Environmental Justice - Blog Posts

As an artist, educator and art historian my concerns are about symbolically visualizing and accurately documenting experiences that prompt us to consider taking steps towards bettering ourselves and our surroundings. Although art is often symbolic and abstract in its function, it can certainly (and already has) led to transformative changes that benefit humanity and ecology alike. The laborious, creative process itself is an act of perpetuation, which is a main tenet of maintenance. Prior to a work of art entering society, the artist develops an idea behind their work and must nurture that concept by fashioning it into a tangible object or experience. Once the artwork leaves their studio it takes on a new purpose. Whether it is intended for public reflection or the white walls of a gallery, the artwork also requires significant care.

Inspired by renowned social reformer Jane Addams' 1907 essay, “Utilization of Women in City Government,” I wrote a piece about the role that art can have in societal and environmental upkeep. You can read it on Artfully Learning: https://theartsandeducation.wordpress.com/2022/11/06/utilization-of-artists-in-societal-and-environmental-maintenance/

i hate how everyone seems to hate ai until its convenient or entertaining to them. ill be honest i used to play around with chat bots and yeah it was fun but no amount of entertainment can justify the environmental impact it has.

like its genuinely crazy. mfs will talk about recycling for the environment and then go and ai generate shitty cat photos.

ive met people who will actively acknowledge that ai usage has a terrible impact on our already depleting water sources then turn around and make it spit out 5 shittily generated videos. like what???

i dunno call me the fun police or whatever but i do believe that ai is going to be the death of society someday. and in the event ai takes over and starts tryna kill anyone who has opposed it, im not against the idea of ai, okay listen i named myself after an android from dbh i do genuinely love the idea of being able to incorporate machinery into society and evolving. but i do believe we have unlocked it too early. i do not believe we have made the necessary steps to ensure ai can be used to help us without it actively destroying our planet and our ability to intake and output information. if ai will not be the death of us or our planet, it will be the death of critical thinking and problem solving skills.

i dunno, its just annoying and hypocritical. like you cannot claim to be an eco warrior then turn around and tell ai to write an essay for you.

like unless youre actively offsetting your carbon and hydrological footprint by planting trees or donating to re-foresting organisations (which i doubt any of them do, lol.) youre still contributing loads to the crash of ecosystems and freshwater supplies. even then i dont think that the only reason to be supporting re-foresting should be to offset ai use. just plant some trees instead of planting trees AND fucking over your writing skills.

its wild people get called soft or woke over this. mf i just care about not treating water like its an infinite resource when groundwater (40% of the planets freshwater) is being pumped from the ground too fast for it to replenish for the sake of shit like cooling servers.

i do believe humanity is getting ahead of itself, i do not believe we are at a point where ai can be used in a way where it is safe for both the environment and society itself. and because of that, i really do believe humanity as a whole needs to step back and prioritise not killing the rock we live on before we try to make dbh real.

anyways guys i think a red cherry shrimp in my aquarium is eggnant!!!!! wish me luck this could mean i wont have to spend $10 on 5 shrimp :)

I feel really uncomfortable in media when the Earth is just left behind. Interstellar, Elysium, Starfield, Lost in Space, Wall-E (which is kind of an exception) all just pretend this planet has the potential to lose all meaning for us. This place is full of history and life and culture and plants and animals. But as soon as we have the ability to leave, as soon as our tiny speck of green and blue in the universe coughs a little bit we leave it to become a planet of dust. There's not even an attempt to save anything that makes this place special. The animals and plants, who are our neighbours and roommates? They can all go extinct, who cares, as long as we survive. The buildings, the paintings, the architecture and art? It's all meaningless rubble, as long as we survive. I can't tell if everyone really thinks this planet is nothing to us except a place to infest, or it's just an unfortunate pattern in science fiction. I've never seen the movie but I watched the ending scene of Don't Look Up with Leonardo DiCaprio. What a beautiful scene, I watch it a lot. This planet is everything.

The Chipko Movement

“ When their appeals were denied, Bhatt led a group of villagers into the forest and embraced the trees to prevent logging. After many days of agitation, the government canceled the company’s logging permit. The Chipko movement can essentially be called a women’s movement. Women, being solely in charge of cultivation, livestock and children, suffered the most due to floods and landslides, caused due to rise in deforestation in the face of urbanisation. ”

SOURCE :

The Indian Express

What is the Chipko movement?

The Chipko movement can essentially be called a women's movement. Women, being solely in charge of cultivation, livestock and children, lost

Clean water is a human right.

Digital illustration of a indigenous woman and her child sitting on the floor. She’s looking back and is wearing a grey bodycon dress with text that reads, ‘clean water is a human right.’ Behind her, a toddler is looking at you and is wearing a green striped shirt and green pants. Between them is a water bottle labeled ‘sink water’ filled with a brown liquid.