Imagine—Embracing Chaos and Possibility in a Planetary Emergency
imagine
EMBRACING CHAOS AND POSSIBILITY
IN A PLANETARY EMERGENCY
LAURA FRANÇOIS NATALIE SEISSER
VIOLA DESSIN
LARS HARMSEN
WHAT GROWS IN THE CRACKS OF BROKEN SYSTEMS?
WHAT RIGHTS DOES NATURE HAVE?
HOW MIGHT THE FUTURE REMEMBER THIS MOMENT?
WHAT DO RIVERS REMEMBER THAT CITIES FORGET?
WHAT KIND OF KNOWLEDGE CAN ONLY BE FELT, NOT TAUGHT?
WHAT ARE THE PATTERNS?
HOW CAN SLOWNESS BE AN ACT OF RESISTANCE?
DO RIVERS GET HOMESICK?
WHAT CAN EXPLORING TEACH THAT EXPLANATION CAN’T?
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN ART IS TREATED AS EVIDENCE?
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO TRUST A TIDE?
WHEREVER WE’RE HEADED, CAN WE HEAD THERE TOGETHER?
WHAT IF IMAGINATION WAS A TOOL FOR REPAIRING RELATIONSHIPS, NOT ESCAPING THEM?
ABOUT THIS BOOK
When a complex system is far from equilibrium, small islands of coherence in a sea of chaos have the capacity to shift the entire system to a higher order.
ILYA PRIGOGINE Nobel Prize-winning chemist
This is not a book. Not really. It’s an unmapped map. A tribute to the uncertainty, beauty, and complexity that is our human experience on earth during a planetary emergency. You’ll find many things within these pages, but you won’t find ten-step solutions. No assured direction towards what will “save” us. You will, however, find many invitations to explore the liminal space we’ve collectively entered. An invitation to sit for a moment in the threshold between what was, and what could be.
You’ll be invited by people who share their wisdom not as experts with answers, but as companions in this journey. Some wisdom is expressed through words. Other wisdom, through the language of art and design.
This book exists because we believe our imagination is not merely escapism but a vital practice, especially now. To imagine beyond the edges of what is familiar requires courage, vulnerability, and a willingness to dwell in the mystery. When you turn each page, we honor the small rebellion in pausing to reflect when the world demands action. The process of creating this book wasn’t so much about deciding what we wanted it to be, but attempting to figure out what it wanted to be. As Canadians, French, and Germans, we approach this work from positions of privilege that color what we see, and what we miss. This book is only the beginning, limited in size and not representative of the full diversity of voices needed in this conversation. In every emergency, there is emergence. Something coming into existence. Consider these pages not as answers, but as artifacts — each one an invitation to imagine not an escape into the future, but a practice of presence and relation.
Dr. Hossein Rezai
KAMPUNG
by WOHA and Henning Larsen (formerly Ramboll Studio Dreiseitl)
Camilla Cardoso, Azul Caroline Duque and Dino Siwek from Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures (GTDF)
Emrhan Tjapanangka Sultan, Nicola St John and Rebecca Ailís Nally (Bec)
Emrhan Tjapanangka Sultan
David
Delphine Lejeune and Esteban Gómez-Rosselli
Nora Bateson
Steve Tooze
Evva Semenowicz
Gab Mejia
Laura
Brother Phap Linh 122 NAME
Ashanti Kunene JUST LIKE OUR BODIES, THE LAND REMEMBERS TOO by Madjeen Isaac
All chapter introductions written by Laura François
PROJECTS
In between … chaos and possibility
Zena Holloway, Von Wong, Sarah Braeck, Matt Mawson, Ng Sze Kiat, Juliana Maurer, Agoston Walter, Pablo Campuzano, Dr. Camilo Ayala, Ritual Inhabitual, Néle Azevedo, Liina Klauss, Jefree Salim, Marshmallow Laser Feast, Thomas Mandl, Collectif Minuit 12, Lisa Matzi, Meli Bees Network, Liam Young, Marvin Tang, Olivia Lee, FADAA, Nomad Garden, Stephanie Deumer
THE ROADS NOT BUILT
GUARDING ASIA’S LAST GREAT WILDERNESS
In conversation with RUDI PUTRA
Rudi Putra is a pioneering Indonesian conservationist protecting the Leuser Ecosystem — Asia’s last great wilderness and one of Earth’s most crucial carbon sinks, serving as vital planetary lungs while remaining the final rainforest where Sumatran rhinos, elephants, tigers, and orangutans still coexist in the wild. As leader of the Leuser Conservation Forum, he manages over 450 field staff in their fight against illegal activities that threaten this irreplaceable 2.6-million-hectare forest. Combining strategic enforcement with community engagement, Putra has successfully restored over 6,000 acres of illegal plantations back to forest, creating vital wildlife corridors while protecting water resources for four million people. He is a National Geographic Fellow, and has received numerous awards including the Future for Nature Award in 2013 for his efforts to protect the Sumatran rhino and, in 2014, the Goldman Environmental Prize for his work in combatting illegal logging, forest encroachment for palm oil production, and policies that open endangered ecosystems to mining and plantation industries.
