September

"(...) art holds the promise of initiating (...) creative percepcional and philosophical shifts, offering new ways of comprehending ourselves and our relation to the world differently than the destructive traditions of colonizing nature." T.J. Demos (2016). Decolonizing Nature. Contemporary Art and the Politics of Ecology. Image by Monica Pinheiro CC BY-NC-SA ( CC ).

June

“The slowness of the craft time serves as a source of satisfaction (…). Slow craft time also enables the work of reflection and imagination – which the push for quick results cannot.” Richard Sennet, 2009. The Craftsman. Penguin Books.

June

What can we do with what we already have? What is the environment giving in abundance that we can use to solve a need or a problem? Knowledge, art, technology, resources, «things»? While we aspire for something else, what can we do with what we have?

Cut out plants may be garbage, food, play, or energy. They are also colour pallets, materials for creating tapestries, windows for other worlds. Plants, seeds, bark, and all kinds of different materials that lay around in the environment. Feeling the touch, discovering the colour, memorizing the smell. Weaving quietly different textures and tensions. Creating peace to guide action. Liberating the mind to shape possibilities.

 

Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA ( CC ).

Underland

“We find speaking of the Anthropocene, even in Anthropocene, difficult. It is, perhaps, best imagined as an epoch of loss – of species, of places and people – for which we are seeking a language of grief and, even harder to find, a language of hope.” Robert Macfarlane (2019). Underland: a deep journey. Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA (CC).

December

“Buddhism. Stoicism. Epicureanism. Christianity. Hinduism. It’s all but impossible to find a philosophical school or religion that does not venerate the inner peace – this stillness – as the highest good and as the key to elite performance and a happy life. (…) The gift of free will is that in this life we can choose to be good or we can choose to be bad. We can choose what standards to hold ourselves to and what we will regard as important, honorable, and admirable.” Ryan Holiday (2019). Stillness is the Key. Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA (CC).