e165 bill crandall - art can change us

conscient podcast

• Being an artist, or making art, in the context of climate is more about being a kind of light in the darkness, making us believe in ourselves and believe in the future so that we want to endeavor to save the thing that we have, our habitat. Some people like to say art can't change the world, but art can change us. Then we can change the world more effectively.

I first heard about Bill Crandall from his Viaduct Arts project, a newsletter that brings together various ways artists can help carry us up and over the climate crisis. Bill is from Washington DC though he currently lives with his family in Nairobi, Kenya.

As a longtime photographer, his personal long-term projects focus on the human dimension of sweeping historical changes, and take nuanced, poetic, and empathetic looks at topics from gentrification to cultural identity.

I appreciate his one person efforts to empower artists in the climate emergency through Viaduct Arts and so I called Bill up on Zoom and we talked about his climate art activism including his observation that ‘art can help us stay centered in ourselves, be resilient, and have some spiritual grounding that's going help us no matter what comes’.

Bill's recommended book is Tales from Moominvalley by Tove Jansson.

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Here is a link for more information on season 5.

Please note that, in parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and it's francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I publish a Substack newsletter called ‘a calm presence' which are 'short, practical essays about collapse acceptance, adaptation, response and art’. To subscribe (free of charge) see https://acalmpresence.substack.com. You'll also find a podcast version of each a calm presence posting on Substack or one your favorite podcast player.

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I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible.

Claude Schryer

Latest update on June 7, 2024