LAURA FRANÇOIS
Rudi, how do you describe what it is you do?
RUDI PUTRA What I do is for the beauty of Leuser. For the benefit of conservation, for all of us. I do this for humans, for the benefit of people. How can we live without fresh air or water? Without lands and forests? I’ve worked in conservation for almost 25 years. I’ve only ever worked for Leuser. Since the beginning, I love the nature here. The birds, the rivers.
LF How have the forests changed since you were a child?
RP When I was kid, flooding season was like a holiday. Everyone is very happy when the yearly flooding happens because we can swim for 10 hours a day! It had very little impact on the communities because we prepared and supported each other, and we didn’t need much money at that time. We did so much fishing during the flooding, it was so nice.
I still remember one day, we were fishing in our nice forest. Very big trees and a small river with so many fish. But around the 1990s, one of the palm oil companies destroyed everything in that area, cutting down all of the trees using the bulldozer, and clearing the lands. You can imagine, we’re fishing in the same area, but there’s no fish anymore in that area. So I feel we lost our forest. At that time I was very young, but this situation made me really feel like this was a bad situation.
After that, I decided I had to move from my village to find a better education. So I moved to a city we call Lhokseumawei, around 100 kilometers from my village. I continued my high school in that city, because their education quality is better. And I learned about the forest, about nature. Usually we would go trekking in the mountain areas. Then one day I read about Leuser. I didn’t know about Leuser at that time, because for us, it seemed like that was just a mystical area. Untouchable, and very far. But I read the article about Leuser and felt like I had to work for this place, for Leuser. I continued my studies in biology at the Syiah Kuala University and in 1998, there was a delegation visiting our campus talking about Leuser! The same year, they invited us to visit a research station in Leuser. The Soraya Research Station.
LF Do you remember the feeling of being in Leuser for the first time?
RP Yes. There was this professor who was an expert on orangutans. When I met him in the forest, at the station, we traveled together from Medan to Soraya for 7 hours by car and then another 1 hour by boat to the station. The next day, when we were walking in the forest, this professor asked me “Rudi, where do you come from?” I
Kampung Admiralty, Singapore’s first one-stop integrated public housing complex, co-locates public housing for seniors with community facilities. This “Vertical Kampung” (village) layers a community plaza, medical center, childcare and senior day care, rooftop park, urban farm, retail, food options and senior apartments vertically. The design maximizes land use and utilizes passive strategies such as cross-ventilation, daylighting, solar shading and planting to reduce the energy consumption of the building. It places a strong emphasis on community and intergenerational bonding.
“MATCHATCHA” AND THE ART OF RECLAMATION
In conversation with EDDY EKETE
Originally conducted in French and translated with the assistance of AI.
Born in Kinshasa, the Capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eddy Ekete is a multidisciplinary visual artist working in painting, sculpture, and performance. After studying at Kinshasa’s School of Fine Arts and Strasbourg’s School of Decorative Arts, he co-founded several artistic initiatives, including Ezapossibles, Kinact, and Ndaku Ya La Vie Est Belle. His work engages with urban environments, serving as a mirror to society through anthropological observations.
“Matchatcha” is a Lingala word referring to a demon in the body, also evoking the “Cha-Cha, Cha!” sound that Eddy’s aluminum can costume made when he performed anonymously in Strasbourg.
