The Insp-AIR-ation (Art + Science Project)

For many emerging into the realisation that the climate crisis is here and present and that we will all be affected, there is a feeling of being overwhelmed and the sense that we are standing on the edge of a precipice. In these times of uncertainty and fear, artist interventions have a capacity to engage with these embodied experiences and bring a sense of hope to the conversation through creative reflective engagement. The act of making can reduce anxiety and is a way for people to express themselves as they enter this phase of climate adaptation. As UK activist group, Culture Declares Emergency, puts it, ‘creativity is the antidote of despair’ (2019). Through the Insp-AIR-ation ArtScience community project, artist facilitators focused on perceptions of air quality. The ways in which we organise our collective lives are very influential on weather cycles and climate rhythms. Through the kaupapa (guiding process) in this emergent project, we sought to give voice to the concerns of community groups, their hopes, and aspirations. This arts project provided people with a space and platform to shape their feelings and express values. While science has been pivotal in highlighting the precariousness of our current way of living, the arts have never been more important than now in expressing who we are and shaping a positive response towards a liveable and just future for all. Commenting on the Climate Crisis, former US advisor, Gus Speth has called for a social response and culture as a necessary agent for bringing about transformational change. Basarab Nicolescu, in La transdisciplinarité: Manifeste (1996), talks about building bridges between science and our ways of being through symbolic language which is enriched by the originating values of the community. This project is one such response in building bridges.