A SITE SPECIFIC CONTEMPLATIVE ENGAGEMENT [2017-CURRENT]
This project, initiated by performance facilitator and somatic guide Krista Leigh Pasini, began with a series of inquiries centered around Montana's popular nickname, 'The Last Best Place'. Montana is a state frequently celebrated for its vast landscapes and access to recreation and the promotional material and tourism language became counter point to what stories were left out of the narrative. Among all the beautiful vistas, glacial rivers, and ancient river beds there are wounds, scars, that tell a tale of resource extraction and forced removal of indigenous people, of cultural genocide. Last Best Place, Conversations with Montana is an ongoing research which interfaces with eco-cultural politics, and embodiment practices.
INITIAL QUESTIONS
Where is the "Last Best Place"?
How do we embody the environment and how does the environment embody us?
How can we be stewards of our place and of ourselves?
STRUCTURE
To be open to new concepts
The initial inquiry is preliminary and may change
Observations exists under paradigm of maximum structural variation
Analysis is directed toward discovery - of similarities and dissimilarities
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
How is the past knowable at all?
What is ‘causality’ in human affairs?
What would evidence about the past look like?
How do a person’s personal, political, economic, social, cultural, ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as aesthetic preference shape the ‘reality’ of the past that is brought to light?
This project is currently archived in a virtual exhibit at HaltForce Art Collective: https://haltforceartcollective.com/last-best-place-project-page
This project, initiated by performance facilitator and somatic guide Krista Leigh Pasini, began with a series of inquiries centered around Montana's popular nickname, 'The Last Best Place'. Montana is a state frequently celebrated for its vast landscapes and access to recreation and the promotional material and tourism language became counter point to what stories were left out of the narrative. Among all the beautiful vistas, glacial rivers, and ancient river beds there are wounds, scars, that tell a tale of resource extraction and forced removal of indigenous people, of cultural genocide. Last Best Place, Conversations with Montana is an ongoing research which interfaces with eco-cultural politics, and embodiment practices.
INITIAL QUESTIONS
Where is the "Last Best Place"?
How do we embody the environment and how does the environment embody us?
How can we be stewards of our place and of ourselves?
STRUCTURE
To be open to new concepts
The initial inquiry is preliminary and may change
Observations exists under paradigm of maximum structural variation
Analysis is directed toward discovery - of similarities and dissimilarities
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
How is the past knowable at all?
What is ‘causality’ in human affairs?
What would evidence about the past look like?
How do a person’s personal, political, economic, social, cultural, ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as aesthetic preference shape the ‘reality’ of the past that is brought to light?
This project is currently archived in a virtual exhibit at HaltForce Art Collective: https://haltforceartcollective.com/last-best-place-project-page