photography

AL GORE: Green Energy by 2018 (7/17 Speech)

Yesterday Al Gore Spoke in Washington DC to issue a generational challenge to repower America. He wants to commit to producing 100 percent of our electricity from renewable energy and truly clean carbon-free sources within 10 years. Here’s the a simple example of why we have to do it, as the same issue is causing economic, national security, and environmental chaos.

We’re borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that’s got to change.

But if we grab hold of that common thread and pull it hard, all of these complex problems begin to unravel and we will find that we’re holding the answer to all of them right in our hand.
The answer is to end our reliance on carbon-based fuels.

Check out we can solve it for more info on how to get the word out, and make lifestyle changes. Now the next step is to start thinking about how to make The Fantastic Solution to Global Warming actually happen.

Pete Ippel’s “The Fantastic Solution to Global Warming”
Let’s get some funding for green science!

Technorati Tags: art, artist, environment, california, carbon dioxide, contemporary, diamonds, exhibition, fantastic, global warming, green house gas, hypermodern, Icthus Gallery, Ippel, Mission, New Genres, Pete Ippel, photo, photography, San Francisco, solutions, sustainablilty, Video

Pete_Ipp.jpg, originally uploaded by hypermodern.

Jazz at Pearl’s, San Francisco, California. Go Lincoln! I really enjoyed the Times 4 concert. I expanded my musical horizons in a very positive way…I’ve never been a huge fan of “smooth jazz” and I’d only heard it on WNUA 95.5 in Chicago. I found myself absolutely caught in the groove, punctuated by the dynamic range, musicianship, and sheer joy that they showed on their faces and stomping feet. I am very impressed, and will definitely watch *more* live jazz.

Pete_Ipp.jpg, originally uploaded by hypermodern.

Part two of the fashion show is done…A super fresh haircut. Check back to http://www.hypermodern.net Sunday night for part three.

Pete_Ipp.jpg, originally uploaded by hypermodern.

T-Mobile

There is so much fog I can’t see any fireworks from two miles away. Hooray San Francisco! Time to watch the show on TV.

Pete_Ipp.jpg, originally uploaded by hypermodern.

T-Mobile

Typical Illinois landscape…

Pete_Ipp.jpg, originally uploaded by hypermodern.

T-Mobile

Italy? Nope, it’s Trevi in Las Vegas…Italy? Nope, it’s Trevi in Las Vegas…

Pete_Ipp.jpg, originally uploaded by hypermodern.

Breakfast in Las Vegas…

Pete_Ipp.jpg, originally uploaded by hypermodern.

Blue sky yellow church

This is a quick once-around of “The Fantastic Solution to Global Warming and Other Conundrums” at Icthus Gallery in San Francisco. Thanks to Mark for the video.
The Fantastic Solution to Global Warming and Other Conundrums - Pete Ippel from Hypermodern - Pete Ippel on Vimeo.

The show is open until May 31st, 2008 so if you’re in the city, come by between 10am and 5pm weekdays. Or you can email me at pete @ hypermodern.net and schedule a special showing

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“The Fantastic Solution to Global Warming and Other Conundrums” An art show by Pete Ippel
May 16-31, 2008
Opening Reception: Friday, May 16, 6-9 p.m. with DJ music and indoor-jumping photo souvenirs for guests. EDITORS: You, your reporters and photographers are welcome to cover the event.

Icthus Gallery
1769 15th Street (between Valencia and Guerrero), San Francisco, CA
Gallery hours, weekdays, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.; weekends, by appointment
Admission, Free

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For more information, contact, Pete Ippel, artist
Phone, (415) 425-8863
E-mail, pete at hypermodern.net
Web site, http://www.hypermodern.net/archives/fsgw/

“The Fantastic Solution to Global Warming”, 40 x 60 inches (101 x 152 cm), gouache, ink, pencil, and watercolor on paper

SAN FRANCISCO, Monday, April 28, 2008 - The Fantastic Solution to Global Warming and other Conundrums is an exhibition of new artwork by San Francisco based artist and athlete Pete Ippel. In this collection of drawings, photographic prints, and videos he explores themes ranging from nuclear waste processing to the pairing of art and sport.

In Ippel’s brightly rendered, fantastical 2-D world, a box of lightning, some incandescent light bulbs, and a gigantic, biological-organic turbine are coupled with wind, tide, hydroelectric, nuclear, volcanic, solar, and geothermal power sources to sequester carbon dioxide. Under intense heat and pressure, in a star-powered fusion-cooker, diamonds are produced, thus solving the dilemmas of green house gases, vacant mines, and human rights issues associated with diamond mining.

