The interview begins with the author summarizing his new book, Dump Philosophy, in which he gives a phenomenological description of the devastated world we live in today. Hierarchy has been replaced by a levelling process in which the boundaries and distinctions between different regions of being no longer obtain. As he says, “All the world’s a dump.” There is no position outside of the dump that is uncontaminated. In response to the interviewer’s objections, he goes on to say that neither art nor philosophy constitute exceptions to this process. Rather, what we must do is be faithful to the experience of the dump itself and not look for exceptions elsewhere. Even the very air we breathe has become part of the dump in which we exist. We must engage in “…learning to be in the middle…even in and especially if one is in the middle of a dump.”
Despite many reasons for pessimism, the author of the article defends Tuchin’s claim, arguing the threat of global ecological destruction provides the incentive to further develop our capacity for cooperation, not only through international relations, but through the way we organize societies and its institutions and the built-up environments we create. To coordinate the quest for a peaceful, ecologically sustainable world order, or ‘ecological civilization’, we need to articulate a new dialogic grand narrative based on ecological rather than mechanistic thinking to inspire people to work towards this end. We need to acknowledge the absolutely central place in life to ecopoiesis, the making of households or homes, recognizing the contribution to architecture and town planning of the work of Christopher Alexander.
This paper presents the substantiation and results of the use of ecological art therapy in the rehabilitation of those who use psychoactive substances. The techniques of ecological art therapy are illustrated with examples from practical work in a day hospital and an outpatient culture and health club. The effects achieved in the process of creating art objects and installations from natural materials and photographing the environment testify to the versatile impact of this type of therapeutic work on the personality and mental state of individuals in rehabilitation.
The author was one of 13 artists invited to participate as an artist in residence programme organised by City Art Community and funded by the Jeju Culture and Art Foundation. The project was to be held on Jeju Island, South Korea, in August 2020, and the aim was for participants to research and respond creatively to Jeju scoria, a volcanic stone particular to this island. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the residency was cancelled. Instead, participants were sent a small quantity of scoria to work with in their respective countries. In this paper, the author reflects on the challenges of conducting an artist residency remotely, arguing that while this mode of working poses challenges, particularly in terms of access to authentic contexts and stimulation, it also provides an opportunity to explore new models of interaction.
The key presumptions and theoretical foundation of ecological, or nature-assisted creative arts therapies are considered from the perspective of the eco-human multi-disciplinary approach as defining the human being in a relation to the environment, and seeking to reveal one’s own subjectivity and to shape the world in order to fill one’s needs and take care of environmental well-being. Such key concepts of ecological arts therapies as an environmental perspective on health and illness, eco-identity formation, nature as the third part in the therapeutic relations, environmental and ecopsychology perception of the therapeutic setting, the role of the arts in providing meaningful human connection to nature are explained.
Newton Harrison presents his ideas about future eco-urban communities that are self-renewing and occupy a niche in the whole life web. He envisions these communities as centers for the regeneration of herding and farming, made up of groups of around 20,000 people that join together to occupy a new niche in the web of life rather than dominating or using nature. Newton's work reveals the social and cultural activities that need to be developed in order to create such communities, including forestry combined with ecologically knowledgeable herding, the newest forms of agriculture that are polycultural in nature, and an education system that is informed and involved in generating an eco-cultural, empathic community.
This article is based on the paper presented by Beverley A’Court at the first international web-based conference, “Ecological/Earth-Based Arts Therapies: International and Multi-Cultural Perspectives" (2020). It reveals the quality of tenderness expressed towards all life forms, exercised not only in relationships between people, but also in their relations with the more-than-human world. Many therapists are taking their sessions outdoors, however it is important to remember that 'Nature' is not just a backdrop or resource 'supermarket', but a dynamic, living field of diverse intelligences and subjects. The voice of every living being has a place in this 'orchestra', contributes to the whole 'symphony' and must be attended to for psycho-ecological well-being and survival.
This article was adapted from Dr. Parker-Bell’s keynote presentation which described her process of designing and teaching a studio art and self-care class to graduate level art therapy students at Florida State University during the COVID 19 pandemic. Due to the limiting factors of required online teaching platforms and virtual engagement, promoting self-care and connection through artmaking became a challenging objective. Consequently, Dr. Parker-Bell incorporated eco-art therapy components into the course design. Sixteen students were invited to select three eco-art therapy articles and explore represented eco-art therapy concepts in nature. Students opted to explore nature alone or together with instructor and peers if they remained in the Tallahassee area.
This essay speaks to the reality of our invisible and visible interconnection with one another and all life on the planet, with a focus on the plants and trees as healers who can awaken us to our authentic selves. It speaks to the necessity of reawakening our connection with the earth no matter where we live, city or country, to help us remember how to attune to and trust our own senses. It is an exploration of the need to reweave experiential wisdom as found and felt in our own bodies with our intellectual understandings, as this is liberating, builds confidence, and evokes joy which is healing in and of itself.