EDDY EKETE I’m Eddy Ekete, a visual artist. I live in Paris and work between Paris, Kinshasa, and Brussels. Paris has been part of my life since childhood because my father was in the military with exchanges between France and Zaire. Kinshasa is my birthplace, where I grew up and learned to make art. Brussels is connected because Congo is like “grand Belgium” — we have a complex relationship as a former colony. My vision is centered on the environment. I mix techniques because in France, I learned that art is about talking it’s more mental. In Congo, it’s much more practical but without the mental component. Doing both has allowed me to be strategic in my work.
I prefer to call myself a “situation creator” rather than just a painter or sculptor. I place artists in unusual situations they’re not accustomed to. My own work is multifaceted I create paintings, sculptures, and these costumes we’ll discuss.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO RECLAIM SOMETHING WITHOUT OWNING IT?
When I found discarded cans, I began thinking about restitution. Europeans talk about restituting African artifacts, so I thought why not take Western waste, transform it into art, and restitute it to Europe? Europeans invest money in art while our African leaders don’t. So there’s no point selling this “garbage” to Africans who aren’t yet sensitized to it. I want to show people that we can work with these materials not just see them as trash but as raw materials. Like Congo has coltan and minerals, we also have waste. These “minerals” aren’t natural; they come from elsewhere. We accept them, consume them, then discard them in our environment where they become monsters. By looking at trash differently, people naturally start to sort it. Even without touching it, you think, “Why mix metal with organic banana peels?” When we look at garbage, we become naturally responsible.
NATALIE SEISSER Can you tell me more about your artistic journey and how do you reclaim control of the narratives about your work and community?
EE In Strasbourg, I saw a very clean city but noticed cans piled up near the quay. I wondered if anyone saw them, so I collected these cans. For six months, I contemplated what to do with them I couldn’t burn or powder the aluminum because of pollution concerns. Eventually, I created a costume. When I performed in this costume, it was when I decided to reveal myself as an artist to Strasbourg. I stayed anonymous for a long time, calling myself “Matchatcha.” In Lingala, Matchatcha refers to a demon in the body. What surprised me was that in this supposedly racist Alsatian city, I didn’t experience racism while wearing the costume. People
HOMME CANETTE
Artwork by EDDY EKETE and NDAKU YA LA VIE EST BELLE
Homme Canette costume is inspired by Vodou costumes from West and Central Africa. By wearing the Homme Canette costume, Eddy’s body disappears, becoming one figure among the many that make up the Homme Canette. The can — this everyday item — once emptied of its contents, is discarded as trash onto public streets, eventually ending up in the garbage. Eddy Ekete reclaims it, assigning this waste a new destiny. These creations were brought to life with NDAKU YA LA VIE EST BELLE, an artist collective from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
LF Even those emotions are just passing through, you’re passing through a threshold of that emotion. You’re never staying there. You’re not making yourself comfortable in any of them for too long in some ways.
VA Yes, you’re not searching for comfort. It’s a different affinity. You are probably searching for the tether, the connecting tether, and doing what you can. It’s your best shot, but you’re not doing more or less than what is needed.
HEREMITI
Illustration by YILING CHANGUES
Yiling Changues is an artist based in Tahiti, which she is native from. She settles her work at crossed paths navigating between authenticity and folklore, asking herself about Polynesia’s status in the world. Heremiti means “love of the sea,” it is about the experience of living by the sea. “I often go for a swim in the lagoon, during that time I like to imagine if I was one with the water, one with my island home ... I like to think that this is how it feels to be an islander, to feel at home on a island. To become one with the environment.”
is what Life is, this is what all creatures experience. It is what you truly are — only now are you fully realized, every sense finely tuned and working in unison. There is no time or space for feeling bored or disillusioned or any of the other city malaises. Nothing else matters but this tingling moment of life. You are back in Life, we are together, there is no “other.”
Having felt Life like this, I can’t sit idly by and watch our degradation of nature and, like a scientist I met in Antarctica, simply say: It is interesting. There is too much beauty and wonder out there; it agonizes me to think about what we are so rapidly and carelessly losing in the natural world. So I will fight tooth and nail to preserve it from human greed and indifference. The destruction of Life comes from disconnection, from lack of caring; and also from hubris, from thinking we are separate and in control. Do we really imagine we are above nature and no longer need it? Life can’t protect itself from us; it can only mutate in response, and it will do this long after humans are gone.
