The Doors of Perception: an enquiry into the spirit of place

Abstract

This abstract is directed towards the Sustainability Innovation & Activism category. The presentation relates to my practice as an artist and how this addresses the term ‘sustainability’ in relation to environmental activism, folklore, mythology and storytelling. The work explores different ways of perceiving the world, challenging the dominant paradigm of the past three hundred years, the Cartesian-Baconian scientific model. In its place a more holistic vision of the world is engendered, one that highlights its animating presence, the genius loci or spirit of place. The paper will argue that such a mindset is paramount if we are to tackle the current ecological crisis.

The prevalence of the dualistic mindset since the Enlightenment period is seen by many as the root cause of environmental degradation. An alternative approach, seen by research physicist, Fritjof Capra as a ‘shift to a new paradigm of deep ecology’, which views the world as ‘a network of phenomena that are fundamentally interconnected and interdependent‘ (Capra, 1995, pp.20-23), is occurring amongst researchers at the leading edge of science, numerous social movements and various alternative networks. Drawing on this perspective, the presentation focuses in particular on the use of folklore, mythology and storytelling within my work to re-connect people to the land and push the sustainability agenda. It draws on inter-disciplinary research in a number of areas such as anthropology, archaeology, cultural geography, ecofeminsim, ecopsychology and history. Terrapsychology , a methodology developed by ecopsychologist, Craig Chalquist to study the presence, or soul, of place has particular relevance to my work and will be discussed in greater detail. Chalquist believes that ‘places behave as though they possess an imaginal interactivity or “presence” that reflects what was done to them and upon them, and they communicate this to their inhabitants and investigators through dreams, trauma, folklore, and replays of unhealed past events’ (Chalquist, 2007, p.53).

The presentation will discuss how my practice has combined the above theoretical approach with practice-base research that is informed by the locale. Taking the traditional Irish storytellers or seanchaí idea of becoming, as mythologist and wilderness teacher, Martin Shaw puts it ‘thoroughly drenched in a place’ by taking on the role of ‘cultural custodians of a five-mile radius’(Hopkins, 2012), my practice utilises locally sourced, eco-friendly, salvaged, and re-used materials wherever possible. This procedure works alongside time spent researching the ecology, folklore, history and geography of my local area, as well as walking the land, meditating and dreaming – in essence tuning into the spirit of place.