#mediation

[via Rabia’s Riff newsletter /  WakingUpTogether.org.]
“
We are now in the time we have been waiting for. 2016 will be remembered as the year Americans finally woke up to the imminent breakdown of our global ecosystem and the injustices inherent in corporate capitalism. We needed a shock to rouse us from the economic and technological slumber in which we have so comfortably taken refuge since the 1950’s.

In 2016 many events came together to provide that jolt to our collective system:
•  Political Corruption — the publication of Dark Money, Jane Mayer’s exposé of the ultra-conservative billionaires who bought out our political and judicial systems;
•  Corporate Fraud — the release of findings showing that ExxonMobil knew for more than 30 years that burning carbon was heating up the atmosphere with disastrous results, while continuing to fund climate deniers to deliberately confuse the American electorate;
•  Hate Mongering — the fact that sexism, harassment, racism and xenophobia have now become “politically correct”;
•  Citizen Activism — the Democracy Spring march on Washington, D.C., challenging Citizens United and big money in politics, and the powerful encampment at Standing Rock to halt the Dakota Access Pipeline; and
•  Political Discontent — the deeply polarizing presidential campaign and the surprise election of Donald Trump.

There is no doubt that the dissolution of the old order is now officially in progress, and things are only going to intensify. Because so much of our country still believes the misinformation spread by special interests, the environment and the economy may have to get much worse before the needed changes are put in place.  

SO… is there any good news?
There is a silver lining to this dark time: these crises are the very things that are triggering a major revolution, one that can lead us to a renewal of spiritual gratitude, ecological sustainability, social justice, and the understanding that self-interest is not the true goal of human life.   Beautiful, hopeful, inspiring messages are already beginning to surface. (Click here to watch “I Trust You” video).

As the breathtaking victory at Standing Rock demonstrated, people are waking up. That victory was made possible by hundreds of thousands of acts of solidarity. For some it meant traveling to North Dakota, facing night after night of cold weather and police brutality. For others it meant organizing solidarity marches and rallies, spreading the word, signing petitions, pulling money out of banks funding the pipeline, and having tough conversations at the office and at the dinner table.

Elias and I witnessed first-hand the resolve of those gathered at Standing Rock, and the new sense of community that took root there: a growing tribe of all ages
and backgrounds, unified in people’s willingness to stand up for justice, sacredness, and the health of the planet.

We all have been through dangerous times before; it is one of the ways we grow. If you have lived a vital life, you almost certainly have navigated many crises. In truth, real breakthroughs usually only come out of crises. And while being in the middle of a crisis can feel chaotic and scary, a crisis is what we want. Let’s welcome it!

As Clarissa Pinkola Estes reminds us, “We were made for these times.” Literally.  Our DNA has evolved over a million years by turning dangers into opportunities. If you (and your ancestors) weren’t skilled in this particular wizardry, you wouldn’t be here now.

So this is the first silver lining: we have what it takes.
At this very moment many writers, spokespeople, activists and leaders in various fields are writing inspiring essays and speaking up to remind us of this truth. We need to support these women and men. We need to shift our attention away from the “pundits” and media dogs who are paid to muddy the waters and distract us, who erode our self-esteem, who make us think we are helpless and isolated — and who convince us that we will only feel safe and whole and happy if we buy new and better “stuff.” We need to turn our attention instead to the women and men who focus on the true and the heartfelt, who are telling the new story about empathy, cooperation, justice, and community.

The second light in the sky is that we know what to do.
Or at least where to begin. We do not lack for well-thought-out scenarios for the sustainability revolution that has to happen. Some of these ideas are already being adopted at the local level. Forward-thinking governors, mayors, and NGO leaders are linking cities and regions together to reduce energy consumption in order to adapt to unavoidable climate change. Many other plausible next steps can be found in the margins, in organizations and practices we call alternative, regenerative, and holistic.

Of course the road ahead will be filled with uncertainty; the challenges we face are many and complex. It will take time to work out exactly how we are going to share resources, devise necessary restraints, design neighborhoods, manage transportation, and address infrastructure needs — not to mention restoring health to the natural systems we have destroyed. However…

The third shining light is that we’re not in this alone.
As the victory at Standing Rock demonstrates, the number of Americans who are already galvanizing is sizable, and growing daily. Fortunately, there are already many networks in place ready to work together and take action. We will need to rely more and more on these networks as a source of news and information, because much of the revolution will be hidden from us. The major news outlets only began covering Standing Rock when the number of people camped there passed the 5,000 mark — in other words, when not covering that story became an embarrassment.