But we who know Life can bridge the gap: we can effect change; we can leave the forest and bring the message of Life to towns and cities.
In our urban societies, we have created the distraction of fetishized food, which turns eating into an indulgent experience. It gives a reason to up-value a basic commodity, often charging more for less sustenance. In the wild, food is an everyday mundane process of replenishing energy. I know I am in a minority here, but I would much rather eat a freshly caught fish, cooked over a driftwood fire on the beach or even spoon out a basic pasta dish sitting in silence on the rim of the Grand Canyon than dine in an expensive restaurant. In natural surroundings food just tastes better to me.
WHEN WE SAY “LIFE,”
WHAT ARE WE REALLY TALKING ABOUT?
When I am walking in nature, my total attention is focused on my surroundings — there is no space for idle thoughts. I am fully alive and absolutely in the present. This is how we evolved. This is how creatures survive, their two brains working in tandem: the right hemisphere immersed and spherically connected, constantly on the look-out for danger while retaining our geo-positioning; the left free to focus on the identification of food. That is why we have evolved two brains, for two separate, concurrent forms of attention. Both are vital, yet connect us in quite different ways.
A speculative project that explores the entanglement between the imaging capacity of technology and the imagining of nature through the subject of flowers. Flowers “lend themselves to long, highly charged, and highly judgemental aesthetic conversations” (E. Scarry) they are situated within the discussion on ambiguity and simulation, a shifting relation to nature and the world, and how these are redefined by how we inhabit technology. It builds upon nature as a potential reformer of the gaze, not in replacement of, but together with technology. Delphine Lejeune is a visual designer and material researcher working across 2D and 3D printed surfaces.”
See the flowers?
So faithful to earth. I see no point in re-producing a nature where I can just recognize them. So much of the rivalry between what we can perceive and what we can replicate is in their language. (Slightly Surreal). What is that feeling when image rubs against image? Like plastic or petals. Are you looking at objects or stand-ins for our gaze; more than a symbol since they replace nothing. I imagine a world in which the enjoyment of flowers vibrates.
It seems that flowers are some of the objects we can more easily imagine. They lend themselves as subject and product alterior to speech, they bloom visible. contrafactual somehow means faithful to reproduction as to (one) hallucination (many) ecstasy blooms into the real, which is why beauty distracts us: Our eyes fall in. serializing. but really contemplating ten flowers is no better than contemplating one, any amount will occupy the same small blotch of color in our mind. See the flowers?
So faithful to earth.
94 CHAPTER 05 imagine a gentle revolution
When was the last time you shared a meal with your neighbor? Have you ever?
Something wildly beautiful can happen in seemingly insignificant rituals. When we share spaces. When we reunite. When we care for the collective.
The largest systems of our time, those that oppress and hide in shadows, thrive on our individualism. When we gather, connect, trust and support our community, we begin to take more risks together. We experiment together. We imagine — together.
When British Petroleum introduced the “carbon footprint calculator” in 2004, they offered a mirror that showed only our individual reflection. While we tallied our daily carbon costs, their massive industry operations continued largely unquestioned. Our footprints do matter. But they exist within a landscape where some footprints are deep enough to alter the earth itself. In isolation, we can lose sight of this bigger picture. The focus narrows. Yet something shifts when we gather. Around dinner tables. In community gardens. On neighborhood streets. We begin to see patterns. Connections.
A shared meal becomes more than sustenance. It becomes a moment when we might look up together and notice what we couldn’t see alone. There is nothing more frightening to oppressive systems than community. This gentle revolution is embodied in what Loretta J. Ross calls “calling in” rather than “calling out.” Inviting others into conversation instead of conflict. Listening for shared values rather than focusing solely on differences. Transforming potential division into connection. It’s in the connection that we find the courage to take risks. To start or join a gentle revolution.
A gentle revolution is not mess-free. Nor is it comfortable. A gentle revolution asks us to step out of the safety of our individual bubbles.
A gentle revolution reminds us that humans are not transactional by nature. We are relational.
A gentle revolution still demands action. It demands bravery. It demands resistance. But it also demands love. Radical love. Gentle love.
GM The title “The Forest Listens, Their Spirits Cry” has an eco-poetic approach.
