Collective Metamorphoses: Shifting Shapes for Connection
In this series participatory metamorphosis land art workshops the participants shpashifted into endangered animals for coexisting compassionately. The workshops were also an apparatus to deal with eco-anxiety. The aim was to change participants’ perspectives and demonstrate the power of collaboration, by making an allegory of the collaboration of herd species. Alone they/we are nothing but, with determination we can create visible change in both the environment and in attitudes: create empathy.
National
Finland
Punkaharju, South Savo, Finland
Turku, Southwest Finland
Sauvo, Southwest Finland
Rovaniemi, Lapland, Finland
Mainly rural
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
No
No
Yes
As an individual
First name: Nina Last name: Luostarinen Gender: Female Nationality: Finland Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Sampsantie 9 as 8 Town: Paimio Postal code: 21530 Country: Finland Direct Tel:+358 40 8376704 E-mail:nluostarinen@gmail.com Website:https://ninaluostarinen.myportfolio.com/me
This initiative was a series of participatory land art workshops focusing on the concept of metamorphosis. This playful arts-based activity endeavours to reveal the playful qualities and narrative layers of a place by changing individuals’ perspectives and encouraging collaborative and inclusive action. At the same time, it works as an apparatus to deal with eco-anxiety. This artwork aims to nurture place-empathy and sensuous posthumanistic knowledge by creating a heterotopic multisensory experience.
This set of participatory land art workshops aimed to provide a hands-on experience as a way for participants to deal with the emotions caused by the declining animal populations and to draw public attention to the importance of protecting different endangered species. The workshops were a response to Pihkala’s (2020) call for embodied, collective and place-based methods for addressing eco-anxiety. Sommer and Klöckner (2019) found that art can change our feelings when it encompasses a hopeful message. This could guide us towards meliorism: the belief that the world can be made better by human effort. The workshops also aimed to demonstrate the efficiency of collaboration: in just a few hours, we can create a piece of art that was big enough to be seen from a satellite. It demonstrated that wicked problems can be dealt with playfully in an effective way.
This is methodologically all about shifting perspective: from human to animal, from individual to collaborative, from close-up to bird-eye, from indifferent to empathetic and from egocentric to ecocentric.
shift of perspective
participatory land art
endangered species
eco-anxiety
collaborative metamorphosis
The key objectives in terms of sustainability are in protecting land by giving tools for place empathy through heterotopic experiences and in promoting sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems by opening the eyes for 'change blindness'. halt and reverse land degradation by demonstrating how collaborative action matters. The main sustainability objective was to point out the importance for halting biodiversity loss by giving a huge visual reminder of the endangered species around us.
For the workshops ensure sustainable procedures was the key element: no material was transported for the workshop, but all the materials for building these land art pieces were either excess material (removed wood, raked leaf or moulded straw), collected from the area (stones or fallen tree branches) or material that was there for another final purpose (chalk for farming soil improvement). This encouraged the methodology of seeing and utilising what we already have instead of endless consumption needs.
These workshops were sustainable also in terms of equality. The workshops were open and free of anyone to participate, and no discrimination was made based on sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, or any other reason. The youngest participant was only 8 months old and the oldest was more than 80 years. The majority of the participants were young women, so the workshops promoted the empowerment of girls and women by indicating how they can act as significant change makers.
Especially the Turku workshop had clear linkage of sustainable agriculture and protecting the rivers and seas, as the workshops took place on a field situated on a riverbank close to the sea and the herrings in the Baltic sea are in distress mostly because of the phosphorus load from the fields.
The participants enjoyed immensely the aesthetical hide-and-seek quality of the workshop: even when the land art piece was ready it was hard or impossible to visualise from the ground level. Very little to nothing was able to be seen from the human perspective but only the bird-eye revealed the inspirational outcome achieved together. It gave very positive and empowering emotions to the participants and plunging into the created character, merging and metamorphosing into it highlighted the scale of visual image created.
All the workshops were also liked very much in local media and shared in the social media widely. The overall objective of positive emotions, attachment and empathy towards both the places where workshops took place as well towards the endangered species depicted was achieved by collaborative design, tactile actions and determined goal. Giving experience that actions matter are the tools towards hope and meliorism.
