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on July 27, 2011
rachel sussman
Posted project update #17OLTW, One year later
Post CommentDear OLTW supporters,
It's been just over a year since the OLTW Kickstarter campaign came to a close. The Oldest Living Things might hardly have noticed the year click by, but I sure did. So much has happened, and I couldn't have done it without your support. You helped me photograph 100,000-year-old sea grass in the Balearic Islands, the world's oldest Chestnut tree in Sicily, and a 3000-year-old + Olive tree in Crete. You helped purchase film and photo paper, underwater housing for my camera, all with enough left over for an in-flight meal on my way to Riverside, CA for the 13,000-year-old clonal scrub oak.
Posidonia Oceania Sea Grass #0910-P1000753 (100,000 years old; Balearic Islands, Spain) [13x19", edition of 10]
What else is going on? I've exhibited at the Hannover Kunstverein, Montalvo Arts Center, Berlin Botanical Museum, and my first US art museum: the Museum of Contemporary Photography's Our Origins exhibition. OLTW has appeared in the pages of O Magazine, and the World Future Council has invited me to present to the UN Forum on Forests and Biological Diversity to encourage further protections of long-lived organisms. Now we're talkin'.
(View my TED talk here, or on TED.com)
All of this momentum started with you. And there's a lot more in the works:
On August 1st I head to Sri Lanka for an ancient banyan fig, made possible by a grant from eco-adventurer David de Rothschild and his non-profit organization, Sculpt the Future. And you heard it here first: Lindblad Expeditions/National Geographic Explorer invited me on an expedition to Antarctica this winter, so that I may finally try to find the 5,500-year-old moss banks living on an island off the Antarctic Peninsula. Wow.
One other major expedition this fall is still in need of support: a 4-pronged trip spanning mainland Australia and the wilds of Tasmania. If you or someone you know is in a position to help, please consider making a fully tax-deductible contribution via my fiscal sponsor, the Brooklyn Arts Council. Just be sure to mention "Rachel Sussman" in the "Designate your donation" field.
I want to thank each of you again for your support, great or small, in whatever form it's taken. I wouldn't be here without you. Big publishing plans are being hatched as we speak, along with some opportunities exclusive to you, my Kickstarter backers. If you haven't done so already, I invite you to sign up for my newsletter and blog for more updates, or drop me a line.
My sincerest thanks,
Rachel
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on July 6, 2010
rachel sussman
Posted project update #16Thank You page live // TED // Staying in touch
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on June 20, 2010Funded!
The Oldest Living Things in the World by rachel sussman
I'm researching, working with biologists, and traveling all over the world to find & photograph continuously living organisms 2,000 years old or older
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118% funded $11,893 pledged
- 205 backers
- Funded Jun 20, 2010
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on June 14, 2010
rachel sussman
Posted project update #15TEDGlobal! + WSJ! + KICKSTARTER SUCCESS!
Post CommentDear Wonderful Backers...I'm on cloud 9 right now:
I was just asked to speak at TEDGlobal next month in Oxford. I'm beyond humbled and honored. I'm going to start rehearsing right now. http://www.ted.com/
What else? An article came out on my work today on The Wall Street Journal site and can be found in print tomorrow in the New York section of the paper:
http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2010/06/14/on-a-quest-to-photograph-the-oldest-things-on-earth/And if that wasn't enough? I could not be more thrilled about meeting my Kickstarter goal. I am so touched by the support you have all shown -- it means the world (or, um, the oldest living things in the world) to me!
If you know any stragglers that had been planning to donate please do give them a final nugde: It would be great to bring the final number up as high as possible before the campaign shuts down in the wee hours of Saturday morning.
I cannot THANK YOU enough for helping me get here.
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on June 9, 2010
rachel sussman
commented on a projectLiz! Thank you SO MUCH for your very generous pledge, and for bringing me up to my goal! ***100%***! I am so touched by you all - I'm beyond words. THANK YOU!
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on June 7, 2010
rachel sussman
Posted project update #14Shows, The Long Now + New Rewards
Post CommentWow. We're at 97% with 12 days to go. You all have really warmed my heart with your support and generosity! I have some announcements for you, as well as the last new additions to the available pledge rewards...
UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS:
2B GALERIA in Budapest, Hungary opens Sept 1, 2010.
http://www.pipacs.hu/2b/2b.htmlMONTALVO ARTS CENTER, Saratoga, California. Oct/Nov, 2010 (exact dates TBA)
http://montalvoarts.org/SEMINAR ON LONG TERM THINKING:
I am thrilled to announce that I've been invited by THE LONG NOW FOUNDATION to give a seminar on my work this coming November. (exact date TBD.) http://www.longnow.org/PLEDGE REWARDS
(//Pls note: images can be viewed in the online version only//)In the NYC area? At the $20 level, GALAPAGOS ART SPACE has donated some fantastic nights out for 2, including admission to almost any show, plus 2 free drinks at the bar. Only 9 remain! http://galapagosartspace.com/
And 3 great artists donated their work to the cause. First is ALICIA ACKERMAN, an old classmate of mine from SVA who now hails from the Netherlands. Alicia's 16x20 framed C-print "Flag" from her "Hide and Seek" series is as elegant and inventive as, well, a foot in a glove. Snag it for $150. http://aliciaanneackerman.com
Next are two works from two creative friends of mine who just happen to be married. First is OLIVIA VALENTINE, a multidisciplinary visual artist doing some heady things with some familiar forms and materials. She's donated her 11x14 C-Print, "Gingham Reconstruction Image," valued at $350 and available here for $150. http://oliviavalentine.net/
Olvia's husband FIRAT ERDIM is a multidisciplinary visual artist exploring the boundaries between landscape, architecture, and sculpture. He has donated his 11x14" piece "Chicago Bulkhead," also valued at $350 and available here for $150. http://firaterdim.net/
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on June 1, 2010
rachel sussman
Posted project update #13OLTW nominated for the 2010 PRIX PICTET
Post CommentGood morning all,
I couldn't be more pleased to announce that the Oldest Living Things in the World has been nominated for a second year for the prestigious PRIX PICTET.
