Thoughts
RB : ‘ There are also , probably in every culture , in every civilization , real places - places that do exist and that are formed in the very founding of society - which are something like counter-sites , a kind of effectively enacted utopia in which the real sites , all the other real sites that can be found within the culture , are simultaneously represented , contested , and inverted . Places of this kind are outside of all places , even though it may be possible to indicate their location in reality . Because these places are absolutely different from all the sites that they reflect and speak about , I shall call them , by way of contrast to utopias , heterotopias ’
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These ‘ Heterotopias ’ are what we are concerned with . Spaces that exist outside of the social norm , sites that reanimate and can once again inspire a jaded populous .
Taking the notion of social sculpture into consideration , trying to reach everyone ’ s inherent creativity , the catalyst for this could come about in many forms . Most importantly though is the act of inclusion , creating a participatory artwork or action through which the public are invited , not only to attend , bit to become an integral part of the artwork as a whole . There could be a variety of activities and sites within the piece where people can engage in a different act of collaborative work and also individual investigation .
GC : Mapping the local means one leaves something meaningful and relevant for the area where one works . It is necessary starting from the citizens ’ point of view in order to build up a deeper change in perceiving . Citizen is the main character in our stage since through him / her outlook one can investigate unusual places all around a city . The main goal would be work closely with natives trying to overcome the so-called commonplaces .
There are districts of the city often considered hazardous places and , as a consequence abandoned to decay . This fear is due to the fact that citizen is supposed to know limits and potentiality of that place , but it is not always true . What one has to investigate is the emotional turmoil happens when inhabitant is forced to change his / her mind and openly face the place . Rejecting the platitude is the first step to experiment feelings never linked to that place until then .
RR : „ Our concept is to work with the uncertainty between two strangers who encounter each other , or rather the feeling of uncertainty that a stranger evokes or the strange place and people evoke in the stranger . This creates tension and a barrier between the stranger / outsider and the local / insider of a community . In some districts for example people who are not from the district feel like intruders when coming to that district and meeting the locals there , there is an uncertainty how to behave , because one steps into a closed community . The question is if this uneasy feeling evolves from our prejudices / knowledge or from something else .“
BJ : „ My starting point is this sentence : Changing the perceptions of the public to a space within the city . I think the people who use the public spaces every day , they can build the spaces in their mind , the main point of the street , they can use buildings and shops like a sign , and they don ’ t watch the small and changeable little details , because their focused targeted the way , how could they reach the selected destination . We could change this perception , this perspective of the city with performance or happening , and move out the people of their ordinary way : we can for example slow down the people with barriers , or we can use the places in a not ordinary way ( like picnic in the street ).“
DB : I think we should start to think about how want to manage this project technically : activism , or