Art & Ecology

“What can poetry say in a time of catastrophe?” asks the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish. His question inspires the one I have asked with artist Sarah Gillespie and other artists and poets. Can artful, poetic expression of the human entanglement with other beings and the Earth itself help bring about the changes in worldview demanded by the ecological catastrophe of our times?

On Presence

With Sarah Gillespie
Published by The Letter Press April 2019; reprinted October 2019

On Presence By Peter Reason & Sarah Gillespie

“After a period of settling, several hours into the drawing, I find myself becoming absent. The presence of the tree, or the nest, or the light on the water, whatever it is I am making a study of, comes up and towards me.”

“My visit to the orchard is an everyday ritual. It has no practical purpose. Nothing special, and yet immensely special. For I am part of the orchard, and the orchard is part of me.”

We, Peter and Sarah, are uncle and niece. For many years we have been in conversation about the themes of this pamphlet, influencing each other’s thinking and practice. This is a collaborative work, intended as the first in a series, a first step toward sharing those conversations more widely.
On Presence draws together writing and drawing reflecting on the living presence of the world, moments when we have experienced the world not as a collection of inanimate objects but as a community of life we may encounter and of which we are a part. Our purpose in creating a beautiful and engaging pamphlet is to share some of this experience with others.
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To Purchase On Presence, please send your name and address with £10.00 plus postage and packing (UK £2.50; Europe £4.50; Australia and New Zealand £7.00; other international destinations £6.00) through PayPal to peterreason@me.com; or contact via the button above for direct debit details. On Presence is also available from Amazon UK.

On Sentience

With Sarah Gillespie
Published by The Letter Press in 2021

On Sentience By Peter Reason & Sarah Gillespie

"An early morning mist hung low over the meadows, the air was fresh, with birdsong all around; but beyond that, almost subliminally and certainly not open to clear description, I felt the Earth herself gently beating”

“Without a godhead our art will only go as far and as deep as our love goes — love that embraces loss and wounding as well as beauty.”

What would it be like to live in a world of sentient beings rather than inert objects? How would we relate to such a world? And what, then, would art and creativity be like? This a world of communication and interaction of which we can be a part, in which trees, crows, and rivers may grace us with a response to our attention and our call. Of course, we do live in such a world, although modern culture tragically fails to acknowledge this.

The writing and drawing in this booklet draw directly on our explicit and implicit adoption of this perspective. If we open ourselves, if we call, the world will respond. The place of art is to foreground this perspective.

On Sentience draws together writing and drawing reflecting on the living presence of the world, a world experienced not as a collection of inanimate objects but as a community of life we can encounter and of which

Go To PayPal
To Purchase On Sentience, please send your name and address with £10.00 plus postage and packing (UK £2.50; Europe £4.50; Australia and New Zealand £7.00; other international destinations £6.00) through PayPal to peterreason@me.com; or contact via the button above for direct debit details. On Presence is also available from Amazon UK.