Abstract This experimental sharing invites collective practice in the land. It opens along a continuum where there are no knowledge holders, where knowledge lives between all bodies, and human bodies are just one point in the passing between un-knowings. The practices explore three epistemological resistances as parallel movements: the sensory embodied inscription of dialogically relating to the earth as a parallel movement to the encoding of knowledge into Artificial Intelligences; inscribing “images” in the living archive of the mindbodyspirit as opposed to digital files; and “languaging back” as a form of re-inscribing the native language of the land back into the elements from which language emerged.
“Inscription” occurs through an intimate process of sensory embodiment– our flesh in contact with the flesh of the earth. It requires no devices, only attention and bodily presence. “Inscription” is an ever-evolving method for cultivating a loving knowing of living land. The practice approaches inner artefacts as light and energy transmuted into a well of memory, forming a rich inner archive. It invites participants to encounter their environment through playing with different qualities of sensory perception. In inner darkness, the light of our surroundings is burned in us.
“Languaging-back” is a re-textured and land-tethered way of learning (Finnish) language. As knowledge is increasingly extracted/abstracted away from its source, this practice approaches earth as sacred text that we “read” and speak back. Learners encounter place through its natural elements as a kind of primary language– the texture of a rock, the voice of a bird etc. In this way, they become archivists with a responsibility to keep alive the embodied experience of the primary language. Learners experience how the native language of the region is sonically textured– how it tastes in their mouth and resonates in their lungs, revealing how native language is emergent from and still alive in the land.