is an alternative rail or sea route that takes less than 7 hours. The latter policy follows one adopted by the Ajuntament de Barcelona (the City Council) in 2020.

Latitudes requests external collaborators opt for train or alternative low-carbon transit and freight options in line with GCC’s guidelines (as well as Gustav Metzger’s RAF/Reduce Art Flights campaign) and this is reflected in work contracts. We hope to lead by example in implementing a sustainability strategy in the planning of exhibitions from an early stage, and whenever curating projects we always try to build the minimum necessary temporary architecture and ensure that any exhibition-related production is entirely locally tuned. We ask that collaborators use no plastic or other single-use materials when transporting works or for events.

Hike with “Geologic Time” participants to Stanley Glacier in Kootenay National Park, as part of the residency programme curated by Latitudes at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Banff, Canada, 11 September–6 October 2017. Photo: Latitudes.

Latitudes’ website runs on sustainable energy. According to websitecarbon.com (see stats below), LTTDS.org produces 16.76kg of C02 equivalent per year, roughly the amount of carbon that one tree would absorb in the same time, and it consumes 44kWh of energy (equivalent to 280km in an electric car). 


In our personal lives, we prioritise the 5 Rs: Refusing, Reducing, Reusing, Repurposing and Recycling. We do not own a car and use public transport networks. Other practical actions we undertake include periodically donating household or clothing items to charity organisations that offer support to vulnerable communities in our neighbourhood (including Fundació Roure and El Trampolí). And last but not least, since 2013 Latitudes banks with an ethical bank which finances initiatives that contribute to ecological, social and cultural change.

Left-sided entrance to the exhibition “4.543 billion. The Matter of Matter” with the participation of over thirty artists and the presentation of over a hundred works, CAPC musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux, June 2017–January 2018. Photos: Latitudes / RK. 


RELATED CONTENT:


 2023, art and ecology, carbon cycle, Ecology, energy use, environmental compensation, environmental responsability, Gallery Climate Coalition, geologic time, Land Art, Reduce Art Flights
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Cover Story, March 2023: Art, Climate, and New Coalitions

 Wed, Mar 1 2023

  March 2023 cover story on www.lttds.org


The March 2023 monthly Cover Story “Art, Climate and New Coalitions” is now up on our homepage www.lttds.org

“The terminology of environmental consciousness and carbon emissions has shifted significantly in recent decades, from talk of the greenhouse effect to global warming and sustainable development, and now from climate change to the climate emergency. ” → Continue reading (after March 2023 this story will be archived here).

Cover Stories are published on a monthly basis on Latitudes’ homepage featuring past, present or forthcoming projects, research, texts, artworks, exhibitions, films, objects or field trips related to our curatorial projects and activities.


→ RELATED CONTENTS: 

  • Archive of Monthly Cover Stories
  • Cover Story, February 2023: Soil for Future Art Histories, 2 Feb 2023
  • Cover Story, January 2023: Claudia Pagès’ ‘Gerundi Circular’, 2 Jan 2023
  • Cover Story, December 2022: “The Melt Goes On Forever. David Hammons and DART Festival, 1 December 2022
  • Cover Story, November 2022: Jorge Satorre’s Barcelona, 1 Nov 2022
  • Cover Story, October 2022: Stray Ornithologies—Laia Estruch, 3 Oct 2022
  • Cover Story, September 2021: Erratic behaviour—Latitudes in conversation with Jorge Satorre, 31 August 2021
  • Cover Story, July–August 2022:  Incidents (of Travel) from Seoul, 1 July 2022
  • Cover Story, June 2022: Cyber-Eco-Feminist Incidents in Attica, 1 June 2022
  • Cover Story, May 2022: Things Things Say in print, 2 May 2022
  • Cover Story, March 2022: The passion of Gabriel Ventura, 1 March 2022
 2023, climate change, climate emergency, cover story, Ecology, environmentalism, Gallery Climate Coalition, Land Art, RSA
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Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) en el Estado español

 Wed, Jan 25 2023



El 22 de febrero de 2023 a las 16h tendrá lugar una sesión informativa sobre la Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) en el Exhibitors’ Lounge de ARCOmadrid. 

El encuentro lanza un nuevo grupo semiautónomo y voluntario afincado en el Estado español, GCC Spain – que se suma a los grupos de trabajo alineados con los objetivos de GCC existentes en Berlín, Italia, Los Ángeles, Londres y Taiwán – e inicia su andadura con el fin de desarrollar y compartir buenas prácticas y recursos medioambientales específicos para profesionales del sector artístico español.

Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) es una organización sin ánimo de lucro que agrupa a distintos agentes del sector artístico en Europa que ofrece directrices de sostenibilidad medioambiental para el sector de las artes visuales. La membresía es totalmente gratuita (actualmente cuenta con +800 miembros de 40 países), tan sólo exige un compromiso sincero y firme con la misión y los fines de la asociación.

Preocupados por reducir y compensar el impacto medioambiental que nuestro sector genera, los principales objetivos de la coalición son facilitar una reducción de las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero del sector de las artes visuales en un mínimo del 50% para 2030 (en línea con el objetivo del Acuerdo de París de mantener el calentamiento global por debajo de 1.5 °C) y promover prácticas de deshechos cero. 

Información → https://galleryclimatecoalition.org
Contacto → [email protected]

CONTENIDOS RELACIONADOS:


 2023, ARCOmadrid, carbon cycle, decarbonising the artworld, environmentalism, Gallery Climate Coalition, GCC, GCC Spain, latitudes, sustainaibility
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