Multimedia artist Suzanne Husky is collaborating with Earth Activist Training to create Mother Goose and other earth stories, geared toward deepening humans’ intuitive relationships to plants. The project, to be conducted over two years, will encompass research into traditional folktales in which plants are central; creation of the online podcast that will feature the folk tales read by storytellers associated with Earth Activist Training; and events in which the collaborating partners seek to enhance biophilia (love of the living) through ritual and experiential encounters. The podcasts are conceived as radio art pieces, embedded with relevant soundscapes and music reflected upon by different commentators and experts in plant intelligence. The first in the series was posted in October 2021.
Earth Activist Training, founded by Starhawk in 2000, offers courses in permaculture, earth-based spirituality, organizing, and activism. Its leaders will participate in the podcasts, and its extensive network will guide the artist’s research.
For the last 20 years, Suzanne Husky has developed a mixed-media creative practice focused on human and plant relations. She has shown work as part of the regional triennial Bay Area Now 5 at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and has exhibited at the deYoung Kimball gallery, Southern Exposure, the San Francisco Airport, and other venues. Husky and Earth Activist Training have recruited an impressive group of scholars, writers, and artists to inform the project.