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- DISCLAIMER -
Since I'm making this Hotglue page during resit period (it is now June 22nd), the lockdown context isn't as relevant as it was.
Still though, life has not bumped back to 'normal' so I'm still very curious to question what these current times offer. Crazy times because if the Netherlands even had a 'lockdown' it is now most certainly over, eventhough I think it still feels like a lockdown for many people. What do we really need right now? What have we learnt? How to proceed from here?

Arturo Escobar (born 1952) is a Colombian-American anthropologist and the Kenan Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA. His academic research interests include political ecology, anthropology of development, social movements, anti-globalization movements, and postdevelopment theory.

He has studied:
Chemical engineering
Biochemistry
Food science and international nutrition
Development Philosophy, Policy and Planning

He is currently a professor of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he teaches courses in development theory and social change.

2. The act of reading

One of the key issues of the book:
Can design be extricated from its embeddedness in modernist unsustainable and defuturing practices and redirected toward other ontological commitments, practices, narratives and performances?

"In Designs for the Pluriverse Arturo Escobar presents a new vision of design theory and practice aimed at channeling design's world-making capacity toward ways of being and doing that are deeply attuned to justice and the Earth. Noting that most design—from consumer goods and digital technologies to built environments—currently serves capitalist ends, Escobar argues for the development of an “autonomous design” that eschews commercial and modernizing aims in favor of more collaborative and placed-based approaches. Such design attends to questions of environment, experience, and politics while focusing on the production of human experience based on the radical interdependence of all beings. Mapping autonomous design’s principles to the history of decolonial efforts of indigenous and Afro-descended people in Latin America, Escobar shows how refiguring current design practices could lead to the creation of more just and sustainable social orders."

- Socially-orientated
- Can design contribute to the positive change of large systems?
- The distinction between the acts of problemsolving and sensemaking; Problemsolving is creating a solution to an existing problem. Sensemaking is creating meaning.
- What is the difference between 'design' and 'art'? One could see design as being more commercially driven since it's purpose is to solely serve out a certain purpose for it's user. Art however oftentimes come from a more autonomous point of view.
- What is the distinction between purpose and function? Function can be seen as being more direct, within both approach and results. Purpose oftentimes serves a goal more complex and has results uneasy to gauge.
- The 'de-materialization' of art.
- How important is it for me to have my work really understood? An 'artist' and a 'designer' have a different lens, yet have a lot of overlapping practices.
- This is a time of lava, and when rocks and metal melt we need to ask ourselves; How do we want to shape the future of the world?
- Who is the artist, the maker or the participants opening up and giving a project colour?
- New ways of working together, and also working more together on a larger scale.

Further notes on the text (my own interpretation of theses):

To tune in I decided to see how people are feeling now that times might even feel more strange then during the beginning of lockdown. Has to solitary confinement changed their ways? Have they entered a different state of mind? Has their perspective shifted? How do they look back on the life they were living? And do we want to jump straight back to things once we leave this virus behind or were we maybe chasing our tales in the hectic lives most of us had?

How do we bridge that last bit of incompleteness in our souls the coming weeks/months? And what do we really need right now? From the talks I had while tuning in it seems that nearly everyone feels like they have mentally been through a rough period. Like their systems has just had a hard reboot, or a 'system reset'. All old is out the door now and people feel empowered to make change in their habits and try out new experiences. Putting themselves in the position to contextualize the changes in perspective they might've had. How do you process something like that? Social distancing and not seeing many people anymore for months can be heart-torning. The touch of someone elses body is a part of feeling alive yourself. Start meeting (new) people again would help but maybe with less 'fomo pressure' and social pressure as pre-rona. We want to feel free and engage without obligation. Unfortunately we are still not as free to socialize as we used to be.

We still can hardly mingle or randomly interact at bars and cafés; we need to sit at our table and minimize the risk of contamination. A lot of other distractions have also found to be hard to realize right now. For example how exciting does it really sound to visit something like a themepark with all these crazy restrictions and instructions? I think it does not sound appealing to many, it is not in the spirit of time right now. Or going on holiday here in Europe, not very relaxing knowing that if all hell breaks loose again you might get stuck within the country of residence.

