after existential crisis comes occupying everywhere: a revolution of meaning, reunification, and collaboration.

As common as the idea that reality is connected to consciousness may be in theory, few of us go through life with a viable understanding of what this might mean in practice. Perhaps this is because so many facets of western culture reinforce the sensation of separateness and undermine feelings of connection in ways both subtle and overt. Competition, individualism, and selfishness in their most extreme forms are advocated as survival skills. The world comes complete with distinct borders, countries, religions, teams, traditions, and national identities that make it seem as if we humans have more differences than commonalities.

But on some level, many of us have a hunch that this isn’t quite right. Our complex biological sensory systems tell us that being included and cared for feels better than being alone and left out. We experience empathy and compassion for complete strangers who are suffering. If we’re very fortunate, we may even have been in love, in which case we have unquantifiable yet very powerful evidence that profound emotional connectedness is a very real phenomenon – we feel another person’s pain, we experience their joy in sometimes all-too-tangible ways.

As humans we arrive preinstalled with sophisticated organs of perception – and yet somehow we’ve come to trust external sources of knowledge more than our own instincts. It’s my hypothesis that our collective guts can only handle so much conflicting data before they begin to pipe up, creating a subtle but piercing kind of dissonance that is hard to ignore.

How much conflicting data does it take to produce extrasensory feedback loud enough to produce a global cacophony? A rough estimate: about 300 years’ worth. During the early Renaissance, art, science, and spirituality were practiced as interconnected parts of an overarching, holistic philosophy of nature. By the 17^th century, Bacon, Newton, Galileo, Descartes, and others had introduced the idea of a universe made of separate parts connected by generic, impersonal forces. Rather than simply accept the “scientific method” as an important new way of collecting information about the workings of the world while continuing to embrace the notion that intuition and imagination serve different but equally valid functions, a battle of the paradigms ensued that still rages to this day.

Since the 1700’s, in the “western” world at least, our formerly holistic vision of the cosmos has been undermined by learned separateness. But the internal data we’re receiving tells us that the old notions of mind vs. matter, science vs. art vs. religion, observer vs. observed just aren’t holding up. Meanwhile, current breakthroughs in science are also suggesting that things may not be as they’ve seemed ­– multiple, even seemingly opposed scenarios can exist simultaneously, things that appear incompatible may be different facets of the same jewel – separateness is truly an illusion.

I believe that the OCCUPY movement, in concert with other uprisings in progress around the world, marks a new kind of Renaissance, one of collective recognition of the importance of interconnectedness – between disciplines, cultures, and communities – and of consciousness, in the sense that individuals are realizing the power of personal and collective participatory action, intention, and collaboration.

The monumental challenges that humanity faces today on a global scale are the result of 300 years’ worth of compartmentalizing and un-holistic thinking – when the earth’s “resources” such as ancient forests, oceans, rivers, oil and coal deposits, creatures, and even human beings are seized and exploited for the convenience and profit of the few without regard for environmental or moral costs, when pharmaceuticals are developed for outrageous profit without regard for the true causes of disease, when people are told that peace is not possible without war, that our planet’s biosphere is too large to be disrupted by the follies of man, that health care and education are too costly while “defense” and tax breaks for the rich are imperative, that we should fear rather than love our neighbors, that our voices and actions are too small to make a difference…

Not long ago a select few in control of the largest media outlets had the power to manipulate prevailing thought. But 2011 has been the year of radical, world-shifting information-sharing and citizen journalism. Armed only with small electronic devices connected to a common network, we developed ways to pool our resources in the form of information and ideas. Radical rejection of helplessness has been the catalyst for individual and collective action. We learned that “occupying” has both physical and mental components – we can occupy any location at any moment simply by refusing to participate in a broken system to the greatest extent possible. By taking personal responsibility for social and environmental justice in every facet of our lives, from how we acquire food to where we shop and bank to the quantity and quality of the resources we consume, each of us can help create the sustainable, healthy, and just society we envision.

It is at the precise moment when existence seems the most futile and absurd – when we have nothing left to lose – that extreme anger and frustration can suddenly morph into a radical sense of freedom that fuels empowerment and a commitment to act.

