The Burn in progress, May of 2021.
Capsule has been up in Arroyo Seco for about a month now, providing a space and a depository for heartfelt notes about this crazy time we are living through together. Many people have left their notes online as well, which in turn have been illustrated by the amazing artist Anthony Carlson and posted on the facebook and instagram pages.
At some point in the future we will get to gather again, and at that time we will burn Capsule and watch it transform. The notes will act as kindling for a larger interior fire which in turn will activate the mechanism to open the hands, exposing a new shape and the inner core of the piece.
For Millenia, people have gathered in groups around fires and thrown representations of hopes, dreams, intentions and fears into the fire. The immediate transformation brought on by fire is a powerful representation of a channel to another realm, another place. It changes things.
Yes, fire changes things. As the wildfires rage in the Western States, we are seeing a massively destructive outcome, partially if not entirely due to human negligence and global hubris. We are facing a time when nature is unfolding the consequences of decades of unbridled resource ravaging. These climate related events are now the "new normal". We are now in a spiraling climate crisis we had been forewarned about. It's just the beginning. Reversing this may be close to impossible now, but we still have the chance to stop it from getting worse. And all science points to the bare fact that it will get worse.
It's simple, yet so intricately complicated; we are all connected to this climate crisis in some way. Change is imperative. Change of habits, the way we consume, the way we use resources, the way we live together. The pandemic and the severe climate events can push us to see in new ways, with equity, with a fierce sense of our humanity. We ARE all in this mess together.
We may be in a political typhoon right now, with an agenda that is retroactive in its approach to reality, but I believe in the millions of people who want change, who face the collective current with open eyes and creative solutions. I believe we are the majority.
As an artist, I hope Capsule can serve to hold some shared hopes, intentions, fears and dreams. Check out the Capsule website if you wish to participate remotely.
Click to see how to participate.
And, I am really looking forward to this burn!