The workshops demonstrated the benefits of art as an apparatus of change maker in attitudes and in actions. Cold facts make us easily just depressed but with a glimpse of hope given by art-based activity can lead to virtuous cycle or at least help to deal with eco-anxiety by making something aesthetically pleasing statement and discussing these matters with fellow participants during the course of the physical and tactile activity of the land art workshop.
As researcher Heljakka (2021) states, playing together is survival. With the social imaginings
invested and the physical activities made perceivable in intergenerational forms of play, it is possible to see that there is not only belief and optimism but also trust for better times ahead, despite the uncertain future. She uses the term playful resilience and I suggest participatory land art is that in its best form. We need something to visualise our worries and create melioristic hope at the same time.
The participation for the workshops was open to all and it was free to participate, so there was no social discrimination. The locations were accessible either by public transport (Punkaharju & Turku) or free mini-bus (Sierijärvi) to minimise the carbon monoxide load of the participants arriving and ensure the affordability.
Due to the physical nature of the workshops, they were not completely accessible, but the variety of tasks were distributed considering the abilities of each participant: small buckets for the young participants and light loads for the elderly. Participants with physical limitations were given alternative tasks like photographing.
The affordability was ensured also in that way, that no extra material was required for building the land art but the utilisation of existing resources was planned from the beginning.
Regarding the visual protection of participants and putting people and their rights at the centre, written permissions of photographing and publishing photographs were gathered from the participants or their legal guardians in case of participants under 18 years of age. No images from Sauvo workshops are included here because few of the guardians withdraw their permission later on.
Those who did not wish to be photographed were totally left out from the visual documentation and they are not visible in the published images even though they participated wholeheartedly. And for those who participated, all the high-resolution images were distributed in an online folders for their free use and sharing to promote the collaborative citizen-centric perspective for online communities of their choice – or just as a visual souvenir.
The citizens who participated in one of the workshops got the means to deal with their eco-anxiety. This was especially much praised by the participating teachers who said they will adapt this for their daily work. The participants benefited also by receiving an unforgettable and emotional art-based experience which hopefully changes - by empowerment - both their attitudes and actions in regards to what they can and will do toward protecting endangered animal species and their habitats.
The larger audience affected by the initiative either by spectating the course of the workshop of witnessing the outcome in media, social media or peer-reviewed publications is impressed by the end results and hopefully receives the message of importance of and possibilities of acting now: it is not yet too late, but we cannot wait any longer. The initiative wanted to demonstrate that even with a simple idea it is easy to make a visual change that changes the attitudes from hopelessness into melioristic actions.
This initiative develops civil, open and democratic society which is achieved through the production of new artistic practices with active participation of citizens as co-creators of art work.
Different stakeholders were involved: land owners to discuss the usage of land for this workshop, conservation biologists to open up the facts about endangered species, school children or college students to make the collaborative designs for the land art - and their teachers in essential group leading roles, local farmers to borrow tools or provide excess materials (like raked leaf or straws), participants of the workshops - they were all open to the public and invitations were distributed widely, local media, local public - all the workshops gained lots of interest as well as international arts education audience through conference presentations and peer reviewed publications.
In these workshops playful art-based action methods and art education disciplines were in close interaction with biology and farming. The overall theme utilised the ethnographic viewpoint of European mythology as a starting point with the stories of metamorphosis and human shapeshifting into an animal character with a plot twist of scales and perspectives. The interaction of updated forestry knowledge intertwined with heritage of geoglyphs and hill figures and combined that with modern technology of drones. By giving an art-based excuse to get exercise it also offered an apparatus to deal with eco-anxiety, so it provided a tool for both physical and mental wellbeing.
Usually in the EU we concentrate on facts when trying to make change. Still, very easily it happens that the facts escape our minds, since there is no emotional connection to the matter. In this initiative, we gave a tactile way to make a visual change. First, there was the informational phase, where the facts of the distressed or endangered species were discussed. Then there was a collaborative creative planning phase, where several sketches were made. The decision of the final land art piece was voted on or merged the different ideas. Then the physical and tactile phase in connection with the natural materials and the place was not only good exercise outdoors but also a team building activity. Then, finally, putting oneself on the ground, gave connection to the place and opened up the idea of metamorphosis, becoming part of the endangered species. The images were eagerly distributed as they showed something far more interesting than just the facts. This workshop opened up an emotional connection to the place where the workshop happened and as well created empathy towards the endangered species we shapeshifted into. It was most inspirational to the participants to see that even though one individual can only move a limited number of sticks and stones, with a determination and shared goal we can just in a few hours create something big enough to be seen from a satellite. It gives hope, which is very much needed in the actions required for the declination of animal species.