In the past year we have not only borne witness to the release of Wikileaks, the start of the MENA revolutions, the rise of the Indignados in Spain, Anonymous, and so much more – as a result of social networks many of us have been active participants in these historic events. We have offered support and held space as our friends and colleagues have been beaten, arrested, and oppressed, and as they have succeeded in toppling tyrants and putting their oppressors to shame. The chills we feel when physically participating in – or experiencing virtually – a radical act is evidence of the veracity of our connection. It is also a healthy symptom of the re-infusion of our existences with meaning.

the rubin's tube

art of interconnectedness - goethe's game

goethe's game (the mesa), a conceptual artwork based on 1970's "booby trap" toy from alyce santoro on Vimeo.

weekend hosted by ballroom marfa

the SOS opening weekend was a smashing success. lots of pictures from the event are now available on the ballroom marfa website.

invitation to sos launch hosted by ballroom marfa in marfa, texas

speech for president obama

i wrote this a bit less than a year ago as the speech i wanted to hear president obama give during the gulf oil disaster. it could easily be adapted to reflect current catastrophes:

Uniting Towards a Sustainable Future: A Speech for the President

My Fellow Americans, I stand before you tonight wishing that I could tell you from the bottom of my heart that everything is going to be all right. But that would be dishonest, and you have been lied to enough. You have been lied to by politicians, by CEO’s, and, the sad fact of the matter is that we have been lying to ourselves. We all know that our system is broken – that rampant borrowing is unsustainable, that voracious, wasteful consumption of non-renewable resources is unsustainable, that a culture based on greed and fear is unsustainable. Everywhere we turn, we see evidence of muck rising to the surface, muck we sensed was lingering just out of view, but chose to ignore. Citizens cannot go on pretending, and nor can the government. The time has come for us to look ourselves and each other in the eye and ask the question, “What really matters? What are the things that bring real happiness?” For most of us, family, community, health, and security might come to mind. And yet many of us feel that these things are in jeopardy. How did this happen? When we take a moment to think about it, we may realize that at some point we simply stopped nurturing the things we value most. We mortgaged away our most precious assets, bet them against some artificial notion of future success. When did the American Dream become something that very few can afford, with many others so caught up in the struggle just to get by that they have no time to tend to the things that matter most?

In the April 3, 1944 issue of LIFE magazine, there is an article on page 93 titled “OIL – U.S. Must Drill 20,000 More Wells to Get Enough in 1944.” In the same issue, almost every advertisement – from aftershave to shoes - alludes to the motto of the day, “Use It Up, Wear It Out, Make It Do…or Do Without”. On page 130 there’s a full-page ad from the “War Advertising Council” with a list of things you can do “if you want to be able to enjoy the good things of life in the peaceful days to come…if you want to speed victory and thus save the lives of thousands of fighting men.” The first item on the list is “Buy only what you need. Take care of what you have. Avoid Waste.” Another point urges the reader to “Pay off your old debts – all of them. Don’t make new ones.” Next is “If you haven’t a savings account, start one. If you have an account, put money in it – regularly.” Last, “Buy and hold War Bonds. Don’t stop at 10%. Remember – Hitler stops at nothing!”

How different would our current wars and other crises be if our leaders asked us to contribute, to collaborate with them, all of us working together to do our parts? During WWII self-sufficiency in general was encouraged. Citizens were asked to grow “Victory Gardens” in order to limit the burden on trucking and railroad supply lines and other industries. A national “Victory Speed” of 35 miles per hour was enforced. Gasoline was rationed according to necessity, and for almost a year, anyone with an “A” sticker – those for whom driving was deemed non-essential – were allowed only 4 gallons of fuel per week. Since rubber was in extremely short supply, citizens were asked to contribute old raincoats, shoes, garden hose, and tires to the recycling effort.

