Fio Adamson
Mammoth
on the March
If anything had contributed to 'generative oddkin' (as Donna Haraway would have it), in the past eighteen months, it was the movement against the climate crisis and for the survival of animal and human species. We don't yet know how Covid-19 will contribute further.
On XR websites, there have been'.....stories of togetherness, trust and empathy..... the known and imagined beauty of radical equality and resilience through word, image, sound and performance.’
People have connected in extraordinary ways, and unexpected collaborations have sprung out of nowhere. An increasing number of humans have found ourselves involved in uplifting activities, and collaborations way beyond our normal lives and our comfort zones. I have made small contributions and learnt much.
Having become interested in extinctions ancient and modern, read Jean M. Auel's extraordinary saga Earth's Children, about humanity as it changed from Neanderthal to homo sapiens I made a collage of an aurochs and a cave painting on fleece.
With the help of others in Extinction Rebellion Wandsworth, over Summer 2019 I made a woolly mammoth from felted fleece on a wood and mesh frame. It was intended for the October Rebellion but - disaster! - it was the wettest day on record and she didn't have a waterproof - so she had to stay at home.
I
Later, after many months of hiding in her cave,
at last the Lady Mammoth emerged from
extinction into the light of full Climate
Strike glory. She had a fantastic day out full of glory and celebration. At last she got the outing and the adulation she had been waiting for! She even had her portrait painted.
Suzanne Lacy and many others use socially engaged performancei to bring art to political contexts. Culture Declares Emergency does that specifically to bring the climate emergency to the public's attention.
S
Emma Thistleton
Cave paintings Perigord, France.
LEVIATHAN
I aimed to work with others in XR to create a leviathan, a mythological Hebrew sea monster, for an action about flooding called People of the River Rise. I started to develop my team, worked on the head and the tail, but I was told that mythology was not what was wanted in this case. Reality, facts and the real threat of the rising Thames was the theme of the day.
But then we got locked down anyway and nothing happened.
Here's a sketch I did from a page of fantastical and extraordinarily diverse leviathans.
Culture Declares. Green Coats
Anne-Marie Culhane Landing Crew
Suzanne Lacy. In Mourning and in Rage
LOVE AND RAGE
