Look Around Words By Elizabeth Fleur Willis
It is time to open our eyes. It is time to unfurl
incorporate concepts from the enlightened
our fingers like the fern, breathe in deep
foraging fringes into your everyday
the sweet scented air and taste the earth
consideration. Through highlighting the
beneath our feet. It is time to look around
capability of plants, to creating pigments,
and notice the unnoticed, the overlooked
branches to build fine art baskets, and
and the forgotten. Our planet is filled with
found objects to fill the gallery space,
a cornucopia of incredible objects which
ancient traditions and new entrepreneurial
grow under our noses, laid by the wayside,
possibilities regarding our relationship with
dismissed as useless or whose reputations
the physical world around us are illuminated.
are tarnished by negative terms such as
Shining a bright inviting light on the potential
weeds and trash. It is time to challenge the
around you could not only shift your own
entrenched ideas of what is truly useful and
consciousness but hopefully join the growing
desirable, whether practically or aesthetically.
trend toward shifting our engagement with the world around us.
Molly Tucker, Ellie Irons, May Hands, Mia Middleton, Marga Karayol and Christi
At the World Economic Forum 2019, David
York have taken elements of their local
Attenborough said “One thing we all have to
environment and elevated the overlooked,
do, in a way that covers every aspect of our
the unwanted and perhaps even the
life, is simply not to waste. Don’t waste food,
invisible world around them to create deeply
don’t waste plastic, don’t waste power. Live
ritualistic, bold and unique artistic practices.
within our means without inflicting damage on the planet. This is a possibility and that is
I myself, have dedicated my own practice
what we should all be aiming at”
and writing to raising awareness for the beauty of nature and by extension, to disrupt
If we choose to make decisions in our own
the complacent consciousness in society
lives that minimise wastage, for example,
regarding it. As you will have seen in the
foraging local herbs and greens or growing
previous pages, I have chosen to focus on
our own, rather than buying and supporting
artists who share this common goal, and
unsustainable super farmed produce, we
through extraordinary means, have found
can set a base for leading a less wasteful
practical ways to introduce this into their
existence. Once we have this base, by
methodology. Through the discovery of
extending this lifestyle, we can start to look at
these women’s innovative ideas, thrilling
every element of our lives and make changes
experimental methods and vibrant output,
on many levels. We could take the waste of
I hope that I can inspire you to similarly
the world and upcycle it, repurpose it and
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