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Eco-Artist of the Month:
Tiffany Holmes
This month in Communitas Crescit we would like to specially recognize Tiffany Holmes as an artist working towards the education of the public on climate change and energy use issues. Ms. Holmes, who recently paid a visit to the University of San Francisco for their Davies Forum course entitled “Envisioning a Post-Carbon City” discussed how there is a lot of work being done in the field of interactive media. However, she points out that unless this interaction has the capability of conveying a more important message, whether it be about personal energy usage or the way pollution has an effect on our environment. Without this significance, the art may be cool to look at, but it does not serve a purpose in today’s world.
A recent example of her work is the piece “darkSky”, completed in 2009. In this display, Holmes took old table lamps and represented the energy they used by connecting them to a plasma screen which displayed firefly images. As the viewer turns more of the lights on, the fireflies would slow their pace. However, if the viewer decided to turn the lights off, the bugs would quicken their flight on the screen. Holmes tells that being able to watch the screen slow and quicken gives the “acting artist” a sense of control with the piece. In this way, it teaches them that they do in fact have control over how many lights are flipped on, whether it is at the exhibit or in their own home. The hope is that when they go home and turn a light on, they will think of fireflies, or nature in general, slowing down and having to make up for that energy usage in its own productivity.
Tiffany does not pretend that she lives a post-carbon life. She admits that her occupation requires her to constantly update her technologic resources, causing a lot of electronic waste and using a lot of energy. She only hopes to make up for this through the interesting and informative work that she does. We know that it will take many different ways to get people to understand the importance of sustainability. Tiffany Holmes with her Eco-art has done this by providing the world with an interesting, hands-on approach to visualizing the effects of their actions on our environment. For this reason, we have named her Eco-Artist of the Month. Holmes will also be touring with her piece “darkSky” at Communitas Crescit on June 1-3.
Sasha's Journal
by Connor O'Farrell
This is an excerpt from a personal journal written by Sasha Kember, a student and member of the Communitas Crescit Community.
Thursday, April 23, 2015
This is my first time writing in a journal, so bear with me… I don’t know if I have to tell you this, but my name’s Sasha. I just moved to San Francisco from Illinois and got plopped into this neighborhood where everyone seems to be in love with their community center. Can’t remember the name of it, something non-English sounding though… Anyways, I’m supposed to keep a journal for my class “Making Connections: How to spread eco-ism”, probably so they can analyze me or something. So far I’ve only been to the community center once, to take a tour with the principal of the school as well as a guy who didn’t have a title but seemed to just be along for the walk. Interesting how I got such personal attention from the head of school- I didn’t even know my last principal’s name, so that’s a start. The park is really pretty, and I’ve never seen so many adults in the middle of the day not at work, but playing around in the dirt…actually smiling… Nothing more to write right now. Tomorrow is my first whole day of school, and then the weekend. Hopefully I’ll make it through…
Friday, April 24, 2015
Things are definitely going to be different here. I’m not even sure where to start on my school day today. I walked in with my backpack neatly packed with pencils, pens, paper, binders...and didn’t open it once! The first class of the day was Ecology, followed by Practical Ecology, which was a much more in depth look at the ecosystem our community is built on. By 11 o’clock, everyone was hungry. I reached for my bag to grab my wallet with some cash for lunch at school, but stopped when I saw everyone else was instead taking out gardening gloves and sunscreen. I hesitantly followed the mass of students-what seemed like the whole school! - To the community garden across the street.
Later it was explained to me that a lunch grown directly from the garden is provided to every student each day as long as they show enthusiasm in getting their hands into the soil and picking their own vegetables. I’ve never liked gardening; it was always my mother’s excuse to grow her own tomatoes, which I hate. But this garden is HUGE, and I actually found myself enjoying my lunch exponentially more as I remembered picking each thing off the vine or out of the ground. I also made a new friend at lunch, Amy. She said she moved here a few months ago, and totally understands the culture shock I feel myself going through. Invited me to the Green Gecko tonight, although I’m not sure where or what that is…
The rest of the day was spent learning various techniques that I would have never found important until now. Skills like knowing when to plant a cherry tree or when to harvest the cabbage, how to fix a bike chain, and finally closed out the day with a walk through the park with some of the elderly of the community. Interesting schooling system here, although I like the no homework policy. It’s going to be a lot of work to catch up, but oddly enough I didn’t feel the drag of a normal school day today…
Saturday, April 25, 2015
So much to write and so little time! But now I think this journal is as much for my own memory as for my class, so here I go. After writing yesterday, I ended up just sitting around the house watching TV, wondering what kids my age (18) do around here for fun. Figuring it was probably something like “Moonlight Gardening” (which I later found out incidentally that this is an activity that some participate in), I had resigned myself to my comfy sweats, a tub of chocolate ice cream, and “The Office” reruns. Then my parents came out, both dressed up and saying there was a small get together at the community center (Communitas Crescit, I will never forget again after yesterday!), and that I should do something fun with my evening. Usually parents going out would have meant a party at the house, but seeing as a party of 2 (since I only really had met Amy) was not really what I had in mind, I waved them off with a slightly melting spoonful of ice cream and told them I wouldn’t wait up.
