July 8, 2001

'LandEscapes 2001' seeks to redefine meaning of art

By Misty Edgecomb
of the Bangor Daily News Staff

BAR HARBOR— Nancy Manter is the daughter of an artist and a cardiologist and she has been trying to reconcile those two seemingly disparate worlds much of her life.

Manter is a painter and professor of visual arts at Princeton University who reads scientific journals on the sly and is among the founding members of the first Mount Desert Symposium in the Arts, July 21-27, at College of the Atlantic and Neighborhood House in Northeast Harbor.

Manter envisioned the symposium as a week where visual artists could come together with musicians, biologists, philosophers, chemists and writers -- a full spectrum of human creativity to discuss different expressions of a changing world.

"Today it's not so clear what is art and what is science," Manter said. "Oftentimes, someone who is looking into a microscope is doing something very similar to someone who is making an abstract painting. Look at the boat builders — that's sculpture, and so many of the gardens here — the whole composition is art."

It was once common to explore art, science and philosphy simultaneously but today — particularly in the well-ordered world of higher education — cross-discipline collaboration is rare.

Manter and her fellow members of the symposium's advisory board see the nonprofit group as a "mini think tank," an opportunity for cross-pollination of creative ideas among people with very different areas of expertise.

"There used to be these boundaries between disciplines. With computers and all this new technology, there's so much information available to everyone now" she said.

This year's symposium draws its theme "Land Escapes 2001" from Mount Desert Island's notoriety as a haven for landscape painters.

Through public debate and artistic creation, participants hope to redefine the meaning of art in the Landscape for the 21st century Manter said.

"Art in the Landscape", a panel discussion moderated by Patricia Phillips, an art critic and dean of he School of Fine and Performing Arts at SUNY New Paltz, will open the week with a look at how different types of artists interpret landscape. It may be a vision of where the sky meets the sea, a stark cityscape, a state of mind, or even the new virtual landscape created by cyberspace. Panel members include Manter, book designer Karen Davidson, artist, writer and papermaker Susan Gosin, calligrapher Philip Heckscher and local jewelry designer Sam Shaw.

Art historian and writer Justin Spring will take a glance back at traditional landscapes with a lecture based on his recently published biography of painter Fairfield Porter. And a half-dozen filmmakers will show works, both short and documentary length, inspired by the landscapes of their lives. Stories inspired by family, home and natural and human-made environments will mingle in the experimental film forum.

"It's a combination of people from here and away, it's a combination of emerging and professional people," Manter said.

At week's end, a book will be published for all participants, including photographs, drawings and written works. Each participant will create a page expressing their personal response to "Land Escapes."

College of the Atlantic has volunteered to play host to the majority of this summer's events, but the symposium is not affiliated with any institution.

"This is not meant to be affiliated with one institution, but meant to be a free floater," Manter said.

In future years, Manter hopes to coordinate with some of the scientific institutions on the island to give the program greater diversity and introduce some of the ethical debates inherent in modern scientific research.

"The world is always changing. There's so much scientific innovation out there, it makes my head twirl," she said. But for now, the symposium's advisory board is concerned with making "Land Escapes" a reality.

"This won't be together until it's over, but that's the beauty of it." Manter said. "It's kind of like throwing it all into a big mix-master to see what comes out."