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Climate Change Couture on E-Squared Magazine

January 18, 2021
Publications

(US)—I’m stoked to be on E-Squared Magazine, featuring work from the Climate Change Couture series.

E-Squared is an international print publication that draws from both art + science and is the embodiment of this synergy. Issue No. 5 is about the Water Cycle and includes work from artists around the world in 170 pages.

Founded & directed by Emily A. Dustman and archived in Stanford Libraries, E-Squared sets out to present new and groundbreaking ideas developed by artists, scientists, engineers, and all thinkers alike. By blending art and science, E-Squared seeks to generate questions, creative thought, experimentation, collaboration, and innovation with the hope of sparking real social and cultural change.

The works above come from various exhibitions, including The Apocalypse Project: House of Futures (2015) and my residency in Medellin, Colombia (2016).

Buy your copy here.

Tvergastein Issue 14 | The Arts & The Environment features Our Entangled Future

April 9, 2020
Art, climate change, Literature

Tvergastein Issue 14: The Arts and the Environment. Image by cChange

 

[OSLO]—Dr. Karen O’Brien and Nicole Schafenacker, editors of the cli-fi anthology “Our Entangled Future” write about the book in the Oslo-based journal, Tvergastein, for Issue #14, Art & Environment! “Can climate fiction help us engage with a new paradigm for social change?”. Read the issue for free here.

p. 82
For example, author and artist Catherine Sarah Young describes her approach to The Ephemeral Marvels Perfume Store as follows: “I use the abstract yet scientific relationship between scent and memory as a way for humans to redefine their relationship between scent and memory as a way for humans to redefine their relationship with nature through remembering their personal histories and reinforcing their identities, which can facilitate quantum social change.”

p. 82-83
The stories in Our Entangled Future explore characters who connect with reality through non-linear time, collective consciousness, and multi species sentience….Emilia, the main character in Young’s short story, The Ephemeral Marvels Perfume Store, is a perfumer with a keen sense of smell — which is, in fact, considered by some biologists to be an example fo a quantum phenomenon (McFadden and Al-Khalili 2016). Her sense of smell provides her with important information when she meets a trespassing strange — a hulk of a man who could easily overpower her: “She sniffed the air and smelled his fear”. Together, these short stories suggest that we are entangled through our senses, experiences, and consciousness. .

Thanks, guys! Virtual hugs from Sydney!

studio das weisse haus | reading circle 4 | long distance relationships & imaginary traveling features The Ephemeral Marvels Perfume Store from the Our Entangled Future anthology

April 9, 2020
Art, Literature

 

Reading Circle 4 by studio das weisse haus curated by Malou Solfjeld. Image by studio das weisse haus.

 

[VIENNA]—Our friends from studio das weisse haus have created a weekly reading circle curated by the wonderful Malou Solfjeld! I read an excerpt from my story, The Ephemeral Marvels Perfume Store from the anthology, Our Entangled Future. Thanks for having me!  Listen to it here.
–
Readers this week (text by Malou Solfjeld)

Åse Versto Langesæter reads
“Der bor en ung pige i mig som ikke vil dø”, written by Tove Ditlevesen
“Ensomhedens have”, written by Inger Christensen
“Coming to Writing” and Other Essays, written by Hélèn Cixous
First we’re reading about the journey back in time to one’s younger self, learning how to use the poem as a mirror of self-reflection, expectations and realizations.

Mie Hybschmann reads “Momo and the time thieves”, written by Michael Ende
Secondly we travel along the journey of the moon as a magic mirror one can use in times where we’re really longing to see someone that we can’t be with.

Catherine Sarah Young reads “The Ephemeral Marvels Perfume Store”, written by Catherine Sarah Young

Jeremy John reads “Some Thoughts on the Common Toad”, written by George Orwell
Then we question the nature of memories through smells and sounds of the past or the future – with a particular focus on longing for spring to come after a winter that appears endless.

Florian Conrad Eybesfeld reads
“Anywhere out of this world”, written by Charles Baudelaire
Our fifth reading takes us into the deepest part of our soul, all the way to the place where it really hurts. And from here we learn how connecting with pain can be healing, through the power of poetry, imagination and in memory of loved and lost ones. .

Maxime Grausam and Philipp Krummel read
Pippi in the South Seas, written by Astrid Lindgren
Finally we travel to the south seas with the strongest girl in the world, who reminds us of homeschooling and the value of playing with our friends.

https://soundcloud.com/dasweissehaus/reading-circle-04

#readingcontinuesathome

“Our Entangled Future” now available for download

October 14, 2019
Art, climate change

(Norway / Chile) I’m excited to share the news that the book, “Our Entangled Future: Stories to Empower Quantum Social Change,” is now available and free to download. My contribution, a short story version of “The Ephemeral Marvels Perfume Store,” won third place, and I’m stoked to be part of this wonderful collection.  The book will be launched tomorrow, October 15, at the Transformations 2019 conference in Santiago, Chile, and will be available in ebook and paperback versions.

The nine short stories presented in Our Entangled Future are rooted in the complex reality of the climate crisis. Rather than painting a dystopic future, they present agency-driven characters whose insights will inspire readers to contemplate and realize the potential for quantum social change.

The book is co-edited by Karen O’Brien, Ann El Khoury, Nicole Schafenacker and Jordan Rosenfeld. Many thanks to the team, the jury and my fellow writers!

Download the book here.

Vox Pop Video Address at Global Landscapes Forum Kyoto 2019

May 7, 2019
Speaking

I’ll be giving one of the Vox Pop Video addresses for Global Landscape Forum in Kyoto as are some pretty incredible people. I’ll be presenting my work on climate change, specifically The Apocalypse Project and Wild Science bodies of work. I created one video especially for Letters for Science, where I invite the public to write letters to science denialists. Thank you especially to China Residencies and KulturKontakt Austria whose residencies gave me time, space, and networks to reach out to people, as well as Mrs. Eva Heider-Stadler in Eferding and Ms. Allison Cusato in Beijing and their students who participated in the first workshops, and to all the other institutions and individuals who have supported these projects.