What has changed? In 65 years, how did we go from a culture eager to share responsibility and involvement to one of selfish obliviousness? After 9/11, George W. Bush advised us to go about business as usual, act like everything is fine and leave it to him to annihilate “evil”. Well, it turns out that, unlike Hitler’s army, this far less tangible and insidious enemy could not be annihilated with aggression – in fact, hostility and hatred are the very food on which it thrives. After 9/11 we were justified in our anger – but we did not clearly define our adversary before we began the battle. The people of Iraq and Afghanistan were not our enemies. Brothers, fathers, mothers, children, homes, schools, farmland, ancient relics – all destroyed because violence was used as the first resort instead of the last one. Our crusade to root out and destroy evil has wreaked havoc on countless families, livelihoods, and traditions in the cradle of civilization – and here on our own soil as well. In our vain attempt to destroy the enemy, we have lost no small part of ourselves.

But it’s not too late to begin now to do what’s right.

This starts with the understanding that there are bad seeds and extremists in every land, but this does not justify unbridled aggression. We must trust what we know in our hearts to be true: that most people, regardless of their religion or nationality, yearn for a peaceful existence, and hold out hope for a better life for their children. We must focus on that which we have in common with our neighbor, rather than seek out and exaggerate our differences. After WWII, Americans were viewed as heroes who made great sacrifices to come to the aid of forces fighting on the side of good. In stark contrast, our current wars have caused us to be seen as lone vigilantes, serving only to isolate us and ignite disgust and disdain for the United States around the world.

These wars have cost too much in every sense of the word, in lives as well as dollars. WWII was a boon to our economy because we manufactured goods that were sold to our allies. We stopped making cars and made airplanes instead. In contrast, our current wars provide few benefits to our domestic economy, with the majority of funds going into the coffers of war profiteers who have proven time and time again to favor their own bottom lines over the safety and well-being of those they have been charged to protect. The biggest winner in the war on terror is the oil companies themselves. More petroleum is purchased by the Department of Defense for use by the U.S. military than by any other singular entity in the world. If the oil companies had their way, we’d be at war until our tanks came to a grinding halt on the battlefield, having run out of last drop of fuel on planet Earth.

Which brings me to the subject I came to speak with you about tonight - the torrent of oil currently gushing into the Gulf of Mexico. I wanted to speak with you first about the wars in order to make something amply clear: we are not fighting over religious differences, or to retaliate for the attack on our soil on 9/11. The unspoken truth is that we are in these battles for the sake of a substance that controls our every action. We have been led to believe that we cannot survive without it, and the fear of not having enough of it compels us kill or die for it.

We can and must end these wars, but doing so as quickly, efficiently, and humanely as possible will require us to first understand the real reasons we began them. As a nation, we must come to realize that the true enemy is our dependence on oil, and collectively agree that the appropriate way to fight it consists of each and every one of us doing our part to simply use less of it. These wars – and the system that supports them - will cease to exist the moment we reduce our reliance on oil. We need to bring our energy and our efforts back home to help protect the things that are in danger here on our home soil. Our men and women abroad are needed here on our own shores to join a new and very different kind of battle.

This will necessitate immediate legislation and, in the longer term, the development and implementation of technologies based on harnessing renewable resources, such as solar, wind, geothermal, and hydropower. This is your government’s responsibility. We have subsidized the oil industry, provided astronomical tax breaks, and given it free reign on the shortsighted premise that our economy will continue to require more and more oil - and only oil - in order to thrive. We have put ourselves in the precarious position of having no back-up systems, no safety net. Rather than accept oil’s limitations and begin to scale back our reliance on it, we’ve developed a culture based on ever-expanding markets and increasing dependence.

Let me be clear: BP is fully to blame for the Deepwater Horizon disaster – they will be held financially and personally accountable for the reckless, irresponsible decisions that caused its equipment to fail and put its employees, the Gulf of Mexico, and countless lives and livelihoods at stake. But there are painful truths that must be faced – first we need to understand that all the money in the world is not sufficient to clean up the oil that is choking sea life from plankton to birds and is seeping into sand and marshes. We will try everything in our power to restore the Gulf to its former glory, even strive to make it better than it was, but a clean up could take years, or even decades.  The most difficult truth to face is that, directly or indirectly, we encouraged and participated in a system that cut corners and allowed this catastrophe to occur. Now we must leave behind these obsolete and reckless ways, and instead concentrate our efforts on new, sustainable means to thrive. The government can and must facilitate these changes in any way it can, but the fastest route to change will be through the actions of the people. Your help is urgently needed. We must act immediately if we wish to enjoy the good things of life in the peaceful days to come, if we wish to live healthier, less wasteful, more sustainable lives, if we wish to share the burden with our soldiers abroad. If we have any hope of leaving the world a better place for our children, we must make changes necessary – today, not tomorrow. The fate of our families, or nation, and our world is in our hands. Our greatest resource has been and always will be the determination of our people, our resolve, and our ability to do what is necessary in the face of challenge and adversity. 

