Liberated Planet Studio

Fluid Bodies, Sea Memory, Aquatic Relations “Something New Will Come From The Water”

Register for Bodies of Water, Learning Endings 3/18/23

Every year, hundreds of whales and other marine mammals strand on terrestrial shores. These ocean-dwelling animals are mostly hidden from humans during their lifetimes, but in a stranding death, they reveal themselves to us, and call on us to care. The scientific practice of necropsy attends these animals in their deaths as a queer way of witnessing their lives, and caring for their kin. An act of deep intimacy and deep implication, necropsy opens the ocean and the animal to the human sensorium. How can we prepare ourselves to meet this vulnerability?

This workshop will attune to the micro-movements of our own bodies of water. Through listening and touch, our organs rearrange, as we contemplate what these animals, in their deaths, also ask of us. Together, we are learning endings.

Please wear comfortable clothing, and bring a phone or MP3 player that can play a sound file from the internet, as well as earphones/earbuds (if you do not have these, please let us know and we will provide them). Please bring anything else that will increase your comfort (e.g. water bottle).

This workshop is offered by Learning Endings, a multi-part interdisciplinary research project led by artist Patty Chang (Los Angeles), cultural researcher and writer Astrida Neimanis (Kelowna, BC) and veterinary pathologist Aleskija Neimanis (Uppsala, Sweden). It examines the work of scientists who perform necropsies of dead marine mammals as unacknowledged forms of attention and care, and explores how various kinds of art practice can support this care work. Including laboratory observation, expert interviews, walking art, filmmaking, community engagement, poetics, public outreach, and the sweaty work of interpersonal and interdisciplinary exchange, Learning Endings seeks different kinds of conversation about science, oceans, and human responsibility. As we try to figure out how to respond to so many untimely endings, how might we reconfigure the role of both science and art as part of the complicated ecologies of mutual care in and for the oceans, and for the beings that call it home?

RSVP HERE

A talk by Astrida Neimanis, associate professor, English and Cultural Studies, Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan

Every year, hundreds of whales and other marine mammals strand on terrestrial shores. These ocean-dwelling animals are mostly hidden from humans during their lifetimes, but in a stranding death, they reveal themselves to us, and call on us to care.

What might this care look like? What can these deaths teach us about the lives of these animals, and about the entangled futures of humans and oceans? Drawing on collaborative research with artist Patty Chang and veterinary pathologist Aleksija Neimanis, this talk wonders about the possibilities of transdisciplinary practice and an ecosystems approach to care. 

This event is sponsored by the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Society and Culture, with the support of the Faculty of Fine Arts, and organized by Erin Robinsong and Mark Sussman.

This is an in-person event with a possibility of attendance via Zoom. Register in advance. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

More Info

The thumbnail image (photograph) was taken in the context of a national disease surveillance program in which found dead animals are examined to determine cause of death and to contribute to the health of living populations. The views expressed in this artwork do not necessarily express the views of SVA (National Veterinary Institute Sweden). / Photo credit: Aleksija Neimanis, SVA

RSVP HERE

This program is organized by Patty Chang, Aleksija Neimanis, and Astrida Neimanis, with contributions from regional knowledge keepers Ken Workman, member of the Duwamish Tribal Council, and research biologist Jessie Huggins, as well as Canadian-based audio artist Anne Bourne.

On August 7, 2016, a juvenile humpback whale died on the beach just south of Fauntleroy Ferry Terminal in West Seattle. This animal was one of hundreds of marine mammals that strand every year on the northwest coast of the Pacific. These ocean-dwelling animals are mostly hidden from humans during their lifetimes, but in a stranding death, they reveal themselves to us, and call on us to care. This care can take many forms—from traditional ceremony, to scientific necropsy, to community vigil. Join Learning Endings collaborators for a forest and shoreline walk of storytelling, conversation, participation, and performance as we collectively consider what the death of the Fauntleroy humpback can teach us about the lives of these animals, those who care for them, and the entangled futures of humans and oceans.

