conscient podcast

We essentially know two percent of all different disciplines and that kind of unknownness creates a very free playground for an artist to dance in or to draw in because we know we're going through a massive crisis. The world is ending. We see chaos. We see all of that but my personal hope as an artist remains in how little we know and how little we understand about our own selves, forget the dying large world and huge cosmos outside of our world that we know so little about. So I feel like my work has always celebrated unknownness. Just because we don't know it doesn't mean it's not there.I first met Asma Khan online, when she was an artist in residence and teacher at The Imaginarium a workshop run by the Wolf Willow Institute, which is a practice space for building our complexity muscles and aimed to bring what is known and unknown into a new inquiry, which is what much of Asma’s work is about.I was mesmerized by Asma’s work at this workshop. It literally brought me into another world. Asma is, among other things, a multidisciplinary artist working with painting, drawing, watercolors, collage, pen and ink, and digital drawing. Her practice explores complex natural systems, aiming to find spiritual symbology and feminine sensibility in phenomena like gravity, time-space, black holes, coral ecosystems, mycelium, and neural structures. Motivated by the mysteries of the natural world, Asma combines rigorous research with intuitive drawing to reveal connections between micro and macro systems. Living between Montreal and Karachi, Asma is committed to cross-cultural and interdisciplinary engagement. For example, her recent project, ‘Micro-frequencies for Prayer’, supported by the Canada Council for the Arts and the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, created a series of prayer rugs using microscopy data to represent overlooked objects in domestic environments, highlighting their unseen complexity.During our conversation in her studio in Montreal, I asked Asma to describe some of her prayer rugs for me which I think you’ll enjoy. You can see one in the episode photo.I also think you’ll enjoy the way she talks about time. It really stretched my mind.There is large time, which is the time of God, the time of black holes, the time of the cosmos, and there is the time of man, which is a very limited time. If we look at our own history, our earth has gone through many extinction events. When we go through, and it's not even a matter of if, but when we go through an extinction. I feel like it's a good thing once again for us to check our egos. The dinosaurs went through it and we're going to have to go through it too and many other life forms have gone through extinction. I don't personally see it as a sad event. I see it as a necessary event  because it's small time. I feel like art is a vehicle that helps us get from small time to large time.I also appreciated her comment about art in crisis, which is a topic I will explore in season 6 of this podcast:If we want to truly be informed from our safe spaces, we really have to focus on the art and science that's coming from places of great discomfort and shifts because they're seeing it before we're seeing it.For further insight into her work, follow Khan's artistic journey on Instagram @asma.ahsan.khan.Asma recommended the following book and film: The Most Unknown filmCarlo Rovelli’s work, notably White Holes  *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESHere is a link for more information on season 5. Please note that, in parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and it's francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I publish a Substack newsletter called ‘a calm presence' which are 'short, practical essays about collapse acceptance, adaptation, response and art’. To subscribe (free of charge) see https://acalmpresence.substack.com. You'll also find a podcast version of each a calm presence posting on Substack or one your favorite podcast player.Also. please note that a complete transcript of conscient podcast and balado conscient episodes from season 1 to 4 is available on the web version of this site (not available on podcast apps) here: https://conscient-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes.Your feedback is always welcome at claude@conscient.ca and/or on conscient podcast social media: Facebook, X, Instagram or Linkedin. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Claude SchryerLatest update on June 7, 2024

We need culture to shift behaviour, because everything is culture but the mentality is that art is an adornment and not actually a tactic. I think art is a tactic.I first met Annette while I was chair of the Sectoral Climate Arts Leadership for the Emergency or SCALE in 2022 and have since then gotten to know her as an artist here in Ottawa on the traditional unceded and unsurrendered territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation.Annette’s multi-disciplinary work emphasizes social-critical art culture with political themes at its centre, addressing both local and meta-national conditions. Overall her work raises issues within a civil society to challenge the “isms” and all their inhumane expressions.Art climatism anyone? Annette defines herself as a builder of capacity of the arts and culture sector to respond in the climate emergency and she is well placed to do this as Organizational Development and Network Lead of SCALE, so we talked about SCALE and the challenges of mobilising an arts sector that already has many challenges to face and yet the climate emergency is unique…I mentioned that co-founders and mission circle members of SCALE have also been featured on this podcast, including judi pearl (e59), david maggs (e30 and e166 ), kendra fanconi (e36 and e87), tanya kalmanovitch (e53), ian garrett (e54), kimberlye skye richards (e76 and e171), Sanita Fejzić (e155 et é154), anthony garoufalis-auger (e93 et é56), tracey friesen (e85), viviane gosselin (e84), robin sokoloski (e61) and anjali appadurai (e23). A cohort of art and climate activist. I appreciated Annette response to all of my question but in particular about the role of art in previous periods of crisis: In any time when there's a cultural upheaval there has been the power of art, not only to illustrate the situation that we're in, but also to imagine a place where people could go. Dada did that after the first World War : dismantling the beast that brought this devastation and then coming in with a sense of imagination and joy to move forward and show people around them that there are other ways of being. … Look at Afrofuturism or indigenous futurism: there's a real beautiful way of imagining futures that are not utopian. They're looking at how the world could come out of the mess that we're in. … There's real power in that.Annette recommended the following books and podcasts:Playing for Time by Lucy NealRaw Materials podcast by San Francisco MomaDark Matter Labs and their pilot on Universal Nutrition *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESHere is a link for more information on season 5. Please note that, in parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and it's francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I publish a Substack newsletter called ‘a calm presence' which are 'short, practical essays about collapse acceptance, adaptation, response and art’. To subscribe (free of charge) see https://acalmpresence.substack.com. You'll also find a podcast version of each a calm presence posting on Substack or one your favorite podcast player.Also. please note that a complete transcript of conscient podcast and balado conscient episodes from season 1 to 4 is available on the web version of this site (not available on podcast apps) here: https://conscient-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes.Your feedback is always welcome at claude@conscient.ca and/or on conscient podcast social media: Facebook, X, Instagram or Linkedin. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Claude SchryerLatest update on June 7, 2024

