Environmental Activism
Jan 17, 2020
Most of the time I randomly pick books to read by whatever is available through the library ebooks on Overdrive. I tend to concentrate on nonfiction and biographical subjects. Four books ago I chose “Mama’s Last Hug: Animal Emotions and What They Tell Us about Ourselves” by Frans de Waal. I chose it because I recognized the name from a podcast I listen to “Tangentially Speaking”. The author had been interviewed on the podcast and is mentioned occasionally in other episodes of the podcast. If you have a pet I’m sure you recognize that animals have emotions. The book talks about how scientists are finally coming around to accept this idea of emotions, consciousness, and sentience in animals.
Three books ago I read a novel which was a little difficult to get started because the first couple chapters didn’t seem to relate to each other. The novel is “FranKissStein, A Love Story” by Jeannette Winterson. Some chapters of the book follow the life of Mary Shelley who wrote “Frankenstein: or The Modern Prometheus”. Mary Shelley wrote about a being who is created with an attempt to instill life and consciousness. Other chapters of the book take place in current times and are about the work on Artificial Intelligence. The question is how and/or will AI ever develop consciousness, sentience, and emotions and what steps will we go through to get there. It was a very poignant thread of thinking after reading how views have changed over the years regarding emotions, intelligence, consciousness, and free will.
The next book was another novel, “Overstory” by Richard Powers. In this novel we have the possibility of plants helping each other, communicating, sharing nutrients…. I found this story a little difficult in the beginning also because it starts with many stories that seemingly aren’t connected except through the common thread of trees in the story. The environmental activists that coalesce later in the book were of great interest to me and are so relevant to our current climate crisis. One of the activists was an artist whose ancestors had planted a chestnut tree in Iowa and then continued a project of photographing the tree once a month for years from the same spot. This artist was important in the ecological activism that takes place in the book.
Now I am reading “Water Library” by Basia Irland. Irland is an environmental artist from New Mexico, a sculptor, poet, and installation artist who has focused her creativity on rivers for thirty years. Her aim is to connect people to their local waters and watersheds in ways that will motivate concern, caring, appreciation, and stewardship. Don Richardson brought this book to Carol and me.
None of these books were chosen thinking they would be good books to read in continuing lines of relevance. But I find it wonderful that all these books can have relevance to each other whether it is just in my own mind or coincidence. They are also relevant to my artwork since many of my sculptures are about themes of nature, environment, and events affecting the quality of our natural resources.