Collectivement, on est inconscient. On cherche à parler de la conscience écologique. On cherche à parler de ça, mais en réalité… S’il y a une psyché collective, ce que je crois, je pense qu’il y a une espèce d’esprit collectif, mais c’est un esprit qui est inconscient, qui n’est pas capable de se voir aller, de se réfléchir et donc pas capable de méditer, pas capable de se transformer, donc soumis à ses peurs et ses pulsions. Je suis assez pessimiste par rapport à ça, mais c’est que le deuil écologique, tout le chagrin et toute la peur est refoulée présentement. Il y a des activistes qui crient dans le désert, qui hurlent, et les gens entendent, mais comme dans un brouillard. Ce n’est pas suffisant pour amener à une action collective. Donc, le deuil il est loin d’être fait, collectivement.

dr. danielle boutet, balado conscient, 24 juin 2021, rimouski

Danielle Boutet, Ph.D., est chercheure en pratique des arts. Après un doctorat portant sur les dimensions épistémologiques du processus créateur en art, elle s’intéresse à l’expérience artistique: c’est-à-dire l’expérience de l’artiste en lien avec la création, et quels sont les sens de cette expérience dans l’ensemble de l’expérience humaine. Elle approche cette question d’un point de vue phénoménologique et autoethnologique – notamment via les récits de pratique. Spécialiste de l’intermédialité et de l’interdisciplinarité dans les arts, et plus spécialement du processus créateur dans ces nouveaux champs artistiques, une part de ses recherches portent sur un ensemble d’habiletés et de notions communes à tous les arts, sorte d’arrière-plan non-disciplinaire ou infra-disciplinaire, permettant aux artistes d’appliquer les savoirs et savoir-faire de leur médium d’origine à de nouveaux médiums et à de nouvelles pratiques artistiques. Dans une perspective transdisciplinaire, elle envisage l’art comme une forme de connaissance à part entière parmi les autres formes de connaissance, et postule sa complémentarité dans toute connaissance du réel, aux côtés de la science, de la philosophie et des grandes herméneutiques telles la psychanalyse, les spiritualités, et autres. Elle étudie également les nouvelles pratiques artistiques, notamment l’art relationnel, l’art en communauté et l’art activiste.

Je connais à Danielle Boutet depuis 1999 au début de ma carrière au Conseil des arts du Canada. Au cours des années, elle a eu une grande influence sur mon évolution dans ce secteur. Voici un billet qu’elle a écrit en 2016 qui fait le point sur nos collaboration au Conseil : L’interdisciplinarité a la non-disciplinarité. J’étais très heureux de renouer un dialogue sur l’art avec Danielle dans le cadre de ce balado. Toujours engagée et réfléchie, nous avons eu bel échange. Ces deux citations en particulier m’ont touché :

Changer notre rapport à la nature 

Il faut arriver à changer notre rapport à la nature, notre façon d’entrer en relation avec les autres et ce n’est pas là la science généralisant qui va nous dire, c’est cette espèce de science du singulier et de l’expérience de chacun. Pour moi, c’est vraiment un grand domaine d’innovation, de recherche et je vois que les artistes s’en vont dans cette direction. Tu sais, toi et moi, on observe les changements dans le monde de l’art depuis les années 1990. Moi, je vois ça à travers les artistes qui en parlent de plus en plus et intègrent de plus en plus leur réflexion dans leur démarche. 

Comment l’art peut aider les humains à évoluer

J’entends beaucoup des gens qui appellent les artistes à intervenir, des artistes aussi qui disent qu’il faut faire quelque chose, etc. Je trouve que l’art ce n’est pas un bon véhicule pour l’activisme. Je suis vraiment désolé pour tous ceux qui s’intéressent à ça. Je ne veux pas choquer personne, mais parfois ça peut risquer de tomber dans la propagande ou de tomber dans l’idéologie ou dans une sorte de facilité qui me désole au sens où je pense que l’art peut faire tellement plus que ça et aller tellement plus profondément que ça. L’art peut aider les humains à évoluer. C’est à ce niveau-là que je pense qu’on était comment on pourrait vraiment avoir une action, mais je pense qu’on l’a toujours eu cette action-là et il suffit de la relancer encore et encore et encore.

Je remercie Danielle d’avoir pris le temps d’échanger avec moi et de partager sa vision du monde, ses réflexions en profondeur sur l’art et son esprit d’ouverture et d’exploration. 

Vous trouverez de plus amples informations sur Danielle Boutet a https://www.uqar.ca/universite/a-propos-de-l-uqar/departements/departement-de-psychosociologie-et-travail-social/boutet-danielle et https://danielleboutet.wordpress.com

Liens

• The Love of Nature and the End of the World
• Joanna Macy
• Outrage and Optimism

*

(translation)

Collectively, we are unconscious. We try to talk about ecological consciousness. If there is a collective psyche, which I believe there is, I do think there is a kind of collective mind, but it is a mind that is unconscious, that is not capable of seeing itself, of reflecting and therefore not capable of meditating, not capable of transforming itself, and therefore subject to its fears and its impulses. I am quite pessimistic about this, in the sense that ecological grief, all grief and all fear is repressed at the moment. There are activists shouting in the wilderness, screaming, and people are listening, but in a fog. It is not enough to bring about collective action. Therefore, our grieving is far from being done, collectively.

dr. danielle boutet, conscient podcast, june 24, 2021, rimouski

Danielle Boutet, Ph.D., is a researcher in arts practice. After completing a doctorate on the epistemological dimensions of the creative process in art, she is interested in the artistic experience: that is, the experience of the artist in relation to creation, and what are the meanings of this experience in the whole of human experience. She approaches this question from a phenomenological and autoethnological point of view – in particular via the narratives of practice. As a specialist in intermediality and interdisciplinarity in the arts, and more specifically in the creative process in these new artistic fields, part of her research focuses on a set of skills and notions common to all the arts, a sort of non-disciplinary or infra-disciplinary background, allowing artists to apply the knowledge and know-how of their medium of origin to new mediums and new artistic practices. In a transdisciplinary perspective, it considers art as a form of knowledge in its own right among other forms of knowledge, and postulates its complementarity in any knowledge of reality, alongside science, philosophy and the great hermeneutics such as psychoanalysis, spiritualities, and others. She also studies new artistic practices, notably relational art, art in community and activist art.

I have known Danielle Boutet since 1999 when I started my career at the Canada Council for the Arts. Over the years, she has had a great influence on my evolution in this sector. Here is a post she wrote in 2016 that summarizes our collaborations at the Council: From Interdisciplinarity to Non-disciplinarity. I was thrilled to re-engage in a dialogue about art with Danielle on this podcast. Always engaging and thoughtful, we had a great exchange. These two quotes caught my attention in particular:

Changing our relationship to nature 

We need to change our relationship to nature, our way of relating to others, and it’s not the generalizing science that’s going to tell us, it’s this kind of science of the singular and the experience of each person. For me, it is really a great field of innovation, of research and I see that the artists are going in this direction. You and I have been watching the changes in the art world since the 1990s. I see it through the artists who talk about it more and more and integrate their reflection in their approach. 

How art can help humans evolve

I hear a lot of people calling for artists to intervene and of artists also saying that something must be done, etc. I think that art is not a good vehicle for activism. I’m really sorry for all the people who are interested in this. I don’t want to shock anyone, but sometimes it can risk falling into propaganda or ideology or a kind of facility that I am sorry about, in the sense that I think art can do so much more than that and go so much deeper than that. Art can help humans to evolve. It is at this level that I think that we can really have action, but I think that we have always had this action, and it is a question of doing it over and over and over again.

I thank Danielle for taking the time to exchange with me and share her worldview, her deep thinking on art and her spirit of openness and exploration. 

You can find more information about Danielle Boutet at https://www.uqar.ca/universite/a-propos-de-l-uqar/departements/departement-de-psychosociologie-et-travail-social/boutet-danielle (in French) and https://danielleboutet.wordpress.com/in-english/

Links

• The Love of Nature and the End of the World
• Joanna Macy
• Outrage and Optimism

The post é60 boutet : à la recherche d’un esprit collectif appeared first on conscient podcast / balado conscient. conscient is a bilingual blog and podcast (French or English) by audio artist Claude Schryer that explores how arts and culture contribute to environmental awareness and action.

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About the Concient Podcast from Claude Schryer

The conscient podcast / balado conscient is a series of conversations about art, conscience and the ecological crisis. This podcast is bilingual (in either English or French). The language of the guest determines the language of the podcast. Episode notes are translated but not individual interviews.

I started the conscient project in 2020 as a personal learning journey and knowledge sharing exercise. It has been rewarding, and sometimes surprising.

The term ‘conscient’ is defined as ‘being aware of one’s surroundings, thoughts and motivations’. My touchstone for the podcast is episode 1, e01 terrified, based on an essay I wrote in May 2019, where I share my anxiety about the climate crisis and my belief that arts and culture can play a critical role in raising public awareness about environmental issues. The conscient podcast / balado conscient follows up on my http://simplesoundscapes.ca (2016–2019) project: 175, 3-minute audio and video field recordings that explore mindful listening.

Season 1 (May to October 2020) explored how the arts contribute to environmental awareness and action. I produced 3 episodes in French and 15 in English. The episodes cover a wide range of content, including activism, impact measurement, gaming, arts funding, cross-sectoral collaborations, social justice, artistic practices, etc. Episodes 8 to 17 were recorded while I was at the Creative Climate Leadership USA course in Arizona in March 2020 (led by Julie’s Bicycle). Episode 18 is a compilation of highlights from these conversations.

Season 2 (March 2021 – ) explores the concept of reality and is about accepting reality, working through ecological grief and charting a path forward. The first episode of season 2 (e19 reality) mixes quotations from 28 authors with field recordings from simplesoundscapes and from my 1998 soundscape composition, Au dernier vivant les biens. One of my findings from this episode is that ‘I now see, and more importantly, I now feel in my bones, ‘the state of things as they actually exist’, without social filters or unsustainable stories blocking the way’. e19 reality touches upon 7 topics: our perception of reality, the possibility of human extinction, ecological anxiety and ecological grief, hope, arts, storytelling and the wisdom of indigenous cultures. The rest of season 2 features interviews with thought leaders about their responses and reactions to e19 reality.

my professional services

I’ve been retired from the Canada Council for the Arts since September 15, 2020 where I served as a senior strategic advisor in arts granting (2016-2020) and manager of the Inter-Arts Office (1999-2015). My focus in (quasi) retirement is environmental issues within my area of expertise in arts and culture, in particular in acoustic ecology. I’m open to become involved in projects that align with my values and that move forward environmental concerns. Feel free to email me for a conversation : claude@conscient.ca

acknowledgement of eco-responsibility

I acknowledge that the production of the conscient podcast / balado conscient produces carbon. I try to minimize this carbon footprint by being as efficient as possible, including using GreenGeeks as my web server and acquiring carbon offsets for my equipment and travel activities from BullFrog Power and Less.

a word about privilege and bias

While recording episode 19 ‘reality’, I heard elements of ‘privilege’ in my voice that I had not noticed before. It sounded a bit like ‘ecological mansplaining’. I realize that, in spite of good intentions, I need to work my way through issues of privilege (of all kinds) and unconscious bias the way I did through ecological anxiety and grief during the fall of 2020. My re-education is ongoing.

Go to conscient.ca

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SCALE (Sectoral Climate Arts Leadership for the Emergency) is a national round table for the arts and culture sector to mobilize around the climate emergency. A few months ago, you and I, and a few others were all having the same realization that while there was a lot of important work and projects happening at the intersection of arts and sustainability in Canada, there lacked some kind of structure to bring this work together, to align activities, to develop a national strategy, and to deeply, deeply question the role of arts and culture in the climate emergency and activate the leadership of the sector in terms of the mobilization that needs to happen in wider society. SCALE is really trying to become that gathering place that will engender that high level collaboration, which hopefully will create those positive tipping points.

judi pearl, conscient podcast, june 20, 2021, ottawa

Judi Pearl is currently Associate Producer, Artistic Projects for English Theatre at the National Arts Centre and a board member for The Only Animal. Previously, she served for ten years on the board of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres. A passionate environmental activist since her teen years, she is honoured to be a part of the inaugural Coordinating Circle for Sectoral Climate Arts Leadership for the Emergency (SCALE), an emergent national hub dedicated to developing strategy, aligning activities and activating the leadership of Canada’s arts and culture sector in the climate emergency. She is grateful to live and work on unceded Algonquin Anishinaabe territory, nestled between the Rideau Canal and the Rideau River.

I first met Judi while I was working on greening activities for the Canada Council for the Arts. Judi was doing similar work at the National Arts Centre and we collaborated on a number of projects. I then had the privilege of working with Judi to set up SCALE, where we both put our organizational skills to use and enjoy taking the climate emergency bull by the horns. 

Judi’s positive and ‘can do’ spirit is remarkable and contagious. I was uplifted by our walk by the Rideau River in Ottawa and think you will be as well. 

I would like to thank Judi for taking the time to speak with me, for sharing her passion for theatre and the environment, her deep commitment to climate justice and her exceptional skills as an organizer and eco arts leader. 

For more information on some of Judi’s work, see https://nac-cna.ca/en/englishtheatre

Links

• Michael E. Mann, The New Climate War
• Outrage & Optimism Podcast
• David Maggs’ Art and the World After This

*

(traduction)

LeSAUT (Leadership sectoriel des arts sur l’urgence de la transition écologique) est une table ronde nationale permettant au secteur des arts et de la culture de se mobiliser autour de l’urgence climatique. Il y a quelques mois, vous, moi et d’autres personnes avons fait le même constat : alors qu’il y avait beaucoup de travail et de projets importants à l’intersection des arts et de la durabilité au Canada, il manquait une sorte de structure pour rassembler ce travail, pour aligner les activités, pour développer une stratégie nationale et pour questionner profondément le rôle des arts et de la culture dans l’urgence climatique et activer le leadership du secteur en termes de mobilisation qui doit se produire dans la société au sens large. LeSAUT essaie vraiment de devenir ce lieu de rassemblement qui engendrera cette collaboration de haut niveau, qui, espérons-le, créera ces points de basculement positifs.

judi pearl, balado conscient, 20 juin 2021, ottawa

Judi Pearl est présentement productrice associée, Projets artistiques pour le Théâtre anglais du Centre national des Arts et membre du conseil d’administration de The Only Animal. Auparavant, elle a siégé pendant dix ans au conseil d’administration de l’Association professionnelle des théâtres canadiens. Passionnée par l’environnement depuis son adolescence, elle est honorée de faire partie du premier Cercle de coordination du Leadership artistique sectoriel pour l’urgence climatique (SCALE), un centre national émergent qui se consacre à l’élaboration d’une stratégie, à l’harmonisation des activités et à l’activation du leadership du secteur des arts et de la culture du Canada dans l’urgence climatique. Elle est reconnaissante de vivre et de travailler sur le territoire non cédé des Algonquins Anishinaabe, niché entre le canal Rideau et la rivière Rideau.

J’ai rencontré Judi pour la première fois alors que je travaillais sur des activités d’écologisation pour le Conseil des Arts du Canada. Judi faisait un travail similaire au Centre national des Arts et nous avons collaboré à plusieurs projets. J’ai ensuite eu le privilège de travailler avec Judi pour mettre sur pied SCALE, où nous avons toutes deux mis à profit nos compétences organisationnelles et pris plaisir à prendre le taureau de l’urgence climatique par les cornes. 

L’esprit positif de Judi et sa capacité à agir sont remarquables et contagieux. Notre promenade le long de la rivière Rideau, à Ottawa, m’a fait du bien et je pense que vous en ferez autant. 

Je tiens à remercier Judi d’avoir pris le temps de me parler, de m’avoir fait part de sa passion pour le théâtre et l’environnement, de son profond engagement en faveur de la justice climatique et de ses compétences exceptionnelles en tant qu’organisatrice et leader des arts écologiques. 

Pour plus d’informations sur certains des travaux de Judi, voir https://nac-cna.ca/en/englishtheatre. 

Liens

• Michael E. Mann, The New Climate War
• Outrage & Optimism Podcast
• David Maggs’ Art and the World After This

The post e59 pearl – positive tipping points appeared first on conscient podcast / balado conscient. conscient is a bilingual blog and podcast (French or English) by audio artist Claude Schryer that explores how arts and culture contribute to environmental awareness and action.

———-

About the Concient Podcast from Claude Schryer

The conscient podcast / balado conscient is a series of conversations about art, conscience and the ecological crisis. This podcast is bilingual (in either English or French). The language of the guest determines the language of the podcast. Episode notes are translated but not individual interviews.

I started the conscient project in 2020 as a personal learning journey and knowledge sharing exercise. It has been rewarding, and sometimes surprising.

The term ‘conscient’ is defined as ‘being aware of one’s surroundings, thoughts and motivations’. My touchstone for the podcast is episode 1, e01 terrified, based on an essay I wrote in May 2019, where I share my anxiety about the climate crisis and my belief that arts and culture can play a critical role in raising public awareness about environmental issues. The conscient podcast / balado conscient follows up on my http://simplesoundscapes.ca (2016–2019) project: 175, 3-minute audio and video field recordings that explore mindful listening.

Season 1 (May to October 2020) explored how the arts contribute to environmental awareness and action. I produced 3 episodes in French and 15 in English. The episodes cover a wide range of content, including activism, impact measurement, gaming, arts funding, cross-sectoral collaborations, social justice, artistic practices, etc. Episodes 8 to 17 were recorded while I was at the Creative Climate Leadership USA course in Arizona in March 2020 (led by Julie’s Bicycle). Episode 18 is a compilation of highlights from these conversations.

Season 2 (March 2021 – ) explores the concept of reality and is about accepting reality, working through ecological grief and charting a path forward. The first episode of season 2 (e19 reality) mixes quotations from 28 authors with field recordings from simplesoundscapes and from my 1998 soundscape composition, Au dernier vivant les biens. One of my findings from this episode is that ‘I now see, and more importantly, I now feel in my bones, ‘the state of things as they actually exist’, without social filters or unsustainable stories blocking the way’. e19 reality touches upon 7 topics: our perception of reality, the possibility of human extinction, ecological anxiety and ecological grief, hope, arts, storytelling and the wisdom of indigenous cultures. The rest of season 2 features interviews with thought leaders about their responses and reactions to e19 reality.

my professional services

I’ve been retired from the Canada Council for the Arts since September 15, 2020 where I served as a senior strategic advisor in arts granting (2016-2020) and manager of the Inter-Arts Office (1999-2015). My focus in (quasi) retirement is environmental issues within my area of expertise in arts and culture, in particular in acoustic ecology. I’m open to become involved in projects that align with my values and that move forward environmental concerns. Feel free to email me for a conversation : claude@conscient.ca

acknowledgement of eco-responsibility

I acknowledge that the production of the conscient podcast / balado conscient produces carbon. I try to minimize this carbon footprint by being as efficient as possible, including using GreenGeeks as my web server and acquiring carbon offsets for my equipment and travel activities from BullFrog Power and Less.

a word about privilege and bias

While recording episode 19 ‘reality’, I heard elements of ‘privilege’ in my voice that I had not noticed before. It sounded a bit like ‘ecological mansplaining’. I realize that, in spite of good intentions, I need to work my way through issues of privilege (of all kinds) and unconscious bias the way I did through ecological anxiety and grief during the fall of 2020. My re-education is ongoing.

Go to conscient.ca

Powered by WPeMatico

This is now an existential crisis, and we have in a way, a conceptual crisis, but just understanding we are and what this is, this moment, all of history is behind us: every book you’ve ever read, every battle, every empire, all of that is just there, right, just right behind us. And now we, we are in this position of emerging awareness that in order to have this civilization, in some form, continue we have to move quickly, and the arts can help us do that by giving us a shared sense of this moment and its gravity, but also what’s possible and how quickly that tipping point could be reached.

stephen huddart, conscient podcast, june 17, 2021, montreal

Stephen Huddart’s career spans several fields and includes leadership positions in the private, public and non-profit sectors. He recently retired as president and CEO of the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation, a national private foundation whose head office is in Montreal. Prior to that he worked as an educator and program developer specializing in human/animal issues – including a humane food certification and labeling program, animal-assisted therapy, and humane education in schools. His private sector experience includes co-founding the Alma Street Café – a community-based natural foods restaurant and jazz venue in Vancouver and running a triple-bottom-line music and publishing company in association with children’s folksinger Raffi. 

I’ve known Stephen for many years and have had the pleasure of working with him on various projects and strategic gatherings including the (Re) Conciliation Initiative. His ideas have influenced me deeply and his presence as mentor and collaborator has been greatly appreciated. Though he is recently retired, he continues to be a leading voice, and dare I say, an activist, for social innovation and fiscal reform. 

We went for a 90-minute sound walk along the Lachine Canal near his home in St-Henry, Montreal on June 18, 2021. In order to respect my 55-minute episode limit I had to cut out some great stories about Gabriel Roy, the impact of the ArtSmarts program on indigenous learners and his early days as a socially engaged filmmaker but there is more than enough for you to sink your teeth into : Huddart is a force of nature. 

There are many quotes from this conversation that resonated with me, including:  

On Dematerialization

• I think we have to more broadly, dematerialize and move from a more material culture to some more spiritual culture, a culture that is able to enjoy being here, that experiences an evolutionary shift towards connection with nature, with all of that it entails with the human beings and the enjoyment and celebration of culture and so I think those two perspectives that the arts have an essential and so important and yet difficult challenge before them.

On Gabrielle Roy and the arts

• Let’s just say that on the previous $20 bill, there’s a quote from Gabrielle Roy. It’s in micro-type, but it’s basically says : ‘how could we have the slightest chance of knowing each other without the arts’. That struck me when I read that and thought about the distances, that have grown up between us, the polarization, the prejudices, all of those things, and how the arts create this bridge between peoples, between lonely people, between dreamers and all people and that the arts have that ability to link us together in a very personal and profound and important ways. 

On Capital 

• A lot of my time is really now on how do we influence capital flows? How do we integrate the granting economy with all that it has and all of its limits with the rest of the economy: pension funds, institutional investors of various kinds, family offices and so on, because we need all of these resources to be lining up and integrated in a way that can enable grassroots activity to be seen, supported, nurtured, linked to the broader systems change that we urgently need, and that takes the big capital moving so that’s a space that I’m currently exploring and I’m looking for ways to have that conversation.

I would like to thank Stephen for taking the time to speak with me, for sharing his deep knowledge of social innovation systems, his ‘big picture’ view, his inspiring optimism, his strategic thinking about the arts and his ongoing commitment to systems change and sustainability. 

For more information on Stephen’s work, see https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-huddart-0b516119/

*

(traduction)

C’est maintenant une crise existentielle, et nous avons, d’une certaine manière, une crise conceptuelle, mais le simple fait de comprendre ce que nous sommes et ce que c’est, ce moment, toute l’histoire est derrière nous : chaque livre que vous avez lu, chaque bataille, chaque empire, tout cela est juste là, juste, juste derrière nous. Et maintenant, nous sommes dans cette position de prise de conscience émergente que pour que cette civilisation, sous une certaine forme, continue, nous devons agir rapidement, et les arts peuvent nous aider à le faire en nous donnant un sens partagé de ce moment et de sa gravité, mais aussi de ce qui est possible et de la rapidité avec laquelle ce point de basculement pourrait être atteint.

stephen huddart, balado conscient, 17 juin 2021, montréal

La carrière de Stephen Huddart couvre plusieurs domaines et comprend des postes de direction dans les secteurs privé, public et sans but lucratif. Il a récemment pris sa retraite en tant que président et directeur général de la Fondation de la famille J.W. McConnell, une fondation privée nationale dont le siège social est à Montréal. Avant cela, il a travaillé comme éducateur et développeur de programmes spécialisés dans les questions liées aux animaux et aux êtres humains – notamment un programme de certification et d’étiquetage humanitaire des aliments, la thérapie assistée par les animaux et l’éducation humaine dans les écoles. Dans le secteur privé, il a notamment cofondé l’Alma Street Café, un restaurant communautaire d’aliments naturels et une salle de concert de jazz à Vancouver, et dirigé une entreprise de musique et d’édition à trois chiffres en association avec le chanteur pour enfants Raffi. 

Je connais Stephen depuis de nombreuses années et j’ai eu le plaisir de travailler avec lui sur divers projets et rassemblements stratégiques, dont l’initiative (re)conciliation. Ses idées m’ont profondément influencé et sa présence en tant que mentor et collaborateur a été très appréciée. Bien qu’il ait récemment pris sa retraite, il continue d’être une voix de premier plan, et j’ose dire, un activiste, pour l’innovation sociale et la réforme fiscale. 

Nous avons fait une promenade sonore de 90 minutes le long du Canal Lachine, près de sa maison à St-Henri, Montréal, le 18 juin 2021. Afin de respecter la limite de 55 minutes fixée pour l’épisode, j’ai dû supprimer certaines histoires intéressantes sur Gabriel Roy, l’impact du programme GénieArts sur les apprenants autochtones et ses débuts en tant que cinéaste engagé, mais il y a plus qu’assez pour que vous puissiez vous y plonger : Huddart est une force de la nature. 

De nombreuses citations de cette conversation ont résonné en moi, notamment : 

Sur la dématérialisation

Je pense que nous devons, de manière plus générale, nous dématérialiser et passer d’une culture plus matérielle à une culture plus spirituelle, une culture capable d’apprécier le fait d’être ici, qui connaît un changement évolutif vers la connexion avec la nature, avec tout ce que cela implique pour les êtres humains, ainsi que le plaisir et la célébration de la culture, et donc je pense que ces deux perspectives que les arts ont un défi essentiel et tellement important et pourtant difficile à relever.

Sur Gabrielle Roy et les arts

Disons que sur le précédent billet de 20 dollars, il y a une citation de Gabrielle Roy. Elle est en très petits caractères, mais elle dit en substance : “comment pourrions-nous avoir la moindre chance de nous connaître sans les arts”. Cela m’a frappé lorsque j’ai lu cette citation et que j’ai pensé aux distances qui se sont creusées entre nous, à la polarisation, aux préjugés, à toutes ces choses, et au fait que les arts créent ce pont entre les peuples, entre les personnes seules, entre les rêveurs et tous les gens, et que les arts ont cette capacité de nous relier les uns aux autres d’une manière très personnelle, profonde et importante. 

Sur le capital 

Je consacre maintenant beaucoup de temps à la question de savoir comment influencer les flux de capitaux. Comment intégrer l’économie de la subvention, avec tout ce qu’elle a et toutes ses limites, au reste de l’économie : les fonds de pension, les investisseurs institutionnels de toutes sortes, les bureaux de famille et ainsi de suite, parce que nous avons besoin que toutes ces ressources s’alignent et s’intègrent de manière à permettre aux activités de base d’être vues, soutenues, nourries, liées au changement de système plus large dont nous avons besoin de toute urgence, et cela nécessite le déplacement du grand capital.

Je tiens à remercier Stephen d’avoir pris le temps de me parler, d’avoir partagé sa connaissance approfondie des systèmes d’innovation sociale, sa vision d’ensemble, son optimisme inspirant, sa réflexion stratégique sur les arts et son engagement permanent en faveur du changement systémique et de la durabilité. 

Pour plus d’informations sur le travail de Stephen, consultez https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-huddart-0b516119/ . 

The post e58 huddart – the arts show us what is possible appeared first on conscient podcast / balado conscient. conscient is a bilingual blog and podcast (French or English) by audio artist Claude Schryer that explores how arts and culture contribute to environmental awareness and action.

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About the Concient Podcast from Claude Schryer

The conscient podcast / balado conscient is a series of conversations about art, conscience and the ecological crisis. This podcast is bilingual (in either English or French). The language of the guest determines the language of the podcast. Episode notes are translated but not individual interviews.

I started the conscient project in 2020 as a personal learning journey and knowledge sharing exercise. It has been rewarding, and sometimes surprising.

The term ‘conscient’ is defined as ‘being aware of one’s surroundings, thoughts and motivations’. My touchstone for the podcast is episode 1, e01 terrified, based on an essay I wrote in May 2019, where I share my anxiety about the climate crisis and my belief that arts and culture can play a critical role in raising public awareness about environmental issues. The conscient podcast / balado conscient follows up on my http://simplesoundscapes.ca (2016–2019) project: 175, 3-minute audio and video field recordings that explore mindful listening.

Season 1 (May to October 2020) explored how the arts contribute to environmental awareness and action. I produced 3 episodes in French and 15 in English. The episodes cover a wide range of content, including activism, impact measurement, gaming, arts funding, cross-sectoral collaborations, social justice, artistic practices, etc. Episodes 8 to 17 were recorded while I was at the Creative Climate Leadership USA course in Arizona in March 2020 (led by Julie’s Bicycle). Episode 18 is a compilation of highlights from these conversations.

Season 2 (March 2021 – ) explores the concept of reality and is about accepting reality, working through ecological grief and charting a path forward. The first episode of season 2 (e19 reality) mixes quotations from 28 authors with field recordings from simplesoundscapes and from my 1998 soundscape composition, Au dernier vivant les biens. One of my findings from this episode is that ‘I now see, and more importantly, I now feel in my bones, ‘the state of things as they actually exist’, without social filters or unsustainable stories blocking the way’. e19 reality touches upon 7 topics: our perception of reality, the possibility of human extinction, ecological anxiety and ecological grief, hope, arts, storytelling and the wisdom of indigenous cultures. The rest of season 2 features interviews with thought leaders about their responses and reactions to e19 reality.

my professional services

I’ve been retired from the Canada Council for the Arts since September 15, 2020 where I served as a senior strategic advisor in arts granting (2016-2020) and manager of the Inter-Arts Office (1999-2015). My focus in (quasi) retirement is environmental issues within my area of expertise in arts and culture, in particular in acoustic ecology. I’m open to become involved in projects that align with my values and that move forward environmental concerns. Feel free to email me for a conversation : claude@conscient.ca

acknowledgement of eco-responsibility

I acknowledge that the production of the conscient podcast / balado conscient produces carbon. I try to minimize this carbon footprint by being as efficient as possible, including using GreenGeeks as my web server and acquiring carbon offsets for my equipment and travel activities from BullFrog Power and Less.

a word about privilege and bias

While recording episode 19 ‘reality’, I heard elements of ‘privilege’ in my voice that I had not noticed before. It sounded a bit like ‘ecological mansplaining’. I realize that, in spite of good intentions, I need to work my way through issues of privilege (of all kinds) and unconscious bias the way I did through ecological anxiety and grief during the fall of 2020. My re-education is ongoing.

Go to conscient.ca

Powered by WPeMatico

Être créatif, c’est tu aussi s’éloigner du monde, pure à la source tel qu’il est, plutôt que de juste accepter aussi qu’on bien petit et on devrait revenir à l’essentiel? Je ne sais pas si l’art nous ramène à l’essentiel versus nous ramène à dériver complètement. Peut-être que la créativité ou la création, ça nous amène tellement loin qu’on s’imagine vivre sur Mars dans un espèce de plateforme pas d’allure dénuée, ou est-ce qu’on n’aura plus besoin des oiseaux, puis des tempêtes, puis des ci et des ça. On va avoir recréé un univers de toutes pièces où est-ce qu’il fait dont bon vivre. Ça pourrait être ça, l’apport de l’art. Moi, je ne l’aime pas trop cet art-là. 

annie roy, balado conscient, 16 juin 2921, montréal

Annie Roy, se lance en 1998 avec Pierre Allard (décédé le 25 novembre 2018) dans la création d’un organisme à but non lucratif appelé ATSA, pour « Action Terroriste Socialement Acceptable » (maintenant nommé ATSA, Quand l’art passe à l’Action) en réaction aux abus sociaux, environnementaux et patrimoniaux dont ils sont témoins. Elle cesse ainsi son activité de danseuse et chorégraphe professionnelle pour se consacrer uniquement à l’élaboration et à la réalisation des projets de l’ATSA dont est de créer dans l’espace public des Å“uvres multidisciplinaires sous forme d’interventions, d’installations, de performances ou de mises en scène, afin d’interpeller la population envers des causes cruciales et préoccupantes liées au développement durable. 

Je connais Annie Roy depuis 1999 lorsque ATSA a été une des premières compagnies à recevoir du financement du Bureau Inter-arts au Conseil des arts du Canada, dont j’étais le gestionnaire. Depuis, nous avons parlé régulièrement d’art engagé, d’environnement et de l’évolution de nos familles respectives. J’ai toujours apprécié sa vision sociale, sa générosité, son audace et son savoir-faire.  

Nous avons eu une conversation engagée sur le Mont-Royal le 17 juin, accompagné de son chien Babine. Comme je l’ai toujours connue, Annie pousse les limites et pose des questions fondamentales.

Voici deux citations qui m’ont touché profondément :

Ouvrir des consciences

Si on est dans le réelle et puis qu’on se dit dans le monde actuel, il faut que cela vienne insuffler du désir, de la puissance vers un avenir meilleur. Mais ce n’est pas l’artiste qui va décider et puis ça me dérange. Ça me dérange d’avoir un poids sur les épaules, de changer le monde tout en n’ayant pas le pouvoir de le faire, réel. Le pouvoir que j’ai, c’est d’ouvrir des consciences, de voir du rêve dans l’esprit des autres et d’insuffler des graines de possibles d’un avenir.

Sur le dos de l’art

L’artiste est un être qui vit dans sa contemporanéité, qui absorbe le ‘caca’ à tout ce qui se passe et qui essaie de le transformer en quelque chose de beau, puis de puissant pour un tremplin pour aller vers mieux. Mais on pourrait en rester là, dans le sens que les gens, comment ils utilisent l’art dans leur vie? L’artiste a peut-être toutes ses volontés, mais c’est quoi la place de l’art qu’on fait dans nos vies? Parce qu’ils sont entre quatre murs, dans un musée ou dans des lieux super spécifiques. Ce n’est pas toujours intégré dans le flux de la journée comme quelque chose de super naturel. C’est un moment bien cadré qu’on donne comme on consomme n’importe quoi d’autre. Puis, si on consomme de l’art comme n’importe quoi d’autre, comme on va au spa ou comme on va magasiner et puis qu’on s’achète un nouveau pantalon, puis que ça fait du bien d’être allé voir une pièce de théâtre, n’était-ce pas bon? Ouais, c’est cool mais ça n’ira pas plus loin que n’importe quoi d’autre qu’une belle émotion qui va durer deux ou trois heures et puis tu vas prendre ton Hummer pour retourner chez toi pareil. Je trouve que c’est mettre beaucoup sur le dos de l’art.

Je remercie Annie d’avoir pris le temps d’échanger avec moi, pour son engagement social continue, sa vision du rôle des arts, son amour de la nature et son sens du ‘on est capable’.

Vous trouverez de plus amples informations sur le travail d’Annie à https://atsa.qc.ca/

*

(translation)

Is being creative also about getting away from the world, pure to the source as it is, rather than just accepting that we’re small and we should go back to the basics? I don’t know if art brings us back to the essential versus brings us back to drifting completely. Maybe creativity or creation takes us so far away that we imagine ourselves living on Mars in a kind of platform that doesn’t look like anything, or we won’t need the birds, then the storms, then the this and that. We will have recreated a universe from scratch where it is good to live. That could be the contribution of art. I don’t like this art too much.

annie roy, balado conscient, 16 juin 2921, montréal

Annie Roy, launched in 1998 with Pierre Allard (deceased November 25, 2018) in the creation of a non-profit organization called ATSA, for “Action Terroriste Socialement Acceptable” (now called ATSA, Quand l’art passe à l’Action) in reaction to the social, environmental and patrimonial abuses they witness. She ceased her activity as a professional dancer and choreographer to devote herself solely to the elaboration and realization of ATSA’s projects, which include the creation of multidisciplinary works in the public space in the form of interventions, installations, performances or stagings, in order to call out to the population towards crucial and preoccupying causes related to sustainable development. 

I have known Annie Roy since 1999 when ATSA was one of the first companies to receive funding from the Inter-Arts Office at the Canada Council for the Arts, which I managed. Since then, we have talked regularly about engaged art, the environment, and the evolution of our respective families. I have always appreciated her social vision, her generosity, her fearlessness and her expertise.  

We had an engaging conversation on Mount Royal on June 17th, accompanied by her dog Babine. As I have always known her, Annie pushes limits and asks fundamental questions.

Here are two quotes that touched me deeply: 

Opening consciousness

 If we are in reality and then we say to ourselves in the current world, it is necessary that it insufflate desire and power towards a better future. But it is not the artist who is going to decide and then that disturbs me. It bothers me to have a weight on my shoulders, to change the world while not having the power to do it, real. The power I have is to open consciousness, to see dreams in the minds of others and to instill seeds of possibility for a future.

On the back of art

The artist is a being who lives in his contemporaneity, who absorbs the ‘poop’ in everything that happens and tries to transform it into something beautiful, then powerful for a springboard to go towards better. But we could leave it at that, in the sense that people, how do they use art in their lives? The artist may have all his wills, but what is the place of the art that we make in our lives? Because they are between four walls, in a museum or in very specific places. It’s not always integrated into the flow of the day as something supernatural. It’s a framed moment that we give away like we consume anything else. Then, if you consume art like anything else, like you go to the spa or you go shopping and then you buy a new pair of pants and then it feels good to have gone to a play. Wasn’t that good? Yeah, it’s cool but it’s not going to go any further than anything other than a nice thrill that’s going to last two or three hours and then you’re going to get in your Hummer and go home all the same. I think that’s putting a lot on the back of art.

I thank Annie for taking the time to talk with me, for her ongoing social engagement, her vision of the role of the arts, her love of nature and her sense of ‘we can do it’.

You can find more information about Annie’s work at https://atsa.qc.ca/

The post é57 roy – ouvrir des consciences appeared first on conscient podcast / balado conscient. conscient is a bilingual blog and podcast (French or English) by audio artist Claude Schryer that explores how arts and culture contribute to environmental awareness and action.

———-

About the Concient Podcast from Claude Schryer

The conscient podcast / balado conscient is a series of conversations about art, conscience and the ecological crisis. This podcast is bilingual (in either English or French). The language of the guest determines the language of the podcast. Episode notes are translated but not individual interviews.

I started the conscient project in 2020 as a personal learning journey and knowledge sharing exercise. It has been rewarding, and sometimes surprising.

The term ‘conscient’ is defined as ‘being aware of one’s surroundings, thoughts and motivations’. My touchstone for the podcast is episode 1, e01 terrified, based on an essay I wrote in May 2019, where I share my anxiety about the climate crisis and my belief that arts and culture can play a critical role in raising public awareness about environmental issues. The conscient podcast / balado conscient follows up on my http://simplesoundscapes.ca (2016–2019) project: 175, 3-minute audio and video field recordings that explore mindful listening.

Season 1 (May to October 2020) explored how the arts contribute to environmental awareness and action. I produced 3 episodes in French and 15 in English. The episodes cover a wide range of content, including activism, impact measurement, gaming, arts funding, cross-sectoral collaborations, social justice, artistic practices, etc. Episodes 8 to 17 were recorded while I was at the Creative Climate Leadership USA course in Arizona in March 2020 (led by Julie’s Bicycle). Episode 18 is a compilation of highlights from these conversations.

Season 2 (March 2021 – ) explores the concept of reality and is about accepting reality, working through ecological grief and charting a path forward. The first episode of season 2 (e19 reality) mixes quotations from 28 authors with field recordings from simplesoundscapes and from my 1998 soundscape composition, Au dernier vivant les biens. One of my findings from this episode is that ‘I now see, and more importantly, I now feel in my bones, ‘the state of things as they actually exist’, without social filters or unsustainable stories blocking the way’. e19 reality touches upon 7 topics: our perception of reality, the possibility of human extinction, ecological anxiety and ecological grief, hope, arts, storytelling and the wisdom of indigenous cultures. The rest of season 2 features interviews with thought leaders about their responses and reactions to e19 reality.

my professional services

I’ve been retired from the Canada Council for the Arts since September 15, 2020 where I served as a senior strategic advisor in arts granting (2016-2020) and manager of the Inter-Arts Office (1999-2015). My focus in (quasi) retirement is environmental issues within my area of expertise in arts and culture, in particular in acoustic ecology. I’m open to become involved in projects that align with my values and that move forward environmental concerns. Feel free to email me for a conversation : claude@conscient.ca

acknowledgement of eco-responsibility

I acknowledge that the production of the conscient podcast / balado conscient produces carbon. I try to minimize this carbon footprint by being as efficient as possible, including using GreenGeeks as my web server and acquiring carbon offsets for my equipment and travel activities from BullFrog Power and Less.

a word about privilege and bias

While recording episode 19 ‘reality’, I heard elements of ‘privilege’ in my voice that I had not noticed before. It sounded a bit like ‘ecological mansplaining’. I realize that, in spite of good intentions, I need to work my way through issues of privilege (of all kinds) and unconscious bias the way I did through ecological anxiety and grief during the fall of 2020. My re-education is ongoing.

Go to conscient.ca

Powered by WPeMatico

Ça va prendre des sacrifices et ça va prendre une implication énorme pour changer des choses, donc peut être sortir de notre zone de confort sera nécessaire à ce point-ci dans l’histoire. Ce qui est le fun est de regarder tout le passé et l’historique de l’humanité. Cela a pris beaucoup d’efforts pour changer les choses, mais au moins, on a des exemples dans l’histoire qu’en se mettant ensemble on a été capable de surmonter des injustices. Il faut se s’inspirer de ça.

anthony garoufalis-auger, balado conscient, 18 juin, 2021, montréal

Anthony est un organisateur en urgence climatique et un stratège en affaires publiques basé à Montréal. Son travail vise à faire évoluer le discours sur le climat au Canada de l’incrémentalisme vers l’action d’urgence. Il est cofondateur de Extinction Rébellion Québec et l’un des initiateurs de la Coalition Aviation Climatique, une coalition pancanadienne qui milite pour des solutions audacieuses afin de réduire les émissions du secteur de l’aviation. Il siège également au conseil d’administration du Rapid Decarbonization Group et travaille aussi avec le Climate Emergency Unit. 

J’ai rencontré Anthony pour la première fois dans le cadre de mon travail avec le cercle de coordination de LeSAUT (Leadership sectoriel des arts sur l’urgence de la transition écologique) en avril 2021. Depuis, nous avons eu de nombreuses conversations sur l’activisme climatique et l’art, dont cette conversation par une journée venteuse dans son jardin à Montréal où nous avons pu approfondir notre échange. 

Anthony est une personne très impressionnante et courageuse. J’aimerais qu’on puisse le multiplier 1000 fois ! Il est non seulement un activiste climatique efficace, mais aussi un brillant analyste politique et stratège. Il comprend ce que signifie “l’urgence climatique” et m’a incité à emprunter le chemin le plus court possible vers la voie la plus élevée de l’action climatique. 

J’ai été impressionné par plusieurs de ses idées lors de notre échange, notamment : 

Les gens autour de moi, la grande majorité, comprennent où on est en rendu avec les changements climatiques. Il y a une complète déconnexion avec la réalité qu’on voit dans notre culture de masse et dans les nouvelles. Ceci n’est pas une réalité construite. Ce que la science nous dit est la réalité. On s’en va vraiment vers la catastrophe.

Je tiens à remercier Anthony d’avoir pris le temps de me parler, d’avoir partagé son savoir en profondeur ders enjeux de l’urgence climatique, son leadership infatigable, ses idées sur la stratégie du secteur des arts et de la culture et sa détermination.  

Pour plus d’informations sur le travail d’Anthony, voir https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-garoufalis-auger-474671b2/  et https://rapiddecarbonizationgroup.org/accueil/ .

Lien

• Damon Matthews
• Climate scientists: concept of net zero is a dangerous trap: https://theconversation.com/climate-scientists-concept-of-net-zero-is-a-dangerous-trap-157368
• 10 myths about net zero targets and carbon offsetting, busted : https://www.climatechangenews.com/2020/12/11/10-myths-net-zero-targets-carbon-offsetting-busted/
• Rapid Decarbonization Group and Youth Groups Response to New Federal Climate Law: http://rapiddecarbonizationgroup.org/statement-on-extreme-heat-events-and-new-federal-climate-law/

*

(translation)

It’s going to take sacrifice and it’s going to take a huge commitment to change things, so maybe getting out of our comfort zone will be necessary at this point in history. What’s interesting is looking at the past and the history of humanity. It has taken a lot of effort to change things, but at least we have examples in history where we have come together to overcome injustices. We need to be inspired by this.

anthony garoufalis-auger, balado conscient, June 18, 2021, montréal

Anthony is a Montreal-based climate emergency organizer and public affairs strategist. His work focuses on shifting the climate discourse in Canada from incrementalism to emergency-mode action. He is a co-founder of Extinction Rébellion Québec and an initiator of the Climate Aviation Coalition, a pan-Canada coalition pushing for bold solutions to tackle emissions from the aviation sector. He also sits on the board of directors of Rapid Decarbonization Group and also works with the Climate Emergency Unit. 

I first met Anthony in my work with the Sectoral Climate Arts Leadership for the Emergency (SCALE) coordinating circle in April 2021. Since then, we have had many conversations about climate activism and art, including this conversation on a windy day in his backyard in Montreal where we were able to deepen our exchange. 

Anthony is a very impressive and courageous individual. I wish we could clone him 1000 times! He is not only an effective climate activist but also a brilliant policy analyst and strategist. He understands what ‘climate emergency’ means and has inspired me to take the shortest possible path towards the highest road of climate action. 

I was impressed by many of his ideas during our exchange, including: 

The people around me, the vast majority, understand where we are with climate change. There is a complete disconnect with the reality that we see in our mass culture and in the news which is not a constructed reality. What science tells us is reality. We are really heading for disaster.

I would like to thank Anthony for taking the time to speak with me, for sharing his deep knowledge of the climate emergency, his tireless leadership, his insights into strategy for the  arts and culture sector and his determination.  

For more information on Anthony’s work, see https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-garoufalis-auger-474671b2/and https://rapiddecarbonizationgroup.org/accueil/

Links

• Damon Matthews
• Climate scientists: concept of net zero is a dangerous trap: https://theconversation.com/climate-scientists-concept-of-net-zero-is-a-dangerous-trap-157368
• 10 myths about net zero targets and carbon offsetting, busted : https://www.climatechangenews.com/2020/12/11/10-myths-net-zero-targets-carbon-offsetting-busted/
• Rapid Decarbonization Group and Youth Groups Response to New Federal Climate Law: http://rapiddecarbonizationgroup.org/statement-on-extreme-heat-events-and-new-federal-climate-law/

———-

About the Concient Podcast from Claude Schryer

The conscient podcast / balado conscient is a series of conversations about art, conscience and the ecological crisis. This podcast is bilingual (in either English or French). The language of the guest determines the language of the podcast. Episode notes are translated but not individual interviews.

I started the conscient project in 2020 as a personal learning journey and knowledge sharing exercise. It has been rewarding, and sometimes surprising.

The term ‘conscient’ is defined as ‘being aware of one’s surroundings, thoughts and motivations’. My touchstone for the podcast is episode 1, e01 terrified, based on an essay I wrote in May 2019, where I share my anxiety about the climate crisis and my belief that arts and culture can play a critical role in raising public awareness about environmental issues. The conscient podcast / balado conscient follows up on my http://simplesoundscapes.ca (2016–2019) project: 175, 3-minute audio and video field recordings that explore mindful listening.

Season 1 (May to October 2020) explored how the arts contribute to environmental awareness and action. I produced 3 episodes in French and 15 in English. The episodes cover a wide range of content, including activism, impact measurement, gaming, arts funding, cross-sectoral collaborations, social justice, artistic practices, etc. Episodes 8 to 17 were recorded while I was at the Creative Climate Leadership USA course in Arizona in March 2020 (led by Julie’s Bicycle). Episode 18 is a compilation of highlights from these conversations.

Season 2 (March 2021 – ) explores the concept of reality and is about accepting reality, working through ecological grief and charting a path forward. The first episode of season 2 (e19 reality) mixes quotations from 28 authors with field recordings from simplesoundscapes and from my 1998 soundscape composition, Au dernier vivant les biens. One of my findings from this episode is that ‘I now see, and more importantly, I now feel in my bones, ‘the state of things as they actually exist’, without social filters or unsustainable stories blocking the way’. e19 reality touches upon 7 topics: our perception of reality, the possibility of human extinction, ecological anxiety and ecological grief, hope, arts, storytelling and the wisdom of indigenous cultures. The rest of season 2 features interviews with thought leaders about their responses and reactions to e19 reality.

my professional services

I’ve been retired from the Canada Council for the Arts since September 15, 2020 where I served as a senior strategic advisor in arts granting (2016-2020) and manager of the Inter-Arts Office (1999-2015). My focus in (quasi) retirement is environmental issues within my area of expertise in arts and culture, in particular in acoustic ecology. I’m open to become involved in projects that align with my values and that move forward environmental concerns. Feel free to email me for a conversation : claude@conscient.ca

acknowledgement of eco-responsibility

I acknowledge that the production of the conscient podcast / balado conscient produces carbon. I try to minimize this carbon footprint by being as efficient as possible, including using GreenGeeks as my web server and acquiring carbon offsets for my equipment and travel activities from BullFrog Power and Less.

a word about privilege and bias

While recording episode 19 ‘reality’, I heard elements of ‘privilege’ in my voice that I had not noticed before. It sounded a bit like ‘ecological mansplaining’. I realize that, in spite of good intentions, I need to work my way through issues of privilege (of all kinds) and unconscious bias the way I did through ecological anxiety and grief during the fall of 2020. My re-education is ongoing.

Go to conscient.ca

Powered by WPeMatico

Je pense que ce cycle du colonialisme, et de ce que ça a apporté, on est en train d’arriver à la fin de ce cycle là aussi, et avec le recul, on va s’apercevoir que cela a été un tout petit instant dans un espace beaucoup plus vaste, et qu’on est en train de retourner à des connaissances très profondes. Qu’est-ce que ça veut dire de vivre ici sur cette planète? Ce que ça implique comme possibilité, mais comme responsabilité aussi de maintenir les relations harmonieuses? Moi, je dis que suis la solution à la crise climatique c’est cardiaque. Ça va passer par le cÅ“ur. On parle d’amour avec la planète. C’est ça, le travail.

france trépanier, balado conscient, 7 juin, 2021, colombie britannique

France Trépanier est artiste en arts visuels, commissaire et chercheure d’ascendance Kanien’kéha:ka et française. Elle signe aussi de nombreux essais et articles qui ont été publiés dans des journaux et des magazines. Elle a travaillé au Conseil des arts du Canada, au ministère du Patrimoine canadien, à l’ambassade du Canada à Paris et au Centre Culturel canadien à Paris. Elle est aussi co-directrice, avec Chris Creighton-Kelly de https://www.primary-colours.ca.

Je connais France depuis de nombreuses années dans la communauté artistique et par le biais du Conseil des arts du Canada. Notre conversation m’a profondément touchée. Je me souviens que pendant l’enregistrement, j’ai senti mes épaules se détendre et ma respiration se ralentir alors qu’elle parlait du temps et de la vision du monde autochtone.  

Voici quelques extraits de notre conversation que j’aimerais souligner :

Terra nullius

Pour moi, le défi de l’enjeu écologique ou de la crise écologique dans laquelle on se trouve, c’est de bien comprendre la source du problème et de pas juste de mettre un pansement, de pas juste essayer de faire des petits ajustements sur nos manières de vivre, mais de vraiment porter un regard sur la nature même du problème et pour moi, je pense qu’il s’est passé quelque chose au moment du contact, au moment où les Européens sont arrivés. Ils sont arrivés avec cette notion-là de propriété. On parle de terra nullius, l’idée qu’ils pouvaient s’approprier les territoires qui étaient ‘inhabités’ (je mets des guillemets sur inhabités) et je pense que ça a été notre première collision de vision du monde.

Vision éurocentrique des pratiques artistiques

En fait, si on prend encore une vue allongée de la façon dont la vision éurocentrique des pratiques artistiques s’est imposée sur les pratiques matérielles des cultures du monde. Ça va être un tout petit instant dans l’histoire. Cette idée des disciplines, la manière dont la vision eurocentrique a imposé des catégories, a imposé un certain élitisme des pratiques. La manière dont il a déclassifié aussi la culture matérielle des Premières Nations ou ce n’était pas possible, ce n’était pas de l’art. Les objets d’art devenaient soit des artefacts ou de l’artisanat. On a complètement déclassifié, on n’a pas compris. Je pense que les premiers arrivants ici n’ont pas compris ce qui était en face d’eux.

La vraie tragédie

L’artiste Mike MacDonald racontait une histoire, Mike, qui est un artiste Mi’kmaq, qui plus est avec nous maintenant, a fait du travail remarquable, un artiste des nouveaux médias, il y racontait une fois un des ainés dans sa communauté. Il disait que la vraie tragédie du Canada n’est pas qu’on a empêché les gens de parler leur langue. La vraie tragédie, c’est que les nouveaux venus n’ont pas adopté les cultures d’ici. Donc il y a eu des grandes mésententes. 

Réécrire le monde?

Je pense qu’on n’a pas besoin de rien réécrire du tout. Je pense qu’on a juste besoin de porter attention et d’écouter. On a juste besoin de la fermer un peu pour un petit bout. Parce est dans la notion de ‘authoring’, il y a le mot ‘author’ et cela présuppose le mot autorité (authority) et je ne suis pas certaine que c’est de ça dont on a besoin maintenant. Je pense que c’est l’inverse. Je pense qu’il faut changer notre rapport à l’autorité. Il faut déconstruire cette idée là quand on est en train d’être les décideurs ou les maîtres de quoi que ce soit. Je ne pense pas que c’est la bonne approche. Je pense qu’il faut écouter. Je ne dis pas qu’il ne faut pas imaginer – je pense que l’imagination c’est important dans cette écoute attentive – mais de penser qu’on va réécrire, c’est peut-être un peu prétentieux.

Je tiens à remercier France d’avoir pris le temps de me parler, d’avoir partagé sa profonde connaissance des arts et de la culture autochtone, pour son engagement envers la diversité et l’équité, sa générosité et sa capacité à mettre ses immenses talents et sa sagesse au service de ceux qui en ont le plus besoin.

*

(translation)

I think that with this cycle of colonialism, and what it has brought, that we are coming to the end of this century, and with hindsight, we will realize that it was a very small moment in a much larger space, and that we are returning to very deep knowledge. What does it mean to live here on this planet? What does it mean to have the possibility, but also the responsibility to maintain harmonious relationships? I say that the solution to the climate crisis is ‘cardiac’. It will go through the heart. We are talking about love of the planet. That’s the work.

france trépanier, conscient podcast, june 7, 2021, british columbia

France Trépanier is a visual artist, curator and researcher of Kanien’kéha:ka and French ancestry. Her essays and articles have been published in numerous journals and magazines. She worked at the Canada Council for the Arts, the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Canadian Embassy in Paris and Canadian Cultural Centre in Paris. She is also co-Director, with Chris Creighton-Kelly, of https://www.primary-colours.ca. 

I’ve known France for many years in the arts community and through the Canada Council. Our conscient conversation affected me deeply. I recall during the recording that I felt my shoulders relax and my breath slow down as she spoke about time and indigenous world view.  

Here are some excerpts from our conversation that I would like to highlight:

Terra nullius

For me, the challenge of the ecological issue or the ecological crisis in which we find ourselves is to understand the source of the problem and not just to put a band-aid on it, not just to try to make small adjustments to our ways of living, but to really look at the very nature of the problem. For me, I think that something happened at the moment of contact, at the moment when the Europeans arrived. They arrived with this notion of property. They talked about Terra Nullius, the idea that they could appropriate territories that were ‘uninhabited’ (I put quotation marks on uninhabited) and I think that was our first collision of worldviews.

Eurocentric vision of artistic practices

If we take a longer term view of how the eurocentric view of artistic practices have imposed itself on the material practices of world cultures, this is going to be a very small moment in history. The idea of disciplines, the way in which the Eurocentric vision imposed categories and imposed a certain elitism of practices. The way it also declassified the material culture of the First Nations or it was not possible, it was not art. Art objects became either artifacts or crafts. It was completely declassified, we didn’t understand. I think the first people who came here didn’t understand what was in front of them.

The Real Tragedy

The artist Mike MacDonald was telling a story, Mike, who is a Mi’kmaq artist, who is with us now, but who has done remarkable work, a new media artist, he was telling a story once about one of the elders in his community, he was saying that the real tragedy of Canada, it’s not that people have been prevented from speaking their language. The real tragedy is that the newcomers have not adopted the cultures here. So ‘there have been great misunderstandings. 

Reauthoring the world?

I don’t think we need to rewrite anything at all. I think we just need to pay attention and listen. We just need to shut up a little bit for a while. Because it’s in the notion of authoring and that the word ‘author’ presupposes the word authority and I’m not sure that’s what we need right now. I think it’s the opposite. I think we need to change our relationship to authority. We need to deconstruct that idea when we’re being the decision makers or the masters of anything. I don’t think that’s the right approach. I think you have to listen. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t imagine – I think that imagination is important in this attentive listening – but to think that we are going to rewrite is perhaps a little pretentious.

I would like to thank France for taking the time to speak with me, for sharing her deep knowledge of indigenous arts and culture, her commitment to diversity and equity, her generosity and her ability to shift her immense talents and wisdom to wherever is there is the most need. 

The post é55 trépanier – un petit instant dans un espace beaucoup plus vaste appeared first on conscient podcast / balado conscient. conscient is a bilingual blog and podcast (French or English) by audio artist Claude Schryer that explores how arts and culture contribute to environmental awareness and action.

———-

About the Concient Podcast from Claude Schryer

The conscient podcast / balado conscient is a series of conversations about art, conscience and the ecological crisis. This podcast is bilingual (in either English or French). The language of the guest determines the language of the podcast. Episode notes are translated but not individual interviews.

I started the conscient project in 2020 as a personal learning journey and knowledge sharing exercise. It has been rewarding, and sometimes surprising.

The term ‘conscient’ is defined as ‘being aware of one’s surroundings, thoughts and motivations’. My touchstone for the podcast is episode 1, e01 terrified, based on an essay I wrote in May 2019, where I share my anxiety about the climate crisis and my belief that arts and culture can play a critical role in raising public awareness about environmental issues. The conscient podcast / balado conscient follows up on my http://simplesoundscapes.ca (2016–2019) project: 175, 3-minute audio and video field recordings that explore mindful listening.

Season 1 (May to October 2020) explored how the arts contribute to environmental awareness and action. I produced 3 episodes in French and 15 in English. The episodes cover a wide range of content, including activism, impact measurement, gaming, arts funding, cross-sectoral collaborations, social justice, artistic practices, etc. Episodes 8 to 17 were recorded while I was at the Creative Climate Leadership USA course in Arizona in March 2020 (led by Julie’s Bicycle). Episode 18 is a compilation of highlights from these conversations.

Season 2 (March 2021 – ) explores the concept of reality and is about accepting reality, working through ecological grief and charting a path forward. The first episode of season 2 (e19 reality) mixes quotations from 28 authors with field recordings from simplesoundscapes and from my 1998 soundscape composition, Au dernier vivant les biens. One of my findings from this episode is that ‘I now see, and more importantly, I now feel in my bones, ‘the state of things as they actually exist’, without social filters or unsustainable stories blocking the way’. e19 reality touches upon 7 topics: our perception of reality, the possibility of human extinction, ecological anxiety and ecological grief, hope, arts, storytelling and the wisdom of indigenous cultures. The rest of season 2 features interviews with thought leaders about their responses and reactions to e19 reality.

my professional services

I’ve been retired from the Canada Council for the Arts since September 15, 2020 where I served as a senior strategic advisor in arts granting (2016-2020) and manager of the Inter-Arts Office (1999-2015). My focus in (quasi) retirement is environmental issues within my area of expertise in arts and culture, in particular in acoustic ecology. I’m open to become involved in projects that align with my values and that move forward environmental concerns. Feel free to email me for a conversation : claude@conscient.ca

acknowledgement of eco-responsibility

I acknowledge that the production of the conscient podcast / balado conscient produces carbon. I try to minimize this carbon footprint by being as efficient as possible, including using GreenGeeks as my web server and acquiring carbon offsets for my equipment and travel activities from BullFrog Power and Less.

a word about privilege and bias

While recording episode 19 ‘reality’, I heard elements of ‘privilege’ in my voice that I had not noticed before. It sounded a bit like ‘ecological mansplaining’. I realize that, in spite of good intentions, I need to work my way through issues of privilege (of all kinds) and unconscious bias the way I did through ecological anxiety and grief during the fall of 2020. My re-education is ongoing.

Go to conscient.ca

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I don’t want to confuse the end of an ecologically unsustainable, untenable way of civilization working in this moment with a complete guarantee of extinction. There is a future. It may look very different and sometimes I think the inability to see exactly what that future is – and our plan for it – can be confused for there not being one. I’m sort of okay with that uncertainty, and in the meantime, all one can really do is the work to try and make whatever it ends up being more positive. There’s a sense of biophilia about it.

ian garrett, conscient podcast, may 25, 2021, toronto

Ian Garrett is an artist, designer, producer, educator, and researcher in the field of sustainability in arts and culture. Ian is Associate Professor of Ecological Design for Performance at York University in Toronto, is the co-founder and director of the Centre for Sustainable Practice in the Arts (CSPA), and Producer at ToasterLab. Ian maintains a practice focused on the integration of sustainability, design, and technology in performance and performing environments. He has spoken and consulted on the arts and the environment around the world. Originally from Los Angeles, Ian has also called Houston and now Toronto home, where he lives with wife Justine and their two dual citizens, Miles and Henrietta.

I’ve known Ian for many years as a leading thinker and activist in arts and sustainability. He is a hard worker, a visionary and generous person. Our conscient conversation covered many topics including one that I had not touched upon yet this season, including arts and sustainability in the digital world.

We also talked about measurement of impact, such as the Creative Green project, which is at the heart of our ability to move forward as an arts sector in the climate emergency. 

Some notable quotes from our conversation include: 

The extreme thought experiment that I like to use in a performance context is: if you had a play in which the audience left with their minds changed about all of their activities, you could say that that is positive. But, if the set that it took place on was a pile of burning tires – which is an objectively bad thing to do for the environment – there is a conversation by framing it as an arts practice as to is there value in having that impact, because of the greater impact. And those sorts of complexities have sort of defined the fusion and different approaches in which to take; it’s not just around metrics.

The intent of it [the Julie’s Bicycle Creative Green Tools] is not like LEED in which you are getting certified because you have come up with a precise carbon footprint. It’s a tool for, essentially, decision-making in that artistic context, that if you know this information, then you have a better way to consider critically the way that you are making and what you’re making and how you are representing your values and those aspects, regardless of whether or not it is explicitly part of the work. And so there’s lots of tools in which I’ve had the opportunity to have a relationship with which that are really about empowering artists, arts makers, arts collectives to be able to make those decisions so that their individual values towards sustainability – regardless of what they’re actually making – can also be represented and that they can make choices that best represent those regardless of whether or not they’re explicitly creating something for ‘earth day’.

The separation of the artist from the person and articulating as a profession is a unique thing, whereas an alternative to that could just be that we are expressive and artistic beings that seeks to create and have different talents but turning that into a profession is something that we’ve done to ourselves and so while we do that, we exist within systems, our cultural organizations exist within systems, that have impacts much farther outside of it so that a systems analysis approach is really important.

As I have done in all episodes in season 2 so far, I have integrated excerpts from soundscape compositions and quotations drawn from e19 reality, as well as moments of silence, in this episode.

I would like to thank Ian for taking the time to speak with me and for sharing his deep knowledge of arts and sustainability, his passion for education, his leadership on tool development and his keen sense of ‘what’s next’ on the horizon.  

For more information on Ian’s work, see https://www.ianpgarrett.com

Additional Link

NAC Climate Change cycle, part 2: Green Rooms 2020 The Earth is Watching… Let’s Act

*

(translation)

Je ne veux pas confondre la fin d’un mode de civilisation écologiquement non viable, intenable, fonctionnant en ce moment, avec une garantie totale d’extinction. Il y a un avenir. Il peut sembler très différent et parfois je pense que l’incapacité à voir exactement ce qu’est ce futur – et notre plan pour cela – peut être confondue avec le fait qu’il n’y en a pas. Je suis plutôt d’accord avec cette incertitude et, en attendant, tout ce que l’on peut faire, c’est de travailler pour essayer de faire en sorte que l’avenir, quel qu’il soit, soit plus positif. Il y a un sentiment de biophilie.

ian garrett, balado conscient, 25 mai 2021, toronto

Ian Garrett est un artiste, designer, producteur, éducateur et chercheur dans le domaine de la durabilité dans les arts et la culture. Il est professeur agrégé de design écologique pour la performance à l’Université York de Toronto, cofondateur et directeur du Centre for Sustainable Practice in the Arts (CSPA), et producteur a ToasterLab. Ian maintient une pratique axée sur l’intégration de la durabilité, du design et de la technologie dans les performances et les environnements de spectacle. Il a donné des conférences et des consultations sur les arts et l’environnement dans le monde entier. Originaire de Los Angeles, Ian s’est également installé à Houston et maintenant à Toronto, où il vit avec sa conjointe Justine et leurs deux concitoyens, Miles et Henrietta.

Je connais Ian depuis de nombreuses années en tant que penseur et activiste de premier plan dans le domaine des arts et de la durabilité. C’est un travailleur acharné, un visionnaire et une personne généreuse. Notre conversation consciente a porté sur de nombreux sujets, dont un que je n’avais pas encore abordé cette saison soit les arts et la durabilité dans le monde numérique. 

Nous avons également parlé de la mesure de l’impact, comme le projet Creative Green, qui est au cÅ“ur de notre capacité à aller de l’avant en tant que secteur artistique dans l’urgence climatique. 

Voici quelques-unes de mes citations les plus notables de notre conversation : 

L’expérience de pensée extrême que j’aime utiliser dans le contexte d’une performance est la suivante : si vous avez une pièce de théâtre dans laquelle le public part en ayant changé d’avis sur toutes ses activités, vous pouvez dire que c’est positif. Mais si le décor sur lequel elle se déroule est un tas de pneus en feu – ce qui est objectivement une mauvaise chose pour l’environnement – il y a une conversation en l’encadrant comme une pratique artistique pour savoir s’il y a une valeur à avoir cet impact, à cause de l’impact plus grand. Et ces complexités ont en quelque sorte défini la fusion et les différentes approches à adopter ; il ne s’agit pas seulement de mesures.

L’objectif [des outils verts créatifs de la bicyclette de Julie] n’est pas d’obtenir la certification LEED parce que vous avez établi une empreinte carbone précise. Il s’agit essentiellement d’un outil d’aide à la décision dans un contexte artistique. En effet, si vous connaissez ces informations, vous serez mieux à même d’examiner d’un œil critique la manière dont vous créez, ce que vous faites et comment vous représentez vos valeurs et ces aspects, qu’ils fassent ou non explicitement partie de votre travail. Il existe donc un grand nombre d’outils avec lesquels j’ai eu l’occasion d’établir une relation et qui visent à donner aux artistes, aux créateurs d’art et aux collectifs artistiques les moyens de prendre ces décisions afin que leurs valeurs individuelles en matière de durabilité – indépendamment de ce qu’ils font réellement – puissent également être représentées et qu’ils puissent faire les choix qui les représentent le mieux, qu’ils créent explicitement ou non quelque chose pour la “Journée de la Terre”.

La séparation de l’artiste de la personne et l’articulation en tant que profession est une chose unique, alors qu’une alternative à cela pourrait simplement être que nous sommes des êtres expressifs et artistiques qui cherchent à créer et ont différents talents, mais transformer cela en une profession est quelque chose que nous nous sommes fait à nous-mêmes et donc pendant que nous faisons cela, nous existons au sein de systèmes, nos organisations culturelles existent au sein de systèmes, qui ont des impacts beaucoup plus loin à l’extérieur, de sorte qu’une approche d’analyse des systèmes est vraiment importante.

Comme je l’ai fait dans tous les épisodes de la saison 2 jusqu’à présent, j’ai intégré dans cet épisode des extraits de compositions de paysages sonores et des citations tirées de e19 reality, ainsi que des moments de silence.

Je tiens à remercier Ian d’avoir pris le temps de s’entretenir avec moi et de m’avoir fait part de sa connaissance approfondie des arts et de la durabilité, de sa passion pour l’éducation, de son leadership en matière de développement d’outils et de son sens aigu de ce qui se profile à l’horizon. 

Pour en savoir plus sur le travail de Ian, consultez le site https://www.ianpgarrett.com/  

Lien supplémentaire

• Cycle du CNA sur le changement climatique, Partie 2 : Les Green Rooms
  La Terre nous observe… Agissons maintenant

The post e54 garrett – empowering artists appeared first on conscient podcast / balado conscient. conscient is a bilingual blog and podcast (French or English) by audio artist Claude Schryer that explores how arts and culture contribute to environmental awareness and action.

———-

About the Concient Podcast from Claude Schryer

The conscient podcast / balado conscient is a series of conversations about art, conscience and the ecological crisis. This podcast is bilingual (in either English or French). The language of the guest determines the language of the podcast. Episode notes are translated but not individual interviews.

I started the conscient project in 2020 as a personal learning journey and knowledge sharing exercise. It has been rewarding, and sometimes surprising.

The term ‘conscient’ is defined as ‘being aware of one’s surroundings, thoughts and motivations’. My touchstone for the podcast is episode 1, e01 terrified, based on an essay I wrote in May 2019, where I share my anxiety about the climate crisis and my belief that arts and culture can play a critical role in raising public awareness about environmental issues. The conscient podcast / balado conscient follows up on my http://simplesoundscapes.ca (2016–2019) project: 175, 3-minute audio and video field recordings that explore mindful listening.

Season 1 (May to October 2020) explored how the arts contribute to environmental awareness and action. I produced 3 episodes in French and 15 in English. The episodes cover a wide range of content, including activism, impact measurement, gaming, arts funding, cross-sectoral collaborations, social justice, artistic practices, etc. Episodes 8 to 17 were recorded while I was at the Creative Climate Leadership USA course in Arizona in March 2020 (led by Julie’s Bicycle). Episode 18 is a compilation of highlights from these conversations.

Season 2 (March 2021 – ) explores the concept of reality and is about accepting reality, working through ecological grief and charting a path forward. The first episode of season 2 (e19 reality) mixes quotations from 28 authors with field recordings from simplesoundscapes and from my 1998 soundscape composition, Au dernier vivant les biens. One of my findings from this episode is that ‘I now see, and more importantly, I now feel in my bones, ‘the state of things as they actually exist’, without social filters or unsustainable stories blocking the way’. e19 reality touches upon 7 topics: our perception of reality, the possibility of human extinction, ecological anxiety and ecological grief, hope, arts, storytelling and the wisdom of indigenous cultures. The rest of season 2 features interviews with thought leaders about their responses and reactions to e19 reality.

my professional services

I’ve been retired from the Canada Council for the Arts since September 15, 2020 where I served as a senior strategic advisor in arts granting (2016-2020) and manager of the Inter-Arts Office (1999-2015). My focus in (quasi) retirement is environmental issues within my area of expertise in arts and culture, in particular in acoustic ecology. I’m open to become involved in projects that align with my values and that move forward environmental concerns. Feel free to email me for a conversation : claude@conscient.ca

acknowledgement of eco-responsibility

I acknowledge that the production of the conscient podcast / balado conscient produces carbon. I try to minimize this carbon footprint by being as efficient as possible, including using GreenGeeks as my web server and acquiring carbon offsets for my equipment and travel activities from BullFrog Power and Less.

a word about privilege and bias

While recording episode 19 ‘reality’, I heard elements of ‘privilege’ in my voice that I had not noticed before. It sounded a bit like ‘ecological mansplaining’. I realize that, in spite of good intentions, I need to work my way through issues of privilege (of all kinds) and unconscious bias the way I did through ecological anxiety and grief during the fall of 2020. My re-education is ongoing.

Go to conscient.ca

Powered by WPeMatico

If we can find ways to encourage people to listen, that can help them to build a connection, even if it’s to a small plot of land near them. By helping them to have a new relationship with that, which will then expand and help hopefully savour a deeper and more meaningful relationship with our natural world, and small steps like that, even if it’s only a couple of people at a time, that could spread. I think that nobody, no one person, is going to be able to change the world, but that doesn’t mean we should give up. 

dr. annie mahtani, conscient podcast, june 11, 2021, united kingdom

Note: This episode is dedicated to World Listening Day on July 18 2021 on the theme of The Unquiet Earth. It was published on that day, which is also the birthday of Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer. For more information see https://www.worldlisteningproject.org/

Dr. Annie Mahtani is an electroacoustic composer, sound artist and performer working and living in Birmingham (UK). She studied with Jonty Harrison at master’s and doctoral level at the University of Birmingham, completing her PhD in 2008. Annie’s output encompasses electronic music composition from acousmatic music to free improvisation. As a collaborator, Annie Mahtani has worked extensively with dance and theatre, and on site-specific installations. With a strong interest in field recording, her work often explores the inherent sonic nature and identity of environmental sound, amplifying sonic characteristics that are not normally audible to the naked ear. Annie is a Lecturer in Music at the University of Birmingham and is co-director of SOUNDkitchen, a Birmingham-based collective of curators, producers and performers of live electronic music and sound art. 

I first met Annie at The Global Composition gathering in Dieburg, Germany (with thanks to organizer Sabine Breitsameter) where she presented some of her audio work and ideas on soundwalking and technology. 2 years later I had the pleasure of presenting a workshop on Reality, Extinction, Grief and Art at the BEAST FeAST 2021: Recalibration on April 23, 2021 in Birmingham (via Zoom), which explored greater appreciation of the environment, reconnection with the environment and deeper awareness of human effects on the environment. 

This workshop with 30 or so audio artists from around the world had a profound affect me. It helped me understand some of the issues my community of audio artists were facing and reminded me of the burden placed on young people as they inherit this troubled world. I also appreciated their guarded optimism and resilience. One participant suggested that, given the climate emergency, maybe all music should be acoustic ecology (the study of the acoustic environment as a whole as opposed to only the art of music) from now on. Maybe… 

This quote from the episode summarizes Annie’s thinking on the role of the festival:

For the (BEAST) festival we wanted to look at what COVID has done to alter and adjust people’s practice, the way that composers and practitioners have responded to the pandemic musically or through listening and also addressing the wider issues: what does it mean going forwards after this year, the year of uncertainty, the year of opportunity for many? What does it mean going forward to our soundscape, to our environmental practice and listening? We presented that goal for words, as a series of questions, you know, not expecting necessarily any answers, but a way in a way to address it and a way to explore and that’s what the, the weekend of concerts and talks and workshops was this kind of exploration of our soundscapes, thinking about change and thinking about our future.

I would like to thank Annie for taking the time to speak with me about our shared interest in electroacoustic music, for her excellence as a composer and curator, for her commitment to social justice and her passion for listening. 

For more information on Annie’s work, see http://www.anniemahtani.co.uk/

*

(translation)

Si nous pouvons trouver des moyens d’encourager les gens à écouter, cela peut les aider à établir un lien, même si c’est seulement avec une petite parcelle de terrain près de chez eux. En les aidant à avoir une nouvelle relation avec celle-ci, qui s’étendra ensuite et les aidera à savourer une relation plus profonde et plus significative avec notre monde naturel, et des petits pas comme ça, même si ce n’est que quelques personnes à la fois, cela pourrait se propager. Je pense que personne, pas une seule personne, ne sera capable de changer le monde, mais cela ne veut pas dire que nous devons abandonner. 

dr. annie mahtani, podcast conscient, 11 juin 2021, royaume-uni

Note : Cet épisode est dédié à la Journée Mondiale de l’Écoute du 18 juillet 2021 sur le thème de La Terre Inquiète (The Unquiet Earth). Il a été publié ce jour-là, qui est aussi l’anniversaire du compositeur canadien R. Murray Schafer. Pour plus d’informations, voir https://www.worldlisteningproject.org/

Annie Mahtani est une compositrice électroacoustique, artiste sonore et performeuse qui travaille et vit à Birmingham (Royaume-Uni). Elle a étudié avec Jonty Harrison au niveau de la maîtrise et du doctorat à l’Université de Birmingham et a obtenu son doctorat en 2008. La production d’Annie englobe la composition de musique électronique, la musique acousmatique et l’improvisation libre. En tant que collaboratrice, Annie Mahtani a beaucoup travaillé avec la danse et le théâtre, ainsi que sur des installations spécifiques. Avec un intérêt marqué pour l’enregistrement sur le terrain, son travail explore souvent la nature sonore inhérente et l’identité du son environnemental, en amplifiant les caractéristiques sonores qui ne sont normalement pas audibles à l’oreille. Annie est maître de conférences en musique à l’université de Birmingham et codirectrice de SOUNDkitchen, un collectif de conservateurs, de producteurs et d’interprètes de musique électronique en direct et d’art sonore basé à Birmingham. 

J’ai rencontré Annie pour la première fois lors du rassemblement The Global Composition Ã  Dieburg, en Allemagne (grâce à l’organisatrice Sabine Breitsameter), où elle a présenté une partie de son travail audio et de ses idées sur la marche sonore et la technologie. Deux ans plus tard, j’ai eu le plaisir de présenter un atelier sur Laréalité, l’extinction, le deuil et l’art lors du BEAST FeAST 2021: Recalibration le 23 avril 2021 à Birmingham (via Zoom), qui explorait une plus grande appréciation de l’environnement, la reconnexion avec l’environnement et une conscience plus profonde des effets humains sur l’environnement. 

Cet atelier réunissant une trentaine d’artistes audio du monde entier m’a profondément marqué. Il m’a aidé à comprendre certains des problèmes auxquels ma communauté d’artistes audio était confrontée et m’a rappelé le fardeau qui pèse sur les jeunes lorsqu’ils héritent de ce monde troublé. J’ai également apprécié leur optimisme prudent et leur résilience. Un participant a suggéré que, compte tenu de l’urgence climatique, peut-être que toute la musique devrait désormais relever de l’écologie sonore (l’étude de l’environnement acoustique dans son ensemble, par opposition au seul art de la musique). Qui sait. 

Cette citation de l’épisode résume la pensée d’Annie sur le rôle du festival :

Pour le festival (BEAST), nous voulions examiner ce que le COVID a fait pour modifier et ajuster la pratique des gens, la façon dont les compositeurs et les praticiens ont répondu à la pandémie musicalement ou par l’écoute, et aussi aborder des questions plus larges : qu’est-ce que cela signifie pour l’avenir après cette année, l’année de l’incertitude, l’année de l’opportunité pour beaucoup ? Que signifie l’avenir de notre paysage sonore, de notre pratique environnementale et de notre écoute ? Nous avons présenté cet objectif sous forme de mots, comme une série de questions, sans attendre nécessairement de réponses, mais comme une façon de l’aborder et de l’explorer, et c’est ce que le week-end de concerts, de discussions et d’ateliers a permis de faire : une sorte d’exploration de nos paysages sonores, une réflexion sur le changement et sur notre avenir.

Je tiens à remercier Annie d’avoir pris le temps de me parler de notre intérêt commun pour la musique électroacoustique, pour son excellence en tant que compositrice et commissaire, pour son engagement en faveur de la justice sociale et pour sa passion de l’écoute. 

Pour plus d’informations sur le travail d’Annie, voir http://www.anniemahtani.co.uk/

The post e52 mahtani – listening & connecting appeared first on conscient podcast / balado conscient. conscient is a bilingual blog and podcast (French or English) by audio artist Claude Schryer that explores how arts and culture contribute to environmental awareness and action.

———-

About the Concient Podcast from Claude Schryer

The conscient podcast / balado conscient is a series of conversations about art, conscience and the ecological crisis. This podcast is bilingual (in either English or French). The language of the guest determines the language of the podcast. Episode notes are translated but not individual interviews.

I started the conscient project in 2020 as a personal learning journey and knowledge sharing exercise. It has been rewarding, and sometimes surprising.

The term ‘conscient’ is defined as ‘being aware of one’s surroundings, thoughts and motivations’. My touchstone for the podcast is episode 1, e01 terrified, based on an essay I wrote in May 2019, where I share my anxiety about the climate crisis and my belief that arts and culture can play a critical role in raising public awareness about environmental issues. The conscient podcast / balado conscient follows up on my http://simplesoundscapes.ca (2016–2019) project: 175, 3-minute audio and video field recordings that explore mindful listening.

Season 1 (May to October 2020) explored how the arts contribute to environmental awareness and action. I produced 3 episodes in French and 15 in English. The episodes cover a wide range of content, including activism, impact measurement, gaming, arts funding, cross-sectoral collaborations, social justice, artistic practices, etc. Episodes 8 to 17 were recorded while I was at the Creative Climate Leadership USA course in Arizona in March 2020 (led by Julie’s Bicycle). Episode 18 is a compilation of highlights from these conversations.

Season 2 (March 2021 – ) explores the concept of reality and is about accepting reality, working through ecological grief and charting a path forward. The first episode of season 2 (e19 reality) mixes quotations from 28 authors with field recordings from simplesoundscapes and from my 1998 soundscape composition, Au dernier vivant les biens. One of my findings from this episode is that ‘I now see, and more importantly, I now feel in my bones, ‘the state of things as they actually exist’, without social filters or unsustainable stories blocking the way’. e19 reality touches upon 7 topics: our perception of reality, the possibility of human extinction, ecological anxiety and ecological grief, hope, arts, storytelling and the wisdom of indigenous cultures. The rest of season 2 features interviews with thought leaders about their responses and reactions to e19 reality.

my professional services

I’ve been retired from the Canada Council for the Arts since September 15, 2020 where I served as a senior strategic advisor in arts granting (2016-2020) and manager of the Inter-Arts Office (1999-2015). My focus in (quasi) retirement is environmental issues within my area of expertise in arts and culture, in particular in acoustic ecology. I’m open to become involved in projects that align with my values and that move forward environmental concerns. Feel free to email me for a conversation : claude@conscient.ca

acknowledgement of eco-responsibility

I acknowledge that the production of the conscient podcast / balado conscient produces carbon. I try to minimize this carbon footprint by being as efficient as possible, including using GreenGeeks as my web server and acquiring carbon offsets for my equipment and travel activities from BullFrog Power and Less.

a word about privilege and bias

While recording episode 19 ‘reality’, I heard elements of ‘privilege’ in my voice that I had not noticed before. It sounded a bit like ‘ecological mansplaining’. I realize that, in spite of good intentions, I need to work my way through issues of privilege (of all kinds) and unconscious bias the way I did through ecological anxiety and grief during the fall of 2020. My re-education is ongoing.

Go to conscient.ca

Powered by WPeMatico

What motivates me is talking to students in a way that they’re not going to come back to me in 10 years with this look on their face, you know, Dr. Hiser, why didn’t you tell me this? Why didn’t you tell me? I want to be sure that they’re going to leave the interaction that we get to have that they’re going to leave with at least an idea that someone tried to help them see that reality.

dr krista hiser, conscient podcast, may 19, 2021, hawai‘i

Krista is a longtime Professor at KapiÊ»olani Community College in Hawai‘i where she teaches composition, climate communication, and climate fiction. Her PhD in Educational Administration focused on students as stakeholders in sustainability curriculum. She has published on service-learning, community engagement, organizational change, and post-apocalyptic and cli-fi literature. She is currently serving as director of the University of Hawai‘i System Center for Sustainability Across Curriculum where Krista’s work is to facilitate change management, coordinate sustainability across the curriculum, and facilitate interdisciplinary dialogue and professional development opportunities for faculty interested in teaching sustainability, climate change, and resilience. Krista is motivated by a quote from David Orr who said, â€œstudents deserve an education relevant to the future they will inherit.”

I first heard about Krista work at a meeting of a group of climate educators, organized by Jennifer Atkinson and Sarah Raquette Ray, where Krista spoke about some of her research. I also heard her in conversation with my fellow art and climate podcaster Peterson Toscano on Citizens’ Climate Radio Ep. 51: Art & identity in a time of climate change.

I enjoyed my lively conversation with Krista, notably about how our brains try to protect us for the reality of the climate emergency and how to understand the levels of grief that we can experience and how to overcome it. I was also impressed by her thoughts on ungrading (which I shared with my two children, both University students). 

Some of my favourite quotes from our conversation include: 

The art space is maybe the last open space where that boxiness and that rigidity isn’t as present.

The shift is that faculty are really no longer just experts. They are knowledge brokers or knowledge intermediaries. There’s so much information out there. It’s so overwhelming. There are so many different realities that faculty need to interact with this information and create experiences that translate information for students so that students can manage their own information.

There’s a whole range of emotions around climate emergency, and not getting stuck in the grief. Not getting stuck in anger. A lot of what we see of youth activists and in youth activism is that they get kind of burned out in anger and it’s not a sustainable emotion. But none of them are emotions that you want to get stuck in. When you get stuck in climate grief, it is hard to get unstuck, so moving through all the different emotions — including anger and including hope — and that idea of an anthem and working together, those are all part of the emotion wheel that exists around climate change.

As I have done in all episodes in season 2 so far, I have integrated excerpts from soundscape compositions and quotations drawn from e19 reality, as well as new field recordings and moments of silence, in this episode.

I would like to thank Krista for taking the time to speak with me, for sharing her deep knowledge of climate education, her passion for literature and music and her courage to speak the truth to power through her work. 

For more information on Krista’s work, see https://www.hawaii.edu/sustainability/staff-item/krista-hiser-phd/ and https://www.gcseglobal.org/bio/krista-hiser

Links

• Public Letter on Addressing Collapse Risk
• Worry and Hope: What College Students Know, Think, Feel, and Do about Climate Change
• Love in the times of coral reefs (Ruth Mundy)
• Existential Tool Kit for Climate Justice Educators
• The Ultimate Cli-Fi Book Club for Sustainability in Higher Education

*

(translation)

Ce qui me motive, c’est de parler aux étudiants d’une manière telle qu’ils ne reviendront pas vers moi dans dix ans avec ce regard sur leur visage, vous savez, Dr Hiser, pourquoi ne m’avez-vous pas dit ça ? Pourquoi ne me l’avez-vous pas dit ? Je veux être sûre qu’ils quitteront l’interaction que nous aurons et qu’ils repartiront avec au moins l’idée que quelqu’un a essayé de les aider à voir cette réalité.

dr krista hiser, balado conscient, 19 mai 2021, hawai’i

Krista est professeur de longue date au KapiÊ»olani Community College à Hawai’i où elle enseigne la composition, la communication climatique et la fiction climatique. Son doctorat en administration de l’éducation portait sur les étudiants en tant que parties prenantes dans les programmes d’études sur la durabilité. Elle a publié des articles sur l’apprentissage par le service, l’engagement communautaire, le changement organisationnel et la littérature post-apocalyptique et cli-fi. Elle est actuellement directrice du University of Hawai’i System Center for Sustainability Across Curriculum, où le travail de Krista consiste à faciliter la gestion du changement, à coordonner la durabilité dans les programmes d’études et à favoriser le dialogue interdisciplinaire et les opportunités de développement professionnel pour les professeurs intéressés par l’enseignement de la durabilité, du changement climatique et de la résilience. Krista est motivée par une citation de David Orr qui a dit que â€œles étudiants méritent une éducation adaptée à l’avenir dont ils vont hériter.”

J’ai entendu parler pour la première fois du travail de Krista lors d’une réunion d’un groupe d’éducateurs climatiques, organisée par Jennifer Atkinson et Sarah Raquette Ray, où Krista a parlé de certaines de ses recherches. Je l’ai également entendue lors d’une conversation avec mon collègue Peterson Toscano, podcasteur spécialisé dans l’art et le climat, sur Citizens’ Climate Radio Ep. 51: Art & identity in a time of climate change.

J’ai apprécié la conversation animée que j’ai eue avec Krista, notamment sur la façon dont notre cerveau tente de nous protéger de la réalité de l’urgence climatique et sur la façon de comprendre les niveaux de chagrin que nous pouvons éprouver et comment les surmonter. J’ai également été impressionné par ses réflexions sur la notion de ‘ungrading’ (que j’ai partagées avec mes deux enfants, tous deux étudiants à l’université). 

Voici quelques-unes de mes citations préférées de notre conversation : 

L’espace d’art est peut-être le dernier espace ouvert où le caractère fermé et la rigidité ne sont pas aussi présents.

Le changement réside dans le fait que les professeurs ne sont plus seulement des experts. Ils sont des courtiers ou des intermédiaires du savoir. Il y a tellement d’informations qui circulent. C’est tellement écrasant. Il y a tellement de réalités différentes que les professeurs doivent interagir avec cette information et créer des expériences qui traduisent l’information pour les étudiants afin que ceux-ci puissent gérer leur propre information.

Il y a toute une gamme d’émotions autour de l’urgence climatique et il ne faut pas s’enliser dans le chagrin. Ne pas s’enfermer dans la colère. Une grande partie de ce que nous voyons chez les jeunes activistes et dans l’activisme des jeunes, c’est qu’ils s’épuisent dans la colère et ce n’est pas une émotion durable. Mais aucune d’entre elles n’est une émotion dans laquelle vous voulez rester coincé. Lorsque vous êtes coincé dans le chagrin climatique, il est difficile de se décoincer, donc passer par toutes les différentes émotions – y compris la colère, l’espoir – et cette idée d’un hymne et de travailler ensemble, tout cela fait partie de la roue des émotions qui existe autour du changement climatique.

Comme je l’ai fait dans tous les épisodes de la saison 2 jusqu’à présent, j’ai intégré dans cet épisode des extraits de compositions de paysages sonores et des citations tirées de e19 reality, ainsi que de nouveaux enregistrements de paysages sonoresd et des moments de silence.

Je remercie Krista d’avoir pris le temps de s’entretenir avec moi, de partager ses connaissances approfondies de l’éducation climatique, sa passion pour la littérature et la musique et son courage de dire la vérité au pouvoir à travers son travail. 

Pour plus d’informations sur le travail de Krista, voir https://www.hawaii.edu/sustainability/staff-item/krista-hiser-phd/  et https://www.gcseglobal.org/bio/krista-hiser . 

