A slidecast by the Bcollective's Nala Walla outlining the principles underlying an integrative approach towards arts and ecology, a toolkit for an embodied activism. I have presented this slideshow at numerous festivals, workshops, universities, village design and permaculture courses.

1. the GREAT TURNING
•empire to earth community
•competition to cooperation
•globalism to localism
• redistribution of wealth
•each of us plays a role

2. THe
BoDYversity
BODY as a teaching university
where we come for education
about unity and biodiversity

3. in the end,
they will not say
“THOSE WERE DARK TIMES”
they will ask,
“WHY WERE THEIR POETS
SILENT!?”
----bertold brecht

4. BODY is
Earth

5. etymology of “Earth”
root sound -ER
root sound -ERGH
‘thou art’/ ser = to be
orgheisthai = to dance
orchestra = ‘making music’

6. PARTICIPATORY
ARTS
•social lubricant
•dissipates tensions
•attunes and calibrates
•larger non-rational cycles

7. art is NOT
a luxury

8. keep the
drama
onstage

9. stone age
economics
1 to 4 hours per day for food
and shelter (15 hrs/week)
the tyranny of
“work”

10. expressive arts
as folk remedy
•restore = restory
•oral culture will be crucial to a
post-digital, post-literate world
•storytelling makes us human
•trauma to treasure

11. healing trauma
judith herman / peter levine
safety-reestablish control, stability,
protection from oppression
remembrance/mourning-detailed
telling of trauma to empathetic listeners
reconnection-reestablish trust & healthy
relationships with friends & community

12. ensemble
• in an ensemble, each of us
makes choices that serve the
work as a whole
• on the evolutionary stage,
those species who survive are
those who serve the whole web

13. somatics
• the sensation of the human
being as experienced
subjectively from the inside
• a sixth sense
• you are the expert
• empowerment = responsibility

14. “all wisdom is
plagiarism.
only stupidity is
original.”
----hugh kerr

15. DETHRONING:
the guru
the virtuoso
the professional
the expert

16. zone zero
•localism starts with the self
•the body as home
•the industrialized body
•bodyremediation as folk art
• activist renewal & recharge
• tools for self/community care

17. FOOD
activism
•FOOD = link between nature & culture
• “restaurateur” to restore, restory
• local empowerment

18. PERMACULTURE PRINCIPLES
no such thing as waste
redistribute surplus
the problem is the solution
the edge is where the action is
observe, observe, observe
multiple functions and elements
start small, use what you have
work with nature, not against
value diversity & connections
cycles and spirals are opportunities to conserve

19. common sense
don’t put all your eggs in one basket
no need to reinvent the wheel
kill two birds with one stone
there’s nothing new under the sun
“give a man a fish...”
as above so below
if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it
too many cooks spoil the broth
beauty is in the eye of the beholder
slow and steady wins the race

20. WITNESS
observation
non judgment
biomimicry
contrast
ecological perception
we are within a biosphere, not “on” a planet

21. BOUNDARIES
“the edge is where the action is”
resources of both available to each
opportunity for translation and trade
high diversity and productivity
maximizing the edge

22. COOPERATION, NOT
COMPETITION!
“life did not take over the
planet by combat, but by
NETWORKING”
----fritjof capra

23. CULTURAL
CLEARCUTTING
mature systems contain countless interwoven connections
leaves/air, roots/fungus, birds/bark, worms/soil
clearcuts leave this weave in tatters
participatory art reweaves
the social fabric

24. “ultimately, we must go
to the theatre as we
would the dentist, with a
sense of dread, but also
of implacable necessity.”
---antonin artaud

25. “RITUAL is a tool that
allows us to think not
only logically, but
analogically and
ecologically.”
---dolores la chapelle

26. the true purpose of
farming is not the
growing of plants,
but the perfection of
human beings
---masanobu fukuoka

27. in the end, they will not say
“THOSE WERE DARK TIMES”
they will ask,
“WHY WERE THEIR POETS SILENT!?”