Original Condition: Recent Episodes
Dave Gardner
Dave Gardner hosts the Original Condition Podcast. Here you will find open discussions and critical conversations with a kaleidoscope of characters from conflicting and complementary backgrounds, to hear and see if there is a meeting ground beyond the contradictions and discord, perhaps some kind of original condition, an untainted playful space where we can listen, learn and be.
In this ninth episode, Dave converses with Jaydon Meidlinger about his journey in architecture, building your own home, the tiny house movement, climate change, sustainability, permaculture, the necessity of failure, raising your own family, natural birth and choosing love in the time of Corona.
Find out more about Jaydon and his work here: https://www.instagram.com/tinyjourneyhome/
In this episode, Rome Naidoo shares his experiences and insights into what it’s like to be a father, natural birth, empowered parenting and conscious fatherhood.
Dave & Matt converse about a range of diverse topics exploring extremes to find a sense of dynamic balance, how this applies to structure and freedom, facilitating this kind of meditation & movement practice for people to explore, the addictive qualities of social media, nature as inspiration, Jurgen Klopp as a lightsaber wielding Jedi and much more!
In this sixth episode, Dave converses with James Delaney about his work at The Wilds, a city park/nature reserve on the edge of downtown Johannesburg that had become rather infamous and fallen into a "no-go zone" for most people. James discusses his approach and initiative to restoring the Wilds that has had a widespread effect and brought many people together in the city of Jozi. Not always met with admiration or respect, James points out some of the issues that he and many others have faced in trying to make a difference in the city.
Find out more about James and his work here: https://www.delaney.co.za/
In this fifth episode of the Original Condition Podcast, Massimo Rebuzzi of African Bush Company shares with me as we discuss his life as a wilderness facilitator, a discernment between nature & wilderness, veganism and vegetarianism, walking alone in the wilderness, the healing qualities of nature, the need for awareness and education of the importance of our connection and place on the planet, the fear and uncertainty of a future shrouded by environmental collapse, climate change, pollution, extinction, and our possible, urgent and necessary solutions.
In this fourth episode, Dave converses with Simon Borg-Olivier about living a fulfilled life, acknowledging and creating connection, approaching the obstacles of life with humility, letting go of self-defeating narratives, and the history, origins & connections between traditional practices and modern science.
Personal website: https://simonborgolivier.com/
In this episode, Dave & Guy discuss the importance of understanding play as a creative strategy for navigating the unexpectedness of life, what music can teach us about ourselves, South Africa's exceptionally diverse and rich musical heritage, the many interpretations of practice, the simple joy of being in nature, and the complex simplicity of self-expression.
In this episode, Dave Gardner dives deep into an echo-locative discussion about the light & dark side of empathy with scholar activist-pracademic multimedia artist Dylan McGarry, PhD. Dave invited Dylan to be a part of the annual 'Deep Retreat' team as a co-facilitator in moulding and sculpting a tangible social tissue of attentiveness, intuition & imagination. You can join them this December 10-14 (see here for more info and to book your space: https://www.original-condition.com/bo...).
Here is more about Dylan and his remarkable work... "I'm Dylan, I am a scholar activist-pracademic multimedia artist. I have a trans-disciplinary PhD in Environmental Education at the Environmental Learning Research Centre (ELRC), at Rhodes University in South Africa, with an informal split site affiliation with the Social Sculpture at the Social Sculpture Research Unit (SSRU), at Oxford Brookes. I started out my career caught between Fine Arts, Performance and Biology, Driven by a deep longing to work with animals, and to respond to massive catastrophic global ecological collapse, so I became a Zoologist/Marine Biologist, and then an Environmental Scientist. Early on I realised the most important place to focus my attention was on socio-cultural transformation. Storytelling became my most powerful instrument in this transformative and transgressive work, using visual art, theatre, social sculpture and other genres, I discovered ways in which suitably strange creative practice could transform inner landscapes of people, and in turn transform outside ones.
I now find myself working in this nexus space transcending disciplines and scales of activity, working as both a researcher in educational sociology, ecological economics, social/environmental justice, anthropology and social learning. I currently co-direct the ONE OCEAN HUB global transformative governance research network, and focus my attention on developing Empatheatre (https://www.empatheatre.com/), (a theatre-based approach to transgressive social learning, and an extra-legal alternative to democratising policy change). My academic work to date has mainly revolved around sustainable rural development, Environmental Justice, developing pedagogies for ecological citizenship, practice-based arts research and transgressive social environmental learning.
My artwork and creative practice is particularly focused on empathy, and primarily I work with imagination, listening and empathy as actual sculptural materials. My area of expertise is developing pedagogies for empathy, in the context of ecological citizenship, and I explore the sculptural potential of empathy, attentiveness, intuition and learning. I created the Institute of Uncanny Justness (http://www.uncannyjustness.org/) as a collaborative space to explore with others the powerful role suitably strange creative practice can have on re-imagining learning, activism and justice."
Personal website: https://www.dylanmcgarry.org/ Instagram: @dylan_mcgarry
Dave Gardner dives deep into an open discussion with Dr. Lucy Draper-Clarke, the first person in Africa to ever be awarded a PhD in Mindfulness! The conversation moves from the illusive qualities of stillness & silence, to the critical necessity for Contemplative Activism, the immeasurable nature of compassion as a tool for change and the humility of being a doula...