用艺术庆祝环境行动主义

在大流行期间，您如何庆祝新斯科舍省的50年环境行动主义？

For the Ecology Action Centre (EAC), a giant community park picnic party was out of the question, so they partnered with Zuppa Theatre Co. to create an interactive, app-guided, provincial treasure hunt.

来自新斯科舍省艺术家的50篇原创作品，横跨布雷顿角（Cape Breton）到雅茅斯县（Yarmouth County）的福丘（Cape Forchu）的空间，“ 50件事”的艺术品受到该省环境活动的遗产和EAC的历史的启发。

“There’s a comic book about the folks who stopped the spruce budworm spray back in the 70s, there’s a song about salt marshes, there’s video work, there’s audio soundscapes, there’s a couple of quilts, paintings, and other things too,” EAC community engagement manager Joanna Bull said in an interview.

“There are some site-based installations like artist Nat Chantel has at The Deanery about reconnecting to land and the relationship with land. It’s really a whole range of things. It’s a treasure hunt of art of all different kinds from established artists and also emerging artists across the province.”

虽然可以通过50件事移动应用程序访问某些工作，但其他工作是物理对象。布尔说，每件作品旨在在特定的地理环境中体验，以帮助栩栩如生，以保护它的行动主义的历史并反思我们现在的位置。她指出艺术家Lou Sheppard俯瞰Shelburne县的Stoddart Island的现场装置。

布尔说：“一个例子是今天仍然是世界上最大的核发电厂，这是斯托达特岛上的12,000兆瓦核电站。”

“As part of our 50 things, you can go down to the little area right across from the island and you can look at that island and you can see how there’s no nuclear power plant there and then when you get there, you get to see an augmented reality thing about the effect of radiation on our bodies.”

布尔说，在过去的50年中，EAC的成就取决于整个环境运动以及在基层工作的人们。

“We’re standing on the shoulders of 50 years of truly impactful activism and organizing. Nova Scotia is a different place than it would be without the Ecology Action Centre and all of the other amazing community partner groups that we’ve worked with over the past 50 years,” Bull said.

“同时在这个时刻,我们面对against the biggest environmental crises that we’ve faced as human beings, the climate collapse and the collapse of biodiversity and all of the environmental injustices that have been going on. We have some very real questions to ask ourselves about where we go from here as an organization and as a movement.”

That’s why the EAC turned to artists, people Bull described as those who help spark our imaginations and help us to envision the future.

“If you look at any successful social movement, artists have a very key role to play in catalyzing our desires and our motivations for action,” she said.

布尔说，如果新斯科舍省人从应用程序指导的50件事冒险中夺走了一件事情，她希望这是可能的变化，我们 - 新斯科舍省 - 在这里塑造了变化。

“You know, often we’re told that you can’t make a difference, and the story of the past 50 years shows that that isn’t true,” Bull said. “You can make a difference, and here are some quite inspiring examples of where we have made a difference.”

Artist Angie Arsenault is one of the 50 artists lending her creative talents to the 50 Things project. The artist and Concordia University PhD student grew up in Sydney and has returned to Nova Scotia. She describes her art practice as exploring imperial debris, specifically plants — often invasive species or weeds.

阿尔森诺说：“这是从新的角度来赞赏这些植物，或者承认它们的存在不仅是人们经常看到它们的滋扰，而且是实际上赋予生命和要庆祝的东西的事物。”

“And also, I think that it sort of has a symbolic sense of resilience to it as well.”

Her interactive installation is located in Bridgewater and is called Little Library of Foraged Inks. A twist on the many little libraries she frequented in Fredericton during part of the pandemic, her little library swapped out the books for ink bottles.

Arsenault made the inks from plants growing in Nova Scotia. People can visit the little library, borrow small bottles of ink to create their own art somewhere else, and then submit their pieces to an Instagram page where she intends to showcase their creations.

阿森诺说：“这就像一个社区建设项目，但这也是我希望能使人们更多地注意到他们周围的自然世界的项目。”

“I’ve been using these same plants for medicinal purposes and even for consumption, for food. But in this particular iteration, it’s all about colour.”

The app was scheduled to launch on Friday, but was delayed due to technical issues with the Android version. Bull said they hope to have it operational this week. Through the app, users will be able to unlock the art pieces and learn about the stories and history behind them.

更新应用程序的状态将提供通过the EAC’s social media accounts. When it launches, the app can be downloaded for freehere.

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