Big Table Project

I have finally figured out a simple, yet powerful form that translates the core aspect of what I am saying in my Poetica.

The statement, just to recap, is: “For social change to occur, we must realize that the internet is a new breeding ground for radical discontinuities in the way we perceive the governing structures that surround us.”

The idea is to rethink and redefine the way we see the information flow on the internet. I was talking to Hank about this the other day, and we realized that I nneded to create a rupture in what we perceive to be a book. It needs to be something non-linear. Books are essentially records; they are meant to store information, much like the intangible, artificial world that is the internet.

The internet is an abstract thing. I am trying to visually represent in my project, how information, ideas, knowledge, are able to transcend the medium. The flow of ideas from “place” to “place”.

—So I am planning on having a board that represents the artifical world that is the internet. I found images on the internet that have maps…of the internet. These are maps of the 256 “galaxies” that exist currently exist. Each “galaxie” has 16 million cubes. Each cube equals a website. Etc.

—I want to use the “map” of the internet in the background, making that once articial world, real. By having a visual representation of the internet as a place, I am giving it a physical location.

—There would be pieces [cube shaped] that could move around the “map”. These cubes are suppossed to represent information, ideas, and the physical world. You could move these cubes from “place” to “place” around the board.

—Each cube (or at least 13 of them) would have parts of my essay. They all reiterate the same points, in different angles. Other cubes would have visuals that support my thesis. ["other information"]. Eventually, if you move the right pieces around and place them in a spoecific order, you will read RETHINK REVOLT.

—The cubes would be transluscent, so you can “see” the map of the internet behind it, at the bottom. [Going back to the idea that ideas can easily transcend, back and forth, from one place to the other. The medium is the message, but the message transcends the medium.

Anyhow, here are the statements I will have on each cube.

R - Redefine the way you interact and perceive everything that surrounds you. Find out what is going on in society—you should be able to control the extent and the quality of information you are receiving.

E - Evolution is revolution! To evolve means to advance in small increments. It is the gradual process of modification through natural selection. But if we are highly adaptable beings, and our world is rapidly facing irrevocable damage, we should be able to change our behaviour accordingly—hurriedly, and without hesitation!

T - Take a look around, and see what we have created and what we have lost. We have created hierarchical institutions that are economical, political, and societal in nature to help us understand our existence. On the other hand, we have lost hope. These institutions have failed us! And thus, we have become sad and cynical. These structures may not be perfect—but there’s always room for refinement and change.

H - Human beings, at their core, have an instinctive desire for interaction. There are currently more than 33.1 billion active cell phones in a planet that has 6.6 billion humans. The cell phone is considered to be the fastest global diffusion of any technology in human history— because it keeps us the most interconnected.

I - Individual freedom is impossible without social freedom, and vice versa. Cornelius Castoriadis, philosopher and radical thinker, describes freedom as something that can only be achieved when the social individuals take a direct part in the formation and implementation of the their institutions. We should be able to participate in all social decisions that affect our existence, or the general course of the world in which we live.

N - NewMindSpace, ImprovEverywhere, Flashmobs! These are just a few groups that are part of the new Urban Playground Movement. They organize unique social happenings in public settings all over the world. The goal of these free events is to replace passive, non-social, branded consumption experiences like watching television. The reason why these events are becoming so popular is that at their core, they are about connecting with other people.

K - Knowledge can be evenly distributed without any restrictions or discrimination in the institution that has become the Internet. It allows for the convergence of radical thoughts and ideas. On the other hand, social networking websites like Facebook and Myspace are spreading all over the web like mini-malls. The Suburban Sprawl is crossing over to the online world. It is our duty to make this new amalgamation serve a greater purpose. We must not let this new structure fall into that vortex of futility that is the capitalist imaginary!

R - Rebels, revolutionaries, deviants! Where is the radicalism and defiance? The Kardomah Café, the old house at rue du Chateau…these used to be the places where Radical Thought was born. The bars and cafes are now legends, mythical sanctuaries where the mind was allowed to germinate. Sadly, they have now become side-notes in Art History books, but the true spirit of insurrection lingers, and continues to haunt those who question.

E - Expectations have been surpassed. Communities are being born online every day—the internet is allowing us to become informed and educated. It is a new place where we can share our inconformities. What started as a group of young people directing their anger at the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on Facebook, ended as a world-wide event called “One Million Voices Against FARC.” Thousands of people took to the streets of Colombia and other major cities to protest against the nation’s oldest and most powerful rebel group.

V - Violence is futile! You can bring down a government without firing a single shot. In 2001, more than one million residents of Manila, capital of the Phillipines, were mobilized and coordinated by a surge of text messages, to meet at the site of the 1986 “People Power” demonstrations that had toppled the Marcos regime. The national protest lasted over fours days, and as a result, Prisident Joseph Estrada was forced to step down from his position.

O - Our capacity and willingness for creation and ideation has not changed, even if the way we communicate and interact with one another has. The internet is allowing us to become informed, and therefore educated. It is also enabling us to communicate faster and in ways never before thought possible. There is a sense of urgency now more than ever to share our ideas with one another.

L - Like a living, breathing organism, we can work simultaneously to create massive change! It has been proven that the whole is sometimes smarter than the sum of its parts—one of the most striking behavioural patterns of a shoal is its synchronization. Hundreds of small fish glide in unison, more like a single organism than a collection of individuals.

T - Those of us who see the possibility of change should realize that every single technological advancement created should be at our disposal. Everyday we face things that we consider unacceptable. But these are not inevitable! They stem from a poorly structured society—one that does not use technology to enrich or develop itself.