It seems there is a lot of fear around change – many people argue that changes will take too long and cost too much. The hemorrhage of oil into the Gulf is the most tangible evidence our country has ever seen that we have no choice – we cannot afford NOT to change. This isn’t only a matter of the perilous state of the economy of the Gulf – this is rapidly becoming a matter of health and safety on a global scale.

American citizens constitute 5% of the world population, and yet we consume nearly a quarter of all the world’s resources.  China has a billion more people than the United States, and yet the Chinese consume less than a third of the resources we use. So much of what we Americans consume is simply wasted – water down the drain, lights left on, disposable packaging, inefficient automobiles, appliances, and architecture. By reducing waste and maximizing our efficiency, almost without noticing we could cut consumption of resources – and costs - by 50%. During World War II, citizens were asked to “Use it Up, Wear it Out, Make it Do, or Do Without.” I must ask this of you again today.

Using less would also go a long way towards resolving another problem – pollution.  There’s been a lot of debate about global warming, about whether it exists and if we should trust the scientific data. The fact is that it doesn’t really matter if humans are causing global warming. Clearly, humans are causing pollution. Pollution causes cancer, lung disease, birth defects, and a whole host of ailments too numerous to list. We now know better than to eat lead paint chips, drink the effluent from a factory, or breathe the air in a sewer. We need to learn to be more conscious stewards of the home we share, this small and miraculous planet Earth. We don’t need scientists to tell us that all the oceans are connected, or that the air we breathe here in the United States is the same air that people in China or Australia or Europe are breathing. Poet John Donne said, “No man is an island.” No war, no environmental catastrophe is an island either. All of these events are interrelated. Decisions we make today will determine not only the future of our own families, but the future of families on the other side of the world.

This is why today I am proposing the following:

1. A permanent moratorium on all deep water drilling for oil.

2. A national campaign for every citizen to USE HALF of all non-renewable resources to begin immediately, with greater emphasis placed on those who have had the luxury of using the most. The new American way of life will not be one of wasteful excess, but one of thoughtful, sensible, comfortable efficiency. Constantly striving to streamline our habits will make the transition to alternative energy sources easier and cheaper – the less energy we require, the smaller and more affordable the system needed to sustain our lifestyles.

3. The establishment of an independent non-profit Sustainability Advisory Council to develop guidelines for the transition to a more sustainable society. This council will design programs for corporations, government offices, families, and individuals to assist in maximizing efficiency and eliminating waste. The American government will serve as an example, beginning immediately by converting the White House and all buildings in Washington to renewable energy. These guidelines will be considered when taking into account future government contracts, purchases including supplies, vehicles, and buildings, and other government spending. Non-essential plane and automobile travel will be eliminated or discouraged, with as much business as possible being carried out via Internet and electronic technologies.

4. A 5% tax on fossil fuels with all monies going to fund development of renewable technologies, green jobs training for those in the fossil fuel industry or other industries such as fishing which have been put at risk by non-renewable resource mining and drilling, improving and construction of new national train infrastructure and improving efficiency for other ground transportation systems, rebates and incentives for those who build new homes and businesses that utilize renewable resources, and retrofits for existing structures.

5. New utilities billing practices, with the greatest discounts given to those who use the least. This new more-you-use-the-more-you-pay model will make it especially desirable for the largest consumers to develop ways to maximize efficiency and reduce waste.

6. New efficiency standards for all vehicles and appliances, and incentives for the development and implementation of technologies that maximize efficiency from foot-pedal operated faucets to chest-style refrigerators that require a tenth of the energy of upright models. The age of planned obsolescence, disposable everything, and shoddy workmanship to save a dime in the short run and lose dollars in the long run is over.

7. A “Victory Maximum Speed Limit” of 55 miles per hour on all roadways, with 65 being allowed on major interstates only.