http://www.prixpictet.com/"The Prix Pictet is the world’s first prize dedicated to photography and sustainability. It has a unique mandate – to use the power of photography to communicate crucial messages to a global audience. The goal is to uncover art of the highest order, that confronts the pressing social and environmental challenges of the new millennium." This year's theme is "Growth."
The 2009 Shortlist included Edward Burtynsky, Ed Kashi and Andreas Gursky and the award is given by Kofi Annan. It's an honor to be nominated amongst such distinguished company.
And back on Kickstarter, we're clocking in with 172 wonderful backers and 83% of the way to the $10,000 goal. There are 18 days left in the campaign - if you have friends and family that have been considering pledging, if you could give them a nudge to do so, I would greatly appreciate it!
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on May 24, 2010
rachel sussman
Posted project update #12GEL talk live & some great new REWARDS
Post CommentHi there,
I've got a lot to tell you today. First, I wanted to share the link to the OLTW talk I gave at the GEL Conference last month. http://vimeo.com/11915393. GEL, which stands for "Good Experience Live," more than lived up to expectations. Check out their site and some of the other fantastic talks on a wide range of subjects: http://gelconference.com/
Next, two new artworks have just been added as rewards, along with a very special donation from fellow kickstarter, photographer and former SVA classmate GEORGE DEL BARRIO. George is also the president and founder of THE VANDERBILT REPUBLIC, a non-profit creative agency that partners with arts/culture/human justice organizations to assist in the realization of their goals. He has generously donated 5 book-proof mechanicals from his project in Cambodia to the OLTW cause. These gorgeous handmade objects can only be found here on Kickstarter. Watch his video here http://bit.ly/92Ig8L and snag one for $100 before they sell out.
Next up are two artists I met at the Vermont Studio Center. First is RACHEL SIMMONS, fine artist and chair of Art & Art History at Rollins College has donated her 17" x 20" work entitled "Pink Crab" (which I particularly appreciate as a Baltimore native) from her series "Wonders of the Sea." Rachel has been to Antarctica not once but twice, where she has continued to explore and interpret science and the environment through her art.
http://www.rachelsimmons.net/Another piece I'll be sorry to part with is a work by Canadian-based artist ALEKS BARTOSIK, who has donated a 6"x 6" work entitled "sweet dreams, he would tell her each night" from her "girls in bed" series...bringing Marcel Dzama to mind. You can check in on Aleks' inventive practice on her blog: http://aleksssstuff.blogspot.com/
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on May 16, 2010
rachel sussman
Posted project update #11NEW **ART** rewards: Laura Holder & Monica Bradley
Post CommentI'm happy to be checking in with you all today at 76% of my goal and 137 backers! I'll be making another radio appearance next week on WFMU, and have press coming out in New Zealand, Brazil and China in the coming month. But more on that later. Now I want to introduce two amazing contributions that I'd just as soon hang at my own house:
LAURA HOLDER is a powerhouse with formidable talent as an artist, designer and writer. And did I mention she's the Design Director of the Wall Street Journal Online? She's contributed "Untitled (Williamsburg Bridge, Chandelier)," where said fixture appears to loom large above the bridge against the black night sky. (Approx 11x14") http://lauratitian.com/
Next up is a hot potato courtesy of the intriguing artist MONICA BRADLEY whom I first met back in the day at the School of Visual Arts. Recently featured in "Dear Dave," magazine berating some household objects, Monica's piece "Pertatertot" from her series "Pathetic Still" continues her surprising juxtapositions of the everyday in her smart, wry sensibility. (11x14") (http://www.deardavemagazine.com/issue01.php
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on May 9, 2010
rachel sussman
Posted project update #10NEW **ART** rewards: Sarah Small & Diana Folsom
Post CommentWow - we're up to 70%! I am very excited and so moved -- not only by the kindness of your pledges, but also the wonderful comments that have been coming in. Thank you!
Two new generously donated artworks are now available as pledge rewards:
The multi-talented SARAH SMALL donated the delightful and daintily-scaled (2x3") "Molly and EllyMay" from her series "The Delirium Constructions," where you're just as likely to see a farm animal as an improbable nude. It's impossible do justice to Sarah's work in such a small space, so visit her website for some surprising and appealing juxtapositions: http://www.sarahsmall.com/
Next, artist DIANA FOLSOM investigates metaphors from nature and the Sublime via her painting, and has donated her beautiful 18x18 piece "Interstellar Dust" from "The Star Series." Diana, whom I met in residence at Vermont Studio Center, works at LACMA and is currently preparing for a solo exhibition in Seoul, Korea this October. http://dianafolsom.com/
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rachel sussman
New York, NY
Rachel Sussman, b. 1975, grew up in Baltimore, punctuated by stints in Santa Fe and Nicoya, Costa Rica. Sussman received her BFA in Photography from the School of Visual Arts in 1998, attended the Bard MFA program in 2008, and began a practice-based ... view more
