Blogs
Two of my big loves are nature and art. More specifically, I feel passionate about pursuing a career in conservation (likely involving research) and quite enjoy expressing myself and connecting with others through art. As such, I was elated to hear that an intersection between the two exists in art-based environmental research and education. In what I’ve learned so far, I’ve found art-based research to be a natural extension of well-established scientific protocols, a great way to obtain additional information, and I can really see how such protocols could engage diverse audiences, thereby being inclusive by nature.
I recently completed an introductory course in Art-based Perceptual ecology (ABPE), a form of art-based research with Dr. Lee Ann Woolery. Broadly, the way I understood ABPE was that we we’re taking our sensory experience of an environment/an ecological subject and translating it into art. That becomes the data that can later be collected for research (or aid in education).
In the aforementioned course we learned three main protocols.
- The first involved going into a naturalized setting and creating art (a sound map) depicting all of the sounds we heard for 30 minutes through self-defined symbols/marks on a page. This was my favourite protocol as it allowed freedom for me to choose how I drew each sound and it really amazed me how much sound I picked up / could translate to this 2D page. It was also interesting that despite the individual nature of art, there were commonalities to participants depicted certain sounds, e.g. a dog’s bark; reminding me of how there may be some type of collective unconscious that runs through art (as we’ve seen through cave paintings and more over the years). The following image depicts my sound map.
- The second protocol involved looking straight up into the forest canopy, and translating that in detail into art (taking into account textures, how filled in the canopy was, different shapes / trees, possibly colour, etc,) as an indicator of forest health. Seeing such a decline in our forests and increase in threats (e.g. LPD moths to trees in my area), I was glad to see a protocol that could help track the health of forests over time. My forest canopy protocol drawing:
- The final protocol involved tracing the shadow of a known / previously identified plant over set intervals e.g. 15 minutes to track its shadow over time. This was brought up to be used in conjunction with a line-transect study and I could definitely see myself doing / using this as I remember noticing how the shadow of plants hit my page while doing a line transect study during my placement, and how it changed over the course of the day. Thus, it just felt like a very natural addition. Each of these protocols could be repeated over time and over multiple intervals for broad scale studies. First and last drawing of a series of plant shadows, as well as a photo of one of my previous quadrats in a line-transect study with plants overhanging my page (perfect inspiration for this protocol), shown below.
At the start of each of these protocols we were encouraged to take time to be mindful / come into the moment so we could be fully present for the work. I definitely found each of these to be a mindful activity. I noticed more detail in the environment around me than I do normally. I think you’d definitely notice more indicators of health and even more species diversity practicing in such a way, because you’re truly taking the time to notice. I found it calming, enriching, and exciting to learn a new way of connecting with / studying the environment and I look forward to adding these protocols to my toolbox.
During the course we had important discussions about how the most well rounded research protocols incorporate other ways of knowing, e.g. incorporating traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) with western science and arts based data collection and/or provision. Given I am already so passionate about two-eyed seeing in research (incorporating TEK and western science), and know that everyone has different aptitudes, I love the idea of making research more accessible by allowing people to share art based data, thereby minimizing some of the language, cultural, or cognitive barriers that may be required for studies relying on other aptitudes. We also talked about how art in all its forms may be useful in disseminating research information, and once again making it more accessible to the masses, e.g. many would be more likely to watch a video than read a research paper.
I look forward to seeing what the future brings in terms of research incorporating other ways of knowing and to being a part of it. For more information I’d encourage you to check out Dr. Lee Ann Woolery’s website at http://www.ecoartexpeditions.com