What more could we do that makes us feel alive? That makes us able to forget and process these crazy times we've been through? Makes us able to enjoy the summer we have been waiting for all winter? Makes us able to interact with (new) people? And makes us able to feel a body against our own? How could we experience a sense of careless joy again?

Ever since I've had my new bike a lot of friends have been showing interest in it. Almost everybody thinks its really cool and most of my friends have been asking me to give them a ride sometime. Especially with the weather being nice and dry as it is right now, long drives can be super relaxing, thrilling and a unique experience all together. Is me and my bike making people smile for an afternoon a way to bridge the distance? And how do other bikers feel about the idea of taking more people on their rides?

Rust.
De anderhalvemetersamenleving lijkt gemaakt voor introverte mensen. „Ik ging toch al nooit naar festivals.”
Zomers zonder drukke evenementen, een terrasje pakken met een beperkt aantal goede vrienden, niet meer spontaan uit eten, zeker niet met een grote groep. Thuiswerken als het kan, sporten op afstand. En zeker geen drie zoenen als begroeting van iemand die je nauwelijks kent. Zo lijkt de anderhalvemetersamenleving eruit te gaan zien.

Waarom sommige introverte mensen floreren in de lockdown
NRC, 20 mei 2020

I've been low-key working on some prototypes of bag ideas.

The corner of my 'cave' in Amsterdam where I study.

In order to tune into peoples experiences i decided to post a poll in my IG story asking if people feel lockdown has permanently affected their ways. By doing so I triggered people into my project with a small and easy effort. After people voted I tried to enter into a dialogue by chattig with them through private message. Here I got to discover what they really felt like. (Some of) the results are shared below.

To me, there is something very magical about driving. It gives me a sense of freedom very little other things in life can. Knowing you could go anywhere. Feeling that breeze while cruising towards the sunset. Going fast, going slow. Together or alone. Forgetting about everything on your mind and just focussing on the open road is just one of the most liberating experiences I know.

Since the age of 5 I've had an obsession with motorcycles and everything that evolves around them. It has always been my dream to own something to be proud of.

4. Bridging the distance

Notes of class with Shailoh and a speaker from the Rotterdam the firebrigade coommunity:

- What is the difference between the physical and digital world?
- If this society ceases to exist as we know it, how can we design a better one?
- What is the balance between leaving things organic and natural and striving for effeciency? - Moral issue.
- The conctext of messages can completely change the perception.
- Time frames; what would you write if you'd know your letter will arrive it's destiny in half a year?

Notes of class with Shailoh and a speaker from the Rotterdam firebrigade community:

Outtakes of some of the dialogues I had through my IG poll (some of the conversations were in Dutch):

- I was starting to focus more about my inner peace and shit like that.
- Now I feel that our calm daily routines are going back to the hectic lifestyle again since everything is slowly opening.
- Life should always be like this but the system is so fucked, they dont want us to stop and think and feel, they want us to act like robots and obey all they ask from us.

Lockdown heeft me wel echt beseft dat je dingen moet blijven doen om je te ontwikkelen. Niet eens sport maar mentaal. Je moet op jezelf kunnen terug vallen zonder familie of vrienden als je in quarantaine alleen bent. Ook moet je altijd een buffer op hebben gebouwd voor tijden zoals dit.
- Wanneer je alleen thuis zit voor een aantal weken en de afleidingen minder worden wordt het jij en je bovenkamer. Zo je écht dingen voelen.
Door de eerste weken lockdown die erg heftig en confronterend voor mij waren zit ik nu ook weer in therapie.
Door de huidige situatie gaan mensen denk ik wat meer voelen in plaats van denken.

