Theatre in the Round - Trailblazing Women - March 2024
Jane Goodall (1934-Present) was born in Hampstead, London. As a child, Jane was given a stuffed Chimpanzee which Goodall has said inspired her love of animals. Be cause of her love for animals, she applied and got a job as a secretary in Kenya in 1957 and eventually met the archeologist and paleontologist Louis Leakey. Leakey raised funds and sent Goodall to Gombe National Park. In 60 years of research, some of her most important accomplishments include observing that chimpanzees use tools, are not strictly vegetarians, and she used names instead of numbers when observing chimpanzees. Goodall established the Goodall Institute and has become a world leader in chimpanzee research and environmentalism. Goodall has most recently been giving Hope Talks, which focus on four reasons for hope; the energy of youth, the power of the human brain, the resilience of nature, and the power of social media. After completing Greta Thunberg, I wanted to commemorate another green champion and Jane Goodall seemed like the next logical woman. I initially set out to list out all of Jane's accomplishments in this post, but realized that you can just go to Wikipedia to do that. I think Jane is remarkable in that she recognizes the role she plays in global warming. Even when she herself says she'd rather live a quieter life, she knows she has to keep doing her work to motivate others. It is easy to see her impact because she is speaking at huge events and winning awards, but the reality is that we all have impact on global warming. In one of her documentaries she mentioned that she uses her coffee grounds twice before throwing them out. I now do this when I drink coffee. These are the small actions we can take to reduce single use items. What single use items can you eliminate in your day to day life?
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Community Arts Base - 2024
When I watched Greta Thunberg’s documentary, I Am Greta, I knew I needed to make a Brart portrait of Greta. Greta has taken such a clear stance on the global climate crisis, that we need to take immediate action now. The more Brart I make, the more wasteful my other craft hobbies can seem. So many people have bras just laying around, that it seems like I could have a never-ending art supply. The day that there are no more bras laying around, I will stop making Brart. I wrote Greta’s September, 2019, speech she gave to the United Nations around the frame. I think of this as her ‘How dare you!” speech. In this piece Greta is literally framed by her words, because I think she is figuratively framed by the power of her words in today’s culture. But is everyone really listening? Have we all acknowledged the individual and systematic changes that need to happen to have an impact on the climate crisis? We might know a few phrases in her speech, but are we really listening to what she is saying? Below is a link to a video and transcript of the speech, in case you want to listen/read it. Someday I hope my Brart can be on display, for people to view and interact with Brart. The speech is written in a circular pattern around the frame, and can feel fragmented if the viewer doesn’t know the pattern the lines are written in. The viewer will need to concentrate to read the entire speech. Similar to the way that we need to concentrate to really listen when people are speaking about change. Read Greta Thunberg's full speech at the United Nations Climate Action Summit (nbcnews.com) Greta has started the Fridays for the Future movement. To quote directly from Fridays for Future website website: “Fridays for the Future or FFF is a global climate strike movement that started in August 2018, when 15-year-old Greta Thunberg began a school strike for climate. In the three weeks leading up to the Swedish election, she sat outside Swedish Parliament every school day demanding urgent action on the climate crisis. She was tired of society’s unwillingness to see the climate crisis for what it is: a crisis. To begin with, she was alone, but she was soon joined by others. On the 8th of September, Greta and her fellow school strikers decided to continue their strike until the Swedish policies provided a safe pathway well under two degrees centigrade in lien with the Paris agreement. They created the hashtag “FridaysForFuture, and encouraged other young people all over the world to join them. This marked the beginning of the global school strike for climate.” It only felt fitting to share this piece on a Friday. Fridays For Future is an international climate movement active in most countries and our website offers information on who we are and what you can do. In addition to recycled bras, this is an old cabinet door. I have tried to avoid using new materials as the base for brart. I got this cabinet door at the Minneapolis Habitat for Humanity Restore Center. The Restore has a great website if you’re looking to learn more about what they offer for recycled/upcycled home improvement materials. Shop Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity ReStore | Open to the public Home Improvement Outlet | Minneapolis, MN | New Brighton, MN (tchabitat.org) |
AuthorMinnesota native, Sadie started making brart (bra-art) in 2019. Archives
February 2024
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