8. The establishment of a “Peace Advertising Council” to encourage “Using It Up, Wearing It Out, Making It Do, or Doing Without”, promote green entrepreneurialism, and distribute information on gardening, permaculture, and food forestry for homes, parks, college campuses, community developments, and industrial complexes.

This is just the beginning. With your help, this horrific catastrophe will become an opportunity to unite the people of our United States of America towards a common goal. Together we can strengthen and heal our families, our communities, our society, and our world. In this way, the suffering of our Gulf of Mexico and all affected by this tragic disaster will not be in vain.

Thank you and good night.

the social & scientific implications of the perfectly round tortilla with enrique madrid

Texas/Mexico border historian/scholar Enrique Madrid and his wife Ruby offer a lesson on how to prepare traditional Mexican recipes, including Enrique's theory that perfectly round tortillas that obey the very same laws of physics as the universe milliseconds after the Big Bang. Enrique and Ruby feel strongly that teaching people how to cook simple, wholesome food helps to preserve traditions and keeps "endangered flavors" alive. Sustenance - both physical and philosophical - provides individuals and families with the means to thrive, and creates bonds within communities and between cultures.

It so happened that I posted this video on the same day that an article on the very same subject titled Holy Frijole by Jake Silverstein was published in Texas Monthly.

everyone as activist

Everyone as activist: the Synergetic Omni-Solution
by Alyce Santoro | March 15, 2011, 2:42 pm Waging Non-Violence.org

“You never change things by fighting the existing reality,” Buckminster Fuller said. “To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” In 2007, the Buckminster Fuller Institute began offering an annual $100,000 prize to the individual or team who could present the most practical, efficient, viable way to make a poorly functioning aspect of the existing reality obsolete. Bucky called this kind of solution a “trimtab,” named for the tiny rudder on an enormous ship that is ultimately responsible for steering. I wasn’t ready to enter the competition that year, but from then on, my mind began working around the clock on the riddle of the trimtab. What universally accessible and implementable strategy could bring as many people on board as possible, inspiring contributors to take immediate action using whatever materials may be at hand?

I began to study and implement appropriate technologies and permaculture. I started a Facebook group called USE HALF NOW to explore the notion that more mindful consumption may be an efficient place for many to begin (at least for those of us living in “overdeveloped” countries). I studied the wildly successful conservation and Victory Garden campaigns introduced in the U.S. and Britain during World War II. Leaders called on citizens to “use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without,” and people ably complied. I wondered, what if a similar campaign could be put forth today? What if people were simply invited to have a stake in creating a healthier, more peaceful world? What if the sense of helplessness, disempowerment, and defeat that seems to pervade our culture could be overcome, simply by suggesting that each of us contribute to the solution in whatever ways make the most sense to us? Perhaps the fastest-acting, most accessible trimtab would not appear as some new magic-bullet “green” technology—instead it might come in the form of a radical mental shift.

The German artist Joseph Beuys practiced social sculpture, a kind of art-activism that called upon audiences to participate. He believed that everyone, by infusing even the most mundane action with a sense of purpose and creativity, could contribute to ones’ own health and the health of society and the environment at large. By so doing, he proposed that “everyone is an artist” of their chosen vocation. Beuys taught that in order for social transformation to be truly constructive and enduring, methods used to achieve it must be as holistic and inclusive as possible.

21st-century advances in internet technology and network accessibility offer extraordinary new tools for the contemporary social sculptor. Interactive initiatives based on the dissemination and sharing of information have far greater potential than during any other age in history. Inspired by the developing power of virtual networks, the spirit of the 1940’s conservation campaigns, and the Buckminster Fuller Challenge itself, after four years of deep consideration, it finally seemed that an opportune moment to present a formal application to the Challenge had arrived.

My proposal, “The Instant & Efficient Comprehensive & Synergetic Omni-Solution,” is a customizable, interdisciplinary, collaborative, philosophical approach to social change. It’s a conceptual framework within which to investigate our inherent interconnectedness and shared responsibility for the health of one another and our environment. SOS is at once a call to action, a compendium of possible strategies, and a means of describing, documenting, and contributing to do-it-ourselves revolutions currently underway around the world. It draws parallels between simple, emotionally-rewarding, system-defying action—such as line-drying laundry, freecycling, and home-growing food—and more complex, radical measures undertaken by those demanding basic human rights and an end to oppressive regimes. By cultivating a willingness to commit to small actions, one may become psychologically prepared to participate in and initiate larger ones.