- Door de lockdown ben ik meer gaan beseffen wie ik het meest wil zien en het belangrijkst zijn in mijn leven.
- Hiervoor had ik altijd heel erg fomo, dat hoeft eigenlijk helemaal niet.
- Ook al is het een pandemie, eigenlijk is het the life gewoon. Ik ben meer gaan koken, meer gaan uitrusten, les vanuit m'n bed, wat wil je nog meer? Ik ga het wel missen denk ik.
- Ik merk wel dat ik het moeilijker vind motivatie te vinden helaas.

- Ik vind het grappig hoe Corona onze herrinnering is aan het feit dat hoe modern onze samenleving ook wordt, wij nog steeds onderdeel van de natuur zijn, en daar (nog) lang niet voorbij kunnen.
- Mijn discipline naar verantwoordelijkheden is omlaag gegaan en het is moeilijk nog op lange termijn na te denken.
- Ik heb vooral veel gesport, en mij wat minder druk gemaakt om dingen.

- Ik heb de lockdown als heel positief ervaren. Misschien omdat ik van mezelf al meer een introvert ben, ik ging bijvoorbeeld al nooit echt uit. Ik heb het als eye-opening ervaren. Ik heb m'n rust gevonden. Ik heb een gezonde nieuwe routine gevonden en ben meer gaan sporten.
- Ik voel me zowel mentaal als fysiek sterker, hiervoor had ik de lockdown nodig.
- Ik heb geleerd meer dingen los te laten en dingen meer in perspectief te brengen.
- Ik denk dat dit voor iedereen goed is geweest en dat reflectie cruciaal is voor self-improvement.

- Ik heb mijn hele weekschema omgegooid en vooral ook geleerd dat ik flexibel moet blijven en mezelf moet blijven ontwikkelen zodat ik ook de skillset heb om een job vanuit thuis te kunnen doen. Hierdoor heb ik het besluit genomen binnenkort aan een ICT opleiding te beginnen.
- Mijn complete dag routine is veranderd: ik kook veel meer, lees meer, word rond 06:00 wakker om te joggen, een koude douche te nemen en dan weer verder te lezen. Dan is het 8 uur en heb ik al drie dingen voor mezelf gedaan, dat wil ik er zeker in gaan houden.
- Voor de rest heb ik me prioriteiten wel echt op een rijtje gekregen en doe ik wel meer om mezelf te ontwikkelen man. Vrije dagen plan ik goed in ook ben nu vooral bezig om te leren coderen en ernaast fotograferen vind ik ook echt dope om te doen. En ben bezig met Photoshop en Lightroom skills te ontwikkelen!

- Ik heb gemerkt dat ik veel meer dingen zelf ben gaan doen. Zoals brood baken. Dit is hartstikke leuk maar heb je normaal gesproken de tijd/zin niet in.
- Ook mis ik de sociale contacten en mijn vrienden wel heel.

The questions I asked to people voting on my IG poll:

Op wat voor manier heeft de lockdown jouw kijk op dingen veranderd?
(In what way has the lockdown changed your perspective on things in life?)

How do animals deal with loneliness, boredom and meeting new friends?

Results of a small poll I had on my IG story again:
People love the idea of driving through the summer..!

Wolves howling in order to get back with their pack again.

Science has proven that many social animals have complex feelings. primate species, like the rhesus macaque, suffer from severe depression and would even starve themselve to death when being separated from their social network.

Lonely ants die young.

Antarctic Elephant sels continue to play with each other throughout their whole life

The orcas’ social structures are complex, most being organized in matriarchal groups (ie, the ones that are led by a female). But either way, for them, maintaining connections between members of the pod is essential (in the world of orcas, family values come above everything else), the most vital of them all being the relationship between a mother and her young – which is why separating mother orcas from their young is considered a cruel practice, afterwhich the mothers keep on crying endlessly.

MOST animals have acquaintances but only a few species are capable of true friendship. This select group of mammals includes the higher primates, members of the horse family, elephants, cetaceans and camelids. It is no coincidence that all of these animals live in stable, bonded social groups.

