The Butterfly Affect
The Butterfly Affect is a guided experience to travel through a butterfly’s metamorphosis from egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, to butterfly. It is an invitation for homo sapiens to go inside and contemplate growth within themselves—to emerge transformed and ready to co-create an equitable, survivable, and thrive-able world for life and the eco-systems upon which life depends.
Effect versus Affect
“The butterfly effect theory” posits that a butterfly’s wing beating on one side of the world can cause a tornado on the other side of the world. Small changes can result in large and distant consequences. “Effect” (noun) is the change that has already happened. “Affect” (verb) is the action that causes change now. If climate is the aggregated effect of weather patterns over time, many of us united in action can change the climate. We can reverse global warming. The beatings of your wings and heart through The Butterfly Affect can travel around the world to create a more equitable, survivable, and thrive-able world.
Co-Creators of this Project
This project began with an artistic urge to embody the beauty of a butterfly’s flight. I wrote the following line as an early expression of that urge, “If a dove is the symbol for peace, a butterfly is the symbol for change. Change is inevitable; making it beautiful is a choice.” I created my first puppet/costume out of a yellow bedsheet bought at a thrift store. I sewed on a hood and asked Juliana to paint it as a Western Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly. The magic occurred when I inserted the poles beneath the wings and held them pointing upwards backwards to enable the beating of the wings from back, out to the side, and back again in quick and seemingly effortless succession. Our first public use of these butterflies was at the 2019 Drawdown Learn Conference at the Omega Institute in NY. We have since used them at various climate strikes, performances at our Boulder City Climate Mobilization Action Plan Event, for photo shoots in National Parks and various cities, and in a procession on International Women’s Day to the United Nations building in NYC.
This project has transformed into an immersive performance experience for participants to travel through all four stages of a butterfly’s metamorphosis, from egg, to caterpillar, to chrysalis, to butterfly. In creating the eggs, caterpillars, and chrysalis/hammocks for this “performance,” I enjoy the material pleasure of imaging how to generate and create costumes for each stage to enrich and deepen this experience. I cherish the sharing of all of this with others to continue our collective transformation in art, life, and interspecies co-becoming as a part of the natural world.
Dr. Beth Osnes
beth.osnes@colorado.edu
Embodying a butterfly has surprisingly become one of my favorite expressions of self-joy. As a woman of color, I often feel hyper-visible in the spaces I occupy, particularly in nature. When I’m a butterfly puppet, this hypervisbility is transformed into a welcomed, desirable characteristic. I embrace the playfulness of the puppet, and as it expands my physical circumference, I feel a joyous liberation taking up space. The more I puppeteer, the more comfortable and knowledgeable I feel about climate concerns, and I am committed to extending this creative tool to facilitate inclusive eco-activism. It has been incredible experiencing the versatility of these puppets, from the UN Commission on the Status of Women to local climate strikes, to national parks.
Sarah Fahmy is an assistant professor of theatre at Florida State University. She is a decolonial scholartist, the co-founder of the Middle Eastern Theatre focus group at the Association of Theatre in Higher Education, and the author of several interdisciplinary articles, including “Eco-puppetry: playful disruptions for climate agency” in Puppetry
Dr. Sarah Fahmy
sfahmy@fsu.edu
Collaborators
Juliana Forbes
Ting Lester
Nancy Yoder
My engagement in this project began some years ago with a conversation Beth and I shared about Climate Change. We were musing that the science, our knowledge of the facts, wasn't moving us collectively to action. But we agreed that when we paid close attention to something—whether swallows, clouds, rivers, or butterflies—we often fell in love and this part of nature became a portal into the wider conversation about the health of our planet. And we knew that beauty and something visually unexpected were compelling. Beth was then working with swallows, and I painted a large swallow costume, and have continued working with Beth. It is always an honor to talk with her about the world, and to collaborate on any and all projects that inspire engagement. The climate crisis is an irresistible invitation to change. Paying attention to the earth may offer the most instructive, compelling and beautiful templates for how to change. Juliana Forbes is a professional artist residing in Paonia, Colorado.
