Dear Freerangers!
Here’s some ideas for freerange 3…. What do you all think?
The format is going to change this year, we will release 3 shorter free online pdfs as the year progresses and then finish each year with beautiful printed version that will be released to some book stores.
Also we are going to do some printing of freerange one and two soon!
Ideas for freerange three!
The Trickster
Through most cultures, ancient and modern there is the presence of the character of the trickster… the subversive element that speaks to power and keeps authority on its toes. This issue is a chance to investigate some of these characters, and asks when and where is the role of the trickster in todays global culture.
The Importance of Design
Self explanatory really, it would be an entire issue with invited guests arguing for design as an important area of human knowledge….will be approached from a multidisciplinary perspective, and will again focus on the need for design if cities are to be habitable long term.
Homeness and Homelessness
I forget all the figures but homelessness is a huge issue globally that is almost largely misunderstood. It is a fantastically rich area of investigation that is complex and draws upon a diverse range of fields from social sciences to health to design. Additionally it allows us to reflect on our own notions of home and how this is changing in our world today.
The Year 1200
the 13th century is usually considered to be near the end of the dark ages. This weirdly labeled time in european history. However it was a remarkably rich part of human history. At the time when polynesian people were discovering NZ and occupying one of the largest empires in human history, the french and spanish were building the early great cathedrals, African in the southern end were trading with China and Persia, and the middle east was flourishing…
Open Issue
Open to all submissions around the central freerange theme of living in cities.
Fuck the Status Quo
An angry version of the one above. Is consensus and movement building working quickly enough for the planet?
Any other good ideas?
Eggy regards
Barnaby
Chief Egg
Ps. Freerange is about to start publishing books for real… watch this space. The first one is a cracker!
“Corruption / Corporate Pimps and Whores”
Larry Lessig has a new seeming wiki(http://wiki.lessig.org/Main_Page)in which he is trying to develop a resource about corruption which he defines thus:
“I’m not interested in overt lawbreaking or outright bribery (e.g., Congressman X takes $50,000 personally to vote Nay on a particular bill); I am instead interested in non-obvious corruption–instances where a decision is improperly and/or subtly influenced by a government actor’s anticipation of some sort of indirect economic gain or loss. Where a person in power is motivated more by, e.g., money to their campaign, support for favored research, term paper, etc., than the interests they claim to or otherwise should be advancing.”
And this is obviously a HUGE contemporary issue that cuts across all cultures and nations. It’d be interesting to look at this, maybe documenting instances and resistances.
The trickster idea makes me think of one of my favourite things: “The Atlas Group.” Check out an article about them here http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/dec/06/syria.middleeast.
Hana, that is an awesome article. Makes me think we should not only be discussing the trickster but also start encouraging some tricksterishness to document in the next year….
Any excuse for mischief I say. Also this: “Art Installation [Hoax] Stirs Europe’s Ire” http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/01/15/world/0115-MOSAIC_2.html
I always think of the Yes Men when I think about trickery and politics