Listening can teach us to appreciate our environment in a critical sense, but also in a kind of admiration for it. If we admire something because we think it has a depth or it has a beauty or some interesting aspects, we want to keep it, we want to foster it.I first met Sabine at the Tuning of the World Conference in Banff, Alberta in 1993.Sabine's work focuses on media art, listening culture, cultures of perception, experimental audiomedia, media history, media ecology, acoustic ecology as well trans- and intercultural studies. She has worked as an experimental audio media maker, working as director, author, curator and dramaturg for the cultural departments of the German public radio and was co-founder of the Master‘s program Sound Studies at the University of the Arts in Berlin and worked there as a professor for Experimental Audiomedia from 2004-2008.Since 2006 Sabine teaches and researches as a professor for Sound and Media Culture at the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences in Germany where she is director of the Soundscape & Environmental Media Lab and 3D Audio Lab.As a scientific and artistic director she has curated numerous art projects, symposia and festivals. I was a guest speaker at one of these events in 2018, The Global Composition in Dieburg, Germany where I spoke about the origins of the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology in 1993.While on a trip to Canada in May 2024 Sabine stopped by my home in Ottawa to talk about her work and share her thoughts on art and the ecological crisis with a focus on listening and sound. I was struck by Sabine’s observation about how artists are always careful with what they do, which Sabine defines as :a consciously shaped relationship with the world in a mindful attitude and with high appreciation for the phenomena of this world and its values.I was impressed by the parallel she draws between the poly-crisis of today and Frederich Schiller’s On the Aesthetic Education of Man, written in 1795, which addresses the dehumanization and alienation of industrial labour through aesthetic education and the arts.I was also interested in this quote because my father’s relatives emigrated from Germany to North America right around that period in the early 1800’s. At the end of our conversation Sabine gave me a copy of the 2nd edition of Die Ordnung der Klänge (The Ordering of Sounds), her German translation of R. Murray Schafer’s The Tuning of the World.Sabine suggested books were:On the Aesthetic Education of Man by Frederich SchillerAesthetics of Care: Practice in Everyday Life by Yuriko Saito *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESHere is a link for more information on season 5. Please note that, in parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and it's francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I publish a Substack newsletter called ‘a calm presence' which are 'short, practical essays about collapse acceptance, adaptation, response and art’. To subscribe (free of charge) see https://acalmpresence.substack.com. You'll also find a podcast version of each a calm presence posting on Substack or one your favorite podcast player.Also. please note that a complete transcript of conscient podcast and balado conscient episodes from season 1 to 4 is available on the web version of this site (not available on podcast apps) here: https://conscient-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes.Your feedback is always welcome at claude@conscient.ca and/or on conscient podcast social media: Facebook, X, Instagram or Linkedin. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Claude SchryerLatest update on June 7, 2024

This is a bonus episode featuring the audio version of my June 3, 2024 accept | adapt | respond posting on my 'a calm presence' Substack, whose purpose is to provide 'short, practical essays about collapse acceptance, adaptation, response and art'.You can subscribe to the newsletter (which is actually more of a learning journal) here.You can subscribe to the a calm presence podcast on any podcast player. Note: this reading of accept | adapt | respond includes excerpts from my 1998 soundscape composition Au dernier vivant les biens.  *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESHere is a link for more information on season 5. Please note that, in parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and it's francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I publish a Substack newsletter called ‘a calm presence' which are 'short, practical essays about collapse acceptance, adaptation, response and art’. To subscribe (free of charge) see https://acalmpresence.substack.com. You'll also find a podcast version of each a calm presence posting on Substack or one your favorite podcast player.Also. please note that a complete transcript of conscient podcast and balado conscient episodes from season 1 to 4 is available on the web version of this site (not available on podcast apps) here: https://conscient-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes.Your feedback is always welcome at claude@conscient.ca and/or on conscient podcast social media: Facebook, X, Instagram or Linkedin. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Claude SchryerLatest update on June 7, 2024

As an artist and educator, I see that this moment calls for a way of working through decolonization and forging a path of care. I like to think of this through multispecies communities so that, as humans, we're surrounded by more than human life, even in our urban environments. This path of care for our multi-species, communities that make up the neighborhood, the community, and ultimately the earth is where I see my call for research and practice. I know Julie Andreyev from my time on the board of the Canadian Association for Sound Ecology and from the acoustic ecology in Vancouver where she is an Associate Professor in the Audain Faculty of Art, Emily Carr University of Art + Design where she teaches New Media + Sound Arts and Critical Studies.Julie is located on the unceded, traditional and ancestral territories of the Coast Salish people, including the  xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish), and səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) First Nations, as well as the unceded traditional territories of more-than-human animals and plant life including bears, deers, raccoons, eagles, ravens, crows, hummingbirds, cedars, firs, salals and others.It’s the first time I see a land acknowledgement that includes more-than-human life and Julie is a good person to lead the way. Her multispecies art practice explores more-than-human creativity and our relations. You’ll hear talk about some current projects including Bird Park Survival Station, a long term reciprocity project with local birds, and Branching Songs a sound art project that draws attention to wondrous gifts provided by trees and forest ecosystems.During our conversation Julie mentioned her book : Lessons from a Multispecies Studio : Uncovering Ecological Understanding and Biophilia through Creative ReciprocityNear the end Julie tells a fascinating story about crow friends of hers, so stay tuned. Julie’s recommended listening are:Tree Museum Talking Territory Podcast : interviews that explore the aesthetics and politics of trees, animals and relations to the land. When We Talk About Animals podcastQuantum Listening by Pauline Oliveros One Drum by Richard WagameseThe Light Eaters by Zoë SchlangerEntangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESHere is a link for more information on season 5. Please note that, in parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and it's francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I publish a Substack newsletter called ‘a calm presence' which are 'short, practical essays about collapse acceptance, adaptation, response and art’. To subscribe (free of charge) see https://acalmpresence.substack.com. You'll also find a podcast version of each a calm presence posting on Substack or one your favorite podcast player.Also. please note that a complete transcript of conscient podcast and balado conscient episodes from season 1 to 4 is available on the web version of this site (not available on podcast apps) here: https://conscient-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes.Your feedback is always welcome at claude@conscient.ca and/or on conscient podcast social media: Facebook, X, Instagram or Linkedin. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Claude SchryerLatest update on June 7, 2024

I think there's a lot of focus on systems change and we need all of that, but what we really need is to change ourselves so that we can actually embody the world that we want to be in, so that has a big piece of healing and how art can be a part of that. I heard about Kelly McInnes’ (she/they) work from Kim Richards (see e76 and e171) and had a very interesting conversation with Kelly in her kitchen on May 10, 2024 in Vancouver.Kelly is a queer dance artist concerned with embodying care and creating as a way of remembering connection to Earth. Her craniosacral therapy practice and her passion for collective healing powerfully inspires her artistry, and inspired me as well. For example, Kelly’s description of her creative process :The part that excites me about community engagement is that creative practice feels like a way into a life process. Not just sharing the product with folks, but actually inviting them into it, like a birthing. I was struck by the simplicity and depth of her latest project : Late Stage Remedy, which she describes as a ‘collective dance meditation practice happening twice a month on Saturdays from May to September 2024 at public parks in so-called Vancouver where through an improvised score, a group of dancers offer grounding presence, attention and care to the lands they dance on together. It’s an invitation to remember ourselves as a part of Earth and honor this vital, potent connection.’We also talked about the connections between her art practice and her healing practices: I think that a practice of life is so important in these times where there's so much to be heartbroken about and there's so much devastation going on with health responses like trauma and numbing. These practices of resourcing ourselves and of finding beauty and resonance are important and essential to imagine and create the worlds we want to move towards. This is the second in my ‘community arts’ series in season 5 (the first was e168 felicia young - together through art).Her recommended books and podcasts were:Yintah, a film directed and produced by Jennifer Wickham, Brenda Michell and Michael ToledanoThe point of relation (podcast) by Thomas HüblHealing Collective Trauma by Thomas HüblWe Are the Middle of Forever - Indigenous Voices from Turtle Island on the Changing Earth edited by Dahr Jamail and Stan RushworthPhoto of Kelly McInnes by Yvonne Chew *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESHere is a link for more information on season 5. Please note that, in parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and it's francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I publish a Substack newsletter called ‘a calm presence' which are 'short, practical essays about collapse acceptance, adaptation, response and art’. To subscribe (free of charge) see https://acalmpresence.substack.com. You'll also find a podcast version of each a calm presence posting on Substack or one your favorite podcast player.Also. please note that a complete transcript of conscient podcast and balado conscient episodes from season 1 to 4 is available on the web version of this site (not available on podcast apps) here: https://conscient-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes.Your feedback is always welcome at claude@conscient.ca and/or on conscient podcast social media: Facebook, X, Instagram or Linkedin. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Claude SchryerLatest update on June 7, 2024

