Farmlab Public SalonMieke Gerritzen and Koert MensvoortFriday, January 18, 2008 @ NoonFree Admission

"Next Nature: Real Nature is not Green"

About the Salon

Next Nature: Our established view on 'nature' needs reconsideration. Nature, in the sense of trees, plants, animals, atoms, or climate, is getting increasingly controlled and governed by man. It has turned into a cultural category. At the same time, products of culture, which we used to be in control of man, tend to outgrow us and become autonomous.

The 'natural powers' seem to shift to another field. Nature changes along with us. Wild systems, genetic surprises, calm technology, autonomous machinery and splendidly beautiful black flowers.

Mieke and Koert are currently visionaries in residence at the Media Design Program of Art Center college of Design in Pasadena. Spring 2008 they will organize a Biggest Visual Power Show -an intellectual show that blends between a conference and a pop concert- in the region and will make a call for proposals.

About the Salon Presenters

Mieke Gerritzen was born in Amsterdam. In the early nineties Gerritzen was one of the first designers involved in the development of digital media in the Netherlands. She makes designs for all media and works with many different designers, writers and artists. She has a couple of successful publications on her name: Catalogue of Strategy, Everyone is a Designer, Mobile Minded and Next Nature. Gerritzen is head of the design department Sandberg Institute, the post-graduate design course in Amsterdam. Gerritzen is co-director of All Media Foundation. Mieke Gerritzen received many prizes and gives lectures and presentations worldwide.

Koert van Mensvoort (www.koert.com) grew up in a Dutch suburb, but now he is artist and scientist. Koert graduated in fine arts and computer sciences. Much of his work revolves around the relation between people, media and technology.

Among his works are the Datafountain (an internet enabled water fountain connected to money currency rates), the TV documentary 'The Woods smell of Shampoo' (about the tensed relation between reality and simulation) and the 'Fake for Real' memory game. He is the presenter and co-organizer of the Visual Power Show, an intellectual show about the power of image.

He is co-director of the All Media Foundation, and a part time assistant Professor at the Eindhoven University of Technology (Industrial Design Department).

Koert believes our technological world has become so intricate and uncontrollable that it becomes a nature of its own. Many of his current activities relate to the exploration of our changing relation with Nature.