Krystahl and Datu Arayan lead Kulahi, an Indigenous performing arts group of young queer individuals, women, and drummers who practice ethnic instruments and perform through myths and oral traditions passed down by their elders.
“Kulahi” means “to cry” in the Talaandig Manobo language. It also means to shout for nature, for your invocations, for your culture. But it simultaneously means to grieve for transformed land, for cultures not being practiced, for what the community continues to lose.
The idea of spirit is deeply embodied in Kulahi, in Krystahl, in Datu Arayan, and throughout the Philippines. Spirit is universal it exists in small fractions of communities, sometimes manifested through Catholicism or other forms. There is crying, grieving, anger, but also a continuing fight for the protection of the forest of Mount Kalatungan.
The forest does listen. Through animistic belief, the forest speaks in a language humans may not understand, but there is a sacred language that the Baylan (shamans) can communicate with to appease the spirits of the forest and land.
As for how I met Datu Arayan and Krystahl we’re all queer, and we created a space where we could belong and feel safe. In the Philippines, practicing spirituality as a Baylan amid a dominantly Catholic country can lead to ostracism. Coming out has been challenging with discrimination and homophobia in more hetero-leaning spaces.
These safe spaces for queer people are rare. Nature can be a queer space — the forest allowing others to feel safe compared to the Philippine notion of forests as places where insurgents hide, where you’ll get lost, or where you might be killed for protecting trees.
Our relationship with Datu Arayan and Krystahl, Kulahi, the elders, and everyone involved in this project was about opening these spaces and transforming them to help others feel seen and safe. Datu has been the spiritual guide, not just formally for the region of Mindanao, but in our personal intimacies and relationships.
We highlighted this queer kinship and friendship through the project — this intimate relationship with the forest. Despite coming from Manila and Luzon in the north, I share the same struggles with defending mountains and forests near Metro Manila. It’s about offering space to understand that nature is actually queer there are no binaries that exist.
NS Datu said “we are all shamans.” Can you share how that perspective influenced your understanding of the relationship between humans, nature, and spirits?
GM When Datu said we’re all shamans, it truly resonated with me because spirituality doesn’t discriminate. We’re in a world where spirituality is being systematized — with ideas of yoga retreats and commercialization. There’s this notion that spirituality only belongs to certain groups or races, but that’s not true.
What Datu shares is that we’re all shamans we all have our own creativity and roles to play. I’m a photographer, but that’s my modern tool to give guidance, show visions, share dreams with others, and make an impact through photography. I try to bring out the spirit of the forest through the lens.
Datu explained that photography existed before already through tapestries, oral tradition, and weaving. This idea reminds us that we shouldn’t be limited by binaries of race, country, or labels that limit our spirit.
The concept that we’re all shamans, all healers, means we should be healing and guiding each other. It doesn’t discriminate.
NS How does colonial legacy continue to impact the TalaandigManobo today, and how does your work respond to these ongoing pressures?
GM Colonialism is complex, and the idea of a “post-colonial state” is problematic.
NS The language around it there’s no such thing as “post-colonial.”
GM Colonization is ongoing. For Krystahl, universities tell her to cut her hair, question if she’s a woman just to exist in a Western school system.
Beyond personal impact, American colonization allowed the destruction and monopoly of farmlands and monocrops, taking away ancestral domains. It’s a conflict within land ownership. The Talaandig and Manobo communities stewarded this land for centuries, then suddenly private and international investors came in with feudal systems and oligarchs claiming these lands, often violently.
Datu’s aunt was killed the violence is real and ongoing regarding who owns the land. In Talaandig-Manobo cosmology, land is for everyone. There’s no capital; everything is shared and collective. Suddenly, there are land titles and demarcations — language that doesn’t exist within the communities and elders, which is how they’ve been taken advantage of.
Regarding religion and spirituality, the only good education systems are private Catholic schools where you have to undergo theological classes on Christianity. To belong and get a good
Ashanti Kunene is the founder of Learning 2 Unlearn, a strategic narrative consultancy focused on helping leaders at the nexus of technology and wealth cultivate coherence for these transition times. She is also the Transforming Wealth Lab Co-Lead for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
I have been asked to do a poetic provocation. But before I begin I invite you all to take a deep breath in. Inhale the privilege of being in my presence today and exhale any entitlement to the gift my presence brings to you in this present moment.
