(At)tendance: Exploring a Practice of Presence and Duration through Urban Food Communities and Theater
This essay bridges the fields of theatre and urban farming by exploring how each cultivates a deep ecology in the relationships between people and the environment. I elaborate on the concept of (at)tendance when I consider how it unfolds as a methodology of practice and provides a framework for the critical analysis of events in performance and farming. Ultimately, as it interweaves and stretches experiences of time, place, and community, (at)tendance unveils a deeper understanding of being-in-the-world. The essay considers four case studies?the urban farm Harlem Grown, a food forest called Swale, Happenings, and creative placemaking?and the writings and work of Jos? Mu?oz, Jean-Luc Nancy, Jill Sigman, Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, Dolores LaChappelle, Allan Kaprow, among others.