Through the Synergetic Omni-Solution website, the SOS Facebook page, interviews with visionaries and activists, interdisciplinary art installations, and happenings such as the weekend of SOS launch events to be hosted by Ballroom Marfa in late April 2011 in Marfa, Texas, I plan to compile examples of innovative works in progress by others, connect dots, and gather collaborators. As the project proceeds, data will be collected from those in a wide range of fields—alternative agriculture, music, art, politics, history, philosophy, economics, and social, political, and environmental activism—and condensed into concise, comprehensive, strategic booklets, posters, videos, and multimedia guides to be disseminated digitally and via alternative media outlets.

To carry Beuys’ proposition a bit further, perhaps infusing actions with purpose and personal creativity not only makes us into artists, it makes us into activists as well. Realizing the power we have as individuals to shape the world may be the most efficient, accessible, renewable resource available to us—and also the most often overlooked. By approaching issues that affect us all from the standpoint of how to create the greatest health for the greatest number, through shared information and compassionate action, together we have an opportunity to craft a trimtab that's more beautiful and efficient than anything any one of us alone could have imagined.

makers: DIY agents of social change

by: Alyce Santoro, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed

EVERYONE IS AN ARTIST

As our society collectively awakens to the realization that it must devise ways to stem the hemorrhaging caused by years of denial and excess, and as the DIY (do-it-yourself) movement grows in popularity, Joseph Beuys’ words “Everyone Is An Artist” ring all the more true. Beuys, who referred to himself as a “social sculptor”, believed strongly not that everyone should make (so-called) fine art, but that everyone can live a richer and more meaningful life by infusing any vocation or action with his or her own personal creativity.

From the 1950’s through the mid-1980’s, Beuys expressed the notion that personal creativity could be cultivated and honed by connecting with nature and by developing a more intimate relationship with it. He believed that individuals, as well as our entire society could be healed by returning to a simpler way of life, and by becoming more attuned to the subtle, ineffable forces of the ecosystems we inhabit.

EVERYONE IS A SHAMAN

Some call one who consciously connects to, communicates with, and elaborates on the intangible a shaman. Some called Joseph Beuys that. Most just called him an artist. Shamans, artists, cooks, gardeners, scientists, inventors and all others who bring imaginary things out of the realm of the intangible to help give them form routinely benefit from enhanced access to the mysterious force of inspiration. In this sense, everyone is a shaman as well.

And as people begin to seek opportunities to “do it themselves” they are exercising a form of personal creativity that has been largely neglected in our culture for far too long. A basic fact of existence that has been all but forgotten is that human happiness and the sense of freedom depends largely on the ability to express personal creativity. Beuys also famously said, “To make people free is the aim of art. Therefore art for me is the science of freedom”.

THE JOY OF FLUXUS

It is possible that the reshuffling of our collective deck, while discomfiting at times, will ultimately result in an overall increase in happiness as people come to realize that we were misguided in relating the ravenous, mindless accumulation of stuff to personal joy, and as we begin to experience instead the sense of simple, profound satisfaction that comes from planting a seed, sewing on a button, or cooking a meal from scratch.

AUTONOMY AS RADICAL ACT

Consciously creative types (“makers” as they have come to be known) are returning to the sort of DIY approach to the creating and sharing of their work that the fluxus artists of the 1960’s and 70’s pioneered – only now we have the internet. Websites, blogs, and social networks have made the notion of the white box/velvet rope style gallery virtually obsolete - now everyone has the same access to the same art and artists, from the comfort and privacy of their own homes. Sculptors can create installations in a basement, musicians can give concerts in their living rooms, writers can publish in an instant – and everything can be shared with millions of people across the globe.