I come before you not as an expert in anything But as an anointed daughter of the African soil found at the cradle of humankind, As the original keeper of stories, the ones they buried but could not kill.
And so, I ask you to listen not just with your ears, but with the memory held deep in your bones and in your blood.
For the Story of Wealth Begins with a Body
Long before there were markets, before there were stocks, before there were banks, there was the land, the river, the sun. And wealth?
Wealth beloveds, was the abundance of the earth, It was the song of the harvest, It was the hands that tilled the soil, It was the joy of enough.
But then came the colonial lust for conquest. The taking. The grabbing.
Wealth became a thing to be hoarded, not shared. It became a beastly mark of power, a capitalistic tool of control. It became land stolen, bodies stolen, futures stolen. The plantations of the past are the corporations of the present. The auction blocks are now the stock exchanges. The trade routes are now the supply chains. The overseer is now the CEO. The language changed, but the rhythm. of extraction. and dehumanisation. has remained. the same. And the currency of power still flows in one direction upward, outward, away from the many and into the hands of the few.
in between chaos and possibility
130 ROOTFULL — Zena Holloway
131 BIODIVERSITY JENGA — Von Wong
132 LES COURANTS DE LUMIÈRE — Sarah Braeck
134 THE PEOPLE WHO WORK ON A MEXICAN TRASH MOUNTAIN — Matt Mawson
136 FUNGARIUMS IN SPACE — Ng Sze Kiat
137 HYBRIS — Juliana Maurer
138 OIHIS A-ATA — Agoston Walter, Pablo Campuzano, Dr. Camilo Ayala
139 GEOMETRIC FORESTS — Ritual Inhabitual
140 MINIMUM MONUMENT — Néle Azevedo
141 INVOLUNTARY PAIRS — Liina Klauss
142 THE SEA PEOPLE, ORANG SELETAR — Jefree Salim
143 SEEING ECHOS IN THE MIND OF THE WHALE — Marshmallow Laser Feast
144 ONE WORLD FLAG — Thomas Mandl
145 OCEAN — Collectif Minuit 12
146 REBEL PATCH — Lisa Matzi
147 MELI BEES NETWORK
148 PLANET CITY — Liam Young
150 WAYSIDE TREES — Marvin Tang
MATAHARI — Olivia Lee
—
154 UNDER THE SAME SUN — Stephanie Deumer
THE PEOPLE WHO WORK ON A MEX
MEXICAN TRASH MOUNTAIN — Matt Mawson
mattmawson.com
Matt Mawson is a photographer based between London, UK and Mexico. Originally trained as a studio photographer, he later turned to reportage, documenting conflicts and humanitarian crises across Southeast Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe. His practice now bridges commissioned visual storytelling spanning photographic archives and digital short films for corporate and humanitarian organizations alike.
This work, created on the outskirts of Mazatlán, in Mexico’s Sinaloa State, centers on the lives of pepenadores informal waste pickers who sort recyclable materials from sprawling trash sites. In a country where no formal safety net exists for the unemployed, this work provides a lifeline between jobs. Amid cardboard, tin, and plastics, these workers wade through other people’s discarded lives, often at risk of injury from sharp metal, broken glass, or toxic waste. For those with children, the choices are starker many must leave them below the dumpsite, unsupervised, and out of school.
The One World Flag is a powerful movement born from the urgent recognition that our blue planet the only spaceship humanity has in this vast universe is in danger, and we must unite as one human family to face the challenges ahead. Created by photographer Thomas Mandl, this isn’t just about a flag; it’s about awakening a global consciousness that transcends borders and differences to embrace our shared identity as earthlings. In a world where climate change threatens everyone equally and division dominates headlines, the One World Flag represents hope a symbol reminding us that more unites us than divides us.
This project calls for a fundamental shift in perspective: seeing ourselves not as citizens of separate nations first, but as members of one human family sharing one precious planet. It’s an invitation to focus on our common destiny, to act with the understanding that we are stronger together, and to create the unity we desperately need to secure a future for current and coming generations. The One World Flag isn’t just a symbol it’s a rallying cry for global citizenship and the revolutionary idea that humanity’s greatest strength lies in recognizing our interconnectedness.
