Kickstarter

Dear OLTW backers,

2012 is already shaping up to be a great year for the Oldest Living Things, and I wanted to share some of the milestones with you. My expedition to Antarctica marked the end of 'phase 1' of my field work. I still have to pinch myself to believe I made it! And I've just launched my first site-specific installation, combining a timeline with my images directly onto the gallery walls at the Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden.

If you didn't catch the New York Times LENS blog coverage of the Oldest Living Things, as well as my writings and photos from the field in Antarctica, you can still check 'em out here.

 

And now through 11am on April 19th, FAB.com is hosting a special 5-day sale of my work. It features a number of my images from Antarctica (including those that ran in the NYTimes), as well as some one-of-a-kind artist proofs and a very few Oldest Living Things. Prints are up to 50% off, and your purchases directly help support my work. Win, win!

Below I leave you with an installation view of my exhibition that opened last night: a timeline spirals from floor to ceiling, spanning 500,000 years into the past, all the way through 500,000 years into our unknown future...

Thanks as always for your support. I couldn't have done it without you.

Dear 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

Dear 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.

Wow. 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.html

MONTALVO 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/