Place is not a location.
Taking into consideration that we are being tracked through our internet searches, our GPS devices, and almost every move we make is targeted and identified. With every wistful whim of curiosity-seeking searches, there is a narrowing of focus on our activities with the goal of a commercial end in mind.
Though we know that everyone is trying to make a living — including us — the dissemination has to contain a greater awareness.
Still, “place” is not a location?
Most of us consider our sense of place as the ultimate positioning, i.e., where we belong, or more precisely, where we think we belong. Sense of place, gives us structure, status, and belonging. Certainly important. More precisely though, we might ask, what does our sense of place allow for? Who are we as we travel and migrate through this life in our bodies? Perhaps our bodies are “our only place.” We are all on the move.
Entire cultures and populations are on the move. What can this mean? It has always been so. Nothing new there, although there are those who would have you believe otherwise; that they have an inalienable right to “their place,’ even though their place has displaced and distressed others before them. I recently watched a documentary on Neanderthals. It was previously thought that Neanderthals lived only in a contained swath of Europe but it turns out that the scope of their movements expanded across Europe and well into Asia. They lived for 300,000 years, (a very successful run) and most probably we have Neanderthal DNA, yet, we, as “modern humans” have yet to be here for even 30,000 - 40,0000 years. We are still in starter-kit mode.
The place?
The place is the interaction that we have with one another. The gesture, the nod, the acknowledgment of one another, the micro gestures even. The ephemeral action. We all have the right to be here, to thrive, and to live life on our terms interacting and fulfilling our visions without harming others. The place is the support and the generosity of spirit that we can show one another. The common denominator.
Historically, governments and institutions have forcibly displaced people - a multi-generational exertion of colonial entitlement that we have yet to see the end of. It continues: children and families are held at borders in liminal spaces; First Nations relegated to lands, not of their choosing; refugees departing destroyed landscapes once called home. Every moment of every day, people are kept from the places they call home and moved into locations where they can be tracked, rendered into data points for analysis and ‘proof of concepts’.
In our corner of the internet - yes, we sell art prints and books to support artists - but part of that equation is our focus on collaborative actions —- where people can collectively support one another. Many of us are in locations where we do not feel at home - we feel out of place. By fostering a sense of community that also provides an additional financial avenue for artists, we can create a place that feels connected, rather than dissociative, and is an alliance of people. A home place.
— Caterina Verde and Madeleine Hykes