Care for the Stranded is part of Learning Endings, a multi-part project by artists and researchers Patty Chang, Astrida Neimanis, and Aleksija Neimanis. Through a series of events, gatherings, research, and discussions, Learning Endings brings together local communities, scientists, artists, and humanities researchers to consider ecologies of care in a time of endings, with a focus on stranded marine mammals. For this Shoreline Walkshop, the Learning Endings collaborators will be joined by regional knowledge keepers Ken Workman, member of the Duwamish Tribal Council, and research biologist Jessie Huggins, as well as Canadian-based audio artist Anne Bourne.

DETAILS & DIRECTIONS

We will convene at the northernmost parking lot off of Fauntleroy Way SW, next to the park entrance sign at 9:30 AM. From there, the Learning Endings collaborators will lead the group through the park, stopping at predetermined points for conversation and activities. The route, with stops, should take about three hours to complete. Food and drink will be provided to participants at the final stop.

LEARNING ENDINGS COLLABORATORS

Patty Chang is a Los Angeles based artist and educator who uses performance, video, installation and narrative forms when considering identity, gender, transnationalism, colonial legacies, the environment, large-scale infrastructural projects and impacted subjectivities. She teaches at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, CA.

Aleksija Neimanis is a veterinary pathologist and researcher who works with wildlife health and disease surveillance at the National Veterinary Institute (SVA), Sweden. She frames wildlife health findings within a One Health context, in which human, animal and ecosystem health are all connected, to help inform policy.

Astrida Neimanis is a feminist cultural theorist. Her research focuses on human-water relationships, and climate catastrophe as a symptom of corrupted social and cultural relations. She is currently Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Feminist Environmental Humanities at UBC Okanagan, on the unceded lands of the syilx okanagan people. Her most recent book is Bodies of Water (2017).

CARE FOR THE STRANDED CONTRIBUTORS

Anne Bourne Artist/composer, improviser, creates emergent streams of cello, voice, field recording, image and text. Seasoned in international recording, concerts, somatic dance, and distance telematics, Anne is in research creation with Astrida Neimanis; Philippe Léonard; Hanna Sybille Müller; and Kara Lis Coverdale. A sonics improviser with composer Pauline Oliveros (1932-2016) and alumni of the sangre de cristomountain range deep listening retreats. Anne imparts Oliveros’ text scores, leads environmental listening and sounding, to create in collective empathic gesture, in the coalescence of difference, and walk. Anne is an affiliate of Center for Deep Listening, NY, and IICSI, CA; on the Board of Trustees for IONE, in support of the Pauline Oliveros Trust. A listening participant at TBA21 OceanUNI, Ocean Space, Venice IT; and field recording ecologies at Geopoetics Symposium, Cortes Is.CA, 2022. A Chalmers Fellow, Anne is writing ‘soundfield memory restoration archive’ with footsteps as touch; composing in attunement to the spectral wave patterns of water. annebournemusic.com

Jessie Huggins is a research biologist with Cascadia Research Collective in Olympia, WA. As their stranding coordinator, she leads Cascadia’s responses to and examinations of stranded marine mammals in Washington State, specializing in large whale and other cetacean strandings. Her current research interests include marine mammal diseases, long-term stranding trends, and human impacts. In addition to stranding response, she works on various aspects of Cascadia’s large whale photo-identification projects. She is a Pacific Northwest native and received her BS in Zoology from the University of Washington in 2001.

Ken Workman is a Native American from the Duwamish Tribe and 5th generation Great-Grandson of Chief Seattle. Ken retired from The Boeing Company’s Flight Operations Engineering Group where he worked as a Systems and Data Analyst. He is a member of the Duwamish Tribe, the first people of Seattle, and former Duwamish tribal council member as well as a former president of Duwamish Tribal Services, the non-profit arm of the Duwamish Tribe. He is a and former Board member of the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition and of the Southwest Seattle Historical Society Non-Profit Boards. Today Ken enjoys his retired life where takes long walks in the mountains east of Seattle where he lives on a river.

CREDITS

Care for the Stranded evolved from the Learning Endings collaborators’ involvement in the Henry’s Artist Fellowship Program, which is intended to advance artistic inquiry through the mutual exchange between invited artists and the larger University of Washington (UW) community. It is designed as a generative program that promotes dynamic collaboration and facilitates artistic development, aligning the Henry's commitment to innovation and inquiry with the University's standing as a leader in research. The 2022 pilot year of the Artist Fellowship Program was made possible by the Jones Endowed Fund for the Arts. This program is also supported by The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Hong Kong.

