Preparing for the Translating Vitalities Lab in 2018 Sue Cochrane puzzled about ‘human exceptionalism’ – why humans set themselves at such a distance from (& such a height above) the rest of nature. This ‘apartness’ seemed a sharp contrast to ‘throughness/tong 通’ the theme of the imminent TV Lab. Reading Francois Jullien’s Living off Landscape on the journey to Cherry Blossom provided a way to explore the puzzle of ‘apartness’. Jullien’s methods of thinking using both Chinese & European understandings inspire diffractive thinking in the reader. Setting foot in the first session of the Lab inspired Sue to share Jullien’s thoughts as a poem. The resulting poem is a collaboration – Carla Nappi urged her on and Judy Farquhar edited and shared her deep insights. Several friends read it and shared their responses. Sue’s own arm loosened sufficiently to provide some basic illustrations. The TV Collective is the background, foreground, context for this work, which you can find at the link here: The Cutting Apart of Things and Me.
Translating Vitalities 