Literally 15 minutes later, I heard the forlorn Joni Mitchell crooning Big Yellow Taxi outside the window. I pulled back the curtains and saw Amy, sitting on a tandem bike, with some weird radio attached to the handle bars. I buzzed her up, and in 15 minutes was ready to go (I guess I didn’t want to stay home at all!). I was a little shaky on the bike at first, not having rode since the bike path was taken out of my hometown in 5th grade. Amy had reminded me we had a date at the Green Gecko, and I was excited to see a new place and possibly meet some more people. To my utter shock we rode straight over to Communitas Crescit, where Amy returned the bike to the rental shop across from the library in the main building. No charge, apparently, because it was a Friday night (seems as though they were looking for any excuse not to make her pay though. Nice people…). From there, we went up to the top floor of the building- no, let me rephrase; we went to the ROOF of the building.
The instant sensation of paradise I felt tingle down my body as I walked out the door onto the rooftop was one I had only felt once on an exotic family vacation to Easter Island. The roof was covered in grass and flowers. A full circular bar was set up in the middle, along with a small café. Amy and I grabbed a table closer to the edge of the building and ordered drinks and some fish tacos. As we waited, she proceeded to explain to me that Communitas Crescit was, and still is, an experiment. It is a trial of renewed community bonding through sustainable practices. When I wasn’t sure what she meant, she told me to look around. The rooftop, crowded with people of all ages (I actually think I saw my parents on the other end, but I slid my chair to the right and blocked them by the barman) was bringing all of these people together in a social setting. In addition, the rooftop itself is the reason we have water to use in the garden- the “green roof” cleanses the water that we use in showers and sinks and is then reused to water the plants. I began to wonder how many of these systems I had already run into here without even knowing they existed, but we had finished our food, and Amy was excited for some music performance close by.
So we left, in a much larger group with several other people who I recognized from my class, and walked over to the amphitheater, also located on site. We picked a particularly green spot on the grassy hill that sloped downward to a small covered stage, where the band was setting up. Everyone we had walked over with was now starting to introduce themselves, asking me all sorts of questions. Some were normal- where was I from, how did I like it here- and some I was totally lost for words at- what was the diversion rate of my last community? How did I feel about traditional education versus what they do here? Amy tried to slow the questions and the upbeat tempo of the band helped, and soon everyone was up and dancing. I caught the eye of one boy (I later learned his name, Ronnie) and after dancing for awhile he asked me if I wanted to go on a walk. I looked over at Amy, my lighthouse in this foggy place, but she just told Ronnie to make sure he walked me back so I didn’t wake up with the chickens in the morning (added an approving nod at me, which I took as an all-clear).
We strolled along pathways through Communitas Crescit, dimly lit by solar powered streetlamps, and we talked for HOURS! The main thing I wanted to know was: why? Why do all of this? Why grow your own food? Why such an emphasis on intergenerational mingling? All of this spilled out of my mouth at once, but Ronnie just smiled, as if he had known all along that he would be the one to explain all this to me. “Well, you know Communitas Crescit has a mission to be completely sustainable, which basically means breaking the dependence on fossil fuels that the rest of our society has failed to do so far”, he patiently explained. When I asked again about “all the old people” he put his hand up, a silent signal that all would be understood. “This about sustainability. Does it do any good if people are only individually working towards it? No, of course not.” He answered the question because, even though he asked it, I took it as rhetorical considering I didn’t have the slightest clue to what the answer would be. “You need larger scale action in order to make a difference. Communitas Crescit- Growing Community- is here to create community around a sustainable living environment. And one of the main ways of doing this was found to be the socialization between generations. Stories are passed down, and even if they don’t necessarily promote “sustainability”, they in fact represent a factor of a sustainable community. Everything here has a meaning. For every activity, there was someone, or a group of someones, who sat down and decided why and how it would contribute to a culture of sustainability, both in nature and in our own lives and families.”
