Discussion 1 – Handbook for being Human in the 21st Century with MB TB EH JH LM PM ZP & JW
Thanks to generous funding from Arts Council England, we begin researching conversation and being human. Below are the reflections of 8 artists based in Leeds and Bradford on 27.1.17. We each started with the gathered blogs of the conversations of each event we have taken our project Tea and Tolerance to and 7 proposed chapter titles. The initial proposal being to write a Handbook for being Human in the 21st century.
Is it a book? A process?… an adventure?
Who have we worked with?
Where is it going? – to parliament? As a manifesto for humankind?
Cards FOR Humanity (rather than ‘against’)
MANIFESTO – or a journal / workbook / actions / tools: what am I gonna do? What next?
It’s all talk… Create a tool-kit to prompt conversation / a series of tasks and blank pages (Kindness Advent Calendar; Random Acts of Kindness..?)
A LAUNCHPAD to SOMEWHERE ELSE?
Where is the warmth..? The Story… The development of T&T… COntextUalisation.
WHO IS IT FOR? And WHAT IS IT FOR? Accessibility…
Is social change necessary? YOU might think so – but what if most people just want to ‘get along’, fall in love… ‘I’m not looking for a New England…’
Who should I be cross with, and what do people want? Will there be a WW3? Will we do it all over again?… But the reality is: people died, a lot of people…
Who is to blame, and how do we evolve? How do we all have conversations / empathy and compassion with and for people who do not share your world view. What if I am ‘their ‘ HITLER?
Who’s in & Who’s out? How do you make room for everybody? Who explains POLITICS to you? What does it all mean?
In a no (WO)MANS land – from our exclusive little ‘bubbles’…. crafting cultural / social experiences…
POLITICS is a privilege – what about ‘just surviving’???
Are we just wanking off? Who is to blame for all the wanking?
If SHIFT is going to happen… what do we do? Who do we talk with? And how?
A need to recognize spheres of influence…? Meaning – for whom?
DON’T TELL ME HOW TO BE GOOD.
YOU CAN ONLY ASK GOOD QUESTIONS… Questions to bridge boundaries… Bridging gaps.
Making assumptions? Fulfilling expectations? What DOES it MEAN? (Define / determine – unravel terms together to develop a shared understanding…)
A need to strip language back, develop definitions, get out of our BOXES of assumptions – what does the word Fascist / Nazi mean. Define it. Together. There are massive gulfs between people – even in families…
HOW DO WE HAVE THE CONVERSATION?
QUESTION FROM BASIC PRINCIPLES: Use a battering ram or develop a curiosity tool…?
DIALOGUE. Where and how are we similar? Let’s not start by knowing that the other is definitely wrong. Stop filling in the gaps in conversation. Stop being so fucking clever.
LISTEN
Establish lexicon (words we understand) with each other.
CURIOUSNESS
Stop pitting people against each other & blaming….
LISTEN
Stop being binary. Evolve your multiplicity.
Create ‘Safe’ space to be FIERCE
RADICAL HONESTY – build toward a place where this can take place…
WHAT are the LAYERS, and HOW do they FUNCTION in the development of creating that ‘Safe Place’?
LAYERS of CHOICES
BE CURIOUS – who knows everything?
LISTEN very very CAREFULLY…
FIND yourself in a group of people who are able to hold their tongues…
SPEAK… maybe.
BREATHE
This is an enquiry – we will work it out together…
WITH OUR PASSION…
HOW DO WE ASK & WHAT ARE THE RIGHT QUESTIONS?
Book? App? Social media? Multi-platform? Multiple access routes in…
[When do I feel alone? What do I go to? Someone’s thought. But how do I go on? Blank pages. Need a space to feed back into…]
Activities to create position of an imagined and distant point of view… One person’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter.
How do we avoid dominant voices? REFLECT / BREATHE
PRIVILEGE. CIS / TRANS / HOW DO WE INCLUDE PEOPLE IF THEY ARE NOT VOCAL?
CHECK IN – with each other along the way.
WHAT IS YOUR LANGUAGE (plain speaking).
REFLECT UPON HOW YOU ARE DOING
MOMENTS of COMPULSORY NOTHING.
RULES & REGS.
SPACE – and How does a conversation work?
Clumsily – that’s life! Justification of positions / or Evolution of ideas or concepts….
CURIOSITY BINGO!
WHAT DO YOU MEAN? (When, if ever, do we land on the same page?)
(Where is the route map that takes me from here to There…?)
What are the core questions – and how do we speak: converse, converge & transform…
TIME PLACE PROCESS
CARTOGRAPHY
At the crossroads where all the ghosts, futures and present converge… Where the decision has to be made as regards the next step… In the moment?
A tool-kit for guided conversations.
{note from Lucy to remember the Naughty Virgin Mary?}???
WHAT IS LISTENING? Re-creation of the T&T model / way of evolving and developing conversation…
A TOOL-KIT to build with…
(What is the game and how does it work?)
Game of Equality… or Equity…
What are the rules?
How do we do tolerance?
Where are you stuck in your life? Need spaces to speak on particular issues…
EVERYBODY IS AMAZING AREN’T THEY?
(Termites and shouters)
What will make it all better?
TIME LIMITS: game mechanisms; open spaces; creating frameworks…
[Social Engineering] / T&T FIGHT CLUB…
Who are you? Will you share it with me?
FURTHER / ONWARD THINKING:
Part 1: Tea & Tolerance: Re-establishing the Art of Conversation.
I think this is what i/we came to as a conclusion… to create something that is the right balance… of instructions, rules, options and strategies (maybe even a few statements & suggestions, games and aides) that helps people to really enjoy each others company whilst evolving meaningful dialogue with each other.
To be calm becomes a kind revolutionary act…