Cultural Ecofeminism has been developed in response to the belief that women and nature have become dominated and devalued in Wester culture.Followers of this belief have come to idealise a time in prehistory when nature was encapsulated within the female figure.
With Her in Ourland presents three visual analyses of Cultural Ecofeminism within the context of the British anti-fracking movement. The ritualistic repetition of gestures, both performed and cast in ice, displays these forms of activism to not only mimic but to intervene in the creation of new social patterns, relating to ongoing environmental issues through the use of choreography.
The inclusion of cultural references, such as Melanie Wilson’s Opera for the Unknown Woman and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s Herland, portrays the creation of women lead utopias as a form of ctional emancipation for both nature and the feminine. The celebration of binary oppositions is intrinsic within both of these works and Cultural Ecofeminism, therefore it is carried into the imagery of the piece. This collaborative and choreographed process is an unpicking of the viability of art as a tool for activism and it’s role within the current interpretations of climate issues.