Download Sounding Care Readings

Join us for an evening of reading, listening, and reflecting on these questions together. Patty Chang and Astrida Neimanis will bring together contributions of words and sounds from various writers, artists, and scientists. No advance preparation required; readings and listening selections will be provided. All are welcome!

Sounding Care is part of Learning Endings, a multi-part project by artists and researchers Patty Chang, Astrida Neimanis, and Aleksija Neimanis. Through a series of events, gatherings, research, and discussions, Learning Endings brings together local communities, scientists, artists, and humanities researchers to consider ecologies of care in a time of endings, with a focus on stranded marine mammals. Sounding Care will lead up to their walkshop in September, a walking tour at a local site related to a marine mammal stranding. This community event will provide an opportunity for participants to collectively reflect on mutual care, death and intimacy in relation to oceans.

Sounding Care is presented by the Artist Fellowship Program, which is intended to advance artistic inquiry through the mutual exchange between invited artists and the larger University of Washington community. It is designed as a generative program that promotes dynamic collaboration and facilitates artistic development, aligning the Henry's commitment to innovation and inquiry with the University's standing as a leader in research. The content of Sounding Care emerged from conversations developed through the Artist Fellowship Program with artists and the greater UW community: Charlotte Coté, Associate Professor in American Indian Studies; William Wilcock, Professor in School of Oceanography; and AF Jones of Laminal Audio.

Source: https://henryart.org/programs/sounding-care

Astrida Neimanis, “A Gut Feeling”

A micro-essay part of Silent Whale Letters, by Vibeke Mascini and Ella Finer (hosted by Ocean Archive, TBA21):

https://ocean-archive.org/story/silent-whale-letters (scroll down to 28 March, 2022) 

Ritual: A Workshop at Henry Art Gallery

In collaboration with the Henry Art Gallery and interdisciplinary researcher Cleo Wolfle Hazard, Learning Endings took part in Ritual: Form and Function in Scholarly & Artistic Practice session. PhD students across a number of disciplines engaged with the Learning Endings memory game and shared their views on interdisciplinary collaboration, interspecies relations of care, death and mourning, memory, touch and care. 

Astrida Neimanis, “Care for the Stranded” at Busan Sea Art Festival 2021

A talk and conversation with Ritika Biswas, Busan Sea Art Festival 2021, “Non-/Human Assemblages” (14 October, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6WlxqFQRyY

Astrida Neimanis “Care for the Stranded” at Nottingham Trent University 2021.

A public lecture as part of the 2021 Critical Poetics Summer School, organized by the Critical Poetics Research Group at Nottingham Trent University in partnership with Nottingham Contemporary (28 June, 2021) https://www.nottinghamcontemporary.org/whats-on/poetry-care-for-the-stranded/

Speakers: Aleksija Neimanis and Astrida Neimanis.

Hosted by MNAI Convenes.

Astrida Neimanis and Patty Chang, “Art and environmental crises”, virtual seminar for the National Veterinary Institute (SVA), Sweden. Hosted by Aleksija Neimanis.

How do different disciplines work with environmental crises and how can we collaborate? Porpoises and other marine mammals are examined by necropsy at the Department of Pathology and Wildlife Diseases, National Veterinary Institute (SVA), Sweden to further our understanding of cause of death, health status, and diseases and other threats that these animals are exposed to. Other disciplines explore similar issues using their own methodology and expertise, and there are several ways in which we can communicate what we do and why.

Within a pilot project between an internationally recognized artist, Patty Chang (USA), a humanities scholar, Astrida Neimanis (Canada) and myself, Aleksija Neimanis, a wildlife pathologist at SVA, we explore necropsies of marine mammals as a form of care for these species and the ecosystems in which they live. As a part of our collaboration, I have invited Patty and Astrida to tell SVA more about what they do and how they work with environmental issues within their disciplines. All who are interested are very welcome to participate in this virtual seminar.