Category: Vegetare

Vegetare is an Official Selection in the Santa Cruz Film Festival

Vegetare is an Official Selection in the Santa Cruz Film Festival

It’s official!  On Friday night the official announcements were made for which films will screen at the upcoming Santa Cruz Film Festival.
My animation short Vegetare will be screening at the film festival which occurs in Santa Cruz, CA on May 10-19, 2012.

Vegetare is screening with 2 other films,  To Make a Farm (Steve Suderman) and 10,000 Trees (Sarah Ginsburg, Sarah Berkovich.)

There are two screenings which are scheduled for: 4:00 pm on Friday May 11 and 1:00 pm on Saturday May 12.

Links:

santacruzfilmfestival.org/

 

Vegetare – featured on About Harvest

My new video/animation Vegetare is featured on About Harvest’s website.

About Harvest makes films and documentaries that explore the history, science, and relevance of modern agricultural crops that are grown and harvested in the United States and around the world.

Check out Vegetare featured on the site – aboutharvest.com

 

Links:

http://aboutharvest.com/

 

Vegetare *new* Video/Animation by Kbaumlier

Vegetare *new* Video/Animation by Kbaumlier

 

I just completed a piece that I have been working on since June of 2010 called Vegetare (which is Latin for “to grow”) The piece features images of crops of cabbages, cauliflower, corn, tomatoes, and eggplant plants growing from seedlings to harvest.

Vegetare was filmed at Rainbow Farm, a local family farm in Madison, OH from June to September of 2010, and presents an intimate view of crops in their various stages of growth, and the cycle of life from planting to harvest.

Family farms were once a way of life throughout rural America, but today, many of these smaller farming operations are a thing of the past, rendered extinct due to financial hardships and other agricultural developments.

The music in the piece was composed and performed by Joshua Rodriguez and Mary Vanhoozer.

Downloads:
Vegetare Press Information –
Vegetare Press.pdf

Credits:

Director:
Kristen Baumliér

Producer:
Kristen Baumliér

Editing / Animation / Special FXs:
Kristen Baumliér

Videography/Photography:
Kristen Baumliér

Music Composition and Performance
Joshua Rodriguez and Mary Vanhoozer

© 2011

Vegetare Project Statement

As an interdisciplinary artist, I use still and moving images; sound and objects in whimsical, non-traditional ways to provide multiple access points to ideas. I combine analog and digital sources and work in forms including photography, print, video, sound, sculpture, and installation. My process is to explore an idea then choose an appropriate medium. I consciously choose to make technology visible or transparent, and to develop an experience for the audience to enter into ideas and information.

My work explores issues of science, history, and culture. I believe that art can communicate new ideas, and call people to action. Information access and literacy are central to my work. Art making is a process of research and discovery. I am interested in combining forms and disciplines, and aim to make work that asks questions.

Last year I became unsure about what were the best choices in food. My body requires I eat gluten free, I choose to be a vegetarian, and cancer runs in my family (both soy and pesticides have been linked to cancer)- choosing what to eat became overwhelming. I also questioned the safety of foods grown with pesticides and if Genetically Engineered (GE) foods were safe for my family to eat. I began researching food, health, technology, and food systems.

In the late 1800’s, the development of margarine sparked the first debates about “unnatural” food. Today’s debates involve pervasive genetically engineered (GE) foods, including Roundup Ready soybeans, Bt corn, and other GE crops. Increasingly, many believe that since GE crops can be designed with built-in resistance to pests and diseases, thereby reducing the use of pesticides or fungicides, they can have a positive effect on the health of the soil, plants, animals, the farmer, and the consumer.
I have developed a series of works designed to motivate viewers to ask questions about food, health, and the environment.

I created a series of archival digital prints that reference classical botanical drawings and feature a detailed photograph of food combined with a short narrative. Additionally I produced large wall paintings made with soy resin paint that uses terracotta as pigment; an interactive see-saw that triggers video projections of vegetables in motion; and a video in which a cast margarine lamb melts into liquid and grows back, magically in a endless loop.

I believe that art is a form of research, and can frame current questions, issues, and experiences in provocative and thought provoking ways that open up the viewers mind to new possibilities. I feel nourished by my current work, and plan to continue developing projects that will help promote understanding and awareness of issues of food, health, and the environment.

View the Vegetare Project Statement .pdf file.

You can see some of the Vegetare series of projects in the portfolio section of this site.