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Designing a Sustainable World. The critical issue – for people, organizations, and governments alike- is knowing where we want to be. The imaginary, an alternative cultural vision, is vital in shaping expectations and driving transformational change. Shared visions act as forces of innovation, and what designers can do- what we all can do- is imagine some situation or condition that does not yet exist but describe it in sufficient detail that it appears to be a desirable new version of the real world.

John Thackara, In the Bubble

I am very interested in the emergence of different theories related to environmentalism and ecology to help the fashion industry develop into a more sustainable future.

What is ecofeminism? Is it a movement which promotes patriarchal stereotypes of nurturing Earth Mothers? Is it a movement only for white women? Is it the best hope for addressing global environmental problems? Ecofeminist theories are influential in several disciplines with a focus on “applied” scholarship, such as development studies and natural resource sciences. Feminist artist creating environmental art are reading ecofeminist theories. And young women, who frequents are deeply concerned about environmental questions, are often introduced to feminist arguments through exposure to ecofeminist theory.

Ecofeminism is a movement that makes connections between environmentalism and Feminisms; more precisely, it articulates the theory that the ideologies that authorize injustices based on gender, race, and class are related to the ideologies that sanction the exploitation and degradation of the environment.

Ecofeminism has roots in both feminism and environmentalism. Environmentalism is one of the most popular and significant locations for radical politics today; it attracts people because of the seemingly apocalyptic nature of our ecological crises and the many ways in which environmental problems affect people’s daily lives, as well as the sense of its global relevance. As a feminist movement, ecofeminism reworks as a political status for women so as to include the effects on the environment of feminizing nature.

The Ecofeminist Perspectives: Culture, Nature, Theory Conference in March 1987 was an embodiment of the sharp conflict between theorists of ecofeminism and deep ecology that had proceeded the conference and continued after it, as well as of the conflicts over sexism within radical environmentalist groups inspired by deep ecology. Deep ecology is a radical environmentalist philosophy formulated primarily by Arne Naess, Bill Devall, George Sessions, and Warwick Fox. Its central point is that environmental problems stem from anthropocentricity, a human-centred ideological position. Thus, environmental problems can only be solved by takin a biocentric or ecocentric approach, one that puts the needs of nature first, or at least on a parallel with human needs. Though deep ecology has had an abiding influence on a number of activist-oriented movements, it remains primarily an intellectual movement.

Deep ecology’s desire to rid society of the need for the “domination and control of nature” would seem to ally it with ecofeminist concerns, but, as Jim Cheney argues, “deep ecological attempts to overcome human (really masculine) alienation from nature fail In the end because they are unable to overcome a masculine sense of self and the kinds of ethical theory that go along with this sense of self”. The “oceanic feeling of fusion” with nature promoted by deep ecologists is just the flip side of a dualism that allows only two choices in out relationship with nature (and with other human beings): “either we ‘respond to nature as part of ourselves’ or we treat it ‘as a stranger or alien available for exploitation’… We have either atomistically defined selfs who are strangers to one another or one gigantic self”.

I know I am a very visual person and my ideas always translate into images so I reached out to a writer to help me write the script of the narrative. I will need some help to write the voiceover that will go along with the images.

– Contact location: Bardenas Reales Nature Reserve. As it’s a student project I won’t need to pay the booking fee, just the admin fee. I got a certificate from UAL to prove that it’s a master’s student project.

– Contact Kodak. I met a DOP in London a few months back and he gave me the contact of someone working in Kodak. I emailed him and he offered me a great deal, I’ll pay for 4 30mt-rolls and get 2 for free.

– Contact Cinelab regarding development.

– Arrange meeting with Alice Potts (biodesigner) in London

– Contact Nowness. Following Vicky’s advice from last tutorial I sent Ahmad Swaid the brief of my film.

I met Jorge Rico today to discuss the collaboration for my film. His work is really good and he is working with a lot of music artists in Spain at the moment. He liked my idea and is quite happy with shooting in 16mm.

We will be sharing some references with each other to get the best visuals for the concept.

