The Full Melon Puppet Show
The Full Melon debuted at Open Eye Figure Theater during the Full Moon Puppet Show in Oct. 2022. Performers: Zach Playdoh Kolo [Cantaloupe], Kalen Rainbow Keir [Watermelon], Kit Leffler [Climate Change Monster]
The show is loosely inspired by the scientific research of Drs. Joanne Chory, James Lovelock, Dan Voytas, and Peter Ward. My primary goal as an artist is to inspire change by cultivating cultural exchange between the arts and sciences. I draw from my experiences, worries and motivations living through climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic. The plot centers around a watermelon and cantaloupe plant as they consider ‘end times’. Hand puppetry and chemistry trickery are utilized in this performance.
The Full Melon is PG-13 for aggressive language. This show may not be safe for some people with epilepsy due to flashing lights, fire and the use of fog.
Further reading regarding the performance’s content can be found by exploring the research references below.
Photo documentation [left] by Nicole Neri
Source Literature:
Aitkenhead, D. (2016) ‘James Lovelock: “Before the end of this century, robots will have taken over”’, The Guardian, 30 September. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/30/james-lovelock-interview-by-end-of-century-robots-will-have-taken-over (Accessed: 4 October 2022).
Berry, E. (2015) Devoted to nature: the religious roots of American environmentalism. Oakland, California: University of California Press.
Carbon Offsets: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) (2022). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6p8zAbFKpW0 (Accessed: 4 October 2022).
Financial Times (2022) ‘Climate change A to Z: an FT jargon buster’, 10 April.
Hahn, J. (no date) Joanne Chory is using plants to save the planet, Washington Post. Available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/interactive/2021/joanne-chory-climate-plants/ (Accessed: 4 October 2022).
‘Harnessing Plants Initiative’ (no date) Salk Institute for Biological Studies. Available at: https://www.salk.edu/harnessing-plants-initiative/ (Accessed: 4 October 2022).
Lycopodium Fireball - The Spangler Effect (2017). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peL1orGWPn8 (Accessed: 7 October 2022).
Matson, J. (no date) Paleontologist Peter Ward’s ‘Medea hypothesis’: Life is out to get you, Scientific American Blog Network. Available at: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/paleontologist-peter-wards-medea-hypothesis-life-is-out-to-get-you/ (Accessed: 6 October 2022).
Nutrition, C. for F.S. and A. (2022a) ‘How GMOs Are Regulated in the United States’, FDA [Preprint]. Available at: https://www.fda.gov/food/agricultural-biotechnology/how-gmos-are-regulated-united-states (Accessed: 4 October 2022).
Nutrition, C. for F.S. and A. (2022b) ‘Science and History of GMOs and Other Food Modification Processes’, FDA [Preprint]. Available at: https://www.fda.gov/food/agricultural-biotechnology/science-and-history-gmos-and-other-food-modification-processes (Accessed: 4 October 2022).
PBS - harvest of fear: should we grow gm crops?: full arguments (no date). Available at: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/harvest/exist/arguments.html (Accessed: 4 October 2022).
Pennisi, E. (2016) ‘The plant engineer’, Science, 353(6305), pp. 1220–1224. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.353.6305.1220.
Sample, I. and correspondent, science (2007) ‘It’s too late for greenhouse gas cuts, says scientist’, The Guardian, 29 October. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2007/oct/29/climatechange.sciencenews (Accessed: 4 October 2022).
Schneider, K. (2022) ‘James Lovelock, Whose Gaia Theory Saw the Earth as Alive, Dies at 103’, The New York Times, 27 July. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/27/climate/james-lovelock-dead.html (Accessed: 4 October 2022).
This CRISPR pioneer wants to capture more carbon with crops (no date) MIT Technology Review. Available at: https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/06/14/1053843/carbon-capture-crispr-crops/ (Accessed: 4 October 2022).
Ward, P. (no date) Peter Ward: A theory of Earth’s mass extinctions | TED Talk. Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/peter_ward_a_theory_of_earth_s_mass_extinctions/transcript?language=uk (Accessed: 6 October 2022).
Ward, P.D. (Peter D. (2009) The medea hypothesis : is life on earth ultimately self-destructive? Princeton: Princeton : Princeton University Press.
Watts, J. and @jonathanwatts (2020) ‘James Lovelock: “The biosphere and I are both in the last 1% of our lives”’, The Observer, 18 July. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/18/james-lovelock-the-biosphere-and-i-are-both-in-the-last-1-per-cent-of-our-lives (Accessed: 4 October 2022).