Podcast # 1: Elementary talks: Thoughts on water, surfaces, and more
Photo artist Marko Zink meets Zhou Lei and Charlene Ren
"Water, what?" marks the kick-off of the sustainability dialogue series "Let's talk future". In Guangzhou, austrian photo artist Marko Zink meets water researcher Zhou Lei and water activist Charlene Ren. Through different lenses, they take a stand on the state of the earth using water as a resource as an example.
Marko ZINK
Servus and ni hao! In our podcast “Lets talk future” Marko Zink gives an insight into one of his latest art works “Swimmer”. He speaks about the unique beauty of water being not only a continuous snapshot, but at the same time a vital basis for human existence.
ZHOU Lei
The Chinese scientist, anthroposoph and founder Zhou Lei shows passion, commitment, and outstanding knowledge when it comes to the topic of water. He teaches at the school of oceanography at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and is the director of the Oriental Danology Institute.
Charlene REN
The Chinese founder and a clean water advocate Charlene Ren underlines the fragility of water and the importance of drinking water. Charlene Ren developed an application that helps people living in rural areas of China to understand about the access to clean water. Charlene Ren studied at the MIT and was rewarded the title Young Champion of the Earth by the UN Environment Program in 2020. She runs MyH20, a data platform for clean water based in Beijing.
Photo artist Lukas Pürmayr meets Boris Rewald
Austrian photo artist Lukas Pürmayr meets Professor Boris Rewald from the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences in Vienna. The protagonists share a common theme. From the point of view of sustainability, they take a partly melancholic, partly concerned look at surfaces, here in particular at surfaces made of wood. The podcasts generated from the event tell of the natural strength and beauty that surfaces emanate. Nevertheless, especially in relation to wood as a resource, they make its vulnerability and finiteness vividly tangible for the listener.
Lukas Pürmayr
The artist takes the viewer of his photographs “Blow Up” to places that are familiar to him. Once there, he is greeted by a washed-out, even strange familiarity. “It is not bad there, but so different to what I remembered”. Above all, Lukas Pürmayr reflects the feelings, experiences and situations that the texture of surfaces can trigger.
Boris Rewald
Boris Rewald is Associate Professor at the University of Natural Resources Vienna (BOKU Wien) where he is in charge for the topic of forest ecology. His view on surfaces, here on wood in particular, adds to the value of this podcast series. As a scientist he takes the listener into the woods. The forest is a habitat in danger all over the world. Illegal deforestation, drought and vermin contribute to global climate change. How are the Austrian forests doing?