lecture

On November 1st, 2011, HALF-PIPES AND SOVIET MONUMENTS…

a half pipe in a Sofia park

…sitting side by side in a park in central Sofia, Bulgaria – with young Balkan skate rats attired in impressively authentic Western skate rat fashions – is what I noticed on the long circuitous walk I took on the way to my Sofia Architecture Week lecture this evening.

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October 31st, 2011, BULGARIAN NATIONAL TELEVISION…

Bulgarian morning TV

…is where I started out my first morning in the country for a live interview to discuss my work, and tomorrow’s talk at the Sofia Architecture Week, and then out to explore the streets of Sofia for a brisk afternoon of meandering wanderings in crisp cool sunny weather enjoying one of my last days as a free flâneur this year (before moving back to the dome and L.A. on Wednesday!)….when I very luckily happen upon a young man preparing some wholesome looking bread in a warm window at the intersection of two small tree-lined side streets, which draws me in to discover The Sun and Moon Cafe, a very very awesome slow/local food, vegany, fresh, cozy place, my ideal sort of food refuge in a foreign city, where the menu full of good/real vegan food overwhelms me so much that the waitress has to return a few times until I finally figure out what from the menu bounty I want to order, and then afterward it is clear I will not find a better place to eat in town, I will eat all of my meals here, and decide to change hotels so I can stay around the corner….but I guess that’s what happens when comfort craving begins to rule at the end of three months on the road.

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On October 15th, 2011, MY PRESENTATION AT THE GARDEN MARATHON…

hey, I felt right at home in the the geodesic dome that the Serpentine erected just for the Garden Marathon, and interviewing Denise Withers, resident gardener at the London Edible Estate

…(part of a series of annual talks, performances, and interviews masterminded by the indefatigable Hans Ulrich Obrist at the Serpentine Gallery in London’s Kensington Gardens which has previously taken on maps, interviews, poetry, experiments, and manifestos – for which I contributed a London: A Manifesto from your Animals  in 2008 – with today’s line-up highlights including Elizabeth Diller, Gianfranco Baruchello, Dan Graham, Rodney Graham, Wolfgang Tillmans, Cerith Wyn Evans, FIELDCLUB, Alice Rawsthorn, Something & Son, and muf architecture) – began with the reading of a short autobiographical garden story (read the text here), followed by an interview with Denise Withers – the Brookwood Estate resident, who has been the resident gardening force at Edible Estate #4: London (at the corner of Lancaster and Weber in the Southwark neighborhood south of the Thames) for the past 4 and a half years since it was planted.

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On October 7th, 2011, BUDAPEST HOTEL VIEW…

Budapest sunset over the Danube and Chain Bridge

…as the sun rose this morning over the Danube crossed by the Chain Bridge was pretty magic-y, making me excited to return again soon to spend more time in this mysterious part of the world…but tonight it is a talk for Budapest Design Week at the new art organization Blood Mountain Foundation which will be hosting me and commissioning the project next year.

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By Fritz Haeg on October 7, 2011 | Budapest
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On September 30th, 2011, RENO FOOD AND BOOK DISCOVERIES…

Sundance Books and Music and the Great Basin Community Food Co-op

…came just as I was beginning to think that this town was all casinos and slot machines, just before my talk at the Nevada Museum of Art for the Art + Environment Conference, as I wandered around the corner to find the super cute inviting sophisticated food co-op – The Great Basin Community Food Co-op – and bookstore – Sundance Books and Music – where I bought two favorites: Architecture Without Architects by Bernard Rudofsky and a new edition of Earth-Sheltered House, Revised Edition: An Architect’s Sketchbook by Malcolm Wells.

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On September 28th, 2011, ART + ENVIRONMENT CONFERENCE…

Art + Environment Conference, Nevada Museum of Art

…is why I’m headed to Reno tomorrow, where the Nevada Museum of Art hosts the 2nd edition of the gathering featuring two days of talks and conversations, and if y I’ll be talking at 2pm Friday if …

The Art + Environment ConferenceSM at the Nevada Museum of Art reaches across continents, disciplines, and media to unite a dynamic group of thinkers shaping ideas about human interactions with global environments. A flagship program of the Museum’s Center for Art + Environment, the 2011 Conference brings together artists, scholars, designers, and writers for a dialogue that fosters new knowledge in the visual arts. During the Conference, the Museum’s galleries feature exhibitions that question our relationships with natural, built, and virtual environments, while serving as a springboard for Conference sessions and keynote presentations with Diana Al-Hadid, Subhankar Banerjee, David Benjamin, Richard Black, Edward Burtynsky, Gaetano Carboni, John Carty, Pilar Cereceda, William L. Fox, Amy Franceschini, Fritz Haeg, Newton Harrison, Helen Mayer Harrison, Laura Jackson, Patricia Johanson, Chris Jordan, Thomas Kellein, Geoff Manaugh, Mandy Martin, Christie Mazuera-Davis, Paul D. Miller, Gerald Nanson, Jorge Pardo, Rodrigo Pérez de Arce, John Reid, Alexander Rose, Sean Shepherd, Mark Smout, Bruce Sterling, Nicola Twilley, Leo Villareal, Stephen G. Wells, Ann M. Wolfe, Liam Young (website)

 

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On September 20th, 2011, PENNSYLVANIA HORTICULTURE SOCIETY…

recreation of an 18th century Philadelphia garden

…volunteers tend the recreated typical 18th century Philadelphia garden that I passed by this afternoon (on my way to the Apple Store for an emergency laptop battery procedure where I felt like a worried parent waiting for my ‘genius’ Apple barman to come through those swinging doors with news on the prognosis) – who along with American Philosophical Society Museum happen to be the hosts of my lecture tonight. (P.H.S. webpage)

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On October 5th, 2010, LECTURE IN DEN HAAG…

Stroom, Den Haag

…this evening at the wonderful Stroom – described as “an independent foundation established in 1989 as is a centre for art and architecture with a wide range of activities, starting from the visual arts, architecture, urban planning and design the program focuses on the urban environment.” -  features exhibition spaces, public programming, commissioned civic projects, and a fabulous/extensive public library of books, journals, and periodicals related to architecture, design, and art in public space – and right now they are in the middle of a two year series of programs related to food in the city, called Foodprint, for which my esteemed artist friend Nils Norman is constructing an urban permaculture pubic garden. (webpage)

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By Fritz Haeg on October 5, 2010 | art
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On April 26th, 2010, STUDENTS FROM THE OTIS COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN GRADUATE PUBLIC PRACTICE PROGRAM…

Otis College of Art & Design - Graduate Public Practice Program - Field Internship & Methodologies course, Spring 2010

…came over to my L.A. dome home-base for a tour and talk this evening. (website)

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On April 11th, 2010, THE TREES AT UNIVERSITY OF OREGON, EUGENE…

Silhouette of trees at University of Oregon, Eugene

…are stupendous, actually the entire campus is an arboretum – which is where I gave a talk last night…now to Boston. (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on April 11, 2010 | landscape design, lectures
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