As I wrote in part 1, while I was sitting at my reading table a few weeks ago, I found myself thinking about the role of storytelling, art, and systems thinking as essential partners in the science of climate. Last week I shared the Waters Foundation card deck, Habits of a Systems Thinker. This week, I want to focus on storytelling and art.
Two storytelling artists who practice systems thinking are Lauren Redniss and Rachel Ignotosky. I wrote about Lauren’s book Thunder & Lightning—Weather, Past, Present, Future in September of 2017: “Author & illustrator Lauren Redness is a science storyteller, Artist-in-Residence at the American Museum of Natural History, and teaches at Parsons School of Design. Her illustrations in Thunder & Lightning cover the entire page.”
It’s taken me 2 years to actually read it after reading the initial pages. But when I picked the book up last week, I couldn’t put it down. If you have a tween or teenager in the house (or classroom) who is taken with graphic novels and comics, get this book. Get it for yourself. Get it for friends (find it used like I did). I guarantee there is something in this book to engage and intrigue anyone. With the COP25 conference underway in Madrid, Lauren’s stories and illustrations offer some unique entry points for conversation about climate and tipping points.
The second storyteller artist is Rachel Ignotovsky, author and illustrator of Women in Science, and my favorite, The Wondrous Workings of Planet Earth—Understanding Our World and its Ecosystems. I’m slowly working my way through this beautiful book, reading a section at a time. I’m currently in the Ecosystem of the Mojave Desert. I wrote about it back in September and if you missed it then, you can click through some sample pages of the book here. (Scroll down the page to The Reading Table section).
And elsewhere:
READ Great (short) piece on Kids, Soil, and Climate by Steven Apfelbaum. Among other things, Steve co-teaches a course on the future of coastal ecosystems at Harvard Graduate School of Design, Cambridge. And who is that woman in the photo? I want to know her. She is creating a good life.
WATCH Bakeru, an extraordinary work of interactive video. Watch the trailer here and scroll down the page.
LISTEN Interview with Dr. Henry Jenkins by Ian O’Byrne and Kristen Turner about “participatory culture” and youth participation online. I first met HJ in 2006 and have been a fan ever since. [32 minutes 26 seconds long and well worth the time]
As always, thank you for reading. I love hearing from you. I’m especially interested in hearing about the conversations you are having with family and friends about climate, technology, stories, art, and your favorite books. Just respond to this post and I’ll get back to you.