DIGITAL PIONEERING

The internet is a fascinating artifact of the fundamental human longing to connect. The telegraph, telephone, and television are all apparatus devised to facilitate communication. The internet takes it all a step further – now we are able to pool resources, share information, and generate tangible links. In 1998 Howard Rheingold, an early internet researcher and pioneer, published a brilliant article called Thinking About Thinking About Technology in the Institute of Noetic Sciences newsletter. In the piece, Mr. Rheingold posits that for new technology to develop into tools for enhancement of creativity and “mind amplification” as opposed to becoming merely a source of “disinfotainment” we must develop a philosophical framework within which it can evolve. That was 12 years ago. Now we can say for certain that technology, devoid of philosophical framework, will become everything that we are - enriching and distracting, elegant and dangerous, brilliant and ridiculous.

Technology has arrived at a point in its evolution when it is exceptionally easy for the maker to direct all aspects of his or her own creation, from inception to publication, marketing, and dissemination. From Facebook, Twitter, and Blogger to Ebay, Etsy, and YouTube, it is an exciting time for the DIY innovator.

INTERNET AS CAVE WALL

Technologies for the amplification and enhancement of imagination and conscious intent have existed in every aspect of human culture at least since the first cave painting was created. Modern western civilization’s fanatic rejection of the unquantifiable has, in many ways, done us a great disservice. To trust only that which can be measured negates inspiration, intuition, and imagination – some of humanity’s most precious attributes.

Perhaps Joseph Beuys was right - reenchantment with the intangible, reverence for nature, and an open-minded acceptance of alternative modes of perception may make it possible for humanity to emerge from this period of economic, environmental, and social upheaval and reevaluation into a more peaceful and contented era. By perceiving ourselves as artists of our own particular medium (be it plumbing, politics, cooking, medicine, teaching, healing, engineering, or painting), we have an opportunity to sculpt our very culture into a masterpiece that’s beyond our wildest collective imagination. We just need to keep in mind that technology is only an electronic, externalized version of some far more sophisticated software that exists inside all of us, preinstalled. There’s no Google search that can tell us how to use it, however. For that we’ll need to move away from the machines, and step outside.

call for participation! reading of gene sharp's list of 198 methods of nonviolent action

all are invited to participate in a collaborative audio-visual reading of gene sharp's list of 198 methods of nonviolent action to be shared on youtube, and i invite your participation! would like to include folks of all ages, accents, nationalities, geographies, etc. in the piece.

if you would be interested in contributing a few lines, please choose your favorite 10 or 20 actions (or more) from the list - preferably consecutive - and videotape yourself reading them in any way you like, facing or back to the camera, in silhouette or profile, with any background or in any setting you choose. please read the number of the action as well as any subheadings/titles/text so that i can line everything up in the correct order. please send your quicktime or mp4 video file via yousendit or other filesharing service to alyce (at) alycesantoro (dot) com (please do not send files as email attachments, as i'm on internet with very limited bandwidth and will need to schedule downloads of large files!). BETTER YET: please post videos to this project's DEDICATED FACEBOOK PAGE.

please let me know how you'd like your name to appear in the credits...or if you'd prefer to remain anonymous. please don't hesitate to let me know if you have any questions! the moment we have all 198 actions on tape, i will edit them down into a single video. thank you so much for your participation!!

the revolution is US: a hypothesis/work-in-progress

Buckminster Fuller said, “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” The Synergetic Omni-Solution is a way of describing how new models are emerging. Synergetic Omni-Solutions can be seen in decentralized, leaderless transformations happening around the world, right now, in every facet of society from freedom fighters in north Africa and the Middle East, to organic farmers, to creators and advocates of appropriate technologies and local economies. Many of us cannot wait any longer for change to happen – we can only take so much more-of-the-same before we arrive at the stark realization that if we want a different model, we’re going to have to build it ourselves using whatever materials are at hand.

Historically, certain individuals have served as catalysts – visionaries who by accident or design capture the sentiment of a population and, by acting on an impulse that resonates across a culture, awaken others to their cause. But Rosa Parkses, César Chávezes, Gandhis, and Mohamed Bouazizis are not born in a vacuum. They are extraordinary conduits, tips of icebergs. It may require thousands or millions of people all feeling a certain way at the same time to produce a single individual who seizes the urge to act, unlocking a gate through which others may follow. The Synergetic Omni-Solution is an effort to minimize this ratio by testing the theory that everyone possesses a unique key – it’s just a matter of recognizing it, and deciding to use it to open the lock.

