Connecting dots between "Blued Trees," the Newton Creek superfund site and parts unknown

Last Friday evening I got two pieces of seemingly unrelated information. The good news was that I have been offered and accepted an ISCP/NEA residency, beginning on October 1st until December 31, 2015, to work on the Newton Creek problem. The Newton Creek problem is that it is a superfund site in New York.

Within hours of that news, I also learned that the Spectra natural gas pipeline corporations, in charge of the Algonquin expansion that would pass near the Indian Point facility, also in New York, the site of the Blued Trees overture launch has moved a month earlier than we expected to condemn the land and take it from private landowners by eminent domain. That news has accelerated pressure to expedite the legal process that would protect Blued Trees, the land it's on, and the community it's in with the fund raising through Rockethub that would support that process. The news came as I was also preparing to leave for the UK, for the Society for Ecological Conference, in Manchester, where I will be presenting about trigger point theory and launching the Blued Trees film in the Whitworth Gallery, at the University of Manchester.

Back in 1997, when I first daylighted the Ghost Nets site to restore the estuarine system, I took a shot of the moment when fresh water passed through the highest known storm surge line, indicated with granite chips left over from the granite industry that had buried the former wetland rocky intertidal patch, and met salt water for the first time in about 100 years. I called that shot, "Connecting the Dots."

"Connecting the Dots" 1997

Friday night, I began connecting a much larger set of dots, between the thinking that creates a superfund site, the site of a possible even greater ecological disaster, between natural gas and a nuclear facility with a history of problems, on the banks of the Hudson River, miles from several major East coast cities, and the people I look forward to meeting in Manchester. Each of these sites, are locations I would identify as trigger points: places where a small area could impact entire bioregions. Connecting these dots of trigger points will lead to parts unknown: parts where we will all rescue the earth from ourselves, or witness a great loss for all life.

How to Paint a Tree; join the "Blued Trees" Greek Chorus

How to Paint One Tree for the Greek Chorus

Whisk or mix until uniform:

3 teaspoons ultramarine blue pigment

and 12 oz full fat buttermilk (thick, spreads well)

Here's an alt: Squeeze a TBSP of lemon juice

into 12 oz of whole milk -- 

wait a bit for milk to thicken.

Outline the wave --- we used blue sidewalk chalk.

             The wave shape on each tree should be tall,

Wide, wrap around the tree and in proportion 

to the dimensions of the trunk.

(see pics on previous posts: www. pushing rocks. blogspot)

A three or four inch brush works well. Have a rag handy to wipe off the drips. (Or don't)

One coat produces a translucent wave,

A second, touch-up coat will make the color stand out more boldly.

See details for pigment and buttermilk sources in previous post.

Please send your documentation of your painted tree (trees) to: ghostnets@ghostnets.com.

Source for the pigment includes Dick Blick: http://www.dickblick.com/products/gamblin-artists-colors-dry-pigments/. Sources for buttermilk powder include amazon.com. Purchase a 4” wide house-painting bristle brush to practice painting. 

Painting trees to make waves in the forest with Nancy V., Earth Guardians: Sam, Aidan and Christian. The Blued Trees  launch site is in the  corridor for the proposed Algonquin pipeline expansion for "natural" gas that would be installed 105' from the Indian Point nuclear plant facility in Peekskill, NY.

The Greek Chorus for Blued Trees is whomever is resisting the proliferation of additional fossil fuel infrastructure, anyplace in the world. The recipe to make waves with trees or the musical measure to make music with a forest as part of the Greek Chorus, is in the previous post on this blog.

Note: I am trying to be careful to use the word with about the entire project, rather than on or in because as long as we remember we must live with other species, humans have a prayer of survival on this planet, as Pope Francis' encyclical on climate change as a matter of the "common good."

In the next days, I will load examples from the Greek Chorus. From Florida, Jesse Etelson sent this description of two sites he will be painting with:

"Blued Trees Site: Mangrove Park, Indian River Lagoon, Stuart, FL. Mangrove Park is a mangrove tree forest preserve on South Florida’s Indian River Lagoon, one of the most bio-diverse and threatened estuaries in the world. The site is being encroached on by suburban development, poisoned by toxic water from Lake Okeechobee discharges, big agriculture and local runoff. The toxic algae blooms suffocate oyster beds, sea grasses and wildlife. Public health warnings at beaches and waterways plague economies based on tourism and send people to the hospital with infections, coined “River Rot”. EcoArtist, Jesse Etelson is currently working with community, scientists and engineers to develop EcoArt collaborations/interventions on the site to protect and promote expansion of mangrove habitat on the lagoon.

