The first and second movement of the "Blued Trees" symphony

The Blued Trees symphony was conceived as a synesthetic relationship to space, in which sound and space are one. It is taking place over about 16 months, in multiple international locations. There are going to be five movements. The overture was completed June 21, 2015, and has been copyrighted.

The first movement is being completed now and will be copyrighted with a number of additional sites, encompassing about 6 miles around the country. The first movement began October 4, 2015, and as in any classical symphonic structure, it recapitulates themes introduced in the overture. In this case the themes include law, justice, ambient habitat sound, the human voice, habitat degradation, melodic forms and relationships to risk and public good. The second movement began October 6, 2015 overlapping the first movement, and introduces the dramatic refrain of degradation by focusing on the Newtown Creek, New York superfund site,

The copyright filing for the overture has been registered with the United States copyright office.

The copy of the registration of copyright for the overture, the first of five movements of the symphony. The overture was composed as a film in addition to the sculptural installation: https://vimeo.com/135290635

Since the installation was designed for habitat corridors where natural gas pipelines have been proposed for expansion, a cease and desist notification has been sent to the Algonquin corporation, owned by Spectra, who are planning to excavate for that expansion 105' from the Indian point nuclear facility, 30 miles from NYC. The cease and desist notification is intended to protect the artwork from destruction.

Signed evidence of receipt of the cease and desist notification in Texas, home of the Algonquin-Spectra corporations.

Each measure of the symphony is one third mile. Several measures are being painted in Virginia.

Detail of measures being painted by Robin Boucher and others at Brush Mountain, Virginia
This team of painters filmed their work: http://tinyurl.com/o8twbej

October 4, 2015 measures were commenced at an animal sanctuary and on two farms in Oneida County.

Photograph by Toshia Hance of Blued Trees work in Oneida County, where pipelines are claiming 10 mile swathes of land corridors through prime farmland and watersheds for New York State

Work in progress for Blued Trees at an animal sanctuary. Photograph by Toshia Hance

Work in progress for Blued Trees, identifying where new pipeline expansions could destroy prime farmland. Photograph by Aviva Rahmani.

Planning session at the threatened animal sanctuary to expand the scope of the symphony to additional measures. Photograph by Aviva Rahmani

Grandfather tree where the farm owners' husband's ashes are buried, which would be destroyed should the pipelines be allowed to proceed told destroy the land. Photograph by Aviva Rahmani.

Detail of painted tree from Blued Trees first movement of the symphony. Photograph by Aviva Rahmani.

End of a day of painting measures of the first movement of the Blued Trees symphony. Photograph by Aviva Rahmani

Melodic transposition from trees to notes of a variation for the first movement of the Blued Trees symphony, notated with the help of Debra Vanderlinde

It is anticipated that litigation may begin soon. Please read more about the project here:  http://hyperallergic.com/235429/using-art-to-stop-a-pipeline/

You can support Blued Trees at the following crowdfunding sites:

Please contribute to The Defense of Blued Trees: http://tinyurl.com/o2hk5t8

Support the symphony: http://tinyurl.com/o3y4en4

Cease and Desist Served, First Movement Launch: Moving Forward with "Blued Trees"

October 1, 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACTS:

Margery Newman, Publicity & Communications, 212-475-0252, MargeryNewman@aol.com

Aviva Rahmani, Eco-Artist; GhostNets@ghostnets.com

Blued Trees Serves Cease-and-Desist on Fracked-Gas Corporation

As Next Phase of Eco-Art Project Debuts Oct. 4

Algonquin receives notice to halt forest destruction,

as Blued Trees Symphony’s First Movement is about to launch

Blued Trees is a symphonic art installation encompassing visual and musical art forms in concert with nature. The project was conceived by ecological artist Aviva Rahmani to move the function of art beyond witnessing or illustrating ecosystem devastation and into direct policy engagement. Rahmani was invited by New York residents-cum-activists faced with condemnation and seizure of properties and beloved places by fracked-gas pipeline corporations.

As corporations are leveraging the legal tool of “eminent domain,” Rahmani is contesting the justice of that leverage with the sword of copyright law. Blued Trees is being copyrighted by Rahmani in discrete movements, as it grows in scale.

Blued Trees consists of trees in the line of destruction on which a blue sine wave is painted. One such tree is one note in the symphonic score. One-third mile of these notes constitutes one full measure.

A Cease-and-Desist Demand has been served by Blued Trees on the Algonquin Gas Transmission LLC. That corporation seeks to condemn the private property in Peekskill in Westchester County, NY, on which the overture for the project was installed on June 21, and copyrighted.

The overture was created on land that has been owned by a small group of families for four generations. That property lies in the path of the Algonquin Incremental Markets (AIM) pipeline for “natural” gas, planned by Algonquin and its parent company, Spectra Energy Partners,  to span four states: New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The pipeline is also slated to pass just 105 feet from vital structures at the Indian Point nuclear facility, 30 miles from New York City.

Additional measures and “Greek choruses” have joined the Blued Trees orchestra from 11 other sites internationally since the summer solstice overture launch.

On Sunday, Oct. 4, a number of simultaneous events in the Blued Trees Symphony/Saga will unfold:

·      Blued Trees’ First Movement will formally commence with a full 1/3-mile measure of the score being painted and performed in the rural Town of Augusta and Town of Kirkland, NY, threatened by the Dominion New Market Pipeline and Niagara Expansion Project of TGP/Kinder Morgan. Additional measures are joining the orchestra from the New River Valley of Virginia and Nassau, NY.

These new sites will be included in the second copyright filing. Five movements in total, over the next year, complete this symphony, with the Coda planned for fall 2016.

The words of Pope Francis, delivered at the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 25, resonate with Rahmani and other Blued Trees participants: “Any harm done to the environment…is harm done to humanity.”

Individuals and groups whose properties lie in the path of fossil-fuel infrastructure are invited to join the Blued Trees “Greek Chorus.” Detailed instructions are at: pushingrocks.blogspot.com/2015/09/painting-full-measure-of-first-movement.html.

NOTE TO EDITORS & PRODUCERS: To arrange an interview with Rahmani, participating landowners, attorneys or painters, please contact Margery Newman, MargeryNewman@aol.com, 917-608-6306.

View a short video about the project at https://vimeo.com/135290635 

See map with locations and photos of Blued Trees Symphony and Greek Chorus pieces http://www.gulftogulf.org/map/ .

View a graphic from the Spectra Corporation’s website of Spectra AIM project path at spectraenergy.com/Operations/New-Projects-and-Our-Process/New-Projects-in-US/Algonquin-Incremental-Market-AIM-Project/.

Blued Trees is an element of Gulf to Gulf, a fiscally sponsored NYFA project, which has since 2010 investigated how art might impact climate change policy, gulftogulf.org.

More information about Aviva Rahmani is at ghostnets.com.