Mesosanctuary México
4S ESOCITE, Cholula
ARAFURA, Mexico City
2022
Role:
Artist residency
Methods:
Co-design
Vipassana meditation
Social practice art
4S ESOCITE, Cholula
ARAFURA, Mexico City
2022
Role:
Artist residency
Methods:
Co-design
Vipassana meditation
Social practice art
Mesosanctuary was a participatory digital mural which explored the potentials and contradictions of what it means to transform climate grief into regeneration. Ecological grief can be understood as feelings of loss, anxiety and mourning in response to environmental destruction. This may manifest as a "natural and legitimate response" to a loss of ecosystems, dwellings and livelihoods, or as a general sense of species loneliness, a "deep, unnamed sadness" from the estrangement of humans and non-humans (Cunsolo & Ellis, 2018; Kimmerer 2016). Under such circumstances, what can ecological regeneration look like? How can we world new worlds which offer alternatives?
In 2022, I launched an open call inviting contributors around the world to enter an intimate 5-step process to co-create the mural through a reflective meditation. The steps of the activty explored how the concept of Greek μέσος, or “middle” can be a productive space of engagement with climate emergency, in between grief and hope.
The mural integrated the original works of 22 co-creators into a future city informed by Chengdu’s Qiyi City Forest Garden in China’s Sichuan province. Media coverage of the City Forest Garden as an experimental site for new urban ecologies typically focuses on how only ten of its units are inhabited by humans - while plants, mosquitos and other species thrive. Those who live there, however, describe the joys of living in a more-than-human tropical forest. “The air is good when you wake up in the morning,” a resident explained.
Mesosanctuary was exhibited twice in México, at 4S/ESOCITE in Cholula, and at ARAFURA in Mexico City. It was supported by the project CreaTures and launched in partnership with Prof Ann Light, and the global community of practice Art Tech Nature Culture.
In 2022, I launched an open call inviting contributors around the world to enter an intimate 5-step process to co-create the mural through a reflective meditation. The steps of the activty explored how the concept of Greek μέσος, or “middle” can be a productive space of engagement with climate emergency, in between grief and hope.
The mural integrated the original works of 22 co-creators into a future city informed by Chengdu’s Qiyi City Forest Garden in China’s Sichuan province. Media coverage of the City Forest Garden as an experimental site for new urban ecologies typically focuses on how only ten of its units are inhabited by humans - while plants, mosquitos and other species thrive. Those who live there, however, describe the joys of living in a more-than-human tropical forest. “The air is good when you wake up in the morning,” a resident explained.
Mesosanctuary was exhibited twice in México, at 4S/ESOCITE in Cholula, and at ARAFURA in Mexico City. It was supported by the project CreaTures and launched in partnership with Prof Ann Light, and the global community of practice Art Tech Nature Culture.