I dedicate these to the climate change deniers, anti-vaxxers, and moon landing truthers of my life. You guys inspire me so.

Sign up here: https://events.globallandscapesforum.org/kyoto-2019/

Update: Video is up! https://www.globallandscapesforum.org/video/catherine-sarah-young/

Crystal Ruth Bell Residency Wrap-Up

May 4, 2019
Art, China

(Beijing)—I’ve finished my stint with the 5th Crystal Ruth Bell Residency with China Residencies and Red Gate Gallery. Here are some highlights in the second half:

  1. “Maslow’s Dream,” a group exhibition at the Austrian Embassy

2. Open Studios at Red Gate Gallery

3. Going around the hutong in Crystal Ruth Bell’s sanlunche to ask people for their climate stories and opinions on the food I designed

4. Holding a Letters for Science Workshop

5. Interacting with the elderly in Beijing

6. Spending time with kindergarten and grad school friends

7. Thinking about food futures of China

8. Training! Hurray!

9. Working on a new piece for Science Gallery Detroit. More soon!

10. Being with nature and having time to think about very important big future steps.

It was a wonderful tranformative time. Stay tuned for outcomes! In the meantime, thank you China Residencies and dear friends I’ve met along the way!

The Sewer Soaperie and An Olfactory Portrait of the Amazon Rainforest at the Manila Biennale

February 6, 2018
Amazon, Colombia, Environment, Exhibitions, Nature, Sustainability

The Apocalypse Project‘s Sewer Soaperie and An Olfactory Portrait of the Amazon Rainforest are exhibited in the first Manila Biennale in the walled city of Intramuros. The theme, “Open City,” refers to Intramuros as the origin of Manila’s culture. It is a tribute to the walled city’s beginnings as a port for the Galleon Trade, a time when Intramuros opened itself up to the world and welcomed new ideas, products and people.

Image credit: Manila Biennale

The Sewer Soaperie consists of soaps made from different points in the cycle of oil in human consumption, from palm oil to used oil to raw sewage and fatbergs, to highlight the effects of our impact on cities. Support for this project was given by Arts Collaboratory, Ministry of Culture of Colombia, and Medellín-based arts organizations Platohedro and Casa Tres Patios, where I did a residency in 2016.

This edition of An Olfactory Portrait of the Amazon Rainforest features scents based on the travel narratives of 19th century explorers of the Amazon, where naturalists such as Alfred Russell Wallace and Alexander von Humboldt encountered this ecosystem for the first time, which relates to the “openness” theme of the biennale. Visitors are allowed to smell these scents and inhale the stories of how these explorers encountered the Amazon. On the wall is text that features the passage of the books where I based these scents from. This project was inspired by my residency in the Amazon in 2017, with the support of LABVERDE and the INPA National Institute of Amazonian Research.

Manila, Medellín, and Manaus are cities that are similar in their colonial history, richness of culture and stories, and vulnerabilities to climate change, which the works highlight. It’s been great fun to bring these together for this historic biennale as well as be reminded of my enriching residency experiences in South America, of which the Philippines share very similar characteristics.

The Sewer Soaperie and An Olfactory Portrait of the Amazon Rainforest

This edition of An Olfactory Portrait of the Amazon Rainforest interprets the olfactory memories of 19th century explorers into scent, based on their travel narratives

The installation can be viewed at the biennale lounge. Image credit: Manila Biennale

Manila Biennale 2018 is led by Executive Director Carlos P. Celdran, and this installation is curated by Alice Sarmiento. Thank you!

Image credits: Photos 1-4 by Studio Catherine Sarah Young, 5-7 by Manila Biennale

The Apocalypse Project is a Finalist at the Cultural Innovation International Prize in Barcelona

July 11, 2017
Awards, Environment, Exhibitions, News

Barcelona, Spain—From June 20-22, I was in Barcelona, Spain (one of my second homes where I attended art school, hurray!) as The Apocalypse Project is a finalist for the Cultural Innovation International Prize in CCCB. The theme of this year’s biennial prize is climate change.

There were 10 finalists from all over the world, though strangely I was the only one from Asia and I think the one based outside of the EU. How curious. But in any case, I was really grateful to be a part of it; a lot of my best friends are in Barcelona and I haven’t seen them in 7 years. How fast time flies!

On June 20, we had a workshop to explain our proposals and then we had to give a public presentation.

CCCB Cultural Innovation International Prize

Metaphors and storytelling

We had a bilingual workshop, which was mainly for me and James, from the UK

The Apocalypse Project: It’s More Fun in the Anthropocene

With some of my best friends whom I haven’t seen!

When your friends are with you, this talk was a breeze

Taekwondo besties!

My proposal, “The Apocalypse Project: It’s More Fun in the Anthropocene,” was runner-up to the prize. I’m very happy to be a part of this, and to speak about four years of collaborations in Barcelona, one of my “home cities” where my views on interdisciplinary art and science first took root. I’m glad to have seen my friends again—I rarely travel for tourism because of the carbon—so this was a very meaningful trip! Onwards and upwards!

“The Apocalypse Project: Urban Harvest” Exhibition Opening

September 26, 2016
Art, Colombia, Creative Learning, Philippines, Science

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Installation view of The Apocalypse Project: Urban Harvest at 1335Mabini

 

Here are some photos from the opening of The Apocalypse Project: Urban Harvest exhibition at 1335Mabini, including the sciart conversations afterwards.

Man, I’m tired.

More soon!