Blued Trees Site: Torry Island, Lake Okeechobee, Belle Glade, FL. Torry Island wildlife preserve is known as the headwaters of Everglades National Park and connects the lakes of Orlando, Kissimmee River, Lake Okeechobee to the Everglades, coastal estuaries  and Florida Keys. Torry Island preserve is the last 10% of glades marshland habitat remaining in the EAA (Everglades Agricultural Area), a clear cut wasteland of factory farms and shanty towns. The EAA and supporting water management structures exasperate Florida’s toxic water issues by blocking the southward flow down the watershed, fragmenting fragile habitats and adding GMO fertilizers into the ecosystem. Like Torry Island, land purchased/protected in the EAA can restore natural flow and interconnection of the entire watershed and provide economic opportunities for glades communities through permaculture (sustainable farming practices) and Ecotourism. In 2012, EcoArtist, Jesse Etelson directed, “Welcome Home Wildlife, Torry Island EcoArt Project” a collaboration with residents and landowners in the EAA to restore habitat and educate community through continued art intervention/engagement."

Instructions for Participation in Blued Trees, Part III of three

June 21, 2015 “Blued Trees,”

will launch the overture for a symphony conceived by

Aviva Rahmani at multiple international sites.

Participating international artists and landowners will be announced.

This mage illustrates a portion of the proposed route of the Algonquin 42" "natural" gas pipeline corridor that would abut the Indian Point nuclear facility in Westchester County, New York. If there's an accident, the entire East Coast of North America could experience an American Fukushima. Internationally, similar fossil fuel infrastructure installations endanger the public good. Blued Trees is a symphonic installation for the silent trees that would be destroyed to enable the pipeline. Blued Trees challenges the legal definition of "pubic good" that legitimates eminent domain for fossil fuel infrastructures, with the moral integrity of art under the Visual Artists Rights Act. 
Mapping by Aviva Rahmani.

Art to challenge the amoral control of the world. Blued Trees score by Aviva Rahmani, mapped with Daisy Morton.

"Natural" gas is in quotes because the source is from fracking and the process generates methane. Advertising it as a source of clean energy is at best, a misnomer and as others have pointed out, the marketing strategy is comparable to how tobacco companies historically defended toxic practices.

The Blued Trees score is both a spatial map for installation and a musical composition.
Anyone may be a participating performer June 21, 2015 as part of the Greek Chorus for the Blued Trees symphonic overture. The goal of painting trees in a particular design on the surface and a pattern of distribution across distance is for the purpose of establishing a legally defensible copyright. The documentation of completing the paintings goes into a copyright package for filing, which would be done by at the federal level by attorney Patrick Reilly. Trees may be painted before June 21, 2015.

1 painted tree. Photo: Frank Spinelli

PAINTING TREES:

Simplified recipe for Blued Trees Painting a Blue Wave on One Large Tree

Whisk or mix until uniform:

3 teaspoons ultramarine blue pigment and

12 oz full fat buttermilk (thick, spreads well)

Here's an alt: Squeeze a TBSP of lemon juice into 12 oz of whole milk -- wait a bit for milk to thicken)

Outline the wave --- we used blue sidewalk chalk.

             The wave shape on each tree should be tall, wide and in proportion to the dimensions of the surface.

(see pics on website: www. pushing rocks. blogspot)

A three or four inch brush works well. Have a rag handy to wipe off the drips. (Or don't)

One coat produces a translucent wave,

A second, touch-up coat will stand out 

More information: 
If you plan to paint trees, other relatively permanent vegetation or a landscape feature that isn’t on your own property, please get written permission from landowners. You can purchase sufficient ultramarine blue (a non-toxic color) dry pigment and either fresh or powdered buttermilk to paint your trees or other plant species with stylized waves. The  casein slurry for painting could grow moss in a forest. Source for the pigment includes Dick Blick: http://www.dickblick.com/products/gamblin-artists-colors-dry-pigments/. Sources for buttermilk powder include amazon.com. Purchase a 4” wide house-painting bristle brush to practice painting. The wave shape on each tree should be tall, wide and in proportion to the dimensions of the surface, for example, 10' high by 2' wide wrapping around a good sized true trunk.  See the previous post on this blog to reference how the tree might appear after the painting

Music for Blued Trees.

The measure for the symphony may be repeated in various forms because it has been transposed into music. The measure may be repeated (iterated) and improvised on. The measure changes from a major to a minor signature to express hope. (The clip link records how I worked out the key change with my singing teacher, Debra Vanderlinde.) Performing the music or a variation on it's melodic theme is a way to participate in the score, which will also be copyrighted as part of the same Blued Trees overture. The documentation of performance will go towards effecting the strategy of taking back the justice system from corporatized malfeasance:

Progress of Blued Trees may be followed on twitter #BluedTrees. One note, one tree or group of trees is identified with the Blued Trees logo: