As the climate crisis accelerates, how can artists’ residencies be testing grounds for new – and better – ways of living and working? A new, 8-part podcast series brings together artists, researchers and activists from across the Nordic region and Scotland to explore this question.
Presented by the Nordic Alliance of Artists’ Residencies on Climate Action (NAARCA), each episode in the series looks at the crisis through the lens of one artists’ residency. In the first episode, we travel deep into the Arctic Circle, to Longyearbyen – home of Artica Svalbard – to hear a conversation between an architect and an anthropologist about how climate change is affecting people’s relationship with their built environment.
The introductory episode of TESTING GROUNDS [was] released on Friday 27th of January 2023, with new episodes available on the last Friday of each month. To subscribe and listen, visit naarca.art/testing-grounds-podcast/ or search for “Testing Grounds” in your favourite podcast app.
TESTING GROUNDS is produced and edited by Katie Revell and includes original music by Loris S. Sarid and artwork by Jagoda Sadowska.
NAARCA is a collaboration between seven artists’ residencies: Cove Park (Scotland), Saari Residence (Finland), Artica Svalbard (Norway), Art Hub Copenhagen (Denmark), Baltic Art Center (Sweden), Skaftfell Art Center (Iceland) and Narsaq International Research Station (Greenland). We are working together to develop, test and communicate new ways of living that are ecologically, socially, mentally and financially sustainable. We believe that artists’ residencies are exceptional institutions within the arts sector: safe environments for experimentation, where private, professional and public life intertwine. Learn more at naarca.art
Artichoke is inviting anyone aged 18+ to submit their bright idea for new light works for Lumiere 2023. The UK’s light art biennial will take place from 16-19 November 2023 in Durham.
The national commissioning scheme aims to encourage creativity across the UK as well as highlight brilliant ideas from people living in or originally from the North East. Successful applicants will be supported by Artichoke with the production costs and technical expertise to create and install their artwork at specific locations.
Successful applicants will receive: – A fee of up to £1,000 – An international platform to exhibit your light work – Support from an Artichoke Producer and Production Manager to realise your BRILLIANT idea And more…
You don’t need to be a practising artist or have any previous experience to apply to BRILLIANT. You just need a bright idea.
Who can apply? – Anyone aged over 18 – Anyone currently living in the UK
The closing date for applications is Sunday 19 February 2023, 11:59pm.
Artichoke is committed to broadening the diversity of those working in the medium of light art and encourages applications from people who are currently under-represented in our BRILLIANT alumni, including people of colour and people who identify as d/Deaf, disabled or neurodivergent.
I published e101 tension – how do you feel now? today. The first of 52 episodes in the Sounding Modernity series. This one about sounds of tension and the art of finding a balance point. I composed it as a pilot episode back in September 2022 with the intention of exploring somatic and embodied listening. It’s basically a sketch but I thought it would be a good way to start this 4th season of the conscient podcast because it asks an open ended question that will come back again and again through this project, e.g. how do you feel now?
dream
As I wrote this blog, I recalled a dream I had on December 17, 2022 :
I had a vivid dream last night about receiving criticism of my ‘sounding modernity’ conscient podcast season, which I’m launching tomorrow with episode 00. The feedback was mostly negative and critical of the project, pointing out its failings and pretensions, etc. They were very precise and sometimes satirical and quite funny. It was bewildering. When I woke up I wondered where this advice was coming from … Obviously, it comes from somewhere within me, but it felt like an external voice was giving me guidance about my work and warning me of it’s pitfalls but also encouraging, and preparing me, to face unanswerable questions and sharp critique. I was very thankful to have had this ‘heads up’ and I have made a couple of minor adjustments to the project as a result of this dream. The series of weekly 5 minute episodes will indeed be exploring complex issues, most of which I don’t fully understand, therefore I will inevitably fail and fumble my way along. I think my dream spirit was warning me to listen carefully and stay humble and open as I undertake this next phase of my learning journey…
One of the adjustments I made was to remind myself of some of my learnings from the Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures (GTDF) website, including:
holding space for difficult conversations and silences without relationships falling apart
learning and unlearning, disarming and de-centering, dethroning and de-arrogantizing, detoxifying and decluttering, mourning, grieving and healing, digesting and metabolizing
loosening my attachment to my self image.
I also reviewed the GTDF’s ‘most common traps in depth education’ and reminded myself to be mindful of performance camouflage (ensuring self-transparency and self-witnessing of errors and missteps), proselytizing (trying to convince others that something is important and imposing my views) and virtue signaling (pretension and transactional relationships).
conduits
I received valuable feedback about my dream from friends and colleagues, notably this one :
I think you are wise to be open and humble but also to remember that the first response to change is often resistance. What you are working on situates itself in unfamiliar territory for many and much of the work of it is to persevere in the belief that this practice has wisdom in it and you are acting as a conduit for that.
fears
With my dream in mind, I shared with my wife Sabrina on December 26, 2022 that my greatest fear with this project was that my ‘trusted inner voice’ would be overtaken by my craving for validation (as noted above).
This happened with the last episode of season 3, e99winter diary revisited, which I felt good about but turned out to be mostly an exercise in vanity and nostalgia. I’m open to sharing this because conscient is a learning journey where anything can and should be questioned.
This learning led me to take a break from podcast production in March 2022 and engage in an unlearning process, including doing the exercises in Vanessa Andreotti’s Hospicing Modernity book, taking the GTDF’s Facing Human Wrongs course twice, deepening my daily qi gong practice, letting go of addictions, such as technology, validation, hope, etc.
My hope was that there was some value in ‘putting myself out there’, supported by newly acquired self-knowledge and self-control tools, and to trust that my experience as a listener and sound artist might have some value to others who are on a similar path.
gratitude
I’ll end this blog with a statement that concludes every episode note:
I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).
The post blog – of dreams and pitfalls appeared first on 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 Conscient 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 :
Note : Une version en français de cet article est disponible sur : Français
(Deep breath)
Tension
I was thinking about the tensions in our lives and the art of finding a balance point…
So I went for a sound walk in Vancouver and came upon a piece of fishing line. I brought it home, strung it up and recorded myself plucking it
(sound of fishing line being plucked by hand)
I held the fishing line with my left hand while I gradually reduced the tension with my right hand.
Later that day I went for another soundwalk and came upon a white metal fence. I started to gently tap one of the rods with my middle finger tip, like a heartbeat…
(sound of metal fence rod being tapped)
Finally, as I continued my search for sounds of tension, I came upon another metal fence, this one by the ocean and struck it with a wooden stick while slowly decreasing my walking pace.
(sound of metal fence tapped by a piece of wood)
I invite you to sit with me for a moment and feel these sounds. Try not to think, just feel.
(sound of decreased tension by filtering and slowing down)
How do you feel now ?
(further decrease of tension by filtering and slowing down to silence)
What about now?
(silence)
How do you feel now?
(Deep breath)
*
This episode was recorded on a Zoom H4n Pro audio recorder in Vancouver in September, 2022. I composed it as a pilot episode with the intention of exploring somatic and embodied listening. It’s basically a sketch but I thought it would be a good way to start this 4th season of the conscient podcast because it asks an open ended question that will come back again and again throughout this project : how do you feel now?
I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).
———-
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 :
View the original: https://www.conscient.ca/e101-tension-how-do-you-feel-now/
The U.S. Global Change Research Program, in collaboration with Smithsonian Institution, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Science Foundation, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, invites artists to engage in the development of the Fifth National Climate Assessment by creatively visualizing climate change in the United States: its causes, impacts, and manifestations; our shared vulnerabilities; and the strength of our collective response.
Art x Climate seeks to strengthen partnerships between science and art and demonstrate the power of art to advance the national conversation around climate change. Selected art submissions will be featured in the Fifth National Climate Assessment as chapter covers and within the chapters. Selected artworks may also be used in case studies, in public events, or in communication materials.
We are looking for students to submit artwork related to the topic of climate, people, and nature. This art will help readers of the Fifth National Climate Assessment see how the climate is changing and what that means for the people, places, and activities they love. Artists must be 13–17 years old and have parental or legal guardian permission to submit. All artists must be living in the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, American Samoa, Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, or the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Entries can be produced by individuals or by teams.
The contest is open to all visual artists, whether professionals or nonprofessionals. Artists must be at least 18 years old at the time of submission in order to participate in this call. All artists must be living and working in the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, American Samoa, Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, or the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Entries can be produced by individuals or by teams.
To learn more about this call for art, including submission requirements and judging criteria, please visit the CaFÉ portal (link is external).
The initiative for this Special Issue of Critical Stages / Scènes critiques arises from our shared and sustained interest in the interdisciplinary, and, indeed, transdisciplinary Environmental Humanities that we have always perceived as a particularly compelling and dynamic site within which to formulate and locate our work. It is difficult to conceptualise how this might not be the case for socially-engaged scholarship and active citizenship, as the world is experiencing a climate crisis of extraordinary, and, indeed, dramatic – in all possible senses of the word – scale and iteration.
Vicky Angelaki and Elizabeth Sakellaridou, Editors for The IATC journal/Revue de l’AICT – December/Décembre 2022: Issue No 26
The latest edition of Critical Stages / Scènes critiques explores the intersection of ecology and theatre. Within this edition, you’ll find contributions from CSPA Staff and many friends of the CSPA!
*Vicky Angelaki is Professor in English Literature at Mid Sweden University (Department of Humanities and Social Sciences). She was previously based in the United Kingdom, where she held full-time, permanent roles at Birmingham City University; University of Birmingham; University of Reading. Major publications include the monographs Martin Crimp’s Power Plays: Intertextuality, Sexuality, Desire (2022); Theatre & Environment (2019); Social and Political Theatre in 21st-Century Britain: Staging Crisis (2017); The Plays of Martin Crimp: Making Theatre Strange (2012) and the edited collection Contemporary British Theatre: Breaking New Ground (2013; 2016). She co-edits the series Adaptation in Theatre and Performance (Palgrave Macmillan, with Kara Reilly). She is currently completing the research project Performing Interspaces: Social Fluidities in Contemporary Theatre, funded by Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (Sweden). The project will result in an Open Access monograph, contracted with Palgrave Macmillan/Springer.
**Elizabeth Sakellaridou is Professor Emerita of Theatre Studies at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. She has taught and lectured widely on contemporary theatre in various academic institutions in Greece, elsewhere in Europe, and in the USA. She has published on contemporary British and European theatre, classical and modern Greek theatre, performance theory, cultural and gender studies, and, more recently, the hybrid space of performance phenomenology. Her publications include Pinter’s Female Portraits; Contemporary Women’s Theatre (in Greek); Theatre, Aesthetics, Politics (in Greek); and numerous articles and chapters published in international journals and collected volumes respectively. She is also a critic, dramaturg and translator of dramatic works from English into Greek and vice versa.
This panel was hosted by Arts Club Theatre curated by The Only Animal Core Artist Kendra Fanconi, about different perspectives on the role of the artist in the climate crisis, with Coast Salish theatre and dance artist Tasha Faye Evans, Latinx climate playwright Elaine Avila, Metcalf scholar on art and sustainability David Maggs, and Japanese-American climate-performance artist Miwa Matreyek.
This panel was hosted by Arts Club Theatre was done in partnership with the Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts.
Photography exercise made during the Facing Human Wrongs course. July, 2022, Duhamel, Quebec (photo by Claude Schryer)
On February 8, 2022, when I published episode 99, Winter Diary Revisited, of the conscient podcast, I mentioned that I was taking a break to study decolonization and, among other things, to ‘learn to unlearn’.
I did this.
On March 15, 2022 I wrote a posting for the Artists and Climate Change website called Rise Up, Dissent, and Disassemble,where I suggested that ‘the arts sector has the capacity to shift people’s hearts and minds and will be central to a transformation agenda’ about the ecological crisis.
I stand by this.
On June 6, 2022, I posted this statement on social media :
‘I’m not sure if or when I’ll produce more conscient podcasts. I don’t see the point of sharing more info or awareness. What interests me now, inspired by Dr. Vanessa Andreotti, is how to transition out of modernity through metabolic connections. Not sure what that sounds like, yet…’
I do now (or at least I’ve figured out a way to explore it).
What is Sounding Modernity?
On September 16, 2022, I had the privilege of receiving a Canada Council Strategic Innovation Fund Seed grant to produce season 4 of my conscient podcast called ‘Sounding Modernity : weekly 5-minute sound art works in 2023’, published on Sundays, from January 1 to December 31, 2023, in English and in French.
Each episode explores a complex issue and includes a question for listeners to respond to in any way they wish, with words, images, sound, video, etc. through the conscient website or on conscient social media. The idea to create an informal forum for learning and unlearning. I commit to do my best to respond to every submission and, with permissions, to publish some of them in the conscient newsletter.
My goal with ‘Sounding Modernity’ is to explore what modernity sounds like, how it affects us and how to ‘create the conditions for other possible worlds to emerge in the wake of what is dying’ as suggested in ‘Preparing for the end of the world as we know it’ by the Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures collective, a group of scholars and researchers led by Dr. Vanessa Andreotti, author of Hospicing Modernity. The work of the GTDF collective has strongly influenced my approach to this project and I am deeply grateful for their wisdom and support.
Metal rods from ‘tension, episode 101 of Sounding Modernity, September 2022
What do I mean by modernity?
Which modernity? I don’t mean modernist art or modernism as a style (though I guess it can be a part of it). I mean the modern era based on extractive capitalism, overconsumption, endless growth, systemic racism, white supremacy, separation from nature, and so on.
I want to investigate various interpretations of ‘modernity’: our so-called modern lifestyles, structures, sites, beings, creatures, habits, etc. and I want to do this by listening to the sound of modernity.
In other words, I want to address some of the causes of this massive and violent overreach of planetary boundaries while exploring how we can preserve some of modernity’s benefits, without the destruction.
My objective with Sounding Modernity is not to find short term solutions, nor is it to help you feel better about the state of the world. Rather, with a lot of humility and respect, I offer you 5 minutes every week to stop and listen to a sound artwork that addresses an issue, a situation, a dilemma, a problem, an impossibility, but also to celebrate, to preserve and to nurture possibilities.
I invite you to ‘stay with the trouble’ which is a well-known quote from Dr. Donna J. Haraway and to embrace the advice of Dr. Vanessa Andreotti to ‘hold space for the good, the bad, the ugly and the messed up, within and around’.
From mitigation to regeneration
When I started the conscient podcast in 2020, I was mostly in a ‘mitigation’ and ‘information deficit’ mindset. I believed that by raising awareness and sharing knowledge that artists could provide insights and help find solutions to the ecological crisis. This remains a valid intention, however I’ve now shifted to a ‘regeneration’ mindset, whereas I accept the inevitability of systems collapse based on past behaviour (many are already happening) and focus my efforts on longer term adaptation and regeneration strategies.
Excerpt from a video report made during the Facing Human Wrongs course, Unlearning Bundle Unit 3 – Denial of Unsustainability, July 5, 2022, Duhamel, Quebec (photo by Claude Schryer)
What does modernity sound like?
We are part of a much wider metabolism, and this metabolism is sick. There is a lot of shit for us to deal with: personal, collective, historical, systemic. Our fragilities are a big part of it. This shit needs to pass, so that it can be composted into new forms of life, no longer based on the illusion of separability.
Without being aware of it, I have always felt the ‘metabolic sickness’ that the GTDF collective refers to here and have always been intuitively attracted to electroacoustic music, with its transformational potential to serve as an acoustic mirror at the intersection of reality, fantasy, and spirit.
During my career as a composer and sound artist, I developed a ‘soundscape composition’ style that combines layering context (field recordings) with abstraction (electronic and instrumental music) – often with an observational or poetic narrative.
The artistic language of ‘Sounding Modernity’ expands on this vocabulary with a mix of slowly paced narration and long silences that are interwoven with new or archival field recordings and/or soundscape compositions. Each episode involves a combination of the following elements:
presentation of the topic (what it is and why it interests me)
new and/or archival field recording(s) that illustrate or evoke the topic
thoughts and insights on the nature of that sound
transformation or alteration of that sound through soundscape composition techniques that suggests alternative or new perspectives
thoughts and insights on the transformed sound(s) and how they might raise new questions
An invitation for listeners to engage with a question on an issue or concept that can be uploaded to the conscient podcast website for public sharing and dialogue.
Here is a preliminary list of topics I am considering (note: these will evolve, including rewrites, through to the end of the project on December 31, 2023):
Excerpt from a video from exercises in Hospicing Modernity, April, 2022, Duhamel, Quebec (photo by Claude Schryer)
Thought, felt, and danced with and through
My intention is not to define these terms, nor to explain them as such, but rather to engage in ‘worlding their meaning’, as suggested by Dr. Vanessa Andreotti’s notion of ‘worlding stories not focused on the aesthetic perfection of form, but on the integration of form and movement. They are not supposed to be ‘thought about’ but thought, felt, and danced with and through’.
Note: The term ‘worlding’ is used by Dr. Vanessa Andreotti in reference to the work of Māori writer Carl Mika, see ‘Indigenous Education and the Metaphysics of Presence: A Worlded Philosophy’ (Milton Park, UK: Taylor and Francis, 2017)
In other words, my hope is to create sound art works that are ‘living entities’ (with thanks to my curriculum advisor Azul Carolina Duque for this observation).
I like the way a colleague from the Facing Human Wrongs course this summer put it in an October 24, 2022 email:
May the living sounds and entities in the episodes co-inform sounding modernity and where it’s heading/losing its way.
I will explore how to engage in ‘co-information’ during this project and to be OK when it loses its way.
The Facing Human Wrongs course involved facing these complex systemic issues with honesty, humility, humour and hyper self-reflexivity and learning to live with their discomforts and pain and doing so without falling into ‘traps’ such as self-validation, self-infantilization and exceptionalism, while exploring how to ‘create the conditions for other worlds to emerge’.
Hum, that’s a rather long and charged sentence, isn’t it?
What I mean to say is that it is important to have a good frame of mind going into this work and to avoid repeating cycles of personal glorification and self-indulgence.
This is difficult for artists, who, like me, love the spotlight and often engage in self-referential work, but I think it’s possible to focus on the impact of our work, and less on our personal needs, for those who are coming from situations of privilege and low-intensity struggle.
Sobriety, maturity, discernment and accountability
I have found the 4 compass values illustrated above, along with the tightrope teachings, to be useful guide marks in making decisions and avoiding the worst pitfalls.
This compass (and related cartographies) also helps me work through ethical and relational issues when I do field recordings, such as obtaining implicit and explicit permission to record sounds and how to use them respectfully in published works.
The work of UBC professor and indigenous scholar Dylan Robinson, notably his Hungry Listening book, also guides my decisions in terms of how and when to record.
But who will listen?
The urgency of the climate and ecological crisis demands that the arts and culture sector activate its unique capacity for creative expression in service of a livable future for all. In this critical decade of action, this requires a clear focus on climate justice and a genuine transformation in values: from consumerism and extraction to stewardship and regeneration.
My experience in producing 100 episodes of the conscient podcast is that audiences are saturated and overwhelmed with facts and data about the ecological crisis but are more comfortable engaging, relationally and affectively, with these complex issues through stories, metaphors, illustrations, and connections to what they value the most in everyday life.
Sounding Modernity is intended to be accessible to all audiences but is more likely to be relevant to those who have already begun a learning and unlearning journey about the ecological crisis, including questioning the complicity of western art itself. This is hard work, akin to biting the hand that feeds you.
For example, I am extremely grateful to have received the aforementioned Canada Council Strategic Innovation Fund Seed grant for this project to hire expert collaborators to help me deepen this work and I thank them from the bottom of my heart for their support and yet I am critical of institutions like the Council that perpetuate colonial systems.
But at the same time, I appreciate that the Council and other funders offer opportunities to empower artists to develop a more resilient, equitable, inclusive and sustainable arts sector, and in so doing, a more liveable planet. This is the complex and hard work of decolonization and transformation that the arts sector is currently undertaking. For example, Shannon Litzenberger wrote an essay called State of Emergence: Why We Need Artists Right Now. I also spoke with her in episode 90 of the conscient podcast;
I would first and foremost love to see artists really lean into experimentation with their creative practices and to share that what comes out of those practices: the learning and experimentation with each other. I think that’s something that even as a community of art makers we can get better at. But what that then also does is start to socialize learning about what art as a system of knowledge production is, and this is how we start to disentangle ourselves from the ways that we’re trying to solve this challenge, or the ways that we’re trying to think about what is happening right now as a problem to fix, is maybe part of the dilemma and that art as a way of knowing.
My hope is that we find a way, together, to navigate our way out of modernity’s trappings and to create, step by step, the conditions for other worlds to emerge. I know many of my colleagues in the arts are working hard on this. I am grateful for their vision and courage.
I like the way fellow podcaster and cultural icon Kamea Chayne explains it in her vision for the Green Dreamer project:
Exploring our paths to collective healing, biocultural revitalization, and true abundance and wellness *for all*.
I also refer to my own experience in listening to podcasts about culture and environmental issues, which have the potential to nourish our spirits and remind us that we are not alone in feeling deep anxiety about the ecological crisis. I am grateful for the aforementioned Green Dreamer and also:
Because we have no choice, but we also don’t need to drown in a state of inertia (life will go on, without or without ‘us’).
Much has been written by artists about this crisis and how to increase the impact and resilience of the arts sector, such as poignant and courageous ‘call to arms’ essays by Dr. David Maggs and the aforementioned Shannon Litzenberger. And yet, society is not (yet) in ‘emergency mode’ as suggested by the Climate Emergency Unit. We seem to be asleep at the wheel of ‘comfort and indifference’ as Denys Arcand noted in his 1991 film (albeit in a very different context).
What I love about the arts is their unlimited potential as a process of change. The arts can simultaneously comfort the afflicted, inspire the depressed, anticipate the impossible, invigorate the dispirited, catalyse the discouraged, challenge our assumptions, etc. The arts also have the potential to inflict harm, consciously or unconsciously, which is why a set of guiding values and principles are critical.
For example, I observed this dynamic at the Government of Canada’s laudable National Culture Summit on 3 May 2022, where most arts leaders spoke with great passion about rebuilding the arts sector, while sidestepping (or underplaying) that our planet is rapidly and inexorably becoming uninhabitable…
How can we help people ‘tune in’ to these complex issues without becoming overwhelmed and complacent?
How can we address these deep disconnects and address the root causes of imminent societal collapse?
More to the point: what can any one person do?
The 20/80 ratio
We need to hold space for the good, the bad, the ugly and the messed up, within and around.
Dr. Vanessa Andreotti, Hospicing Modernity
Actually, we do have choices to make (and accountabilities) as citizens and as artists.
For example, I often tell colleagues about how I adopted the 80-20 ratio principle in 2021, an idea I first heard from arts and climate leader Kendra Fanconi.
The idea is to spend 20% of your time and energy on reducing your carbon footprint and changing the things you control (less travel, local foods, giving to worth causes, recycling, being kind and joyful, etc) and 80% of your time and energy on collective action towards systemic change (advocacy, voting, coalitions, campaigns, protesting, decolonization, reparation, supporting for those in high-intensity struggles, directing anger towards positive change, etc).
This helps take some pressure off our collective shoulders, while focusing our energy on positive, long-term action.
In other words, we need to engage in substantial personal change (while increasing our enjoyment of life) AND invest in massive societal transformation (without burning out).
Sketch of Claude Scrhyer by Sabrina Mathews, April 26, 2022
But what can I do?
My response, as a composer, sound producer and arts administrator is to create sound art works that encourage audiences, and specifically my colleagues in the arts community, to ‘feel and dance with and through’ the trappings of modernity and to explore how to move out of it, together, as Dr. Andreotti suggests.
Thankfully, I am working with talented collaborators on this project, including artist Sabrina Mathews, web designer and podcast consultant Ayesha Barmania, education advisor and sound artist Azul Carolina Duque, communications advisors Ben Von Wong and Jessica Ruano as well as countless family, friends and colleagues who have accompanied me on my learning journey and supported this work. Thank you.
At a meeting of the Transition Innovation Group on October 12, 2022, the assembly agreed that we were now entering a period of great transition with ‘cautious hopefulness’. I added that what we really need to do is ‘buy time’ through our collective efforts to slow the damage while envisioning new ways of life.
My motto is, there is no moment of final defeat in this. We have to measure our work into the extent of the disasters we prevent, the scale of lives of our people in the Global South. And for me, every day I get up and go, that’s what we’re doing. It’s not that we’re trying to prevent this crisis. We’re trying to prevent this crisis from getting worse and worse. And it can get much, much worse.’
and…
I would say a quote, not from one of our friends, but actually from one of our enemies, the architect of neoliberalism, Milton Friedman, who said, only a crisis, real or perceived, produces real change. Our goal is to keep our ideas and policies alive for when the politically impossible becomes the politically inevitable. And we, and our vision, is the politically inevitable.
Every day now, when I get up and go, my goal is also to prevent this crisis from getting worse.
weekly conscient newsletter which allows you to receive notifications about new episodes, some my responses to submissions, news from the community and so on.
conscient podcast in English ou le balado conscient en français, on any your favorite podcast player such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, etc. and-or
conscient YouTube channel to see a video version of the podcast as well as 30 seconds promotional clips.
You can also follow conscient social media on Facebook and Instagram @conscientpodcast.
I will write about my learnings and unlearnings in the conscient newsletter and in the occasional blogs, such as my keynote address at the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology on March 24th, 2023.
Feedback and critique are always welcome, in public space or privately (claude@conscient.ca)
The post Sounding Modernity appeared first on 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 :
View the original: https://www.conscient.ca/sounding-modernity/
As I work with university students this semester, I am reminded of the burden the young generation is carrying in relation to climate change, and of the need to create stories that point to hopeful futures. Eco-anxiety is real – and crippling. But storytelling can be a powerful antidote, freeing up unsuspected reserves of determination and strength, and reconnecting us to the Earth and our communities.
Over the last four seasons of our Climate Change Theatre Action festival, we have given centerstage to hopeful and empowering stories. And for our upcoming fifth season in 2023, we will continue to be radical in our rejection of denial and despair. Our young people deserve as much.
We need to raise $5,000 by December 31 to ensure the success of CCTA 2023. We’re on our way but we still need your help!
To donate online, click the button below.
To donate from your phone, text 1-855-575-7888 and enter code 390533.
The Ray Ferris Innovation and Sustainability Grant is an annual grant awarded to a Toronto-based producing company selected by the committee based on a detailed production/project proposal, recognizing advances in theatrical design and the promotion of sustainability in live theatre. The recipient will receive a cash grant of $25,000 towards innovative sustainability elements for an in-person live theatre performance. The Ontario Arts Foundation manages the endowment that funds the grant.
Applicants will demonstrate how the grant would contribute to advances in theatrical design, while promoting environmental sustainability, and how the grant would assist in one or more capacity such as (but not limited to) the following:
Creating unique methods of delivering a narrative in a live theatre show, through the application of design innovations and digital technologies
Extending the theatrical experience to include the audience’s journey to and from the venue (and beyond), and working with community groups to find exciting, inclusive, and environmentally conscientious ways of making that happen
Developing new and sustainable processes in the construction and striking of a live theater show, and collaborating with communities and other theatre artists to find creative uses for the materials after the production
Transforming non traditional underused spaces into theatrical venues
The recipient must be a charity registered and in good standing with the Canada Revenue Agency.
The Ray Ferris Innovation and Sustainability Grant recipient will provide a report back to the committee following the conclusion of the production, detailing how the grant was used to further sustainability practice in the performing arts, elaborating on elements that worked well and others that require additional consideration. The report will be presented to the TAPA membership with the goal of building upon best practices in the industry.
Raymond M. Ferris was a Toronto artist, mathematician and statistician born in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He earned a Master of Science degree and early in his career, Ray was on the team of NASA rocket scientists responsible for the successful return of the astronauts from the moon landing. In the mid-1980s, Ray started his own business in Toronto, R.M.Ferris Research Consultants. With advances in technology, he began experimenting with digital art and developed techniques to integrate his love for art, mathematics and computer technology and he collaborated with local musicians, combining art forms. Ray loved the theatre and was an enthusiastic supporter of Toronto’s scene.
Recipients – Click for Info (pending inaugural)
Eligibility Criteria
Deadline for applications: Monday, April 3, 2023 – 5:00pm. Late submissions will not be accepted.
To be eligible to apply for a Ferris Grant, a company must be a not-for-profit organization based or producing in the Toronto area, and a registered charity under the Canadian Income Tax Act.
Proposed production must take place during the producing season following receipt of the grant. (i.e., a grant awarded in June 2023 for production to take place July 2023 – June 2024)
In order to apply for the Ferris Award, please supply the following information:
Applicant’s Company Name, Representative Name, Title, Phone and Email Address
Registered charity number
Brief history of the applicant company
Project outline (Describe the proposed project and why the applicant should be awarded the Ferris Award, (up to 6 pages) detailing how the grant will be used