Buckminster Fuller used the word “synergetic” to describe an ideal system or philosophy that results when unique parts are elegantly integrated to create a greater whole. He often attached the prefix “omni” to words to emphasize their universality – omni-cooperative, omni-inclusive. Synergetic Omni-Solutions, while they may be small in and of themselves, contribute in a positive way to society as a whole. I think of the grandmothers who never dreamed of participating in a political demonstration who made tea to share with protesters in Cairo’s Tahrir Square.

So often media and political leadership - in western culture, at least – discourages the tea makers by glorifying competitive spirit and rugged individualism while downplaying or even demonizing approaches intended to benefit the greatest number. Fear mongering news outlets are inherently disempowering, constantly reminding audiences that individuals are helpless, that the world’s problems are too complex and overwhelming for the actions of one person to make a difference. This theme assuages the conscience of the uninvolved – if actions don’t matter, then we are not responsible for the manufacture of our predicament.

Leaders took a very different approach during WWII. In the 1940’s U.S. and British “War Advertising Councils” launched extraordinary media campaigns based on slogans such as “Use it Up, Wear it Out, Make it Do, or Do Without.” These wildly successful initiatives not only promoted self-sufficiency and conservation of resources during tumultuous times; perhaps most importantly, they united citizens behind a common cause. The public was invited to participate in solutions, and entire nations rose to meet the challenge. Today we face all manner of global crises - economic, environmental, political, social - and yet those in positions of leadership overlook an important opportunity to invite us to play a roll in helping to resolve them.

The Synergetic Omni-Solution is this invitation. Buckminster Fuller understood the challenges that lay ahead for humanity, but remained optimistic that our extraordinary abilities to innovate and cooperate would enable us to avert them. The SOS proposes that a new participatory model for planet-preservation and regeneration is already underway at the grassroots level, and seeks to hasten and strengthen its growth by identifying, highlighting, and encouraging engagement in this phenomenon. Every action - from seed planting to tea making to twittering - that reinforces the notion that the things that unite us are more powerful than the things that divide us contributes to the SOS.

On the final page of “Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth”, Buckminster Fuller offers his insight into how he believes humanity will ultimately avert disaster: our problems, he says, will be resolved by the computer. Certainly Bucky understood the computer’s potential as a tool for computation and design – but it’s hard not to wonder if he had some inkling of its potential as an interactive information sharing and culture-connecting device. YouTube, twitter, facebook, Instructables, flickr, SoundCloud, Wikipedia…the list of resources driven by users’ willingness to freely share and exchange knowledge is endless. Wikileaks, Avaaz, and We are all Khaled Said are just a few among thousands of examples of internet-based initiatives designed to bring injustices to light and direct and inspire social action. Those who follow the Egyptian revolution via social networks can attest to the powerful sense of community that has arisen as a result of the protesters’ ability to broadcast their message using ubiquitous technology, connecting and communicating with sympathizers around the world in real time. The momentum and immediate, widespread engagement made possible by the Internet can be applied to people-powered, grassroots revolutions of all kinds. By facilitating the pooling and dissemination of resources such as information, resolve, and passion, and by allowing us to join forces around common goals that transcend nationality, religion, and geography, the Internet is helping humanity to understand that we are all connected to one another in ways that are unaffected by signal strength and persist long after we shut our laptops.

The Instant & Efficient Comprehensive & Synergetic Omni-Solution exists wherever and whenever any individual chooses to infuse an action, however minute, with creativity and purpose for the sake of a greater good. The SOS website and real-world activities are efforts to acknowledge and further these revolutionary phenomena by documenting, sharing, and contributing to them. For more information, please visit alycesantoro.com, our entry into the Buckminster Fuller Challenge, and our launch event at Ballroom Marfa in Marfa, Texas during the last weekend in April. All are welcome!

synergetic omni-solution launch in marfa, texas

ballroom marfa has generously offered to host the official launch of the synergetic omni-solution during the weekend of april 29 thru may 2 in marfa, texas. please click here for details.

press release for SOS entry into the buckminster fuller challenge