What would change things is love. … We ask people to act, to change, to make sacrifices, or what may be perceived as sacrifices, which in the end can turn out to be incredible things as we open up a world we didn't consider possible for ourselves; it was always love that got people to take those steps and those decisions.Born and raised in the occupied unceded sovereign territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), and səlil̓wətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples on the wild West coast of colonial Canada Beth Carruthers is an artist and researcher whose work and practice focuses on  how aesthetic engagements, and especially arts and design based praxis, can seed and nurture transformative change in socio-cultural systems leading toward a sustainably flourishing future for all life.My first conversation with Beth was in October 2019, e05 carruthers – art that informs, forms and transforms so I wanted to reconnect with Beth some 5 years later to get an update on what this amazing creative mind is up to.She told me many new things, for example, about her origins:I come from a family of Highland Scots who were driven off their land and shipped to Canada to be placeholders for the empire about five or six generations ago. For some reason the Scots, Irish and Celtic peoples have managed, despite the church and all kinds of other occupations, to hang on to a kind of animist understanding of being in the world and an understanding of the world as a living sentient place. That's not what school tells you and that's not the narrative of modernism in the West. At one point Beth referred to this poem, A Walk, by Rainer Maria Rilke, from his Uncollected Poems, which opens Beth’s book chapter, Response: Deep Aesthetics and the Heart of the World, in Aesth/Ethics in Environmetal Change (2013). Beth asked that it be mentioned in the episode notes:‘Already my gaze is on the hill, that sunlit one,up ahead on the path I’ve scarcely started.In the same way, what we couldn’t grasp grasps us:blazingly visible, there in the distance –and changes us, even if we don’t reach it,into what we, scarcely sensing it, already are;a gesture signals, answering our gesture…But we feel only the opposing wind.’Beth recommended the following reading and viewing materials: At Work in the Ruins: Finding Our Place in the Time of Science, Climate Change, Pandemics and All the Other Emergencies by Dougald HineThe world is not a problem: a conversation between Dougald Hine and Iain McGilchrist *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESHere is a link for more information on season 5. Please note that, in parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and it's francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I publish a Substack newsletter called ‘a calm presence' which are 'short, practical essays about collapse acceptance, adaptation, response and art’. To subscribe (free of charge) see https://acalmpresence.substack.com. You'll also find a podcast version of each a calm presence posting on Substack or one your favorite podcast player.Also. please note that a complete transcript of conscient podcast and balado conscient episodes from season 1 to 4 is available on the web version of this site (not available on podcast apps) here: https://conscient-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes.Your feedback is always welcome at claude@conscient.ca and/or on conscient podcast social media: Facebook, X, Instagram or Linkedin. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Claude SchryerLatest update on June 7, 2024

One of the roles that artists play within the poly crisis is supporting us through processes of unnumbing. Sometimes we might describe it like a re-tuning of our senses through listening. All of that is about undermining the ways that we are taught to master ourselves, to not show emotions, to disconnect our heads from our bodies so that we work more efficiently within the capitalist paradigm. I first met Kimberly Skye Richards, also known as Kim Richards, while doing a conscient podcast soundwalk on November 1, 2021 in Trout Lake Park in Vancouver.I invite you to listen to e76 kim richards – seeding a green new theatre in canada, where we talk about the role of theatre in the climate emergency and in particular ‘what kind of plays that already exist in Canadian theatre history about environmental issues’. This intrigued me then, and still does today. We tend to have short memories and yet art has a very. long. tail. I got to know and appreciate Kim when we were both members of the Mission Circle of SCALE, the Sectoral Climate Arts Leadership for the Emergency. We also have regular exchanges about education and learning such as the Facing Human Wrongs course which we took together as a cohort of artists in 2022.One of the many important teachings within Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures’ (GTDF) work is learning from what is currently dying and applying them so that we don't just continuously repeat these mistakes. … Being open and talking about what isn't working or what traps we're falling into is so instructive. We can also learn a lot from listening to our friends and colleagues tell us their stories.During our second conscient conversation we focused on climate arts education and the recent launching of the Department of Utopian Arts and Letters, of which Kim is the librarian. It's a series of free courses and lots of fun. We also talked about the importance of self care for activist and artists and how the arts contribute to healing and resilience:One of the most important roles for the arts in climate work for me right now is creating the time to develop, maintain or begin somatic, movement, sound or writing practices. At the end of the episode I practiced saying ‘thank you to my guest’ with a gentle up-tone of emotional gratitude, like New York Times journalists do on The Daily podcast:Well, Kim, thank you very much.I’m still working on it… Kim’s reading suggestions are worlds ending and engaging multispecies experiences:Flightways : life and loss at the edge of extinction by Tom Van DoorenUndrowned : black feminist lessons from marine mammals by Alexis Pauline GumbsI want a better catastrophe by Andrew Boyd *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESHere is a link for more information on season 5. Please note that, in parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and it's francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I publish a Substack newsletter called ‘a calm presence' which are 'short, practical essays about collapse acceptance, adaptation, response and art’. To subscribe (free of charge) see https://acalmpresence.substack.com. You'll also find a podcast version of each a calm presence posting on Substack or one your favorite podcast player.Also. please note that a complete transcript of conscient podcast and balado conscient episodes from season 1 to 4 is available on the web version of this site (not available on podcast apps) here: https://conscient-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes.Your feedback is always welcome at claude@conscient.ca and/or on conscient podcast social media: Facebook, X, Instagram or Linkedin. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Claude SchryerLatest update on June 7, 2024