5. Pro's and con's of going public/underground

Public Action (together with stranger, out in public):

+ Getting to know new (crazy) people!
+ Having the exposure and distribution of the performative action all at once.

- Likely to draw critique about it being an irresponsible act.
- Issue of the driver having expenses and the stranger not, should the stranger pay for the gas?

Underground Action (only with known people, keeping it private):

+ Comfortable/safer feeling.
+ No (real) compensation issues.
+ Exclusive and therefore more special.

- Only able to reach a small amount of people.
- Less excitement, not getting to know someone new.

Explanation of the concept:
I think we can all remember being surprised hearing a friend was using that new dating app Tinder and was going to meet up with some stranger. "Aren't you scared? You don't even know them! Text me every hour!" You would tell them. They would reply with something like "Yea I'm sure I'll text you before I'll get murdered lol". And guess what, Tinder is quite alright, haven't we all been swiping the shit out of Covid-19?

Imagine the courage it takes to meet up with someoone you don't know to just enjoy the open road together. I think this will enable a different level of ecstasy. The period between leaving adolescence and starting a family of your own is often known to be highly experimental, seeking extremes and tasting a little bit of everything. This highly dynamic period of life filled with large amounts of carelesness, the feeling of complete freedom and lack of responsibilities is also known to be one of the very stages in life many adults will miss later in life.

The current times call even more for feeling free and liberated again. I think this project captures the spirit of time seamlessly.

It is not in conflict with the guidelines of the RIVM (National Health Department of The Netherlands) and the risk of contamination isn't very big since it is out in the open air, not facing each other and both wearing helmets (and masks).

A strongly bonded pack boosts the feeling of unity and as a result hunts turn out to be more effective.

Idea for an app: being able to join routes, send messages to other users and plan new adventures!

Eventhough I had already met this guy earlier in my life, I haven't seen him too much after. Picking up Timo to drive through Amsterdam for a short bit was very nice for the both of us. If it wasn't for my performative action I wouldn've known that Tim and I have a lot of common interests, we visited some nice fashion stores together and after that we hung out in the park for a bit, I think I've just found myself a very cool start of a new friendship.

Timo felt a little anxious at first but that disappeared very quickly, now he's already thinking about getting his drivers license as well so that we can both ride next summer! Amazing to see once again what an innocent drive can do for someone else.

Timo wishes he knew more guys like me haha!

6. Distribution and circulation

Unfortunately I did not have the time to create anything visual to promote and circulate my message.
I chose to share a picture of what Timo had done in order to inspire others.
Ultimately, driving around is both the performative action and the circulation at the same time.

Circulation ideas:

- Maybe if social bikers would improve the image of bikers overall with initiatives like my performative action, and started wearing cool new jackets that show they are cool with taking someone with them, the movement could gain even more momentum.
- Also putting a certain sticker somewhere on your bike would be a nice way to show you are part of the movement.

The text reminded me on an exposition by Carlos Amorales I visited in the Stedelijk Museum back in december. With works that invited visitors to engage with the work of art making it participatory art.

"De tentoonstelling omvat veertien zalen met ruimtelijk werk, installaties, schilderingen, tekeningen, video’s, druksels, weefsels, animaties en geluidswerken die Amorales vaak combineert in grootschalige ruimtelijke installaties in een open, niet-chronologisch parcours. De kijker kan zijn eigen route kiezen door de wereld van Amorales, die gevuld is met sprookjesachtige beelden en verhalen waarin hij zijn bespiegelingen over het spanningsveld tussen individu en samenleving vormgeeft."

"Showing his reflection of the field of tension between the individual and society." This is actually so very true and relavant. When I was walking in the area below me and my friend just tingled the instruments a bit, just like all "normal" people were doing. While going through the other areas every 3 or 4 minutes we heard some maniac beating the instruments like crazy. Maybe these were kids, otherwise Amorales has perfectly captured this field of tension between iwhat individuals feel like sometimes, and what society expects from them.
Also it made me wonder just now, who the artist really is here.