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The Ecotone of Awty
A Visual anthropology project
An ecotone is an ecosystem between two adjoining ecosystems. Eco from the Greek “dwelling place” and tonos from “tension,” the Ecotone is a shared habitation that grows in the tension between one way of life and another. It is the fertile, bio-diverse, and connecting. It is the messy, muddy, and middle space between the grassy knoll and the pond that grows the weeds and hosts life that can live in the water or the grass. These exhibitions of photography, audio narratives, a film, and artifacts lives in the ecotone of stories to grow what it means to be human one experience after the next.
Under the Invitation of Tom Oden, Marlon Hall was invited to do an anthropological residency at Awty International to create mirrors and windows for the Awty staff, students, and parents of the school. A mirror that reflects the cultural diversity back to the student body and a window through which they see the future they are creating together one student, continent, and cultural story after the next. Without an attachment to a specific project, Marlon listened, laughed, and participated in the Awty community long enough to partner with students, teachers, and administration to create artifacts of his learning. Two exhibitions and a student led documentary has grown out of his listening:
My ARTIFACT, My Story/// (click here) The Second Grade Anthropology Exhibition features pictures of artifacts and audio recordings. Student led interviews explore and discover the student's heritage through personal stories that shape who they are.
Sitting right next to you/// (click here) This Upper School Visual Anthropological Project features large scaled ethnographic photography and audio- narratives telling the story of the school's local diversity.
WHAT IS YOUR ETHNIC STORY?/// (click here) The K-RAMS are a group of powerful renegade storytellers led by Dr. Johnny Chu. They are witnesses to the school’s ability to represent the world to the city and the city to the world.
MARLON F. HALL (click here)
VISUAL ANTHROPOLOGIST/ CURATOR OF HUMAN POTENTIAL
Marlon F. Hall’s life intention is to cultivate human potential in ways that are whimsically beautiful and positively willful. He is an international lecturing anthropologist, filmmaker, and cultural architect. He was recently named a Fulbright Specialist by the U.S. Department of Educational and Cultural Affairs and World Learning, is the Visual Anthropologist and Social Media Archivist for the Greenwood Art Project, and a 2021 Tulsa Artist Fellow. Marlon engages the choreography of visual anthropology, art-installations, and salon dinners to whimsically unearth community beauty from social brokenness. His work is to create social sculpting art that is a mirror through which folks remember who they were and a window through which they imagine who they can become. His art is to welcome the choreography of social practice, ethnographic listening, and filmmaking to dance in rhythm with the heartbeat of the people he is learning.
JOURNAL ENTRY NUMBER 1///
February 17, 2022 7:30pm
"In a city known as the most culturally diverse city in the nation, Awty is it's mirror. Known for international diversity, the school bountifully reflects human authenticity. It not only mirrors the present context in which the school sits, it also creates a window through which we see the future landscape of human evolution. Awty is an Ecotone. An ecotone is an ecosystem between two adjoining ecosystems. Eco from the Greek “dwelling place” and Tonos from “tension,” the ecotone is a shared habitation that grows in the tension between one way of life and another. The ecotone is the messy, muddy, and middle space between the grassy knoll and the pond where the soil can be more fertile with biodiverse organisms as it connects two separate systems that would not be connected any other way. This is Awty. It powerfully lives in the tension between cultural dissonance and human harmony. It is the choreography between what makes us different and what can make a difference in humanity."
- Marlon F. Hall, Visual Anthropologist/Curator of Human Potential
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