OCEAN — Collectif Minuit 12
FRA collectif.minuit12.fr, bloomassociation.org
Co-founded in 2021 by artists Pauline Lida, Jade Verda and Justine Sène, Minuit 12 is a dance collective with a hybrid identity. A dance company by day and an activist collective by night, Minuit 12 has become known for its stage creations, short films and monumental performances. In 2025, the Collective collaborates with the BLOOM association to advocate for the creation of truly protected marine areas and produces the short film Ocean. Minuit 12 created a performance with 120 people in front of the Trocadéro esplanade in Paris. Contemporary dance, hip hop and waacking came together in a creation that, through movement, calls for action ahead of the third United Nations Ocean Summit (UNOC) in June 2025 in Nice.
Founded in 2005, BLOOM works to protect marine ecosystems and species from destruction caused by industrial fishing fleets and oil and gas corporations. Using scientific expertise, the association conducts citizen mobilization campaigns, advocacy and legal actions to encourage political decision-makers and private actors to truly protect the ocean. BLOOM also strives to restore sustainable artisanal fishing practices currently threatened by extinction.
Ocean by Collectif Minuit 12 watch it here:
Directed by Rachel Dano
5:33 minutes
Many essays reference organizations, communities and topics that offer valuable resources for readers interested in learning more.
All We Can Save allwecansave.earth
Becoming Crew becomingcrew.com
Biodiversity Collage fresquedelabiodiversite.org/en Biomimicry Institute biomimicry.org
Burnout From Humans burnoutfromhumans.net
Cards for Life, Regenerative literacy for planetary health paleblueperspective.com/cards-for-life
Design for Planet by the Design Council designcouncil.org.uk
Emergence Magazine emergencemagazine.org
ETHx: Worldviews — From Sustainability to Regeneration edx.org
Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures decolonialfutures.net
Indigenous Environmental Network ienearth.org
International Bateson Institute batesoninstitute.org
Kontinentalist
kontinentalist.com
Leuser Conservation Forum leuser.or.id
Native Land Digital native-land.ca
Plum Village plumvillage.org
Podcast The Great Simplification thegreatsimplification.com
Podcast The On Being Project onbeing.org
Project Drawdown drawdown.org
RegenIntel regenintel.com
Regenerative Leadership regenerativeleadership.co Seeds of Bantar Gebang bgbj.org
Slow Factory Foundation slowfactory.earth
Social Movement Technologies socialmovementtechnologies.org
Years of collaboration across three continents, yet we’ve never met in person. A moment we hope will happen one day.
GRATITUDE
The start of the journey of creating this book began in 2020. I was a new mother during a pandemic, concerned for my daughter Liv’s future. I found myself questioning EVERYTHING my responsibility as a white woman, a mother, a citizen, a designer and an educator.
I reached out to Lars and Viola in Germany and Laura in Canada, and our Thursday online meetings became an important space across three time zones. We met weekly, on and off, sharing ideas that transformed our thinking. What began as conversations about creative climate action evolved into deeper explorations of power structures, more-than-human design, decolonization, and inner reflections that invited even more questions.
There is no book without the incredible minds who brought their vision and voices. Our heartfelt thanks and deepest gratitude to all the contributors who said yes to our invitation. You shaped this book with your brilliance, and we learned so much from you.
With immense gratitude to Lars for his patience and creativity through countless iterations, for creating space where we could explore, fail and rebuild, and for believing in this project when it might have been abandoned. With deep appreciation to Viola for her brilliant design sensibility, for keeping up with us through all our changes and for bringing her unique warmth to every aspect of our work. To my AWEsome Laura for her friendship, for showing up throughout the years with beauty and kindness, and for her immense talent in bringing all these thoughts together through her writing.
I’m sorry if some submissions, conversations are missed but I hold you dear and thank you for contributing to our thoughts. To TJ and Ali for jumping in when needed, and to Toby and Frankie for their support throughout this journey.
And to you, for taking the time to read these words, thank you.
