Arts Admin | Two Degrees 

Described by some as ‘the art of creating beneficial relationships’ and by others as ‘the science of connections’ or even ‘revolution disguised as gardening’, Permaculture is an ecological design system which merges traditional wisdom with contemporary ecological research. Its central tenet is that by observing the way eco-systems such as a forest or meadow work, we can learn to build human habitats that are energy efficient, resilient, and highly productive. The idea of mimicking the design of natural systems can be applied to everything from planting edible landscapes to the way a performance is designed, and could provide many of the solutions to the crisis, yet permaculture remains on the fringes of society. Can art and activism change this and make permaculture as desirable as it deserves to be?

The C.R.A.S.H Conversations are three public discussions facilitated by the Laboratory of Insurrectionary Imagination (Lab of ii) as part of the C.R.A.S.H Course, which explore the relationships between art, permaculture and activism, and their role in providing radical solutions to the ecological crisis. Each evening focuses on a specific discipline and will be introduced by key proponents in the field.

The Lab of ii project C.R.A.S.H – A Postcapitalist A to Z opens a space in which to imagine a postcapitalist future. As the future of our ecological life support systems hangs in the balance and we suffer the consequences of reckless economic fantasies, the question of what our future could look like has never been more vital. The Lab of ii will be experimenting with radical sustainable alternatives to the ecological and economic crises in the symbolic heart of the capitalist system, London’s square mile.

Working with artists, activists and permaculturists C.R.A.S.H merges popular education, live art and direct action. The project begins with the C.R.A.S.HCourseandConversations, building skills of resilience and resistance with precarious and unemployed workers, and ends with C.R.A.S.H Contingency andCulture, a mystery night time journey to utopia and back, and a series of interventions across the City.

http://www.labofii.net

http://www.artsadmin.co.uk/projects/event.php?id=668