The way we talk about the climate crisis just
isn’t working
Storytelling empowers us to envision a change in real ways. It often encourages and inspires us to act. Using this narrative strategy to talk about climate change can also help people avoid what psychologists call "the collapse of compassion," the feeling of apathy encountered when faced with a big problem with no clear big solution in sight.
Storytelling allows us to break from our often-complaining ways and see other views, hear another’s voice, walk-in different shoes, and witness acts of wonder and resilience. Allegories such as Shelley’s “Frankenstein,” Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” and Frank Baum’s “The Wizard of Oz” we’re all created to re-stake the moral compass of their times. We are not above all other creatures. The way we talk about the climate crisis just isn’t working. Instead of sending a doom and gloom message, we need a good story to capture the audience’s attention and hold it. Most people do not retain dry information and data. It doesn’t resonate with them emotionally. If we want our audience to remember something and ultimately act on it, the content needs to come in the form of a story, with characters, drama, and a connecting thread.
_____ in the wild.
My Work
As a critique of capitalism and materialism, I have created liminal worlds from a diverse range of discarded things like toys, dead animals, skeletons, and random objects. The objects were found in streets, alleys, abandoned homes, empty lots, and fields. My placement of seemingly random objects intentionally creates a common thread where, while they sometimes juxtapose one another, they allow the viewer to form connections from their own memories. In my eyes, the creation serves as a warning from the dead and discarded, that human activity has to change to sustain life on earth. However, as with most art, there is no one truth. The viewer is invited to bring their own subconscious thoughts and beliefs to string together the object’s relationships with one another, to bring their own personal experiences to give meaning to that which has been lost.
As humans, we all have commonly shared fears. Many of these fears center around loss and change, such as losing one's way of life or one’s health, providing for your family and children, or simply having to deal with the unexpected. To varying degrees, we all fear hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, droughts, and other natural disasters. Sharing our stories can build trust and provide opportunities to find areas of agreement. We can mostly all agree that man-made pollution has likely contributed to many of these events. As we try to work together to tackle the climate crisis, we individually have the ability to focus on what we can do to mitigate the effects of our behavior. In turn, we can then collectively come together to combat the major contributors to these issues and conditions. For better or worse, politicians and policymakers decide the fate for all.
Support what
you love
With a small percentage of their profits, these (and all) companies should be required to strive to choose healthier more eco-friendly alternatives that continue to meet the demands necessary to put our planet first. Mandating a cleaner, less environmentally impacting energy source in their production of goods and services and a more bio-friendly way of packaging with strict penalties should be the standard. Requiring companies to exercise goodwill will not only start bringing the planet back to a healthier and more stable state, but it will give all of us a chance to pause and enjoy the splendor of nature's diversity that we still have left.
One doesn’t even need to step outside their own door to see what kind of effect these companies and lack of regulations are doing consequences are on the environment. Severe flooding, fires, and droughts are all over the news - all over the world. My recent body of work just scratches the surface of what atrocities a handful of recognizable contributors view as the cost of doing business - and are getting away with.
Where societies hunger for new and supposedly improved fuels the need to discard what’s deemed outdated, waste continues to gather momentum, and more and more of our planet's natural resources will be lost. For the masses that can’t afford to relocate to a safer and less effective area life will no longer have the simple pleasures even our most recent ancestors did. If we’re being honest, we are currently all able to witness this happening before our own eyes. As long as our eyes are open and we want to change what we see, we have the ability to speak up and make changes in our own lives. Support what you love.
let’s talk
I would love to hear how we might work together.