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e102 aesthetics - how can we 'de-modernize' art?
(ocean shoreline)
The problem with beauty is that it can distract us from reality.
Sit with me, please, take a moment. Sit and listen…
Over there, about 56 kilometers to the northeast, is the traditional territory of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh nations, also known as Vancouver.
Listen to the ocean flowing, like the blood and liquids in your body. We are water.
Listen to the ravens passing by and croaking. They are poetry in motion.
Listen to the city rumbling at a distance, but it's hard to hear, isn’t it? Let me help by filtering out high frequencies…
(cutting out of high frequencies)
Ah, there is the drone of the city.
It’s both beautiful and bewildering, isn’t it?
A plane is coming. I’ll bring back the high frequencies.
(bring back high frequencies)
The sky is littered with aircraft around here - seaplanes, jets, helicopters - but they can have a strong aesthetic effect as they inch their way across the sky, merging with the rumble of the city.
(Fading to silence)
One of the problems with modern aesthetic experiences is that we tend to choose the ones that reinforce our own world view and deny the shit around us.
Dr. Vanessa Andreotti suggests that we learn to ‘hold space for the good, the bad, the ugly and the messed up, within and around’
How can we ‘de-modernize’ art?
*
This episode is dedicated to my colleague Hildegard Westerkamp whose voice, from her Kits Beach Soundwalk (1989) composition, was in my head when I wrote the narrative for this episode. I respectfully borrowed her technique of filtering a soundscape as part of a narrative.
The recording was made on a Zoom H4n Pro in one take on Saturday, October 1, 2022 at 8am at the Boat Pass at Winter Cove National Park, Saturna Island, BC.
I thank Dr. Vanessa Andreotti for the use of her words.
I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).
*
END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODES
Hey conscient listeners,
I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.
This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.
- I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.
- I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.
- Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.
- I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share together
In parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.
Your feedback is always welcome at [email protected] and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.
Share what you like, etc
I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible.
Claude Schryer
Latest update on January 9, 2026
View all episodes
By Claude Schryer
5
44 ratings
(ocean shoreline)
The problem with beauty is that it can distract us from reality.
Sit with me, please, take a moment. Sit and listen…
Over there, about 56 kilometers to the northeast, is the traditional territory of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh nations, also known as Vancouver.
Listen to the ocean flowing, like the blood and liquids in your body. We are water.
Listen to the ravens passing by and croaking. They are poetry in motion.
Listen to the city rumbling at a distance, but it's hard to hear, isn’t it? Let me help by filtering out high frequencies…
(cutting out of high frequencies)
Ah, there is the drone of the city.
It’s both beautiful and bewildering, isn’t it?
A plane is coming. I’ll bring back the high frequencies.
(bring back high frequencies)
The sky is littered with aircraft around here - seaplanes, jets, helicopters - but they can have a strong aesthetic effect as they inch their way across the sky, merging with the rumble of the city.
(Fading to silence)
One of the problems with modern aesthetic experiences is that we tend to choose the ones that reinforce our own world view and deny the shit around us.
Dr. Vanessa Andreotti suggests that we learn to ‘hold space for the good, the bad, the ugly and the messed up, within and around’
How can we ‘de-modernize’ art?
*
This episode is dedicated to my colleague Hildegard Westerkamp whose voice, from her Kits Beach Soundwalk (1989) composition, was in my head when I wrote the narrative for this episode. I respectfully borrowed her technique of filtering a soundscape as part of a narrative.
The recording was made on a Zoom H4n Pro in one take on Saturday, October 1, 2022 at 8am at the Boat Pass at Winter Cove National Park, Saturna Island, BC.
I thank Dr. Vanessa Andreotti for the use of her words.
I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).
*
END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODES
Hey conscient listeners,
I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.
This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.
- I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.
- I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.
- Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.
- I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share together
In parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.
Your feedback is always welcome at [email protected] and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.
Share what you like, etc
I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible.
Claude Schryer
Latest update on January 9, 2026