Popularizing a systems approach to culture will take a while. I’ve begun to sketch out a roadmap knowing it may take lifetimes to explore, create, and ground-truth at any scale.
subaks
The traditional water distribution and agricultural expressions of Balinese rice farmers is my favorite example of articulture. Back in my greenmuseum•org days, I attended a talk as part of the Long Now SALT lecture series. The presentation blew me away with its modeled analysis of how this complex rice farming (and so much more) system functioned. It also gave me an introduction to how Balinese culture made the engineering and policy all work together, managing conflict and equity, and ensuring effective practices and wisdom were spread from generation to generation. These were grand, island-scale agricultural earthworks with art and ceremony and beauty woven into every step of a joyous, colorful, nourishing process…
whistle while you work
This post was fun to assemble. I hope these examples inspire anyone looking for ways hard work can actually be fun. A difficult task is so much easier with cultural support! These elements can be part of our art systems, part of our lives. As I witness these examples, I wonder what else is still out there, and what needs to be in place for these practices to survive modernity? Where else in life are they experiencing work music, rhythm, and integrated beauty to create enough soil for these manifestations to bloom? This does not happen in isolation. Food preparation, dancing, fashion, spirituality, festivals and even architecture are shaped by all of this…