ATMOSPHERES: Conspiracies: an ethereal/etymological Zoom performance for uncertain times (and plants)

Conspiring literally means breathing together. With each breath we thicken our life-long dependancy to the magical world-making of plants. They craft the very fuel we thrive on. Atmosphere is the name of a place in the universe for these deep tissue encounters to happen. It is a place of conspiracy. Breathing is getting quite political these days in Atmosphere. Collective survival is tied to the alliances we make and unmake. This performance invites us to take the time to celebrate our molecular intimacy with plants that dwell in and around our everyday spaces: our homes, our work buildings, wherever we are on this Friday morning/afternoon. It’s a time to meet with them. To listen, to thank, to witness, to acknowledge, to move towards, to make plans.

dance for plants is a dance collective, a ground for growing up together, a support group working towards responsible and resilient co-becomings. Since 2016, dances have been danced, circles have been traced, dead ones have visited, conflicts have come up, stories have been held, healing has learned to know itself, hearing has felt like matter, tears have flowed, water has helped, bodies have emerged, have wiggled, have tuned in, and hearts have been open.

Over the past four years, the group has temporarily inhabited multiple gardens, museums, galleries, theatres, forests, studios, universities, houses, apartements and parcs, unfolding its multiple practices. Şifâ Doğuştan, Loup Rivière and Stella Faelli take part in this collective among other dancers.

All lectures and ensuing discussions will be live on zoom at the designated hour and last about 90 minutes.

Please write to Allison Peacock to register (include ATMOSPHERES in the subject line). You will be sent a zoom link by return email.

This Virtual Lecture series is curated by David Howes, the outgoing director of CISSC. It is co-sponsored by the Centre for Sensory Studies and the CISSC Gardens, Sensing Atmospheres, and Colonial, Racial and Indigenous Ecologies (CRIE) Working Groups.