I have never met a boy more in touch with nature AND humanity. The things he said about his interactions with other people were so deep that I often caught myself with my mouth open and had to fake a yawn when he noticed. Even with all of the talking we did, there still seemed like so much time where we just walked in silence. Not in an awkward way, which is usually the explanation on a first date, but in a peaceful, calming way that allowed me to look around and feel nature soaking into my skin. I hadn’t spent so much time among the trees and grasses since I was just a kid, sneaking off to pretend I was princess of the forest…
The night ended well. Ronnie walked me back home, and helped me to notice land marks (mostly plant species) on different corners of the walk so that I can figure it out on my own now. Before he left, he said there was going to be an Easter egg hunt on Sunday, and he was going to help dye all of the eggs the day before (that’s today!), and asked if I wanted to help. He of course threw in that all of the eggs were from the chickens at Communitas Crescit. It still ceases to amaze me at how self sufficient this place is. So, soon I will be off to help out Ronnie. I think Amy will be there too. And maybe tonight I will go back to those pathways. Maybe with someone. But maybe just by myself. So that I can sneak through the trees, lie in the damp grass, listen to the crickets, and be the princess of the forest.
Systems in Communitas Crescit
Food
The community garden is a large plot of land that grows fruits, vegetables, and other foods that are then sold at the farmers market, which is also on site. There will be a daily farm stand consisting of produce which has only been grown on site, as well as a weekly Farmers Market where other farmers from surrounding areas can bring items which can not be produced at Communitas Crescit. The people operating it will be the people who, on that day, worked in and contributed to the garden. The garden and farm stand will provide complimentary lunches to all who are working that day, as well as to all students and staff/administrators of Communitas Crescit. In addition, one evening each week a community meal will be served, in which all members of the community are encouraged to come and help prepare and then take place in a relaxing evening of eating and community building. Any food that is not sold on a day to day basis will be stored in the underground cellar beneath the main building which is adequately lined with biodegradable materials which will preserve the food for the following day’s sale.
Water
The self produced water system in Communitas Crescit will be completely comprised of a rain-catchment system due to the lack of above- or below-ground water which will be used for drinking water in the schools, community building, and many water fountains and water bottle fill-up stations along the many paths and in central locations. Any excess water will be distributed to neighborhoods in surrounding area; however we realize that rain catchment will not support all water needs, and therefore the goal of Communitas Crescit is to have 50% of water needs met with rain, while the other 50% would be gained through trade with a nearby system with plentiful fresh groundwater. Greywater from the main building as well as from the schools and surrounding neighborhood will be diverted and will be filtered through the green roof on the main building so that it is then safe to use for irrigation in the garden.
Energy
The energy needed for the main building of Communitas Crescit, schools, pathway lighting, and community area lighting (such as the amphitheater) will be gained through a variety of ways. The main building will have a green roof, which will filter greywater as well as provide some heating and cooling. Also, sides of buildings that have the most sun exposure will have solar panels on them. Finally, large wind turbines will be built on the uppermost terrace of the site in order to maximize wind exposure. Along with these, smaller wind turbines which include solar panels and street lights will be dispersed throughout the site. The goal of Communitas Crescit would be to use as little of this energy as possible, and instead feed it directly back into the grid for surrounding neighborhoods.
Waste
The absolute objective of Communitas Crescit would be to become a zero waste site. This would be relatively easy due to the fact that everything produced on site is natural and therefore compostable. There will be no “trash” bins; anything that is not recyclable or compostable was brought into the site, and therefore will be carried out. There will be a composting pit which will be churned and worked to produce rich humus which will then be used in the garden. Assuming that there will be a cornucopia of this nutrient-rich soil, neighbors will be more than welcome to take some home to use on their own gardens as well. All recycling will feed back into the San Francisco municipal recycling collection. As stated before, greywater will be used; however blackwater will also feed into the San Francisco waste system.
Transportation
There are several bus routes that have stops directly in front of the Communitas Crescit center. Also, bikes will be available for rental through the center at a relatively low cost to community members. There will be no parking lots, so people must walk, take the bus, or ride a bike. O’Farrell Street will be completely taken out along this city block and turned into more space for community, thereby eliminating car traffic through the center. Finally, Geary Blvd. and Masonic will be narrowed to two lanes, utilizing the extra space for the center as well as cutting down traffic noise in the surrounding area.