With gratitude, Natalie
THE TEAM
Natalie Seisser is the founder and creative director of impact design studio anewkind. Her work transforms environmental challenges into creative opportunities, helping organizations embrace regenerative thinking. Natalie lectures at RMIT and NTU in Singapore, guiding students in creating compelling ecological narratives. As the Climate Designers Singapore Chapter leader, she fosters a community that places ecological restoration and biodiversity at the core of creative work and visual storytelling. Prof Lars Harmsen is the creative director and partner of Munich based agency, Melville Brand Design, professor for design and typography at the Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts, as well as the head of Slanted Publishers. Having authored numerous books on design, photography and typography, he has been awarded both nationally and internationally.
Laura François is a co-founder of impact design studio anewkind and director of Awe Exchange, a nonprofit laboratory exploring awe-based changemaking. Her work brings systems feeling to life, helping people emotionally engage with complexity. Laura draws on over a decade of award-winning work leading socio-environmental movements across Southeast Asia and Canada. Viola Dessin is a graphic designer specializing in editorial design, typography, and visual identities in the fields of art, culture, and society. As a graduate from the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Dortmund in editorial design and with an expertise in contemporary art, she works as a freelance graphic designer, alone or in collaboration with other designers.
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Photo pages 1–8, in order of appearance: Ramin Khatibi, Matt Palmer, Freysteinn G. Jonsson, Graham Ruttan, Mike Marrah, Jack B, Marius Neugebauer, Wolfgang Hasselmann: All Unsplash, unsplash.com
Production Partner awe.exchange
In collaboration with anewkind.studio
Disclaimer
The publisher assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of all information. Publisher and editor assume that material that was made available for publishing, is free of third party rights. Reproduction and storage require the per mission of the publisher. Photos and texts are welcome, but there is no liability. Signed contributions do not necessarily represent the opinion of the publisher or the editor.
The German National Library lists this publication in the German National Bibliography; detailed bibliographic data is available on the Internet at dnb.de
About
Slanted Publishers is an independent design, publishing, and media house founded in 2014 by Lars Harmsen and Julia Kahl. They publish the award-winning Slanted magazine, which appears twice a year and focuses on international design and culture. Since 2004, the daily Slanted blog has featured news, events, portfolios, and video interviews from the global design scene. In addition, Slanted initiates and produces high-quality publications on contemporary design and culture, working closely with editors and authors. Driven by passion, Slanted has earned international recognition for its vibrant design and open-minded, tolerant and curious philosophy.
anewkind is an impact, design strategy and storytelling studio supporting businesses and organizations ground impact in regeneration. Founded in Singapore by a collective of systems thinkers and creative strategists, anewkind works across sectors to develop tools, narratives, and frameworks that deepen impact and spark cultural transformation. Through visual storytelling including supporting the curation of this publication the studio transforms visions of regenerative futures into narratives that inspire collective action.
Awe Exchange is a Canadian nonprofit laboratory dedicated to exploring awe as a catalyst for changemaking. Positioned at the intersection of research and practice, the organization experiments with awe, a self-transcendent emotion that is both awesome and awful, as a way to unlock deeper, more relational engagement with complex challenges. Drawing from behavioral science, Awe Exchange translates emerging research into practical tools and experiences for changemakers across the globe.
imagine embracing chaos and possibility in a planetary emergency
This is not a book. Not really. It’s an unmapped map. A tribute to the uncertainty, beauty and complexity that is our human experience on earth during a planetary emergency. Discover the field notes, reflections and conversations with researchers, artists, designers, biologists and organizers who live and explore what lies beneath and beyond this moment on the planet where the chaos and the possibility of the moment are entangled. These pages contain no answers. No stepby-step instructions. Instead, you’ll find six invitations to imagine. What happens when we decenter everything? When we practice leaving no trace? When we venture beyond familiar maps, let poetry guide us, embrace gentle revolution, or simply focus on being? A collection of artifacts, each one an invitation to imagine. Not as an escape into the future, but as a practice of presence and relation to what is emerging.
Featuring contributions from: Ashanti Kunene, Eddy Ekete, Gab Mejia, Dr. Hossein Rezai, Marshmallow Laser Feast, Nora Bateson, Rudi Putra, Von Wong, David Trubridge, Emrhan Tjapanangka Sultan, Gesturing Towards Our Decolonial Futures, Madjeen Isaac, Ng Sze Kiat, Resa Boenard, Vanessa de Oliveira Andreotti, Yiling Changues, and more …
This book was brought to life by Awe Exchange and anewkind.studio
