Finding Our Way Back Forward     Conclusion

Through this project, I have been able to engage with ideas from across disciplines, be inspired by a plethora of artists, and create a community-engaged piece that was meaningful for me.  It is clear that we need to address climate change and other social injustices, and these processes allowed me to explore possible ways forward.  From Rifkin’s ideas about biophilia and the importance of reconnecting with nature and each other, to understanding both the damages and possibilities of technology, it is clear that we as a society need to understand these pressing societal issues and be empowered to act.  Many artists, performers, and dancers demonstrate that their work is needed to communicate and empower about these issues, and I was fortunate enough to be able to put these ideas into action within my own art piece.

        To participate and create, then, is necessary for us to move towards a more environmentally and digitally conscious and just world.  In this aim, and following the work of Anna Halprin and others in the artistically empowering book 140 Artists’ Ideas for Planet Earth, I urge you to try creating for yourself.  As Halprin writes, “Find a place to dance in/with nature.  Let the birds, trees, rocks, wind, sun, water, whatever is around you, inform your movement.  We are, all of us, part of nature – it is not simply a backdrop for dance”(Halprin 2022, 11).  I would add to this: Meet with others.  Connect with them, and connect with yourself.  Move to embody how you feel.  Notice any weight of technology.  Ground yourself in the moment, and breathe.  

Resources

Halprin, Anna.  “Earth.”  In 140 Artists’ Ideas for Planet Earth, edited by Hans Ulrich Obrist and Kostas Stasinopoulos, 11.  London: Penguin Books, 2022.