Land Art Generator Initiative 2012 NYC

We are very pleased to announce that, in partnership with New York City's Department of Parks & Recreation, the 2012 Land Art Generator Initiative design competition will be held for a site within Freshkills Park (the former Fresh Kills landfill) in Staten Island.

The design brief, to be released January 2012, will be similar to that of the 2010 edition. LAGI 2012 is an ideas competition to design a site-specific public artwork that, in addition to its conceptual beauty, has the ability to harness energy cleanly from nature and convert it to electricity for the utility grid.

The expansiveness of the design site at Freshkills Park presents the opportunity to power the equivalent of thousands of homes with the artwork. The stunning beauty of the reclaimed landscape and the dramatic backdrop of the Manhattan skyline will provide an opportune setting from which to be inspired, and it offers the perfect environment for a showcase example of the immense potential of aesthetically interesting renewable energy installations for sustainable urban planning.

The monetary prize award ($20,000) will not guarantee a commission for construction; however, LAGI will work with stakeholders both locally (NYC) and internationally to pursue possibilities for implementation of the most pragmatic and aesthetic LAGI designs.

Jury members include:
-Bjarke Ingels, BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group
-Dr. Henry Kelly, Acting Assistant Secretary and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy
-Jean Gardner, Associate Professor of Social Ecological History, Parsons New School, School of Constructed Environments
-Public Design Commission of the City of New York
-Patricia Watts & Amy Lipton, ecoartspace
-Melanie Cohn, Executive Director, Council on the Arts & Humanities for Staten Island
-Staten Island Economic Development Corporation

About Freshkills Park:
"At 2,200 acres, Freshkills Park will be almost three times the size of Central Park and the largest park developed in New York City in over 100 years. The transformation of what was formerly the world’s largest landfill into a productive and beautiful cultural destination will make the park a symbol of renewal and an expression of how our society can restore balance to its landscape.

In addition to providing a wide range of recreational opportunities, including many uncommon in the city, the park’s design, ecological restoration and cultural and educational programming will emphasize environmental sustainability and a renewed public concern for our human impact on the earth." - FRESHKILLS PARK

About The Land Art Generator Initiative
Founded in 2009, LAGI is a project of Society for Cultural Exchange, a 501(c)(3) organization committed to providing a forum for local and international communities to engage with the arts and the environment through interdisciplinary and cross-cultural collaborations (http://societyforculturalexchange.org/). LAGI is a multifaceted project that is focused on expanding public awareness of and support for renewable energy.

http://landartgenerator.org