EcoMag No.1
by jodyb
This work has not been commented by curators.
Title
EcoMag No.1
Headline
Future Scenarios
Concept author(s)
Jody Boehnert
Concept author year(s) of birth
1970
Concept author(s) contribution
Art Director, Producer, Graphic Designer.
Concept author(s) Country
United Kingdom (Great Britain)
Designer(s)
Angela Morelli; Andrew Merritt; Airside; Jody Barton; Rod Hunt; Leona Clarke; Kate Evans; Jamie Slimmon; Si Yeun Kim
Designer(s) year(s) of birth
?
Designer(s) contribution
Designers and illustrators either responded to a call for submissions I posted on-line or were contacted directly by me to respond to a theme. I raised money from a Lottery Award to pay them a relatively modest fee for their work.
Designer(s) Country
United Kingdom (Great Britain)
Copy author(s)
Herman Daly, David Holmgren, Mark Lynas
Copy author(s) year(s) of birth
?
Copy author(s) contribution
Three authors gave us permission to republish critical texts.
Friendly Competition
Love Conflict Imagination (2010-2011)
Competition category
Mobilization
Competition field
nonacademic
Competition subfield
professional
Subfield description
I am director of EcoLabs, a small non-profit in London UK which aims to nurture whole systems thinking, foster ecological literacy, 
and create an alternative cultural vision that will drive transformational change 
to meet the goals of a fully sustainable society. EcoLabs experiments with creative intervention.
Check out the Love Conflict Imagination 2010-2011 outlines of Memefest Friendly competition.
Description of idea
Describe your idea and concept of your work in relation to the festival outlines:
I wanted to challenge fantastical, techno-fantasy visions of the future that are common in the mainstream. I wanted to create artwork that would popularize important concepts such as the steady state economy and energy descent. I wanted to give activists props to start conversations. I wanted to produce a magazine about ecology that might interest people who would not identify themselves as environmentalists.
What kind of communication approach do you use?
I made visual media which aimed to start discussions on ecology and the future. The artwork was exhibited at over 20 events in 2009/2010 (see: http://bit.ly/egbONa). The work was exhibited in public space and often in spaces that activists from the Camp for Climate Action occupied, to help engage people passing by with the some of the issues in a non threatening manner. The artwork also became a magazine that was given away or sold for a few pounds.
What are in your opinion concrete benefits to the society because of your communication?
The project enabled dialogue on ecology, climate change and the future in a variety of spaces. I have been told that the Steady State poster is being used as a teaching resource. ABCD Scenarios helps starts discussions on energy descent.
What did you personally learn from creating your submitted work?
That self-publishing a magazine is hard work and magazines are heavy to carry around.
Why is your work, GOOD communication WORK?
Despite the fact that I wrote a blog called 'Why EcoMag Failed' (http://ecolabs.posterous.com/why-ecomag-failed), I don't actually believe this to be the case! The artwork is strong and the project has managed to start conversations and provoke dialogue in many different spaces. I wrote the blog because I am annoyed that there is no financial support for a second issue (after numerous grant applications) and because those with the ability to help this project continue refused to do so.
Where and how do you intent do implement your work?
This work exists in three forms: as a hard copy magazine (and I still have several hundred copies), as pdf on-line (downloaded over 17,000 times) and as an exhibition of eight digitally printed A1 posters on canvas.
Did your intervention had an effect on other Media. If yes, describe the effect? (Has other media reported on it- how? Were you able to change other media with your work- how?)