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Dear Friends,
Yesterday, seated at my computer, I wrestled to find a way to express direct interface
between a human and the material environment. What word stands for sensual perceptions,
manual manipulations, and kinesthetic experiences? When my trusted Thesaurus
failed me, I invented a new word to refer to such human-scaled interactions. Between
macro and micro, I inserted ‘muckro’. Muck is a moist sticky mixture of mud. It
is only disgusting to people accustomed to the sterility of electronic devices,
modern office buildings, airplanes, etc. But it is prized by people who are in
tune with growth processes. To them, muck is dark fertile soil containing
decaying vegetable that is extremely fertile. It is, I hope, an appropriate
symbol of unmediated connection with the physical environment.
Yesterday I also saw amazing drawings made by a friend when
she journeyed to Ghana,
the invited guest of an honored community grandmother. By any standard of
art-making, they were amateur sketches. But by every standard of soulfulness,
they transcended their appearance. The well-traveled diary in which they
appeared transported me into a space charged with the power of its
representations. The drawings evoked spirit beings she encountered among the towering African
trees, and within a single African leaf.
It is intriguing that among the eco artists I know, I hear two
competing desires:
- to refine
language so that it distills concepts into separate and distinct meanings (define
eco art and differentiate ‘world’ from ‘nature’)
- to
dissolve dualisms (nature/culture) and multi-isms (to establish
interdisciplinary academic programs) to reflect the unity of creation
After thinking about this, I've concluded that these
opposing threads are less conflicting than enriching.
- Without
categorizations, thoughts and perceptions would dissolve into muddled chaos.
- Without a
unifying impulse, alienation would bankrupt the human spirit.
Humans seem genetically programmed to straddle both forms of
interaction and enjoy the dynamic exchange that occurs between them at our
psychological ecotones. I am striving to expand these realms by widening my
stance. I'm seeking more precise forms of definition as well as deeper
intuitive forms of engagement.
- Constructing a workable definition of eco
art suggests the need to go further by defining the countless strategies and
principles that eco artists pursue: conservation, preservation, sustainism, eco
feminism, deep ecology, restoration, regeneration, remediation, etc, etc, etc.
- Constructing
a lifestyle that acknowledges interconnections and interdependencies suggests
the need for a total revamping of prevailing relationships with food, shelter,
fuel, and others.
This is, perhaps, the ultimate journey.
It is intriguing that among the eco artists I know, I hear two
competing desires:
- to refine
language so that it distills concepts into separate and distinct meanings (define
eco art and differentiate ‘world’ from ‘nature’)
- to
dissolve dualisms (nature/culture) and multi-isms (to establish
interdisciplinary academic programs) to reflect the unity of creation
After thinking about this, I've concluded that these
opposing threads are less conflicting than enriching.
- Without
categorizations, thoughts and perceptions would dissolve into muddled chaos.
- Without a
unifying impulse, alienation would bankrupt the human spirit.
Humans seem genetically programmed to straddle both forms of
interaction and enjoy the dynamic exchange that occurs between them at our
psychological ecotones. I am striving to expand these realms by widening my
stance. I'm seeking more precise forms of definition as well as deeper
intuitive forms of engagement.
- Constructing a workable definition of eco
art suggests the need to go further by defining the countless strategies and
principles that eco artists pursue: conservation, preservation, sustainism, eco
feminism, deep ecology, restoration, regeneration, remediation, etc, etc, etc.
- Constructing
a lifestyle that acknowledges interconnections and interdependencies suggests
the need for a total revamping of prevailing relationships with food, shelter,
fuel, and others.
This is, perhaps, the ultimate journey.
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