This initiative could be easily transferred and replicated across Europe. The costs and requirements are minimal, just the drone operator is needed, otherwise no other extra requirements are needed for this. It is suitable for everyone from school children to senior citizens. I could prepare a manual and best tips based on these. It would be stunning to have a theme week or month where all over the EU hundreds of endangered animals would appear as land art characters and be collected as a catalogue in the end. We could show that together we have the power to make the change in the spirit of meliorism. It is not too late and individual actions matter when done together!
I see this concept as potential and laudable with the large potential influence it could have on all interrelated disciplines all over the EU and Europe. It is an artistic method that has emerged naturally from the creativity and spontaneity of its creator and participants and replicating the artistic spirit in this initiative will be easy to adapt with all the creative minds across the continent.
The methodology was using art-based action and the approach was playful. It aimed - and succeeded - to demonstrate that wicked problems can be solved in a fun and playful way. Making change can be addressed in visual, tactile and collaborative ways utilising the power of art to create emotions, attachment and empathy. The overall aim was to create a post-humanistic empathy towards endangered species by demonstrating the power of herd species collaboration, how we humans could learn from that and how small we can be alone, that individualism may not be the right solution.
Instead of STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) this methodology emphasised STEAM ( science, technology, engineering, the ARTS, and mathematics) aim to teach innovation, to think critically and use engineering or technology in imaginative designs or creative approaches to real-world problems while building on students' mathematics and science base. STEAM programs add arts to STEM curriculum by drawing on reasoning and design principles, and encouraging creative solutions.
The Living Planet Report 2022, the flagship WWF publication reveals an average decline of 69% in species populations since 1970. While conservation efforts are helping, urgent action is required if we are to reverse nature loss.
This initiative addressed the acute global challenge of decline of animal species and eco-anxiety caused by that. The local visual solution was to make a land art to highlight the importance of immediate actions needed to turn this tide. It made a visual change as an exclamation mark to turn the minds towards the often unnoticed small species like herrings, bees or shy birds.
As the WWF report states: "Individual small actions may not feel like enough but collectively people around the world have the power to make change." This initiative is to demonstrate this concretely and boost the faith in collaborative action.
4 workshops in different locations with different kinds of participants and place-specifically chosen endangered animals have been carried out. From 3 of them a peer-reviewed article has been written and both the evidence from the media and from the articles indicate that this method has a strong potential for further development and research. It is easy and cost-effective to implement in almost any surrounding, visually impressive and rewarding and empowering for the participants.
There is a huge European wide potential for developing this method further as an apparatus to deal with increasing eco-anxiety, for phenomenon-based learning in schools, colleges, universities, and life-long learning combining e.g. biology, arts, and geography. This method has inclusiveness potential by rooting immigrants into new places, since very little of this workshop is based on language but with tactile collaboration in nature and yet the visual end result is understandable and inspiring to all participants no matter what their background is. I would be honoured to promote this method with the help of the New Bauhaus team for arts-educators as well as anyone needing a tool for nature conservation or a visually inspiring collaborative method for team building.
The most important impact for extending the use of this method would be the act as an esthetical alarm button to demonstrate that more than 22% of the European animal population are in the Red List! Could we with European wide collaboration make a land art portrait of all 15 000 of them? That would be something that could not be passed unnoticed and could surely lead into actions as well.
This initiative develops new competences for acting for a sustainable future by giving tools of meliorism and empathy as well as visualising the power of collaborative actions. It supports teachers, group leaders and other educators in developing their STEAM skills to utilise art, storytelling and mythology to teach about the climate crisis and animal species declination. It gives an apparatus to deal with eco-anxiety among their students in a tactile way (as recommended by researcher Panu Pihkala in his research report 2020).
It also demonstrated the power of collaborative action which can be easily and economically organised in almost any location utilising just the excess material available on the spot. Majority of the participants in Punkaharju and Turku were young people, so this initiative involved young people in meaningful ways into concrete and visually pleasing action.