The exhibition also highlights artifacts, photographic prints, and video informed by Ippel’s work as an athlete and a coach. After completing a successful collegiate track and field career as a high jumper in New York, Ippel made the move to San Francisco to pursue a Masters of Fine Art in the New Genres Department of the San Francisco Art institute.

It was here in the Bay Area, inspired by local artists Tony Labat and Tom Marioni, where Ippel began to craft projects that married his passion for jumping to his artistic practice.

“When I saw that Tony had devoted a year of his life to boxing, and Tom was drinking beer with friends in the name of art while making movement based drawing and prints I felt empowered,” said Ippel. “And I’ve been fortunate to spend time with both of them here in San Francisco. I really respect their work,” Ippel added.

“The Jump Series” grows out of the tradition of New Genres where actions are performed for the camera. The body of work is based on the premise that to push of one’s self off any surface and into the air by using the muscles in one’s legs and feet is a glorious and enjoyable act; essentially human flight. The modes of lift-off on display include skateboarding, high jumping, jumping off of architecture, leaping into panoramic scenes, jumping over objects, and choreographed jumps with other individuals. Ippel utilizes a tripod and a remote control or the camera’s self-timer to execute this body of performative photographs.

TSP Athletics, also on display, is a competitive vertical jumps team, social club, and acts as a collaborative vehicle to generate images of athletes in flight. It blurs boundaries between art and sport while acting as a vehicle to temper the shock of moving away from traditional competitive athletics.

“When you have something obscure like the high jump that has been your top priority for so many years, it’s foreign when it’s gone,” says Ippel. “Because I went directly to SFAI from Cornell, it was quite a challenge to no longer have the support of my team, nor be able to celebrate my athletic gifts in competition. I went through a real period of grief.” Ippel satiated his needs by creating a one-person team and traveling alone to meets a few times a year. “I made a uniform, started a website, and I kept in touch with my jumping peers. When I was at the meets after being away for so long, I started to see the beauty of the action and the camaraderie and wanted to capture it, and still keep it active in my life.”

The project has developed as an answer to what collegiate athletes do upon graduation to keep in touch, keep jumping, and make art.

Since its inception in 2004, TSP Athletics has grown to include former NCAA qualifiers and university record holders. Ippel’s plan is to produce limited-edition prints with participation by distinguished jumpers who are invited to be athletes-in-residence for TSP. In the frame of social sculpture these artists/athletes will each, contribute to the TSP Archive to add to its expanding collection of images and memorabilia.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Pete Ippel was born in Oak Park, Illinois, USA and has been surrounded by the arts since birth. He moved to Morris, Illinois in 1989 and started to participate in athletics rather than dance. After high school, Pete attended Cornell University where he earned a BA in psychology and a BFA in photo / digital art making. He continued to follow his sporting dreams in the high jump, which culminated in a school record leap of 7 feet 1/2 inch in 2001. In May 2004 he attained an MFA degree in the New Genres department of the San Francisco Art Institute. Presently Pete is a practicing artist whose work is in numerous private collections. He’s also the residence manager for the San Francisco Ballet, a fitness professional, coaches basketball and track at University High School, and still high jumps from time to time.

So a few times over the last couple of weeks, I’ve seen cars driving down the streets of San Francisco with 8 digital SLR cameras attached to the roofs, for the longest time I couldn’t figure out why they would be just taking photos of the street.

It reminded me of how they made the Matrix bullet time with multiple cameras facing in on the subject. You can find a very thorough explanation of the Bullet Time technique on YouTube

Well, I’m positing that with the cameras facing out, it’s the work of Google, digitizing the “Street Views” of The City for their Google Maps application.

It’s incredible, I just needed to look up my friend’s zip code and typed in his address, and then I was given the option to check out the street view. This is especially useful if you’re on foot and don’t have GPS, you can actually *visualize* the place you’re headed to.

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There is so much potential in the Casio Exilim EX-F1 for those interest in capturing athletic events, nature, and performance. Indeed it is a revolutionary camera, in that it doesn’t tout it’s mega-pixels but is a paradigm shift in camera features with a blazing frame rate.

A Camera for the Shot You Missed - New York Times

It’s been a while, and I’ve had so much going on, but suffice it to say, I’ve been skating at 2 parks on Monday, the weekend was filled with moving and getting furniture (new to me) and photographing a party, meeting with a client, and this Thursday I have a performance and Friday I have another meeting. I’m excited that things are finally coming in, after two pretty dry months, where I was doing a lot of contacting, and not much response. It feels really good.

This weekend was a memorable one, not only did I meet to help decide the future of SFAI, but I went to Sonoma county and learned how whine is made. I documented it with 35mm film, as well as my own memory. I really like the way the country looks up that way. Such a different feel than to here. I got to see some leaves change, and had a fire for the first time in a long time.

Thanks to Eric, Page, Paul and Kevin for a wonderful trip.