(Note: some quotes below have been edited for concision)Soundwalking is always like magic. It is a magical experience. It is so simple, Hildi, as you said, and it’s as much about listening to sounds or listening to absences of sound. It's not very typical in our lives. We don't live the kinds of lives that require this kind of presence. And so it’s restorative for me and calms my spirit. But also it's such a reminder each and every time I do a soundwalk of the power of just simply listening and opening up that register with all of its span from appreciation to analytics, to criticality and to spirituality. (Milena Droumeva)This is part 2 of a conversation with colleagues and friends from the Sonic Research Group at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia. This time with Milena Droumeva, Hildegard Westerkamp, Barry Truax, Jacek Smolicki, Freya Zinovieff and myself. If you might have heard in part 1, e157, the Sonic Research Group is a bi-monthly zoom gathering of acoustic ecology researchers, activists and artists from around the world about sound studies and our shared passion for listening. This second conversation was on recorded on April 30, 2024 and flows freely on a range of issues, for example, Milena Droumeva talked about stages of life: I think stage of life is really important. If you're a young person who has to find a place in the world, or if you're a parent of young children or you're aging or entering a kind of middle age, you have to think about the futures of kids but there's work to do at every stage. We also talked about sound and artificial intelligence and I'm sure we’ll revisit this one. In fact, how do you even know that I’m human? This could easily be a synthetic voice, right? Jacek, help us...What differentiates us from machines is historical consciousness. Algorithms are operating using biased and skewed data without considering the context within which this data has emerged. Our role as educators is to be reminders of historical context that this whole machinery is digesting and using it to produce futures comes from.. Education in sound and listening was a throughline in our conversation as Barry Truax observed:I'm still cautiously optimistic that we could still use those same techniques that we've used in the past to create a more creative, analytical and critical listener.We shared our common interest and passion for soundwalking. Hildegard Westerkamp noted that :A group can become a community even though we don't know each other, which creates an atmosphere of willingness to be open and grounded inside ourselves. We can get to that energetic place because we've slowed down.You can hear more about soundwalking in e22 westerkamp – slowing down through listening, e78 milena droumeva – art needs to get on the street and e113 soundwalk (part 1) - what is my position in listening ? and e113 soundwalk (part 2) - how can we deepen our listening?We also talked about current affairs such as the encampment at the University of British Columbia that day about the war in Gaza and calls for disinvestment. Freya Zinonieff told us a fascinating story (which you’ll hear at the end of the story made me laugh) A music teacher at Columbia University was teaching John Cage’s 4’.33’’ and made a big fuss about how they couldn't teach that class because there was a loud protest outside the classroom and all she could hear was ‘from the river to the sea’. She said, okay, this just means we can't teach this now because it’s ruining 4’.33’’. We have to continue reminding ourselves and others that listening is a project and we need to learn together how to listen to what is actually there.We also discussed the sound of air conditioning systems in urban spaces as a symptom of climate change, the media practices of Neo-Nazi groups and more. Enjoy.  *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESHere is a link for more information on season 5. Please note that, in parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and it's francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I publish a Substack newsletter called ‘a calm presence' which are 'short, practical essays about collapse acceptance, adaptation, response and art’. To subscribe (free of charge) see https://acalmpresence.substack.com. You'll also find a podcast version of each a calm presence posting on Substack or one your favorite podcast player.Also. please note that a complete transcript of conscient podcast and balado conscient episodes from season 1 to 4 is available on the web version of this site (not available on podcast apps) here: https://conscient-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes.Your feedback is always welcome at claude@conscient.ca and/or on conscient podcast social media: Facebook, X, Instagram or Linkedin. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Claude SchryerLatest update on June 7, 2024

How can we remind ourselves that we're all creative and we're all artists? I think that we need all parts of ourselves to be able to navigate this transition that we're in as a species and as a part of the world.I first met Louise Adongo at the Transition Innovation Group (see e163). We spoke on Monday April 22, 2024, earth day.Louise is a bold and grounded leader in systems change, policy and evaluation who is a founder of Caprivian Strip Inc (CSI) and a co-steward with the Transition Bridges Project.Louise's work brings care and intention to uncovering the roots of tangled problems; enabling shifts to greater resilience, sustainability and impact. I’ve heard her talk about it many times and noticed that there is often an arts component in her work. For example:There are artists in communities and creativity is really important in a context where you're trying to inspire imagination and do strength-based and asset-based work in contexts that maybe people do not naturally see and think of things that way. I've always understood that creatives and artists have a way of drawing out of us more than what we even understand about ourselves on a surface level.Louise believes that co-creating more nimble, transparent and creative institutional spaces is key to the reinvention that we all need.I agree. A key part of this is knowing how to slow down. I appreciate Louise’s take on this: My perspective on what slowing down means is that we really need to think more deeply before we take the actions, which is different than let's slow down and not take any actions at all. And so the system mediation feeds my action orientation because it's willing to actually step in and say the hard thing to people that need to understand their readiness to hear the hard thing. So it's not waiting to say the hard thing until people are ready to hear it. It's almost saying the hard thing to determine how ready people are. We also discussed how to invite people to get further involved.It’s less about wanting to convert or convince people to respond to the reality of our state than figuring out how to create invitations for people to come to it for themselves.Consider yourself invited. Louise recommended Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden by poet and scholar Camille T. Dungy, The Creator film and suggested that we spend time outside. Links that Louise mentioned in the episode include:Berkana LoopPanarchy LoopWe Will Dance with Mountains, notably the work of Cara Judea Alhadeff *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESHere is a link for more information on season 5. Please note that, in parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and it's francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I publish a Substack newsletter called ‘a calm presence' which are 'short, practical essays about collapse acceptance, adaptation, response and art’. To subscribe (free of charge) see https://acalmpresence.substack.com. You'll also find a podcast version of each a calm presence posting on Substack or one your favorite podcast player.Also. please note that a complete transcript of conscient podcast and balado conscient episodes from season 1 to 4 is available on the web version of this site (not available on podcast apps) here: https://conscient-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes.Your feedback is always welcome at claude@conscient.ca and/or on conscient podcast social media: Facebook, X, Instagram or Linkedin. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Claude SchryerLatest update on June 7, 2024

