My nerves endings are inflamed by the pills

How does inflammation emerge, and how can we tend to it? Is inflammation itself the problem or an alarm signal for something else?

With a cup of ginger decoction, join the second session of an online study group led by artist and theorist Anastasia (A) Alevtin. Attune to the words of Dr Emily May Armstrong and discuss inflammation as a (more-than-human) bodily response to unwanted interference, from bacteria and microplastics to climate crisis and the medical-industrial complex.

Then, read excerpts from Derek Jarman, Rupa Marya and Raj Patel and be guided by researcher Char Heather in writing exercises. Reimagine inflammation as a political and ecological process and a contemporary social condition.

This study group is for anyone interested in anti-ableist collective practices of nurture and what plants can teach us about survival and queercrip joy. No prior knowledge or reading required.

About the contributors

Anastasia (A) Alevtin (they/them) dwells as a theorist, writer and artist whose work centres on the ways in which queercrip, migratised and other precarious individuals and communities quietly subvert structural marginalisation. Herbs, berries and corpo-affectivity of chronic illness are currently on (A)’s mind.

Char Heather is a writer and researcher with a focus on crip narratives, and founder of 'the remote body', a platform for online workshops that prioritise chronically ill and disabled people.

Dr Emily May Armstrong (they/them) reads, writes, and researches across plants, bodies, queerness, and health. They are supported and informed by non-human teachers.

About the project

My nerves endings are inflamed by the pills is the second gathering of a Spring study group, organised as part of Dormancy, Reseeding, Resistance. Initiated by Anastasia (A) Alevtin, this project is centred on anti-ableist and queercrip dailiness, communal gardening and seed-saving practices.

It connects the northern latitudes of Finland and Scotland and disperses beyond them to discuss structural economic precarity, food insecurity and, in the words of Dr Emily May Armstrong, phytocrip resistance to a worldly condition of inflammation.

Our next gathering (26 Mar) will discuss everyday practices of dormancy which circulate around us.

Dormancy, Reseeding, Resistance culminates with a collectively written manifesto that mulches all the thoughts and affects accumulated in the group. This will be celebrated with communal meals in Glasgow and Vantaa’s Light-harvesting Complex. The manifesto is published by Ei Mainoksia, Kiitos!

Dormancy, Reseeding, Resistance is supported by Glasgow Seed Library, Light-harvesting Complex, The Finnish Institute in the UK and Ireland and The Arts Promotion Centre Finland.

Access

This event will take place online using Zoom. The interface will include automatic captioning. Please email glasgowseedlibrary@cca-glasgow.com with any questions or access requests.