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e202 coman poon - what are you doing with your life ?
Season 5 Episode 202
- We're going through a crash, the sixth extinction, climate collapse, geopolitical collapse, economic collapse, all types of overlapping, interlaced cycles of destruction. And like on planes, what you can do, at best, is to get ready for a glide as opposed to a hard landing, because that means some will survive, and those that survive aren't necessarily the lucky ones. So while we're on the plane, instead of putting on our noise canceling earphones, pretending that we're not in a sardine can, we could try turning to each other and saying hello. So many things can happen between the moment when we know the plane is going to crash, that there's no getting away from that and the crash itself. So, my invitation is to the listeners : what are you doing before the crash, in this time? What are you doing with your life? How are you going to actually weave connection? Because it's still possible to operate without hope. It’s absolutely imperative. (as told to Coman by Vanessa Andreotti in 2019)
‘In this episode, we delve into the life and work of Coman Poon, whose journey from colonial Hong Kong to contemporary Canada shapes his unique approach to art and community engagement. His story includes embracing change, fostering connections, and advocating for social and environmental justice.‘
Sounds pretty good, right? This paragraph was actually written by artificial intelligence software Whisper Transcribe. It’s a good tool but it makes Coman’s work sound a bit … dry.
Let me try reading a bit of Coman’s bio written, I assume, by a human.
Intersecting with his varied inter-arts collaborations, Coman Poon is a bilingual inclusion and intercultural advocate, community and organizational developer, decolonial and indigenous ally of Hong Kong & Toronto upbringing. With Erica Mott, he co-founded re[public] in/decency (Chicago/Toronto), an arts-activist initiative and creative think tank that explored the transnational intersections between live art, social justice activism and arts-informed pedagogy. Since 2013, Coman has been collaborating with his spouse, architect and installationist Brian Smith, under the moniker of [ field ], a life/art collaboration which explores the interstitiality within ritual and performance. Becoming Ten Thousand Things is his collaboration with dancer Naishi Wang centred in contemplative Taoist performativity. With Diana Lopez Soto, Coman co-founded Land Embodiment Lab (LEL), which holds space for the intersection of agroecology, land stewardship and arts practices through research into/of labour. As artist and consultant, Coman chose to be no longer active on social media and has intentionally deleted his website.
That’s more like it but still a bit removed from what I experienced when I spoke with Coman :
- I want to be of service, and I am of service in a number of different ways. And it's not always as an artist, it's not always through making and sharing something I've made. Sometimes it is around reweaving social connection in preparation for political battle. And I contribute in the particular way I do because I know the skills that I have.
So, as you can hear, Coman likes to apply his skills and knowledge in various contexts. For example, in a reevaluation of our relationship with nature and in fostering connections to navigate impending global crises.
- The earth has something to teach. If we pay attention. The land and waters and also the more-than-human have something to offer. It's my job to listen, it's my job to notice, it's my job to steward, to tend, and to the best of my ability, to offer something that is going to be an act of reciprocity.
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Published on 1 year, 3 months ago