Sympoiesis: Symbiogenesis and the Lively Arts of Staying with the Trouble

Chapter 3 spins out the threads of sympoiesis in ecological evolutionary developmental biology and in art science activisms committed to four iconic troubled places: (1) coral reef holobiomes, (2) Black Mesa coal country in Navajo and Hopi lands and other extraction zones impacting indigenous peoples especially ferociously, (3) complex lemur-human forest habitats in Madagascar, and (4) North American circumpolar lands and seas subject to ongoing colonialisms in the grip of rapidly melting ice. This chapter makes string figures with the interlocked threads of biologies, arts, and activisms for multispecies resurgence. Churro sheep and Navajo weaving, orchids and extinct bees, lemurs and their farming and scientific people, jellyfish and coral polyps with their art science allies, seals and their Inuit relatives, and microbes in their myriad holobiomes play leading roles. Artists, biologists, and activists in diverse places populate the chapter. Contemporary indigenous people and peoples, in conflict and collaboration with many sorts of partners, make a sensible difference. Biologists, beginning with the incomparable Lynn Margulis, infuse the thinking and playing of this chapter.