The need for art in a climate crisis

Can we still have nice things? We're talking about the need for art to create social change in a climate crisis. Plus a little personal update.

Hi friends,

We're writing today after a solid couple of weeks of downtime at home, recovering from a rotten cold. It's been far from quiet here, though. There has been a little bit of reinvention going on as we throw ourselves into a new project. Ten years today, we took over the reigns of the beautiful online retail space that was Spiral Garden. At the time, it was full of Steiner-inspired products, perfect for a family homeschooling young children. Through the years it's grown and changed with us as we grew and changed.

These days, the retail side of things is much smaller, as our focus has turned towards mentoring, writing and expanding our eCourses - they're coming, promise! In January, when we shrunk the retail side of things to just secondhand books, permaculture games and our own offerings (tea towels, books and art prints), we explained we were feeling uncomfortable selling *things*. What we understand now is that we were uncomfortable with what those things represented. We didn't like perpetuating the concept that waste-free, climate-positive, living, is a lifestyle to be bought into. Quite the opposite, we feel that you can live this way with the simplest of tools. Rather than an expensive way of shopping, it's actually a very frugal way of living.

While we grappled with our own discomfort with selling *stuff*, something that niggled at us was our own penchant for buying and collecting things. We've always tended towards the maximalist end of the spectrum, with piles of books and records, art on the walls and more teapots than any family ought to have in a small home like ours. The great majority of these belongings are pre-loved and very much loved all over again, when they arrive at our home. Occasionally we'll buy something new though, and it's always a very conscious choice. What we buy new is art. Whether it's a book, a handmade mug, a record or something for the wall, we buy things that benefit the creative who makes them. And that feels about right.

Why we need art in a climate crisis

As parents of artists, and children of artists, and who once were artists ourselves, art (music, photography, painting, ceramics, textiles etc.), has always been important to us. We understand that art reflects our culture. It communicates what’s in our hearts. It gives us something to aspire to, brings innovation, provides perspective and forces us to question what's going on around us. Art has seen and inspired every political and paradigm shift, every disaster and social movement through history. Artists become truth tellers, consolers, sources of inspiration and understanding. Now, more than ever, we need artists and their art.

Of course, not all art can be made without environmental impact. Painters use chemicals, books are made of paper, records are made of plastic, films create carbon footprints the size of small countries. But still... we can shift to make these things as thoughtfully as possible, and forgive some of the negative impacts, for the positives they bring. In our own home, art is often made with second-hand materials, or on second-hand technology. It's usually compostable, but where this isn't possible, materials are repurposed and disposed of responsibly. We understand this is part of the process of learning to make and communicate better art. We value pre-loved art, but also buy a little new art, so as to support the artists to make more, to keep telling their stories. We can find balance, have nice things, and still have positive impact.

Here's the thing though. Now, perhaps more, if not just as much as ever, we especially need to see, feel, hear and experience art made by women. In almost every major art-making field, women are under-represented. This is felt keenly in the music industry where music by women only makes up 20% of all popular music that gets made. Only 12.6% is music written by women and only 3% is produced by women. Women's voices are missing from our record stores (which are primarily run by men), and in a lot of cases, our hearts and our minds. If we're really going to create an equitable society; if we're going to smash the patriarchy and create the rapid social change needed to really address climate change, we need to hear the voices that reflect the half of the population that's still under-represented. In order to face the climate crisis, we need art and music made by women.

So, what are we getting at?

Well, it's our new family project. We're opening a record store. It'll be tiny, (a real bricks and mortar shop), but it's the record store of our dreams. Woman-owned, and with a big secondhand catalogue of great albums, and a decent catalogue of new artists to throw enthusiasm and support behind. We love the low-tech nature of vinyl records and how they slow us down and tune us in to listening mindfully. We've covered all environmental issues as thoroughly as we can, and hope people will treat these heirloom, forever, art pieces with the love and respect they deserve. The catalogue features the incredible stories, songs and voices of women. Voices that we feel it’s important to bear witness to; some that can’t be found in streaming formats and risk being lost to us. And music that brings joy - gosh we need a little of that!

It's nuts (we know), and probably not the most lucrative thing we could be throwing our time and effort into. It’s a labour of love. But with our combined history, knowledge, enthusiasm, and where our kids are up to now, it feels right.

Spiral Garden continues on as ever, sharing climate solutions, waste-free living, and permaculture-in-action. There’s so much still to share on that front as we overhaul our own permaculture design plan to fit and feed our family. And we each get a new part-time record store job, too, with an awesome all-female soundtrack.

So that's our news for this week (although we've been working on it for some time). We'll be sharing snippets of updates of the process from time to time here, but in more detail at Suffragette Records. You’ll find lots more there and on social media, about the how and why of this new project, too.

In the meantime, here are some other things we've been up to:

Reading - Artists organize to offer new visions for tackling climate change.
Listening - The wonderful Futuresteading with this episode from last winter with Damon Gameau, delivering a call to arms for storytellers.

Watching - our youngest daughter adores Billie Eilish. She’s a pretty great role model for a music-loving, home educated girl to have. This recent film she produced, with her family, beautifully demonstrates how we can use art to elevate the diverse voices of young people, especially young women, in response to the climate crisis. It, and the 4hr workshop/panel that accompanies it are worth watching.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Much love,
Lauren & Oberon. xx

* Photos in this post are by Natalie Mendham.