{"id":5420,"date":"2025-09-12T16:09:02","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T14:09:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hacnumedia.org\/reducing-the-ecological-impact-of-artists-a-look-back-at-the-green-residencies-programme\/"},"modified":"2025-12-27T12:02:22","modified_gmt":"2025-12-27T11:02:22","slug":"reducing-the-ecological-impact-of-artists-a-look-back-at-the-green-residencies-programme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hacnumedia.org\/en\/reducing-the-ecological-impact-of-artists-a-look-back-at-the-green-residencies-programme\/","title":{"rendered":"Reducing the Ecological Impact of Artists: A Look Back at the Green Residencies Programme"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Taking time out in a green environment to reflect on the ecological footprint of one\u2019s practice and to experiment with new methods \u2014 this is what the newly launched Green Residencies programme from the Ministry of Culture offers. Here is a look back at the pilot year of the scheme with one of the participating artist collectives, Disnovation.org. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

The Green Residencies programme and Disnovation.org<\/a> seemed destined to connect. On one side: a 6\u201312 month residency enabling an artist from the performing arts or visual arts to commit to an ecological transformation of their activity. On the other: Disnovation.org, a collective founded in 2012 by Nicolas Maigret and Maria Roszkowska. Initially known for projects examining dominant technologies (military technologies with War Zones, surveillance with Profiling the Profilers, or online cultural conflicts with Online Cultural Wars), Disinnovation shifted direction in 2018. Since then, their work has focused on \u201cthe links between ecology, energy and economics \u2014 a trio through which we can understand the major societal challenges related to environmental issues,\u201d explains Nicolas Maigret. The collective has created a bestiary of hybrid Anthropocene creatures<\/a>, explored alternative economic models in Post Growth Prototypes<\/a>, and quantified the economic value of ecosystems in Life Support System<\/a>. A reorientation in substance, but also in form: \u201cWe asked ourselves a lot of questions and introduced many changes in our practices,\u201d recalls Maigret. \u201cWe create works designed to be easily reproduced in different locations, easy to exhibit and circulate, and we don\u2019t travel each time we are invited\u2026\u201d <\/p>\n\n

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Life Support System. \u00a9 Disnovation.org <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Collaboration, Public Sharing and Documentation<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

When the Ministry of Culture invited the collective to take part in the pilot year of the Green Residencies programme<\/a> \u2014 with a financial grant of \u20ac20,000 \u2014 Disnovation embraced the proposal and assembled a working group for a field investigation. To ensure scientific solidity, they approached C\u00e9dric Carles, founder of Atelier 21<\/a>, a structure dedicated to promoting collective and accessible energy alternatives. For the host venue, they partnered with Espace Multim\u00e9dia Gantner, then directed by Val\u00e9rie Perrin. \u201cThey have long been interested in questions of digital impact and ecological transition, and their stance on preserving experimental and digital practices is unique in France \u2014 their collection of art and new technologies is unmatched in scale nationwide,\u201d notes Maigret. This collective approach to leading the residency project is also encouraged by the DGCA, since the call for projects requires associating the artist with both a host venue and an ecological transition professional, who co-lead the project. <\/p>\n\n

As for the creative process, the collective had carte blanche. The call specifies that \u201cthe research does not necessarily have to result in an artwork but must include a public presentation in the territory where it takes place, and be documented.\u201d A rare and precious creative freedom, Maigret emphasises: \u201cIn most calls for projects, there is a strong expectation of finished works and deliverables. Here, the proposal was very open, focused on supporting an experimental phase. There was a relationship of trust in the trajectory, ability and commitment of artists to carry out their investigations. This is extremely rare \u2014 and it is what enabled us to pursue such an ambitious project.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

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Wim Cuyvers en compagnie de Cl\u00e9mence Seurat et Maria Roszkowska \u00a9 Disnovation.org<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Bifurcation and Low-Carbon Audiovisual Methods<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

For this year of creation and experimentation, Disnovation.org chose to conduct a long-term investigation, meeting artists, designers, makers and architects who have embraced forms of bifurcation. \u201cThey are exemplary individuals we\u2019ve encountered through our exhibitions, conferences and life experiences, and they offer us substantial insight into radical bifurcation pathways.\u201d Among these profiles are Kris De Decker<\/a>, former science and technology journalist whose frustration with techno-positivism led him to found Low Tech Magazine<\/a> \u2014 a website powered by solar energy that, as noted on its homepage, \u201csometimes goes offline.\u201d The list also includes Vesna Manojlovic<\/a>, who works on decentralised and low-carbon event organisation for the hacker community, and Jay Jordan<\/a>, performer, activist and educator, based at the Notre-Dame-des-Landes ZAD and co-author of Les Sentiers de l\u2019utopie<\/a>. \u201cThese people have developed solutions and ways to respond to existential dilemmas related to transition, stepping away from hyper-consumption, capitalism and the commodified cultural world,\u201d summarises Nicolas Maigret. <\/p>\n\n

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Kris De Decker en interview pour la R\u00e9sidence verte de Disnovation.org. \u00a9 Disnovation.org<\/a> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
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