An altar to extinct creatures

Clay shards made for altar

Welcome to the Art for the Sixth Extinction Project.

6X Art is the ritual of recognition that more plants and animals are disappearing forever than ever before in human existence. Our intent is to examine and process this experience by making art about it. We offer workshops, participate in performance art and host a weekly tv show called 'The Wanderer' which highlights the crisis in which we find ourselves. 

The eleventh hour is upon us.  We can choose to become depressed or angry, or we can choose the beauty of life and find creative ways to honor those beings which are leaving the planet right now, because of human impact.

Art for the Sixth Extinction is a collective of artists who migrate around the western United States offering workshops and artistic performances. These offerings are designed to help people heal their hearts and minds.

the Sixth Extinction
The Sixth Extinction is the current state of farewell by our kind, to those beings whose place in our creation of reality has been destroyed forever.  The plants and animals are being destroyed at the speed of never before, in human terms.

There have been other reductions of life diversity on our planet.  Fossil records tell us so.  But this time our kind is gaining a self awareness, a pre-meditated decision in how to satisfy desire.  In the bravado of wealth all >less thans< may be consumed. the plants and animals are the >less thans<.  This is a species desire.

Hominids of our kind are not materially rewarded for applying the golden rule to >less thans<. Because of this our psyches are forever resonating to an anticipated consequence of the trance-parent rule, what you do unto others will be done unto you.  The >less thans< are these others.

The trance-parent rule is slightly different than the golden rule in that there is no gold to hide behind.  This confusion of intent and concrete action between what a person will do (or would like to believe they will do) and what a person has done is a major cause of pervasive psychic sadness (google: mental health, children).

Ritual is the recognition of a need for establishing a balance, of creating gesture for those aspects of reality with which all must collaborate to live.

6X Art is the recognition that the acknowledgement of those plants and animals gone forever is psychically liberating.
 

An Affirmation

To all the plant and animal beings my kind has destroyed forever

I impress your names in clay because it makes me feel better about myself.

To all the beings without a common name,

To all the common names who no longer have speakers to vocalize them,

To all the speakers of common names who have no beings to speak to, of, for, about or with,

To all the scientific names that were created and used once before the being described was destroyed forever.

To all the beings never named by anyone,

May your dream presence be a mystery school.

May any fragment of any name be a mantra of insight.

May the mischief of my life be small.

May I nourish the cause of a diverse living splendor.

Peace.

Truth transcends cultural context. The diverse multitude of plants and animals are disappearing forever.  When a culture bestows excessive abundance and prosperity on the individual the contradiction between undeniable reality and the myriad desires of humans asserts itself in the form of pervasive psychic sadness...a feeling, not so good.

Art for the Sixth Extinction is a recognition that creative expression by an individual concerning a universal feeling that is absolutely true and uncomfortable is empowering.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE ART FOR THE 6X PROJECT GO TO 6XART.NET
 

AN EARTH LOVER'S MANIFESTO (OR MOONIFESTO, WHICHEVER YOU PREFER)
The following document addresses Quynn's opinions about some important things that actually CAN be done to ease our impact on our world.  I hear many people talking about the worlds problems, our culture's imbalance and general dissatisfaction with the rat race. I have pondered hour after hour about what CAN be done. First, enough people have to focus in on tangible ways to change. Then, we have to have the courage to actually CHANGE.  I have put together this list (which by the way, is an evolving document). I feel that these issues are changable if we choose it to be different. If enough of us choose it. You may not like some of the suggestions. But, difficult times make for difficult choices.  What do you choose?

1) Realize that you are not crazy, the WORLD is!
  To be quite honest... the world does seem crazy. The worst of it is that the people who are perpetuating this craziness do not talk about it or even acknowledge that it exists.  This leaves many folks feeling crazy. An all time record number of people are on Prozac (or an equivalent), Ritilin or numb their pain with alcohol. This says to me that many feel the craziness but don't know what to do with the feelings about it.  First, acknowledge that something about the dominant culture around us is NOT WORKING! We have to admit something is wrong before we can change anything.

2) Understand that you are not alone...
    Even if you do not have anyone like you in your life, they are out there. If you continue to follow your interests and have the courage to make your life reflect your interests, you will cross paths with others who share your quest. Anyway, if you know who you are, you are never truly alone because you have an entire world of helpers and friends on the inside.

3) DO NOT EAT MEAT UNLESS YOU COULD WATCH HOW IT LIVES, EATS AND DIES.
DO YOU KNOW HOW SO MANY COWS AFFECT OUR PLANET?
You are what you eat, know what you are eating! Educate yourself about the conditions that animals for slaughter must live in, how they eat and how they die for you. Do you know what cows, chickens and pigs are forced to eat? If you do not know, find out!! Cattle use an incredible amount of resources. Huge amounts of water, corn and land are used up to prepare cows for all the hamburgers that Americans eat. Statistically, a human only needs a small amount of protein. Too much meat is hard on the body.  Look into other protein substitutes, such as tofu. You can learn how to cook it and say "Hey, that's pretty good." With a human family of six billion people, we can not continue to eat the way we have in the recent past. Make the compassionate choice for your health and the health of our planet.
Choose to say no to meat.  Its long term cost is WAY too high.
You may not be a vegetarian, but the animals you eat SHOULD BE!

4) Consider what you buy.
 Consumerism is the fuel of the consuption of our natural resources. If you don't buy it, it isn't made.
Is that extra toy that was made by someone who was paid $1 a day, wrapped in plastic, then played with 3 times and it ends up at a thrift store worth the soul of our future's children? This is what I ask myself when i'm thinking about buying something new. Most of the times my answer is NO! Consider also that the only way most consumers are able to consume in any quantity is through credit.  The more debt you have, the more of a slave you are. That is what "They" want. The more financial freedom you have, the more spiritual freedom you are able to achieve. Tough but true. You can "Just say No!"