After Sacrifice Zone: Los Angeles, what do you do next? You turn to another environmental issue. This time co-creators Michael Bodie and Paula Cizmar decided to take on wildfires–the increasing intensity and quantity of fires in the American West due to extreme weather caused by climate change, and the effects these fires have on communities in the form of ash and poor air quality, the trauma of loss, the scariness of a force of nature that blazes out of control. We convened a collaborative crew of academics, artists, and people from the community to start generating ideas about how we can deal with the negative impacts of fire, and how we can learn from our indigenous team members about cultural burnings and other practices that will help protect the earth. A full-day generative workshop in October involving talking, exchanging ideas, communing over food, and presentations of quick-created art pieces was just the beginning. Stay tuned as Conference of Fire starts to grow and evolve.