One of the pioneers and leaders of the eco-art movement, Newton Harrison, presents the Sensorium, a work of art and of science that sets out to provide a whole systems visualization of the problems that the world ocean faces, as well as potential solutions to these problems. The Sensorium is an immersive environment, a fully interactive 3-dimensional human-centered interface, where the floors, walls and even the ceiling act as “live” surfaces, connected to real time data, information and modeling / simulation tools. Sensorium can operate as a generalized pre-emptive planning environment where oceanographic problems, mostly of human creation, can be seen and acted upon.
In this excerpt from their book, Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens explore the realms of ecosexuality as they became lovers with the Earth and made their mutual pleasure an embodied expression of passion for the environment. Since 2008, they have been not just pushing but obliterating the boundaries circumscribing biology and ecology, creating ecosexual art in their performance of an environmentalism that is feminist, queer, sensual, sexual, posthuman, materialist, exuberant, and steeped in humor. They explore the theoretical grounds of ecosexuality, in particular, their perception of Earth as Lover, and their understanding of ecosexuality from the perspectives of the Anthropocene, new materialisms, and posthumanism.
This paper explores eco-theology, (post) humanism and what the author calls (post) human animal grace. The author explores the ways in which ecopoiesis and theopoiesis can be thought of together, as intersecting concepts. Ecopoiesis and theopoiesis are meant in more metaphoric ways, drawing on the Greek root of bringing forth, rather than on the Latin root of the poet writing poetry. (Post) human animal grace through the ecopoietic and the theopoietic together mean thinking about humans, animals, the earth, the cosmos and even machines as a web of inter-related and sacred beings. This paper draws on a wide variety of sources from Karl Rahner, to Jacques Derrida, from Wilfred Bion to Donna Haraway. This paper also draws on popular films, online gaming, popular music and even mysticism.
This article reviews the history of the Japanese art of ikebana (flower arranging), contemporary ecological art therapy practice involving botanical arranging, the correlation between the two practices and their contribution to the physical and mental well-being of human beings. Different perspectives are offered by a Russian therapist specializing in ecological art therapy, and a Chinese creative arts therapist with a biomedical background. Ikebana and botanical arranging are considered forms of creative interaction with nature, providing multiple therapeutic effects and showing us how to realign ourselves with the laws of nature.
This is an article about land art that constructs habitats of refuge or survival shelters. The art of constructing forest sanctuaries, as a form of social media, is a resourcing of found materials transformed into personal and social places of significance. Amidst COVID-19 restrictions, nature became everyone’s place to be and public parks were an essential commonplace for combining and finding a place apart to come together. What emerged in the forests of Phoenix Park, Dublin was the construction of landmarks for protection and solace.
In this interview, Reginaldo Bockhorni, an Ikebana professor at the Ikenobo School, shares his personal and professional experiences with ikebana. He explains how art and medical science cross over and benefit each other through his creative endeavors, how ikebana transformed his emotional world and influenced his identity and outlook.
Sustainable development implicitly sets the task of changing the traditional trajectory of historical processes and appears not so much as a program of concrete actions, but as a new worldview and a new methodology for humanity. Global ideas, substantiated in this concept, need clarification and concretization at the regional level. Thus, the implementation of the concept of sustainable development in Russia is possible only if the country's unique natural, social and cultural characteristics are taken into account.
In a short article, an expert in the field of environmental psychopedagogy and ecopsychology emphasizes the important role of the artistic perception of nature. He draws attention to the value of a poeticized appeal to the natural world as a source of beauty. This helps to develop the emotional, aesthetic and ethical foundations human relationship to nature.
Might play and imagination inform us about decolonizing and healing the Earth as ourselves? This article contributes to the discussion on the functions of Expressive Arts-based research (EABR) for practitioners and researchers interested in cultivating ecological identity through embodied and lived experiences. Based on the basic tenets of EABR, the author conducted this intermodal expressive arts inquiry during the early outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic in Canada, in accordance with the architecture of an expressive arts session: filling in from the habitual world experience, de-centering process and harvesting.
In a short essay, the renowned poetess and scientist Sally Atkins shares her perception of the Earth and a particular place on Earth as forming a poeticized image that plays a key role and sets a certain reference point in her relation to reality. She considers some systemic concepts that support the attitude to the Earth as a living entity, in particular, the Gaia theory, as well as the idea of J. Hillman about aesthetic sensitivity. Particular importance is attached to artistic and aesthetic ways of interacting with nature.
Creative design processes follow random or theme-based forms of access. In many cases, the beginning of meaning lies in the random placement of a figure, which is then moved and changed by intuitive action. In the context of art therapy, this design sequence can be documented during the process and later explored in the phase of making sense and organizing the experience. Digital documentation and the creation of cartoon-like short films can support integration and delve more deeply into the metamorphoses of the work.
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