Dani Slabaugh's Page

Profile Information

Are you an artist, arts organization or venue?: artist

What town do you live in?: northampton

In which disciplines do you work or exhibit?: Video, Installation, Other

Artist Statement/Bio: I came at this project knowing that the truth was a messy thing - that telling the truth is a near impossibility, it is always changing and it is never complete.

My own truth, of who I am and how the world is and should be has changed often in my life. My self-definitions have roller-coastered between privilege and oppression, margin and mainstream. This has brought into focus not only just how messy truth is, but also how subjective it is to where we stand in this world.

Through these blurry identities I have come to understand that telling my own truth, from my specific experience of the world, is as close as I can come as an artist and documentarian to telling The Truth. Sharing how I see, and inviting others to do the same, is as close as I can find to a true documentary of how the world works. It is through making our own stories and uniting them with other’s that we make meaning of the world and our roles in it.

Ultimately, how we make meaning of the world, of ourselves and our identities is tied to our land and its resources. How many resources we consume, how we appear, where we situate ourselves, what we eat, and where we eat it, and how we move about our communities tell ourselves and others how much we earn, where we are from, and who we find community, love, and solidarity with. In my life I have negotiated this messy entanglement between environment and society on my bicycle, and so have many other bicycle commuters who have examine the power dynamics wrapped up in how we relate to our environments.

I have begun to document this Truth – the story of human society and the environment. The story, however, is incomplete without every personal experience of environmental justice. Your story is part of this documentary, as much as mine, or any of the other commuters I have collaborated with. Your reflections and your relationships to self-determination, privilege, consumption, oppression, global injustice, ability, debt, healthcare, manual labor, technology, and liberation are all key components to building a bigger story, a better truth.

Sharing of yourself, I know, is intimidating. It takes courage to be honest. The facts are always changing- and so is your story. The installation is erasable – the story is impermanent: shifty and fuzzy edged. Nothing you write here will be set in stone. Nothing you draw will be held up as anything more than an artifact of a process you were kind enough to share with your community. Be loose! Take chances! Step outside your experience and push the boarders of your worldview. You don’t have to walk away with another perspective, but I do hope you will empathize with another – maybe someone you wouldn’t normally talk to.

With that, I welcome you! You are the main event! Your experience is what matters here, wherever you are, we are all here to meet you at that point, not at some holy meditational place of pure wisdom. We are all imperfect, we are all messy, and we all think about much more than the weather. To make sure that we are all able to express our messy selves, without fear of reprisal, guilt, shame, or other forms of public humiliation and disrespect, please adhere to the following guidelines:

Speak from your own experience – never speak for another person, or assume another’s life experience.

Be inclusive – allow space for others to speak. Specifically check your (Male, white, straight, class, able-bodied, first world, coastal, first-language speaking) sense of comfort dominating airspace.

Listen! – really listen, make eye contact, use body language, make sure people feel heard.

Respect and validate everyone’s right to express themselves, whatever that may look or sound like.

Describe your organization or gallery: Cycle is a community arts project in the form of an interactive documentary about environmental justice and bicycle commuting in the pioneer valley. Specifically, it is about how you and other residents of the valley relate to your envirionment and ideas of environmental stewardship.
You don’t have to be a bicycle commuter to participate in the project! Simply show up and be willing to listen, share, and engage in some critical thinking.
There are many ways you can do this at a Cycle installation. Whatever you wish to share will be made available for future participants.
The end result will be documentation of a community brainstorm about environmental justice and what it can, and should mean for both individuals and the Pioneer Valley as a community.

Website: http://sites.google.com/site/cyclevideoproject/Home

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At 6:00pm on May 5, 2009, Jill Turner said…: Hi,

Telling the truth, it is so different for everyone. One of my favorite quotes is, " A true spirituality is revolutionary, in that it supports no falsehood." by Vipassana teacher Christina Feldman. It would be unsafe for me to expose recent environmental injustice I have experienced. But I can say that much!

At 4:23pm on April 21, 2009, George A. Williams said…: Dani,
Congratulations on doing the right thing. It gives me hope for the future.
During the winter months, I don't ride my bicycle and get out of shape and put on weight. Besides going to a costly gym, do you have any ideas as to how do I combat this.
Peace

At 3:04pm on April 21, 2009, Rosemary Wessel said…: Hi Dani,
Cool project! Your link to the cyclevideoproject is malfunctioning, though. I had to cut out the "https://" part of it.
I hope you don't mind, I'm going to post a link to it and your event on the Hilltown Sustainability Group's site - http://www.ourworldbydesign.com