To be a butterfly is a powerful thing. A person must step out of their comfort zone, the routine in which they walk, to embrace and reevaluate their connection with the world around them. For me, when I donned the wings of a blue morpho for the first time, when I spread the cloth taught across my chest and held my head high, I viewed myself, one butterfly, one human, as much more. I stood out in my environment to stand in line with my values and aspirations for our future Earth. I was not simply just another face to glance over and then forget, no, I was a butterfly, a thing of nature, a change of perspective. Now, at every climate rally or march where I transform into a butterfly, I revel in the artistic and theatrical take on the movement, letting my voice soar through the air. This project has been an impassioned, joy-filled collaboration with fellow lovers of art and the natural world. I hope through our work we can inspire others to seek new methods of taking action and encourage them to take flight as their own catalysts of change. Ting Lester is an avid rock climber, a 2023 graduate of Boulder High School, and an undergraduate student at Colorado College.
Lianna Nixon is an award-winning conservation storyteller, environmental science educator, and expedition guide. She specializes in stories located in the polar regions and the American West. Nixon is driven to tell stories that connect people to our planet using art-science narratives that empower community stakeholders. Nixon received her Master's in Education: Learning Sciences and Human Development from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Her work explores how storytelling impacts learning about climate science and intersectional environmentalism. Today she works with scientists, educators, and conservationists around the world to help communicate their work to the public. Lianna's work has been published in magazines such as GEO, CBS, ABC, Stern, Nature, PM, and many academic journals. Her work has been exhibited in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany, and the United States. Nixon has a MA in Education: Learning Sciences Human Development, University of Colorado, Boulder.
Nancy Yoder is a CU Boulder Alum with a BS in Creative Technology Design and Computer Science. She works primarily on front end web design and mobile app development. She is passionate about graphic design, as well as other forms of art such as jewelry making and crochet. She started working for Inside the Greenhouse as a student employee graphic and web design, managing their social media accounts and websites as well as designing medias to display their curriculum. She is continuing her work as a post graduate freelancer for the organization.
Melisande Osnes
Lianna Nixon
Joe Yoder
Host Plant Facilitators
The Butterfly Affect would not be possible without the students, community members, and friends who help us co-facilitate the performance as Host Plants.
Marina Johnson
She/They
Lerato Osnes
Julia Anderson
Jen Lackey
Iván-Daniel Espinosa
Harlan Rosen
Degree: PhD Candidate in Theatre in Performance Studies, Stanford University; MFA Directing, University of Iowa
Reflecting on my experience: This summer (2024), I am leaving for a year of fieldwork in the Middle East, and am taking the facilitation kit with me. I’m excited to bring this to the communities with which I work!
Degree: Nursing student, Denver College of Nursing
Reflecting on my experience: I helped facilitate this as a host plant in Boulder’s Open Space Mountain Parks. I feel like what I watched and noticed with the last group was the way that they embodied it themselves. They really dove into it, and it seemed to deeply affect them. They really went into each part of it fully. You could just see at the very end when they became butterflies that they felt at peace and were lighter. It was like they didn’t have to carry the same weight with them, as if they really became butterflies. Being a part of this experience was really beautiful, especially since it was able to make people feel like they had a space to let go a little. It was a space to touch into the natural world which also allowed them to get in touch with themselves.
Degree: PhD student, Theatre and Performance Studies, University of Colorado Boulder
Reflecting on my experience: I found The Butterfly Affect to be a tranquil experience that opens the door for self-discovery and understanding. The experience affects both the host plant and the butterfly as you both are dependent on each other for change. The host plant carries each experience with them, and the butterfly can reflect on the phases of life!
