Colorado

Founding members of life in general   are Brook, Rose, Cooper, and Shepherd Le Van.  In 1990 they founded the collaborative to investigate Western domestic space in order to find appropriate means to reintroduce avenues of self-formation into contemporary life.  life in general  sees paying attention to, ritualizing, the domestic environment and it's functions as the foundation to self-awareness.  Once that ground has been cared for community can be built on solid psychic footings.  Community is then better able to develop the renewed cultural values necessary as we engage with greater intensity in the current shifts in world consciousness.

The development and ritual practice of cultural myths are fundamental to the inner landscape.  Cultural myths include specific histories of individuals, families, and communities.  Once these histories are manifest in form, image, and event they reverberate back to the people living in the surrounding environment.  This communication between specific histories, ancestors, places and our individual psyches fosters profound connections, which ground our beings reaffirming our place in the world.  By participating in the making of our lives we come to understand essential parts of the self.  Our working model for care of the self is "life in general".

In the North American Legacies installation life in general  works within the context of the gallery/museum as a storehouse and showcase for cultural artifacts continuing their investigation into contemporary Western domestic space. 

life in general's  work has taken form as community collaboratives, public performances, museum installations, functional objects, videos, lectures, seminars, workshops, potlucks and daily life. Our largest and most current project to date is Sustainable Settings, a research and demonstration of sustainable livelihood in Woody Creek, Colorado.