Community arts became my initial quest in the 1980’s as a reaction against the commercial art world. How can art participate in a functional way to connect not just art educated people, but our overall communities on issues affecting them that have meaning and purpose. Can we just speak about these issues or can we actually have it be transformative in some way to actually lead to some kind of social or policy change within  the community by bringing people together and getting them working together.Felicia Young is the founder and executive director of Earth Celebrations, a non-profit organization engaging communities to effect ecological and social change through the arts. Felicia has developed a methodology utilizing the arts and the theatrical pageant art form, along with civic engagement and activism. She’s a 3rd generation New Yorker, with deep roots in the City of New York, as well as much inspiration from the festivals, ceremonies, and mythic dramas from her mother’s native land of India.I’ve never met Felicia in person but I know about her work through social media such as the YouTube video Celebrations Director Felicia Young - 30 Years of Cultural Organizing for Ecological Change. In particular I was moved by Felicia’s response to a question I ask all of my guests about how to prepare for the end of the world as we know it : I don't just see it as doom and gloom because I have been directly involved in 30 years of local people who've just moved forward with implementing these solutions without waiting for the government … My involvement has always been at the grassroots level. And on that, I'm encouraged, but where I'm afraid is the overall political system where we see our elected officials owned by the industries that are doing all of the polluting and controlling the bigger picture, but are we just going to be paralyzed because they're doing the wrong thing and not go ahead with what we know is right? This is the first in a series of conversations about community engaged arts, their contribution to society. My second all be e173 with Kelly McInnes. Felicia suggested the following reading and listening materials : Center for Artistic Activism resourcesWilliam Cleveland’s podcast on community engagement and the artseco art space publicationsArtists and Climate Change facebook page *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESHere is a link for more information on season 5. Please note that, in parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and it's francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I publish a Substack newsletter called ‘a calm presence' which are 'short, practical essays about collapse acceptance, adaptation, response and art’. To subscribe (free of charge) see https://acalmpresence.substack.com. You'll also find a podcast version of each a calm presence posting on Substack or one your favorite podcast player.Also. please note that a complete transcript of conscient podcast and balado conscient episodes from season 1 to 4 is available on the web version of this site (not available on podcast apps) here: https://conscient-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes.Your feedback is always welcome at claude@conscient.ca and/or on conscient podcast social media: Facebook, X, Instagram or Linkedin. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Claude SchryerLatest update on June 7, 2024

The garden doesn't have to be something that's instrumental. It can be just a place where you sit, where you're thinking of growing something, you know, where the sun shines and where photosynthesis takes place and everything is sort of manifested through the sunlight and the water. It's a fantastic thing on its own without actually having to produce a lot of stuff.Replace 'garden' with 'art'.Barbara Cuerden is a neighbour in the Sandy Hill neighbourhood of Ottawa, a colleague in ecological art and a family friend. Barbara completed a Masters degree in ecoliteracy and place-based education in 2010 and is also a professional back-of-the-book indexer among other things. Overall, her artworks and her way of life, I think, reflect local particularities of place and timeWhen I asked Barbara to be a guest on the conscient podcast she wrote to me with this thought, that I think you’ll appreciate:The solution is nature, which is still out there, in the world outside of our heads. We belong to it. A feeling of connection with the air, the light, the green, the animals, that feeling of connection most of us felt naturally as children... That connection can be found again (and again) and like you say, it can be accessible if we allow for it to take hold of us.We talked about many connections and points of contact during our conversation, concluding, not surprisingly, that we would all be well served to pay more attention to local particularities of place and time.There were some very poignant moments during our exchange, which you’ll hear. For example, when Barbara told me a story aboutA little seminar where John K. Grande was speaking. I considered myself an eco-artist until I heard him speak about the meaninglessness of spectacle. Reading his stuff changed my life and thus I became a non-entity.I was struck by this idea of being a non-entity. Barbara’s story reminded me of conscient episode e74 letting go where I talk about ‘the main barrier to my re-education is… ‘me’, and that the solution, simply, is to let it go…’. So this episode explores the dichotomy between connection and letting go and the tightrope between being present and being a non-entity. Barbara’s recommended reading is Jenny Odell’s Reading the Rocks in Emergence magazine. *Note: Links mentioned during the conversation:Regeneration Hoodoo (click on ‘installation’)Stephen Lewis (Canadian politician)e161 alchemize - a conversation with kamea chayne (special episode about a 40 part course)What can an individual do? (claude’s newsletter posting where Barbara commented about Bill McKibben’s question)Exact wording of quotes in the episode:Instead of the dying light of Western civilization, why not a swinging hoodoo cloud? - Ishamel ReedDuring the Vietnam War... every respectable artist in this country was against the war. It was like a laser beam. We were all aimed in the same direction. The power of this weapon turns out to be that of a custard pie dropped from a stepladder six feet high. - Kurt VonnegutThe effects of modern-day media have led us to generalize and simplify nature, as we do all things. We read experience in an informational way. - John K. Grande *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESHere is a link for more information on season 5. Please note that, in parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and it's francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I publish a Substack newsletter called ‘a calm presence' which are 'short, practical essays about collapse acceptance, adaptation, response and art’. To subscribe (free of charge) see https://acalmpresence.substack.com. You'll also find a podcast version of each a calm presence posting on Substack or one your favorite podcast player.Also. please note that a complete transcript of conscient podcast and balado conscient episodes from season 1 to 4 is available on the web version of this site (not available on podcast apps) here: https://conscient-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes.Your feedback is always welcome at claude@conscient.ca and/or on conscient podcast social media: Facebook, X, Instagram or Linkedin. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Claude SchryerLatest update on June 7, 2024

What you do as an artist is crucial. Do not abandon that for a desire to serve a kind of utilitarian purpose of ‘I'm gonna make sure people know more’. The faith in knowing more is the siren song of our society that constantly sees us leaping off of the vessel that can carry us through this, with this belief that we can suddenly transform society because we can provide information. Decorating climate policy with the arts is not transformative. What you know how to do as an artist is so fundamentally important.David Maggs defines his work as an attempt to integrate the core capacities of the arts with larger social challenges, sustainability, health, social justice, community development, etc. David grew up in Corner Brook, Newfoundland and spent much of his developmental years as a classical pianist. In 2002, he founded Gros Morne Summer Music (now Camber Arts) and continues to be active in cultural production and cultural theory. My first conversation with David was e30 maggs – art and the world after this recorded during an outdoors COVID era walk on March 25, 2021 in Vancouver. We talked about artistic capacity, sustainability, value propositions, disruption and recovery, including his Art and the World After This paper for Metcalf Foundation.Since then David has become Metcalf Fellow on Arts and Society, where he nurtures and supports the desire in Canada’s arts sector to both move with, and shape ongoing patterns of transformative societal change. David and I were co-founders of SCALE along with Anjali Appadurai. Anthony Garoufalis-Auger, Kendra Fanconi, Judi Pearl and Robin Sokoloski in 2021 and have been corresponding ever since, including my March 16, 2024 posting on a calm presence david maggs’ art and the climate crisis.Our second conversation focused on being and transformation. For example :My argument is that we are intuiting the ability of art to work at the level of being, to engage with transformative change. But what happens is we live in a culture that is so structured around problem solving at the level of information and knowledge that as soon as we think, OK, yes. course art has something really important to do with this, then, immediately, instead of allowing the arts to pull climate discourse into the realm of being, climate discourse pulls art into the realm of knowing. And it becomes a tool for knowing rather than something that allows us to start to engage with ourselves at the level of being.David also talks about the cultural gap in the climate crisis which he defines as ‘the difference between the imperative of transformation at the level of being and a particular society's capacity to do so. Ours is really low.’David’s recommended reading is the work of Richard Powers and Don McKay’s Vis à vis.  *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESHere is a link for more information on season 5. Please note that, in parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and it's francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I publish a Substack newsletter called ‘a calm presence' which are 'short, practical essays about collapse acceptance, adaptation, response and art’. To subscribe (free of charge) see https://acalmpresence.substack.com. You'll also find a podcast version of each a calm presence posting on Substack or one your favorite podcast player.Also. please note that a complete transcript of conscient podcast and balado conscient episodes from season 1 to 4 is available on the web version of this site (not available on podcast apps) here: https://conscient-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes.Your feedback is always welcome at claude@conscient.ca and/or on conscient podcast social media: Facebook, X, Instagram or Linkedin. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Claude SchryerLatest update on June 7, 2024

