Eco Response-Ability

In recognition of the inseparability of art and life, I have attempted to summarise what I try to do in my practice and life to move towards a more humane and sustainable world for all species. I am using the word eco as it derives from Ancient Greek οἶκος (oîkos, home, dwelling place) and relating this to the planet and cosmos of which we are a part.

So what do I mean by eco response-ability? I am referring to the ability to respond to complex changes in this dwelling place, often referred to as the polycrisis or metacrisis.  

Responses can both be limited by, and inspired by, lack of financial resources. This is always a work in progress, always imperfect, and I welcome conversation and exchange of ideas. 

At the end of this page there is a list of resources that I have found helpful for thinking about all of this.

MATERIALS AND MAKING

  • Stopped using polluting and toxic materials and switched to handmade earth pigments and plant dyes with natural binders. Generally moved away from a focus on painting and drawing which used a lot of materials and more towards experiential embodied practices

  • Making less.  Switching to “slow” making. Challenging a culture of over-production

  • Valuing process over outcome/commodity  

  • Shifted my practice methods so that the outdoors and my local area are my main studio. Centered ecosomatics and walking as method, working with natural cycles of daylight, darkness and season

TRAVEL

Hmm.  This is my most tricky one, and I need to be upfront about the fact that I have daughters who live on the other side of the world.  We fly less frequently and stay longer to try to minimise our carbon footprint, but this is one of my most challenging areas. The rest of the time these are the things I do....

  • Work locally, focusing my daily practice in locales I can walk to (since walking is the core of my practice anyway).

  • Stopped travelling frequently all over the country to courses and workshops and limit this to one or two per year

  • Opt for exhibition opportunities within a 90 minute travel radius

This has the added bonus and challenge of centering my work in a rural area not usually associated with contemporary arts.

DIGITAL FOOTPRINT AND DIGITAL GARBAGE

This is an area that I have more recently become aware of, and is possibly one of the most time-consuming to tackle

  • Switched my website to green web hosting 

  • Sorting my photos and files and deleting from Cloud storage (work in progress)

  • Recently divested from Facebook (I have yet to save the things I want and delete the rest) and hopefully Instagram later this year

  • Choosing not to use AI

ENERGY

  • Switched to an energy supplier that uses mostly renewables (Octopus energy) - this is not a perfect solution, as there are also issues with renewables

  • Minimise travel, combine trips, car share

  • Reduce energy use - LED light bulbs, switching things off, adequate insulation etc.

  • Be aware of my own energy levels (this often gets left out of these conversations but I feel is a key area in health and countering negative effects of industrialisation/colonisation/capitalism). Replenish often

REDUCE, REUSE, REPAIR, RECYCLE, SHARE

  • Use charity shops, Freecycle, secondhand websites for materials, clothing, furniture, books. E.g. the chest of drawers for my Sin Eater installation came from Freecycle and was re-gifted via Freecycle after the exhibition. And my partner has just made shelves for the kitchen from board that came from Freecycle.

  • Buy less of everything - think about whether I really need it

  • Choose retailers who offer a repair/reconditioning service e.g. my phone is a re-conditioned one and I am about to send back my walking boots for repair at Revivo.

  • Take time to repair clothing and household items.

  • Make full use of council recycling facilities and waste management for home and studio waste by locating my local waste transfer station and even getting household paint free from the waste stream there.

  • Re-use elements from past work in new projects. Adapt and develop work following these threads.

  • Swap, lend and borrow books and materials. Make more use of libraries.

  • Clear out and sell/gift/swap materials I don't use or no longer need

  • Reflect on what I am making and whether I am just adding more pointless objects to the world!

  • Share ideas freely e.g. making my Substack free of paywalls

  • Acknowledge my sources and inspiration, whether they be conversations, work made by others, or reading material.  My work can never be considered truly my own


FOOD

  • Vegetarian

  • Aim to choose seasonal local food with no/minimal packaging, organic where available and affordable

GENERAL

  • Avoid using big multi-national retailers and distribution companies whose policies and practices don’t align with a fairer and more sustainable world for all.  This is often hidden information and I will inevitably be unaware of a lot of sh*t that goes on. 

  • Support local suppliers and independent businesses with clear policies. 

(I developed a healthy scepticism of carbon offsets and many accreditation schemes, and an alertness to greenwashing during my very brief time working for the Sustainable Business Network in Aotearoa).


RESOURCES


BOOKS  

  • In Praise of Slow - Carl Honoré

  • At Work in the Ruins. Dougald Hine

  • Hospicing Modernity: Facing Humanity's Wrongs and the Implications for Social Activism. Vanessa Machado De Oliveira

  • Combining - Nora Bateson

  • If Women Rose Rooted - Sharon Blackie

  • Found and Ground - Caroline Ross

  • The Organic Artist - Nick Neddo (thanks to Dr Chris Wright for recommending this one)

  • Correspondences - Tim Ingold

  • Braiding Sweetgrass. Robin Wall Kimmerer

  • Water Beings: from Nature Worship to the Environmental Crisis.  Veronica Strang

  • The Arts of Indigenous Health and Wellbeing.  Ed. Nancy Van Styvendale, JD McDougall, Robert Henry, Robert Alexander Innes.

  • The publications of The Dark Mountain Project

We don’t do any of this alone and I would like to map the connections and offer thanks to the following individuals and organisations for conversations, courses, residency time, funding and support that have helped and continue to help with my thinking and practice around eco response-ability (and many other things!).