Jim Ellis – författare

Best known as an iconoclastic, wildly inventive filmmaker, Derek Jarman was also an accomplished author, painter, and landscape artist. In Derek Jarman's Angelic Conversations, Jim Ellis considers Jarman's wide-ranging oeuvre to present a broad perspective on the career and life of one of the most provocative, engaged, and important artists of the twentieth century.Derek Jarman's Angelic Conversations analyzes Jarman's work-including his famous films Caravaggio, Jubilee, Edward II, Blue, and Sebastiane-in relation to his critiques of the government and his activism in the gay community, from the liberationist movement to the AIDS epidemic. While others have frequently focused on Jarman's biography, Ellis looks at how his politics and aesthetics are intertwined to comprehend his most radical aspects, particularly in films such as War Requiem and The Last of England.Here Jarman is revealed as an artist who keenly understood the role of history and mythology in creating a personal and national identity: as an activist, he sought to challenge old histories while producing new ones to carve out a space for alternative communities in Britain late in the twentieth century.

How have our interactions with animals shaped Calgary? What can we do to ensure that humans and animals in the city continue to co-exist, and even flourish together? This wide-ranging book explores the ways that animals inhabit our city, our lives and our imaginations.Essays from animal historians, wildlife specialists, artists and writers address key issues such as human-wildlife interactions, livestock in the city, and animal performers at the Calgary Stampede.Contributions from some of Calgary's iconic arts institutions, including One Yellow Rabbit Performance Theatre, Decidedly Jazz Danceworks, and the Glenbow Museum, demonstrate how animals continue to be a source of inspiration and exploration for fashion, art, dance, and theatre.The full-colour volume is beautifully illustrated throughout with archival images, wildlife photography, documentary and production stills, and original artwork.

What are the challenges we face around water in Western Canada?What are our rights to water? Does water itself have rights?Water Rites: Reimagining Water in the West documents the many ways that water flows through our lives, connecting the humans, animals and plants that all depend on this precious and endangered resource.Essays from scholars, activists, environmentalists, and human rights advocates illuminate the diverse issues surrounding water in Alberta, including the right to access clean drinking water, the competing demands of the resource development industry and Indigenous communities, and the dwindling supply of fresh water in the face of human-caused climate change.Statements from community organizations detail the challenges facing watersheds, and the actions being taken to mitigate these problems. With a special focus on Environmental and Indigenous issues, Water Rites explores how deeply water is tied to human life.These essays are complemented by full-colour portfolios of work by contemporary painters, photographers, and installation artists who explore our relation to water. Reproductions of historical paintings, engravings and film stills demonstrate how water has shaped our country's cultural imaginary from its beginnings, proving that water is a vital resource for our lives and our imaginations.

How do we understand the boundaries of individual creatures? What are the systems of interdependency that bind all living creatures together?Plants were among the the first to colonize the planet. They created the soil and the atmosphere that made life possible for animals. They are some of the largest and oldest life forms on Earth. In spite of their primacy, Western cultures have traditionally regarded plants as the lowest life forms, lacking mobility, sensation, and communication. But recent research argues that plants move and respond to their environment, communicate with each other, and form partnerships with other species. Art, poetry, and essays by cultural anthropologists, experimental plant biologists, philosophers, botanists and foresters expose the complex interactions of the vibrant living world around us and give us a lens through which we can explore our intertwined histories.

Every culture and society has read stories in the night sky. From the careful attention of astronomers across all times and all parts of the world to the search for alien life, the stories found in the shapes of constellations to the expansive imaginings of science fiction, there has always been life up there, at the very least, for our imaginations.Mythologies of Outer Space brings together academics and artists to explore diverse imaginings of outer space. It examines questions that, in a world where outer space is increasingly accessible, are no longer only science fiction. Is outer space terra nullius, open for settlement? What if there is life beyond earth? Will we repeat the mistakes of the colonial age on other planets? Should parts of outer space be protected, like nature reserves? What about resource extraction? Do celestial bodies, like the moon, have rights? Astronaut Robert Thirsk, Mi'kmaw astronomer Hilding Neilson, digital humanities scholar Chris Pak, and outer space archaeologist Alice Gorman, among others, are joined by artists including David Hoffos and Dianne Bos, literary scholars, art critics, scientists, and a poet to explore how humanity thinks about outer space in this joyful, curious book.

The autobiography of an indefatigable visionary and citizen activistJim Ellis was one of the most influential and impactful civic leaders of Seattle's and Washington's recent history. Though he never sought elected office, his vision and drive were a key force behind many major projects defining our city, county, and region from the 1950s through today. From cleaning up Lake Washington, establishing King County Metro, and implementing the broad array of community-centered Forward Thrust improvement initiatives, to forward-thinking regional projects like the Mountains to Sound Greenway and the Washington State Convention Center, Ellis was astute at bringing together leaders across political divides to create consensus and effect change.A Will to Serve is a story about the interconnectivity of Ellis's personal and civic lives. It's about individual people—family, friends, neighbors, colleagues—their shared challenges, and how they worked together for regional progress. The book provides insight into a tumultuous and dynamic period of our regional history and a window into the value of patience, persistence, and vision.Ellis kept notes on his life, projects, and experiences and built a deep portfolio of public speeches. He drew from these to shape his detailed and engaging autobiography. A Will to Serve, in Ellis's own words, is introduced and framed by former secretary of the interior and Jim Ellis mentee Sally Jewell. Several key accomplishments of his later life are presented by historian Jennifer Ott. It closes with an afterword by former Washington governor Gary Locke.