I’ve done my share of activism, but the events of this last year — and especially of this last election — have inspired me to get involved at a level I’ve never before engaged in. It is a scary time, but it is also an exciting time. My hope is that you, too, will answer the call in whatever ways feel most meaningful to you. Alone we can do very little; but together, we can change the world.
“
— Elizabeth Rabia Roberts
http://wakinguptogether.org/

Two prisoners whose cells adjoin communicate with each other by knocking on the wall. The wall is the thing which separates them but it is also their means of communication. It is the same with us and God. Every separation is a link.

–Simone Weil, Gravity and Grace

Shades of Rilke’s Du, Nachbar Gott.

Day 1 and 2: After getting to know the work of all artists involved and the research projects of Motion Bank, we devised questions around ways to incorporate networked interaction for intersection between dance and webrtc technology. We looked into researching tools and different kinds of configuration for networked collaboration and performances. One idea that come up was to find ways to erase the line that splits the screen/space for a more dynamic interaction and approach. Here, we thought to provide users with features that can enhance the experience in a collaborative format while still maintaining the idea of performance as being a product of the process,that is, through the trajectory of creating, documenting and viewing.

Day 3:  Daniel and I began our research by looking at possible inputs and outputs that any user would like to have available in order to establish a direct line of communication with other performing and creative technical artists whom are collaborating at a distance.

Our first exploration involved visual outputs as a representative documentation of the interaction. Olivia Jack created a webrtc slit-scan program: http://ojack.github.io/slit-scan/

The program records two users/performers moving together and outputs a visually abstract recording that fragments time in various increments (real time, slow and reverse) for the duration of the performance. The speed can be controlled by the each user.

After exploring the slit-scan outcome, we realized that this program could be useful as a type of final representation of a networked performance, or movement experience. However, we thought to explore more the idea of blurring the online spaces to create a more physical/embodied interaction.

Olivia Jack then created a webrtc program called Portals: http://ojack.github.io/portals/

The program allowed us to “move together” allowing for more creating input by each user

Here Olivia (Bogotá), Lisa and Daniel (NYC) experimented moving together using Portals:

Another exploration, this time playing with light and movement  (Oliva, Lisa and Daniel):

Day 4/5: In the final days and preparation for our showing, we took our experimentations of using the webrtc slit scan and portals to understand how the networked environments can be reconfigured and adapted to include more bodies, and to include an audio score to direct performers.

We collaborated with Kate Sicchio* to include her project, which involved 10 audio scores. The scores were triggered by data received from solar wind. The data is updated every minute triggering various verbal scores. The dancer/performer moves according to which scores is being dictated from the real time solar wind data.

For the final presentation we used Kate’s audio scores for performers in Bogotá (Colombia), New York (USA) and Porto (Portugal) to make a network dance/performance.

Notes/Reflection:

Here are some thoughts and reflections that arose from the experiences held while participating with LAND PROJECT at the CCL 4. Our group included Lisa Parra Daniel Pinheiro and Olivia Jack. During this time we experimented with three webrtc programs: opentok, slit scan and portal. We then shared our process with others in the group to extend our discoveries and online practice to a community of dancers and programmers to play with and explore.

Two outcomes from CCL 4:

1.  Create different visual output possibilities for a networked embodiment experiences for documentation and archiving.  

2. Develop a layout for communication and interaction between remote locations for collaboration and performance.

Both of these outcomes included our originally research for this project. In the last year we began using  an open-source (webrtc) based platform called opentok. Opentok became ‘meeting point’ for artists to use as online space– open atelier or rehearsal space. We then introduced different inputs and outputs to visually generate and combine material that is automatically recorded and archived as it happens giving more choices to artists for possible post comments and documentation.

Although LAND PROJECT is a relationship between two distinct artists,  we are interested in exploring ways to materialize our process and methodologies as a model for others to 'interact’ and share in the process itself.

Opening the process to others and combining it with the work of Olivia Jack and Kate Sicchio was definitely an important step towards an understanding of the use of these tools as a model for artistic practices. The embodiment of the other in the case of LAND PROJECT happens when the communication is established. The screen is definitely a barrier to overcome, like many other barriers that separate people. However, here the communication layout created brought many people together to interact and dance with each other. The participants, in this case, did not need to look at one another in order to feel each other’s presence. In this performance there were four location: in New York, the “green hallway” an open space that began with two performers, but throughout the performance had various people join the two original dancers; another more intimate spaces in New York was the ‘audio room’ where two males performed the scores. Other locations included performers from Portugal and Colombia. In these locations, the performers participated from a living room in one and a bedroom in the other. Language also played an important role, as not all participants understood English very well.  All four locations created a performative situation linked together by sound and the internet. Here, the understanding of time and environment is where both the participant and spectators can witness the different locations and draw a multilayered narrative where ‘users’ become spectators of themselves even though they’re interacting with a group of people distributed across different time-zones and spaces.

parralis/daniel-pinheiro 

rhizomaticode

The participation of Daniel Pinheiro in this edition of the CCL was made possible with the support of The Luso-American Development Foundation.