realworkofartmaking.com Open in urlscan Pro
108.160.158.198  Public Scan

Form analysis
0 forms found in the DOM

Text Content

Skip to content



AWAKENING HEARTS & MINDS TO THE CLIMATE CRISIS THROUGH ART MAKING.




I’m Marsha Dinelli, and for 40 years, I have studied the relationship between
art making and the subtle energy in the ecosystem. In that time, I have come to
understand that if we resist changing our relationship and behavior with the
natural world, we will not be able to impact the climate crisis in a positive
way.

My research aims to provide a more complete perspective to understanding the
world we live in by providing a different way of seeing the world. It is a
perspective that provides a positive context for change in a broader
conversation about how we understand and care for our home —Earth.

So, if you are interested in or passionate about art making and want to engage
in climate crisis action, you’ve come to the right place.

It is difficult to find a straightforward definition for “art making” as it
seems to lead us to the definition of “art,” which in the Western world leads to
the product and not the process. But I like the definition anthropologist and
author Tim Ingold provides,

Art making “is a process of…bringing forth potentials immanent in a world of
becoming.

To join in the processes of formation…is to participate in a dynamic world of
emerging forces and flows…to inhabit the world.”
- Tim Ingold | 2013

This definition clearly depicts the art making process as a flow of resources
between the physical and invisible dimensions of the world as the artistic form
takes shape, supporting the interconnectedness inherent in a holistic world. In
my mind, the process is also tempered by the art makers’ cultural background and
experiences, which provide the context for how the art maker understands their
skill, materials, and creative energy.

The art making process involves working with the materials needed to make it
physically while mastering the techniques of the craft, all while integrating
with the creative energy that allows the form of what we create to emerge.


As we move through the process of art making, we learn to work cooperatively
with the natural world.


HOW DOES ART MAKING CONNECT US TO THE WORLD AROUND US?

Art makers are already skilled in the back-and-forth dialogue that nurtures the
relationship between the artist, the energy, and the emergent work.

Many art makers already credit their creative ability to forces beyond their
control and see themselves as a conduit for the work they ultimately bring to
form.


THE PROCESS OF ART MAKING PROVIDES THE FRAMEWORK FOR GROUNDING OUR UNDERSTANDING
OF AND DEVELOPING A RELATIONSHIP WITH THE NATURAL WORLD. 

By understanding the natural flow of resources between the physical and
invisible dimensions, we can develop a relationship based on cooperation and
collaboration instead of the extractive nature of our current science-based
relationship.




A RELATIONSHIP OF RECIPROCITY.

For centuries, indigenous communities have taught the importance of having a
relationship with the natural world.

These cultures tapped into this relationship to keep their ecosystems healthy
and themselves aligned with their ecosystems.


THE ROLE OF THE SHAMAN IN THESE COMMUNITIES WAS TO,

“Act as an intermediary between the human community and the larger ecological
field, ensuring that there is an appropriate flow of nourishment, not just from
the landscape to the human inhabitants but from the human community back to the
local earth”
- Abram | 1997


IN OTHER WORDS, SHAMANS IN THESE COMMUNITIES WERE CONCERNED WITH THE WORLD’S
WELL-BEING, WHICH INCLUDED THE HUMANS WITHIN IT.

As part of an indigenous view, there appears to be a spiritual focus that
accepts a way of knowing that involves more than what can be objectively
observed, a recognition that the relational experience within a connected system
of living entities is infused with an energy or vital force that exists not only
within each entity but throughout the whole system.




OUR PHYSICAL & ENERGETIC CONNECTION TO THE WORLD.

Most Westerners are familiar with the Eastern traditions of acupuncture, tai
chi, chi gong and yoga, popular, meditative practices designed to promote health
and well-being in the individual. But they may not be familiar with the deeper
Eastern understanding of the – 

“body as an open system connected to the external world” that allows for “an
exchange of life energy of some sort between the body and the external world,
that is, there is an absorption and release of ki between them”
- Yasuo | 1993



MY RESEARCH LOOKS TO CREATE AN OPENING TO EXPLORE AND CONSIDER THE PROCESS OF
ART MAKING AS ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION.