Liens

• Public Letter on Addressing Collapse Risk
• Worry and Hope: What College Students Know, Think, Feel, and Do about Climate Change
• Love in the times of coral reefs (Ruth Mundy)
• Existential Tool Kit for Climate Justice Educators
• The Ultimate Cli-Fi Book Club for Sustainability in Higher Education

The post e51 hiser appeared first on conscient podcast / balado conscient. conscient is a bilingual blog and podcast (French or English) by audio artist Claude Schryer that explores how arts and culture contribute to environmental awareness and action.

———-

About the Concient Podcast from Claude Schryer

The conscient podcast / balado conscient is a series of conversations about art, conscience and the ecological crisis. This podcast is bilingual (in either English or French). The language of the guest determines the language of the podcast. Episode notes are translated but not individual interviews.

I started the conscient project in 2020 as a personal learning journey and knowledge sharing exercise. It has been rewarding, and sometimes surprising.

The term ‘conscient’ is defined as ‘being aware of one’s surroundings, thoughts and motivations’. My touchstone for the podcast is episode 1, e01 terrified, based on an essay I wrote in May 2019, where I share my anxiety about the climate crisis and my belief that arts and culture can play a critical role in raising public awareness about environmental issues. The conscient podcast / balado conscient follows up on my http://simplesoundscapes.ca (2016–2019) project: 175, 3-minute audio and video field recordings that explore mindful listening.

Season 1 (May to October 2020) explored how the arts contribute to environmental awareness and action. I produced 3 episodes in French and 15 in English. The episodes cover a wide range of content, including activism, impact measurement, gaming, arts funding, cross-sectoral collaborations, social justice, artistic practices, etc. Episodes 8 to 17 were recorded while I was at the Creative Climate Leadership USA course in Arizona in March 2020 (led by Julie’s Bicycle). Episode 18 is a compilation of highlights from these conversations.

Season 2 (March 2021 – ) explores the concept of reality and is about accepting reality, working through ecological grief and charting a path forward. The first episode of season 2 (e19 reality) mixes quotations from 28 authors with field recordings from simplesoundscapes and from my 1998 soundscape composition, Au dernier vivant les biens. One of my findings from this episode is that ‘I now see, and more importantly, I now feel in my bones, ‘the state of things as they actually exist’, without social filters or unsustainable stories blocking the way’. e19 reality touches upon 7 topics: our perception of reality, the possibility of human extinction, ecological anxiety and ecological grief, hope, arts, storytelling and the wisdom of indigenous cultures. The rest of season 2 features interviews with thought leaders about their responses and reactions to e19 reality.

my professional services

I’ve been retired from the Canada Council for the Arts since September 15, 2020 where I served as a senior strategic advisor in arts granting (2016-2020) and manager of the Inter-Arts Office (1999-2015). My focus in (quasi) retirement is environmental issues within my area of expertise in arts and culture, in particular in acoustic ecology. I’m open to become involved in projects that align with my values and that move forward environmental concerns. Feel free to email me for a conversation : claude@conscient.ca

acknowledgement of eco-responsibility

I acknowledge that the production of the conscient podcast / balado conscient produces carbon. I try to minimize this carbon footprint by being as efficient as possible, including using GreenGeeks as my web server and acquiring carbon offsets for my equipment and travel activities from BullFrog Power and Less.

a word about privilege and bias

While recording episode 19 ‘reality’, I heard elements of ‘privilege’ in my voice that I had not noticed before. It sounded a bit like ‘ecological mansplaining’. I realize that, in spite of good intentions, I need to work my way through issues of privilege (of all kinds) and unconscious bias the way I did through ecological anxiety and grief during the fall of 2020. My re-education is ongoing.

Go to conscient.ca

Powered by WPeMatico

There are so many amazing people across this country who are helping to make change and are holding such a powerful vision for what the future can be. We get trapped in thinking about the paradigm limit in which we currently live, we put bounds on what feels like reality and what feels possible. There are no limits, and the arts helps us to push against that limited set of beliefs and helps us to remember that the way that we know things to be right now is not fixed. We can imagine anything. We can imagine the future we want.

teika newton, conscient podcast, may 19, 2021, kenora, ontario

A lifelong, insatiable curiosity for understanding people and places, and the interrelationships of all things, and a passion for humanitarianism and justice has directed Teika to a career in environmental and climate justice advocacy. Teika’s academic training was in evolutionary biology, but she also has a strong interest in the arts, notably in hearing people’s stories of how we relate to our natural world. She is currently the Membership and Domestic Policy Manager, at Climate Action Network Canada.

I first met Teika in February 2020 at TP3, a strategic gathering in Waterloo, ON convened by the McConnell Foundation and Tamarack Institute to create a coalition of organizations to address the climate crisis, (including through the arts). Teika and I been exchanging about community-engaged arts and climate action ever since.

There were many moments during my conversation with Teika that resonated with me, such as this thought our disconnection with nature: 

I see that there are a lot of ways in which people in my community use the landscape in a disrespectful way. Not considering that that’s someone’s home and that a wild place is not just a recreational playground for humans. It’s not necessarily a source of wealth generation. It’s actually a living, breathing entity and a home to other things and a home to us as well. I find that all really troubling that there is that disconnection and it sometimes does make me despair about the future course that we’re on. You know, if we can’t take care of the place that sustains us, if we can’t live with respect for not just our human neighbours, but our wilderness neighbors, I don’t know how well we’re going to fare in the future. We need to love the things around us in order to care for them.

And this thought about the role of the arts:

Having the ability to come together as a community and participate in the collective act of creating and expressing through various media, whether that’s song, the written word, poetry, painting, mosaic or mural making, so many different ways of expressing, I think are really, really valuable for keeping people whole grounded, mentally healthy and to feel connected to others. It’s the interconnection among people that will help us to survive in a time of crisis. The deeper and more complex the web of connections, the better your chances of resilience.

As I have done in all episodes in season 2 so far, I have integrated excerpts from soundscape compositions and quotations drawn from e19 reality and other episodes, as well as moments of silence, in this episode.

I would like to thank Teika for taking the time to speak with me, for sharing her deep scientific knowledge, her expertise in strategic climate action and her love of the arts and nature.

For more information on Teika’s work, see https://www.linkedin.com/in/teika-newton-926a5477/

*

(traduction)

Il y a tant de personnes extraordinaires dans ce pays qui contribuent au changement et qui ont une vision si puissante de ce que l’avenir peut être. Nous sommes pris au piège en pensant à la limite du paradigme dans lequel nous vivons actuellement, nous mettons des limites à ce qui semble être la réalité et à ce qui semble possible. Il n’y a pas de limites, et les arts nous aident à repousser cet ensemble limité de croyances et nous aident à nous rappeler que la façon dont nous savons que les choses sont actuellement n’est pas fixe. Nous pouvons tout imaginer. Nous pouvons imaginer le futur que nous voulons.

teika newton, balado conscient, 19 mai 2021, kenora, ontario

Une curiosité insatiable pour comprendre les gens et les lieux, ainsi que les interrelations entre toutes les choses, et une passion pour l’humanitarisme et la justice ont orienté Teika vers une carrière dans la défense de la justice environnementale et climatique. Teika a suivi une formation universitaire en biologie de l’évolution, mais elle s’intéresse aussi beaucoup aux arts, notamment à l’écoute des récits des gens sur la façon dont nous nous rapportons à notre monde naturel. Elle est actuellement responsable des adhésions et de la politique intérieure au Réseau Action Climat Canada.

J’ai rencontré Teika pour la première fois en février 2020 lors de TP3, un rassemblement stratégique à Waterloo, ON, organisé par la Fondation McConnell et l’Institut Tamarack pour créer une coalition d’organisations pour faire face à la crise climatique (y compris à travers les arts). Depuis, Teika et moi avons échangé sur les arts engagés dans la communauté et l’action climatique.

Au cours de ma conversation avec Teika, de nombreux moments ont résonné en moi, comme cette réflexion sur notre déconnexion de la nature : 

Je vois qu’il y a beaucoup de façons dont les gens de ma communauté utilisent le paysage de manière irrespectueuse. Ils ne tiennent pas compte du fait que c’est la maison de quelqu’un et qu’un endroit sauvage n’est pas seulement un terrain de jeu pour les humains. Ce n’est pas nécessairement une source de création de richesse. Il s’agit en fait d’une entité vivante, qui respire, qui abrite d’autres choses et qui nous abrite aussi. Je trouve tout cela vraiment troublant, cette déconnexion, et cela me désespère parfois quant à la voie que nous suivons. Vous savez, si nous ne pouvons pas prendre soin de l’endroit qui nous nourrit, si nous ne pouvons pas vivre dans le respect non seulement de nos voisins humains, mais aussi de nos voisins sauvages, je ne sais pas comment nous allons nous en sortir à l’avenir. Nous devons aimer les choses qui nous entourent afin d’en prendre soin.

Et cette réflexion sur le rôle des arts :

La capacité de se réunir en tant que communauté et de participer à l’acte collectif de création et d’expression par le biais de divers médias, que ce soit la chanson, l’écriture, la poésie, la peinture, la mosaïque ou la réalisation de fresques, autant de moyens d’expression différents, est, je pense, très précieuse pour que les gens restent ancrés dans la réalité, en bonne santé mentale et se sentent connectés aux autres. C’est l’interconnexion entre les gens qui nous aidera à survivre en temps de crise. Plus le réseau de connexions est profond et complexe, meilleures sont les chances de résilience.

Comme je l’ai fait dans tous les épisodes de la saison 2 jusqu’à présent, j’ai intégré dans cet épisode des extraits de compositions sonores et des citations tirées de la e19 reality et d’autres épisodes, ainsi que des moments de silence.

Je tiens à remercier Teika d’avoir pris le temps de s’entretenir avec moi, de partager ses profondes connaissances scientifiques, son expertise en matière d’action stratégique pour le climat et son amour des arts et de la nature.

Pour en savoir plus sur le travail de Teika, consultez le site https://www.linkedin.com/in/teika-newton-926a5477/ .

———-

About the Concient Podcast from Claude Schryer

The conscient podcast / balado conscient is a series of conversations about art, conscience and the ecological crisis. This podcast is bilingual (in either English or French). The language of the guest determines the language of the podcast. Episode notes are translated but not individual interviews.

I started the conscient project in 2020 as a personal learning journey and knowledge sharing exercise. It has been rewarding, and sometimes surprising.

The term ‘conscient’ is defined as ‘being aware of one’s surroundings, thoughts and motivations’. My touchstone for the podcast is episode 1, e01 terrified, based on an essay I wrote in May 2019, where I share my anxiety about the climate crisis and my belief that arts and culture can play a critical role in raising public awareness about environmental issues. The conscient podcast / balado conscient follows up on my http://simplesoundscapes.ca (2016–2019) project: 175, 3-minute audio and video field recordings that explore mindful listening.

Season 1 (May to October 2020) explored how the arts contribute to environmental awareness and action. I produced 3 episodes in French and 15 in English. The episodes cover a wide range of content, including activism, impact measurement, gaming, arts funding, cross-sectoral collaborations, social justice, artistic practices, etc. Episodes 8 to 17 were recorded while I was at the Creative Climate Leadership USA course in Arizona in March 2020 (led by Julie’s Bicycle). Episode 18 is a compilation of highlights from these conversations.

Season 2 (March 2021 – ) explores the concept of reality and is about accepting reality, working through ecological grief and charting a path forward. The first episode of season 2 (e19 reality) mixes quotations from 28 authors with field recordings from simplesoundscapes and from my 1998 soundscape composition, Au dernier vivant les biens. One of my findings from this episode is that ‘I now see, and more importantly, I now feel in my bones, ‘the state of things as they actually exist’, without social filters or unsustainable stories blocking the way’. e19 reality touches upon 7 topics: our perception of reality, the possibility of human extinction, ecological anxiety and ecological grief, hope, arts, storytelling and the wisdom of indigenous cultures. The rest of season 2 features interviews with thought leaders about their responses and reactions to e19 reality.

my professional services

I’ve been retired from the Canada Council for the Arts since September 15, 2020 where I served as a senior strategic advisor in arts granting (2016-2020) and manager of the Inter-Arts Office (1999-2015). My focus in (quasi) retirement is environmental issues within my area of expertise in arts and culture, in particular in acoustic ecology. I’m open to become involved in projects that align with my values and that move forward environmental concerns. Feel free to email me for a conversation : claude@conscient.ca

acknowledgement of eco-responsibility

I acknowledge that the production of the conscient podcast / balado conscient produces carbon. I try to minimize this carbon footprint by being as efficient as possible, including using GreenGeeks as my web server and acquiring carbon offsets for my equipment and travel activities from BullFrog Power and Less.

a word about privilege and bias

While recording episode 19 ‘reality’, I heard elements of ‘privilege’ in my voice that I had not noticed before. It sounded a bit like ‘ecological mansplaining’. I realize that, in spite of good intentions, I need to work my way through issues of privilege (of all kinds) and unconscious bias the way I did through ecological anxiety and grief during the fall of 2020. My re-education is ongoing.

Go to conscient.ca

Powered by WPeMatico