So I decided to travel from Amsterdam to Turkey by train to attend my sister's wedding. But why did I make an art project out of it?
Although I must say a lot of people understand why I make an art project out of it, I can imagine that some people don't understand it. Maybe because you think my goal is to save the climate with my train trip. As I already mentioned in my previous blog, I don't think I will save the climate. Nor is this project meant to convince people that they have to take the train, that they should be more sustainable etcetera.
I am doing this trip mainly to reflect on my own thoughts and feelings. To reflect on this dilemma that I faced: wanting to go to my sister's wedding (personal need) and not wanting to fly (collective responsibility for a liveable planet). How does this dilemma work? How do you solve the dilemma? What kind of psychological mechanisms are behind the dilemma? Do others also feel this dilemma and how do they deal with it? It might sound a bit sad, but my climate depression had a lot of impact on me. I don't know how I need to balance my personal needs with the collective needs. Not just regarding this trip, but regarding everything I do.
Ok so why does art help with reflecting? Well, that's a big question, but art can get you closer to your emotions, it can help investigate thoughts, situations and feelings, it can help organise all this or help you find new ways or perspectives.
I read an interesting article by de Klimaathelpdesk (very nice website by the way go check it out) which basically gives a part of the answer to the question I am asking here in this blog and even more. It explains how art can help us to understand, to feel, to connect and to find solutions. The nice thing is that this article is also connected to the environmental issues and how art can help us to find the solutions to fight these issues together.
In short points how art can help with environmental problems according to this article:
Art can make the knowledge of experts available in a different, more visually appealing way
Artists can also contribute in a very direct way to finding solutions to ecological problems
Art can give people new languages and tools to understand the world around us and find solutions
Art can contribute in a surprising way to understanding sustainability; it can open our eyes to beauty and other perspectives
Art can teach us to live with uncertainty and help us let go of the dream that we have complete control over things
Art can offer a helping hand in the search for openings for dialogues about how we want to organize our future society
In this article they refer to the American writer and essayist Rebecca Solnit, who said:“...who is lost is fully present, and who is fully present is able to dwell in uncertainty and mystery. It is the job of artists to open doors and admit the strange, the unknown. Counting on the unforeseen is perhaps precisely that paradoxical operation that life demands most from us.”
For me this is what art does. So you could say I'm doing this primarily for myself. But as an artist you share what you have experienced so that other people can hopefully also benefit from it :)