As a citizen of the industrialized West, it has been my experience that our
mainstream worldview has focused on the earth in its physical form, which is
where we focus our restoration efforts. But what if more was needed to return an
area in need of restoration back to its natural state of health and well-being?
What if the energetic component that connects the aliveness of the earth plays a
part in optimizing our restoration efforts? And what if those of us who
understand the benefits of knowing the world in this way and our ability to
strengthen the energy dimension through our practice were able to put that deep
understanding into the physical process of restoring the local landscape?

In my mind, the recovery of our planet may very well depend on a combination of
physical restoration with an ongoing infusion of qi in a gentle courtship of
people and places and a respectful relationship between the two. This type of
recovery would transform the restoration process from a benign set of scientific
instructions delineating a particular landscape to an environmental experience
interlaced with the dialog of the art making process.

In our modern world, this work might be akin to or lead to art making as used in
the rituals and ceremonies of Indigenous cultures to provide the relationships
needed for resilience.

This is arts making – a chance to play seriously.

As a trained dancer from an early age, spins and jumps were as natural for me as
running, and my walking was always peppered with a leap or two, a kick, or a
twist. Playing outside and dancing around was my modus operandi, as dancing was
not something that was confined to only a dance class. It was embedded in my
kitchen chores routine, leaf raking choreography, and caring for my pets. I
willingly performed for nature. The sky, trees, birds, meandering creeks, and
wayward streams were my constant audience. After college, I began to see my
childhood behavior in a more positive way rather than a purely comical light.
Dance became a daily meditation and preparation for being in the world.

Graduate school beckoned and proved to be life-changing. A master’s degree in
Culture, Ecology, and Education from Portland State University, followed by
research and a doctorate in Arts Education and Ecology from Simon Fraser
University, brought the two threads, dance and the natural world, together in my
life’s journey, allowing my art making to act as a conduit to the more than
human world.

Later, I worked for several environmental non-profit organizations until I began
to question my work’s effectiveness in changing how people lived and cared for
the environment.

This is the experience I bring to this work, and I invite you to join me in this
way of knowing.


I TEACH AN ONLINE CLASS WITH A LOCAL FIELD EXPERIENCE COMPONENT TO INTRODUCE
THIS PERSPECTIVE.

Sign up for the 8-week class to change your view of the world. The perspective
is essential to anyone who has an artmaking practice or uses arts-based learning
in their work with others.


THE CLASS IS RELEVANT TO ANYONE.

But it is especially relevant to these professions.

 * Preschool teachers and teachers in the arts.
 * Art therapists or art makers in health or medicine and creative wellness
   programs.
 * Scientists with an art making practice.
 * Art makers who work in various arts and culture programs.


Contact me for more information or to sign up

I AM ALSO AVAILABLE FOR CONSULTATION WITH GROUPS, ORGANIZATIONS, OR OTHER
ENTITIES THAT ARE INTERESTED IN THIS PERSPECTIVE.




COURSE DESCRIPTION

The course is a hands-on look at the art making process and its relationship to
the universal energy and aliveness of the natural world. By focusing on this
subtle energy and our ability to connect to it through the practice of art
making, we are reminded of the many Indigenous and East Asian cultural practices
that used art making to connect their health and well-being with that of the
planet.

The reciprocal nature of this energy flow between all living components of the
ecosystem is key. By strengthening this universal energy flow through our art
making practice, we help to build its resilience to withstand the climate crisis
and, in the process, transform our perspective from a Western industrial
cultural point of view to an interconnected holistic one.

Immersing students in the mechanics of a holistic perspective allows them to
make the information their own and to initiate new behavior patterns that honor
the intention of this different way of understanding our relationship to the
ecosystem.




TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

For me, it is all about the process of experience. To nurture that process and
play with it as you work hard to earn what you know.

An explanation of something is never as good as the actual experience of it, and
to realize the goal of strengthening the energetic interchange between humans
and the rest of the natural world to build resilience within the ecosystem, you
have to engage and immerse yourself in the effort. 

Are you ready?
Awakening Hearts & Minds to the Climate Crisis through Artmaking.
Scroll Up