Mindfulness
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Morning Prayer September 21, 2024 In the fall, Tucson smells like mildew, dirt, and cold metal. The wildlands behind our… Read more.
1–2 minutes -
Trees don’t move in the wind. They’re moved by the wind, the way we all react to unseen forces, unseen… Read more.
3–5 minutes -
Morning Prayer September 14, 2024 Do not see the horrors of the world. Do not speak the horrors of the… Read more.
2–3 minutes -
We live in an ecotone, those of us here in Southwest Utah. An ecotone is the transition between two biological… Read more.
1–2 minutes -
One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds. ― Aldo… Read more.
3–5 minutes -
I enjoy feeding the birds. A murmuration of starlings buzzed the cars on I-35 today. The female northern flicker appears… Read more.
1–2 minutes -
A staircase of shelf fungus scales the side of a hawthorn tree. All around me, the ground undulates. Robins shovel… Read more.
1–2 minutes -
Church bells, and two mourning doves flying toward them. These birds are using me for my birdbath. A blue jay… Read more.
1–2 minutes -
The cold sun of fall woke me early. I’m thankful for that. Sometimes I believe I can do more waking… Read more.
4–6 minutes -
I meditated for a couple of hours this morning after reading selections from Essential Zen. At first, there was mostly… Read more.
3–5 minutes
PROCESS
- Map and Research: Investigate the historical, geological, and ecological context of each collection site or reverse the direction, mapping sites based on ancestral and historical narratives.
- Forage: Gather natural materials ethically, respectfully, and with permission.
- Transform: Process foraged materials into custom mediums and physical resources for art-making.
- Weave: Track the stories held within the land, braiding personal, ancestral, and ecological histories.
- Create: Generate studies and finished artwork informed by the sites and physically composed of the materials collected.
- Limits: Not all sites will be safe or accessible, which means some spaces cannot be entered, and some stories will remain incomplete. An empty container can signify these omissions.
purpose
ethics
Responsible Exploration: Committing to mindful presence, permission-based foraging, and minimal-impact exploration on every site.
Meaning
Embodied Storytelling: Engaging in sensory, place-based creation that connects the maker and viewer to the specific location and to the physical earth.
Reclamation: Unearthing and honoring lost, fractured, or overlooked histories embedded in the landscape.
Material Transformation: Celebrating the alchemy of turning raw, gathered earth into tangible, expressive art.
community
Public Education: Sharing the ecological and historical narratives of the sites to foster a deeper collective awareness.
Active Participation: Creating opportunities for community participation, engagement, and shared connection through the work.
Dana Henry Martin 