Degree: Bachelor of Science in Sociology & Bachelor of Arts in Theatre, Florida State University
Reflecting on my experience:
“Having the opportunity to both lead as a host plant and to undergo the butterfly's transformation was eye opening for me. On one hand, I was able to guide others through this process and firsthand see the change it brought to their overall demeanor, seeming much more in tune with themselves, deeply reflective, and serene-- it felt awesome to help people experience this metamorphosis. On the other hand, undergoing it myself felt so deeply meditative and really brought to light how I exist within different spaces, my own body, and my general sense of agency and freedom in my movement. For me, it made me consider the idea of how I can be a little more comfortable in my own skin on a daily basis, and simultaneously what holds me back from that.”
Degree: PhD student, Theatre and Performance Studies, University of Colorado Boulder
Reflecting on my experience: "The Butterfly Affect performance is a unique and beautifully immersive project that helps participants connect more deeply to the earth. Participating in this inspiring project has motivated me to look even more to the natural world and to other life forms for new models on how to live a more environmentally conscious life. The Butterfly Affect performance encourages us all to take lessons from the earth and its diverse ecosystems. What is it that has enabled butterflies of different species, as well as trees and plants to survive for millions of years, through every kind of catastrophe, every pandemic, every climate change that’s ever happened on this planet, and what can we learn from that?? Grounded in connection with the earth, this project inspires us to meditate deeply on how art can help us revitalize our lives and renew our relationships with the natural world amidst adversity."
Degree: Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art, The Chicago Art Institute
Reflecting on my experience: “The butterfly is a potent metaphor. It progresses with strength and patience through distinct phases of ability and appearance, eventually taking flight. Even months after guiding participants through The Butterfly Affect as a host plant, I find myself applying the wisdom of this immersive experience to my own life. I imagine that, unlike critical humans, the butterfly never feels embarrassed that it was once a squirmy caterpillar, or regrets that it spent a significant portion of its life span tucked inside a chrysalis. Being part of this project means sharing and practicing the wisdom of transformation in community. I consider it to be a small taste of very sweet nectar which everyone, no matter who they are or how old, can be nourished by.”
Leela Stoede
Degree: Masters of Sustainable Development student, St Andrews University, Scotland
Reflecting on my experience: The Butterfly Affect, for a participant and for a host plant, is a practice in reconnecting with our bodies and our Earth. In helping guide people through their journeys, I was given the opportunity to practice holding space for people - sharing silence with the participants, joining them in movement, and inherently asking myself (as we ask them) what do I want to see in the world, what changes do I need to undergo, how do I undergo those changes? I feel honored to have been able to be one of the host plants in this incredible immersive experience because as powerful as the 30 minutes given to the participants are, I have found it even more powerful and grounding to spend full days dedicated to this work, in my body, sharing space, immersed in considering change. It is powerful how imbued with a sense of community and hope I have felt after sharing silence with people who participate in the Butterfly Affect.
Chelsea Hackett
She/Her
Degree: Co-Founder of SPEAK, PhD in Educational Theatre, New York University, Masters in Applied Theatre, City University of New York, Bachelor of Fine Arts in Performance and Bachelor of Science in Media Studies, CU Boulder
Reflecting on my experience: The Butterfly Affect touches on the elements that I love most about immersive experiences: it draws the audiences into a deeper knowing of themselves and the world through a body-based exploration. It starts first with feelings, and then moves towards knowing and understanding. As a host-plant, I was able to see the range of interactions that this experience can produce: silliness, sadness, retrospection, curiosity. I am interested in the potential this project has to create a container for different groups to process what they are experiencing in our rapidly changing world!
Sam Collier
She/Her
Degree: PhD Candidate in Theatre and Performance Studies, University of Colorado Boulder; MFA University of Iowa Playwrights Workshop; BA Middlebury College
Reflecting on my experience: It has been so inspiring to see how participants respond to this immersive performance! People really are transformed by the experience of emerging from an egg, imagining the world they’d like to live in, and then taking the first few steps to create that world.