The biodesigner samples I will be using for my film are samples of new biomaterials but cannot be worn, as they are not finished garment pieces. So I will need to think about the costumes that the characters in the film will be wearing. As I am focusing on sustainable ways of development in fashion, I think it’s important that I have this concept present for every aspect of the production of the film (set design, styling, catering, zero-waste)

My friend is building a new vintage brand and we shot the campaign yesterday. Working on this shoot made me reflect on different ways in which fashion can be sustainable: reusing and recycling clothes, reusing and recycling materials, redesigning materials without extracting natural resources. Doing some further research I found the three concepts of recycling, upcycling, and repurposing as the different approaches to environmental sustainability. I will have all these concepts in mind when I discussed with the stylist the outfits of the characters.

Here are some of the photos from the shoot:

Directed by Sylvie Rokab and narrated by Liam Neeson, Love Thy Nature points to how deeply we’ve lost touch with nature and takes viewers on a cinematic journey through the beauty and intimacy of our relationship with the natural world. The film shows that a renewed connection with nature is key both to our health and the health of our planet. 

Brian Swimme PhD Cosmologist – There’s not been this kind of destruction on the planet since the time of the dinosaurs, 65 million years ago.

Progress has its price. Duane Elgin, MA Social Scientist, NASA Consultant – Over thousands of years we’ve been progressively empowering ourselves becoming more differentiated, more identified as unique human beings but in the process, step by step pulling back from the natural world.

Dayna Baumeister, PhD Co-founder of Biomimicry 3.8 – the only way we’ll ever make it as a species in this planet is if we reconnect with nature.

Earth is here for us to use. We’ve now come to an end of that track and it’s no longer serving us. And we see, instead of dominion, we’re really participants in the natural world. And that’ coming more into alignment with some of the Eastern traditions as well as some of the indigenous traditions in spirituality.

Maybe this new deep understanding required our disconnection from nature. Maybe to reach this full understanding we had to go through this period of disconnection.

The biological revolution. The entire Industrial Revolution was ultimately about taking. Taking minerals, taking soil, taking oil, taking water. There’s a limit on how much you can take. By redefining our relation, it isn’t nature is there for us but we ultimately are part of the natural world. Our lives depend on it. And if we can quiet our cleverness and we can instead borrow the recipe instead of taking the raw materials, then we’ve entered the biological revolution. 

Kathryn Ferguson strongly recommended me this movie as a reference for the film I am making. Zabriskie Point (1970) was directed by Michelangelo Antonioni. Blow up is the only film I have watched by this director, so I looked into some of his directing and visual techniques before watching Zabriskie Point.

Set in southern California at the height of the late-’60s student unrest, the two main characters of Zabriskie Point exist outside the context of the reality of the country and epoch they live in. My story also creates an inside reality that seems like a parallel dystopian reality to the real world, so it was interesting to see the way Antonioni uses the place to enter this parallel fiction.

Choosing models to act in fashion films can be risky sometimes. This film also made me think about the casting, the characters in the movie are non-professional actors but you wouldn’t notice unless you’d read it beforehand.

Antonioni uses wide to extreme long shots, especially in the scenes that happen in the desert.

I would also like to mention the color palette of the movie, I think the color is an important part of my piece as I discussed with Liam in my previous tutorial. Antonioni’s palette is similar to what I would like to achieve, yet a bit more goldish and saturated.

Illumination: long shadows and backlighting

Music in Zabriskie Point: featuring the Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd and Rolling Stones. Stunning final scene.

For this tutorial, I gathered more references on location (potential accommodation in the area), stylism, illumination ideas, cameras, casting, etc. to give Liam a fully visual idea of the project.

He strongly recommended me to go to the location with my DOP beforehand, as the location for the project plays an important role. I want to film long shadows and I need to know what the light is in the place. He recommended me to use an app for the sun once I’m there.

We also discussed my plans for color grading. Color is also very important in this project and in my work in general. Liam suggested I get in touch once I get the footage as he might know some people interested in working on it for their portfolios.

Liam also suggested thinking about other ideas for lighting, as projecting the sunset to create the long shadows and showed me one of his videos where they did that.

Finally, we talked about some exhibition ideas and to use the concept of the whole project to curate the way I exhibit the film and photos (if covid allows us to have a physical exhibition by the end of the year)