NATURE’S TOOLBOX : call for entries

ART WORKS FOR CHANGE INVITES VIDEO ARTISTS TO SUBMIT SHORT VIDEO ARTWORK
FOR CONSIDERATION FOR EXHIBITION IN CHINA AND JAPAN, 2010

Art Works for Change (www.artworksforchange.org), in cooperation with the United Nations Environ-
ment Programme is pleased to announce a call for entries for “Nature’s Toolbox,” an art installation to
be exhibited at the United Nations Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo, from July 4-31, 2010. In addition, the
work may be shown in Nagoya, Japan, as part of the United Nations COP10 meeting on biodiversity in
October 2010.

We will be creating a multi-screen digital media installation addressing the theme of urban biomimicry
and biodiversity, incorporating state-of-the-art technologies.


WHAT IS BIOMIMICRY?

Biomimicry (from “bios,” meaning life, and “mimesis,” meaning
to imitate) is a new discipline that studies nature’s best ideas and
imitates these designs and processes to solve human design prob-
lems. Studying a leaf to invent a better solar cell is an example.
Think of it as “innovation inspired by nature.”

The core idea is that nature, imaginative by necessity, has already
solved many of the problems humans are grappling with. Animals,
plants, and microbes are the consummate engineers. They have
found what works, what is appropriate, and most important, what
lasts here on Earth. This is the real significance of biomimicry:
Over the past 3.8 billion years, nature’s designs provide the secret
to survival for humans and other species.

http://biomimicryinstitute.org/about-us/what-is-biomimicry.html


VIDEO CRITERIA
1. Up to 3 minutes in duration.
2. Visually compelling video artwork
3. Tell a simple story about an urban creature (a plant, animal, microbe, fungus, insect) and show
 how it teaches us lessons for solving humans’ pressing problems — environmental, social, food,
 shelter, water, etc. Include an urban context.
4. The story can be reality-based, visionary or science fiction
5. We want to stress the importance of what we lose if these “critters” disappear
6. Animation and entertainment are encouraged
7. We discourage the usage of words or language. Music or abstract sound is acceptable.

For guidance, visit the website of the Biomimicry Institute (http://www.biomimicryinstitute.org/) or their
Ask Nature database (http://www.AskNature.org/), which provides hundreds of examples of how nature
inspires design solutions.

For more information on Art Works for Change and its programs, visit www.artworksforchange.org