Being an artist, or making art, in the context of climate is more about being a kind of light in the darkness, making us believe in ourselves and believe in the future so that we want to endeavor to save the thing that we have, our habitat. Some people like to say art can't change the world, but art can change us. Then we can change the world more effectively.I first heard about Bill Crandall from his Viaduct Arts project, a newsletter that brings together various ways artists can help carry us up and over the climate crisis. Bill is from Washington DC though he currently lives with his family in Nairobi, Kenya.As a longtime photographer, his personal long-term projects focus on the human dimension of sweeping historical changes, and take nuanced, poetic, and empathetic looks at topics from gentrification to cultural identity.I appreciate his one person efforts to empower artists in the climate emergency through Viaduct Arts and so I called Bill up on Zoom and we talked about his climate art activism including his observation that ‘art can help us stay centered in ourselves, be resilient, and have some spiritual grounding that's going help us no matter what comes’. Bill's recommended book is Tales from Moominvalley by Tove Jansson. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESHere is a link for more information on season 5. Please note that, in parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and it's francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I publish a Substack newsletter called ‘a calm presence' which are 'short, practical essays about collapse acceptance, adaptation, response and art’. To subscribe (free of charge) see https://acalmpresence.substack.com. You'll also find a podcast version of each a calm presence posting on Substack or one your favorite podcast player.Also. please note that a complete transcript of conscient podcast and balado conscient episodes from season 1 to 4 is available on the web version of this site (not available on podcast apps) here: https://conscient-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes.Your feedback is always welcome at claude@conscient.ca and/or on conscient podcast social media: Facebook, X, Instagram or Linkedin. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Claude SchryerLatest update on June 7, 2024

Proximity proportionate responsibility: if we were to do an inventory of where all the things we own were made, that would give us a very interesting map of where our responsibility, our attention and our donations ought to go because our pressures on the global systems can be revealed. That's a much more reasonable way to interact with different crises than to simply read about it on the news and interact with the whole of it without the context of our footprint. Jimmy Ung was born in Montreal to a family of refugees from the Cambodian war. He has traveled to over 50 countries and worked for Collège Reine-Marie, the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, the Parliament of Canada, and the charity WE (Free the Children). He is currently working on a book about Privilege, Power and Social Responsibility.I first met Jimmy at the Canadian Commission for UNESCO while I was working at Canada Council for the Arts. Jimmy impressed me with his brilliant mind, boundless curiosity and his kind heart. We kept in touch over the years, including my fascination with his motorcycle crossing of the Americas in 2014-15 covering more than 30,000 kilometers. I interviewed Jimmy in French for balado conscient on April 17, 2021 (see é28 ung - résilience et vulnérabilité) where we talked about resilience and vulnerability.  I was struck by Jimmy’s observation that ‘resilience is the capacity to be vulnerable’ which at the time seemed like a contradiction but now makes sense to me.During this 2nd conversation, this time in English, some 3 years later, our focus was on privilege, in relation to his upcoming book, including the role that privilege plays in the arts and in relation to both the ecological and humanitarian crisis. At the end of our conversation, Jimmy quoted Bayo Akomolafe saying ‘our times are urgent, so let us slow down’ and recommended this video:  Climate Crisis, Fragmentation and Collective Trauma, with Bayo Akomolafe, Eriel Tchekwie Deranger, Angaangaq Angakkorsuaq & Dr. Gabor Maté as part of The Wisdom of Trauma - Talks on Trauma Series.I mentioned this link from my ‘a calm presence’ newsletter during the conversation : l'orchestre de paris à montréal. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESHere is a link for more information on season 5. Please note that, in parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and it's francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I publish a Substack newsletter called ‘a calm presence' which are 'short, practical essays about collapse acceptance, adaptation, response and art’. To subscribe (free of charge) see https://acalmpresence.substack.com. You'll also find a podcast version of each a calm presence posting on Substack or one your favorite podcast player.Also. please note that a complete transcript of conscient podcast and balado conscient episodes from season 1 to 4 is available on the web version of this site (not available on podcast apps) here: https://conscient-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes.Your feedback is always welcome at claude@conscient.ca and/or on conscient podcast social media: Facebook, X, Instagram or Linkedin. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Claude SchryerLatest update on June 7, 2024

I’m wanting something from art, which I think is much deeper, is a re-imagination of what it means to be human. I feel like we've instrumentalized and trivialized art and actually lost its capacity to expand our thesis of how we imagine ourselves and the world around us. I asked that question because the economy that we've created around art may have actually distorted its capacity to disturb us and to challenge our imagination of selves, which I think is probably at the root of the crisis that we face, a much deeper structural challenge of pretty much how we imagine ourselves and how we imagine our relationship with the world and every route.  - Indy Johar, March 20, 2024, conscient podcast e163On March 20, 2024 I had the privilege and pleasure of hosting a conversation on ‘how art can help defeat defeatism’ with colleagues from the Transition Innovation Group, an inclusive and generative space for active consideration of societal transition, co-hosted by Michelle Baldwin and Taryn Lucas with the transformation team at Community Foundation of Canada.This group of social innovators meets every two weeks on Zoom and is dedicated to collectively reimagining an equitable and integrated view of the infrastructures needed for long-term societal transition for future generations. In other words, making the world a better place.I’ve been part of the group since its early days and we often speak about the transformative power of art and culture : art as a form of social innovation. So what you’re about to hear is a 50 minute conversation between 20 or so participants from this group. You might know some of them. Present at this session were (and I hope I've not forgotten anyone) : Abdul Walid Azizi, Arlene Macdonald, Barbara Leckie, Carly Goodman, Cheryll Case, Emily Mercy, Graham Singh, Ian Prinsloo, Indy Johar, Jo Reynolds, Joanne Kviring, Laura Cozzi, Lesley Southwick-Trask, Louise Adongo, Malobi Elueme, Michelle Baldwin, Nishan Chelvachandran, Shannon Litzenberger, Stephen Huddart, Taryn Lucas and myself as facilitator (along with Michelle Baldwin who gave a hand when my computer stopped working for a few moments and I continued on my iphone).You’ll hear responses to four questions : Is writer Rebecca Solnit right in saying that ‘fighting defeatism is also climate work’?How can art and culture help those who are ‘frightened by the ecological crisis’?How has art helped you personally overcome difficult moments in your social innovation work and what artworks do you recommend to your peers?How can social innovation projects and institutions better integrate artists and cultural workers in their work?Note: Abdul Walid Azizi's response was inaudible in the recording therefore he wrote a similar statement that I have added as a voiceover in this recording. Thanks to Walid for doing this. I appreciate his point about 'viewing art as both a language of representation and a collective memory of society underlines its importance in strengthening the relationship between the individual and society. However, in our society, which is increasingly dominated by material and monetary values, art seems to be on the verge of being sidelined. Nevertheless, one way to keep the arts alive is by incorporating them into different societal initiatives.'As you’ll hear many interesting and unresolved issues were raised at this session such as : The notion of permanency with art and how that relates to defeatism and our sense of time constructs and legacy.How do we rebuild the permission space for deeply philosophical art that challenges the core of our being ? Will we recognize art when it shows up that reframes mindsets and how do we measure success ? Life is art. It changes without breaking and allows us to break open and break in and break through without breaking us.What is it that we expect an artist or artists to do? What is the result of their work? And if they do that, are we willing to pay them?I think there's something really important in this conversation where we move beyond the idea of transaction based payment for art. I don't think art is a transaction and it operates across and beyond transactions to an economy of care and entanglements.I suspect that we’ll have another session on art and social innovation again soon. As usual, I invite comments on any conscient podcast social media or to me claude@conscient.ca.Some of the links shared in the chat during the episode include :Ben Von Wong (artist referred to in this conversation)Bolder, faster, together: Perspectives on societal transition (co-ordinated by the Transition Innovation Group)Catalyst Community Finance (explainer on social finance)e160 shannon litzenberger - a culture of collective thriving (podcast interview)Indigenous Data Sovereignty & Indigenous Futures (featuring Jonathan Dewar, Sofia Locklear, and Jason Lewis Hosted by: Joanna Redden)Mysteries, Yes (a poem by Mary Oliver that was read during the session)REDISTRIBUTE WEALTH, DEMOCRATIZE POWER & SHIFT ECONOMIC CONTROL (an introduction to  Resonance 2nd Edition, a Just Transition guide for philanthropic transformation)State of Emergence: Why we need artists right now (an arts policy essay by Shannon Litzenberger)We can’t afford to be climate dommers by Rebecca Solnit *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESHere is a link for more information on season 5. Please note that, in parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and it's francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I publish a Substack newsletter called ‘a calm presence' which are 'short, practical essays about collapse acceptance, adaptation, response and art’. To subscribe (free of charge) see https://acalmpresence.substack.com. You'll also find a podcast version of each a calm presence posting on Substack or one your favorite podcast player.Also. please note that a complete transcript of conscient podcast and balado conscient episodes from season 1 to 4 is available on the web version of this site (not available on podcast apps) here: https://conscient-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes.Your feedback is always welcome at claude@conscient.ca and/or on conscient podcast social media: Facebook, X, Instagram or Linkedin. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Claude SchryerLatest update on June 7, 2024

I think as musicians we have particular concerns that perhaps looking at those through an ecological lens can be helpful. One of them is to think about the structures of funding which allow us to operate and to maybe reconsider them because they might change. And to be open to that change and to find solutions. And those solutions might be that we need to advocate for other kinds of support, if we still want to advocate for support, or to engage in other types of activities to make a living. Maybe that sounds a little bit defeatist, but I am trying to think in a very pragmatic way about what might be helpful and useful to create a greater sense of security and happiness in the future.Terri Hron’s work explores historical instrumental performance practice and repertoire, field recording, ceramics, movement, video, among other things. Besides composing and performing works for and with others, Terri, who lives in Montreal, produces performances, gatherings and events.For example, when she was Executive Director the Canadian New Music Network (CNMN) she implemented a series of groundbreaking programs focusing on equity, pluralism, sustainability and accessibility including a more inclusive understanding of what new music could be. This was always an issue for me when I studied music in Montreal with ‘la musique contemporaine’, which was exciting but I found to be quite restrictive but now the field is opening up and Terri has played an important role in that widening of scope.As you’ll hear in our conversation that Terri is passionate about the interconnections between music, social, ecological and labour justice and thankfully, is also able to remain calm in the eye of the storm, as she notes during our conversation :I think the only thing that I can do is to try and live with as much integrity as I can and, and avoid participating in the things that I consider to be the least aligned with my values.At the end of our exchanges you’ll hear Terri recommend some of her favorite publications and artistsThe Master and his Emissary by Iain McGilchristThe Age of Insecurity by Astra TaylorThe Flowering Wand by Sophie StrandBrain Forest Quipu by Cecelia VicuñaPhoto credit of cover photo of Terri Hron: Justine Latour *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESHere is a link for more information on season 5. Please note that, in parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and it's francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I publish a Substack newsletter called ‘a calm presence' which are 'short, practical essays about collapse acceptance, adaptation, response and art’. To subscribe (free of charge) see https://acalmpresence.substack.com. You'll also find a podcast version of each a calm presence posting on Substack or one your favorite podcast player.Also. please note that a complete transcript of conscient podcast and balado conscient episodes from season 1 to 4 is available on the web version of this site (not available on podcast apps) here: https://conscient-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes.Your feedback is always welcome at claude@conscient.ca and/or on conscient podcast social media: Facebook, X, Instagram or Linkedin. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Claude SchryerLatest update on June 7, 2024

This is a special bilingual episode of the conscient podcast recorded on April 8, 2024 during the solar eclipse in Ottawa. The same  recording can be found on both the conscious podcast and the conscious podcast. Here is a transcript of what I said. This is a bonus episode of the conscient podcast.It's 3.15pm Eastern Standard Time. I'm in Ottawa near the path of totality of the solar eclipse that's going to hit its peak in about 10 minutes. Un épisode spécial du balado conscient le lundi 8 avril 20024. On est à la veille d'arriver au point culminant de l'éclipse solaire ici à Ottawa, et j'ai pensé l'enregistrer pour vous. It's April 8th 2024. I am going to record the transition towards the peak at 3.25 pm and beyond to observe acoustically what changes. I would say the light is definitely decreasing and has been doing that for the last 20 minutes or so. But the soundscape, I don't know... Let's listen, I'll stop talking. Let's listen to the sound of the 2024 total solar eclipse in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Bonne écoute.This is the peak. Voici le moment. (note: at 11 minutes in the recording)Well that’s it. It’s sonically interesting because right around the peak, the birds started becoming much more active and it was very quiet before then so maybe the lesser amounts of light triggered something in their behavior. That's possible or it could also be random.Donc il ne s'est pas passé grand-chose. Sauf que la vie était à la fois tranquille comme d'habitude, mais aussi animée avec les oiseaux qui, je ne sais pas trop pourquoi, se sont mis à chanter au moment clé à 3 h 25 de l'après midi lorsque le soleil était caché par la lune. Et de toute façon, c'est un bel exercice de méditation et d'écoute. Ce qui nous entoure, le ronflement, le chant des oiseaux, les sons des voisins. J'ai entendu une ou deux voix dire ‘it’s 2 minutes to’. Mais c’est tranquille et c'est bien parce que c'est un moment de.. Comment dire? It's a moment of great significance in the planetary cosmology, if you want and it's a moment where we, that we can all share depending on where you live in the world, but we can all be aware of other earth's and its cycles, and there's good things that can come from that. So this is the end of this episode. I will let it run for another couple of minutes. I thank you for listening and for sharing this soundscape recording of the 2024 solar eclipse from Ottawa on the unceded territory of Algonquin Anishinaabe peoples. Merci de votre écoute. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESHere is a link for more information on season 5. Please note that, in parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and it's francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I publish a Substack newsletter called ‘a calm presence' which are 'short, practical essays about collapse acceptance, adaptation, response and art’. To subscribe (free of charge) see https://acalmpresence.substack.com. You'll also find a podcast version of each a calm presence posting on Substack or one your favorite podcast player.Also. please note that a complete transcript of conscient podcast and balado conscient episodes from season 1 to 4 is available on the web version of this site (not available on podcast apps) here: https://conscient-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes.Your feedback is always welcome at claude@conscient.ca and/or on conscient podcast social media: Facebook, X, Instagram or Linkedin. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Claude SchryerLatest update on June 7, 2024

'It's kind of like sacred medicine or sacred plant medicine in a way where it meets you where you are, based on your intentions, on your setting, your relationships and everything. Where that space in between is the most powerful piece and it’s us holding the container and guiding people in certain directions. But then, here's the silence: go run with it and see what comes up for you'. - Kamea Chayne, host of the alchemize program and  the Green Dreamer podcast, March 28, 2024, conscient podcast e161This is a special episode of the conscient podcast about Green Dreamer’s alchemize program, which is a ‘10-week audio-based program of daily creative prompts and imagination practices’. This episode features 4 of my fellow course participants: singer and music researcher annais linares, bass player and music researcher Ben Finley, climate educator Barbara Leckie, social innovator and educator Michelle Baldwin and myself in conversation with Kamea Chayne, host of the alchemize program and of the Green Dreamer podcast. I also want to mention that a 6th member of our alchemize circle, educator Dorina Husain, was not able to attend this recording on March 28th, 2024.Our group of 6 alchemize participants met every Saturday morning during the course to discuss what we were experiencing and check in with each other. What you’re about to hear is our exchange with Kamea about our experience with alchemize and how it is, literally, transforming our lives.Now, admittedly, the alchemize program is not specifically about art and the ecological crisis, as per the mandate of this podcast, however, this series of 40 creative exercises integrates all kinds of artistic and cultural practices - storytelling, drawing, soundscape composition, poetry, and much more - and I consider alchemize as a whole, to be a work of art. A work of art that you can come in and out of. A process that invites the participant, the learner, to both grow, and let go. This 55 minute exchange concludes the way we did at every Saturday alchemize circle meeting, with a moment of gratitude and an example of what brought us joy on that day. Please see https://www.greendreamer.com/alchemize for more information on the program. Big thanks to my alchemize circle colleagues, annais, Ben, Barbara, Michelle and Dorina and also warm thanks to Kamea and her team at Green Dreamer for their brilliant, generous and spirited work.Spoiler alert: if you plan to take the alchemize program and prefer not to hear about some of the exercises then please listen to this episode AFTER you do alchemize. If, however, you want to know more about our experience with the course in order to better understand how it works, then listen to it before doing the program,.. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESHere is a link for more information on season 5. Please note that, in parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and it's francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I publish a Substack newsletter called ‘a calm presence' which are 'short, practical essays about collapse acceptance, adaptation, response and art’. To subscribe (free of charge) see https://acalmpresence.substack.com. You'll also find a podcast version of each a calm presence posting on Substack or one your favorite podcast player.Also. please note that a complete transcript of conscient podcast and balado conscient episodes from season 1 to 4 is available on the web version of this site (not available on podcast apps) here: https://conscient-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes.Your feedback is always welcome at claude@conscient.ca and/or on conscient podcast social media: Facebook, X, Instagram or Linkedin. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Claude SchryerLatest update on June 7, 2024

We are in a very unstable environment right now. We don't have to be change makers. Change is happening. It is happening quickly and the pace of change is accelerating. So this ‘plan and execute’ way of engaging with the world is less and less relevant. Building this capacity to play and improvise and allow for emergent possibilities to arise is a kind of new leadership capacity that makes more sense in the context of the world as it is in this moment. This is a follow up conversation with Shannon picking up on our exchange on December 8, 2021 in Tkarón:to, e90 shannon litzenberger – state of emergence : why we need artists right now.Now let’s fast forward 2 and half years for a second conversation with Shannon this time about the impact of the state of emergency essay and an update on Shannon's latest projects. You’ll hear that Shannon’s perspectives are decidedly feminist, philosophical and socially conscious and are informed by her roots in Canada’s rural prairies which inspire her connection to land, environment, belonging, identity and place. When I sat down with Shannon in her home in Tkarón:to we talked about a new essay she is working on, which I’m excited about, on the theme of leadership at the end of the world but the conversation was not all gloom and doom, in spite of it being the end of the world as we know it. Quite au contraire, Shannon is working on developing a concept called ‘culture of collective thriving’ and she’s walking her talk. I know because I took a workshop with her and she’s integrating art practice in everything she does and so her belief in art is inspiring and I think very effective. I ask my guests for reading recommendations. Shannon suggested Embodied Activism : Engaging the Body to Cultivate Liberation, Justice, and Authentic Connection--A Practical Guide for Transformative Social Change by Rae Johnson and Rest is Resistance : a Manifesto by Tricia Hersey. Note: I mentioned Shannon’s conversation with Turn Out Radio host Nicole Inica Hamilton during our conversation. Here is the link : http://turnoutradio.com/. *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESHere is a link for more information on season 5. Please note that, in parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and it's francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I publish a Substack newsletter called ‘a calm presence' which are 'short, practical essays about collapse acceptance, adaptation, response and art’. To subscribe (free of charge) see https://acalmpresence.substack.com. You'll also find a podcast version of each a calm presence posting on Substack or one your favorite podcast player.Also. please note that a complete transcript of conscient podcast and balado conscient episodes from season 1 to 4 is available on the web version of this site (not available on podcast apps) here: https://conscient-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes.Your feedback is always welcome at claude@conscient.ca and/or on conscient podcast social media: Facebook, X, Instagram or Linkedin. I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Claude SchryerLatest update on June 7, 2024