cofthewilling

8/6/2019 cofthewilling

1/19

of the WillingA 24 hour event with 16Beaver

Saturday 29 October 2005 Sunday 30 October 2005

01:45 Chill out and Drinks

02:00

03:15 Chimerical Walk

04:00

05:00

06:30 Breakfast at Sunrise

07:00

08:45 Games for the Willing andthe Unwilling

09:00 with Cesare Pietroiusti

10:00 11:00 City of the WillingEpilogue (Radio Talk)

12:00 City of the WillingPrologue

13:45 Counter-Cartography Walk with C.CRED

14:00

15:00

16:30 Cultural Confrontation Cooking at IOR

17:00

18:00

19:00

20:30 On Collective Practice & Collaboration

21:00 Dialogue between 16Beaver Group & Boyle Family

22:00 Casual Conversation

23:15 Capturing Certain Conditions

24:00 (Screening of Open Submissions)

Please note daylight saving at 02:00 on Sunday 30 October!

C

It is impossible to get rid of the world without also gettingrid of the language that both conceals and protects it,without stripping bare that languages truth. Just as poweris ceaseless falsification and social truth, so language isits constant safeguard and the Dictionary its all-purposereference. All revolutionary praxis has sensed the need for anew semantic field and for the assertion of a new truth; fromthe encyclopdistes to the critique of the wooden languageof Stalin (by Polish intellectuals in 1956), this necessity has

not ceased to be felt. Power resides in language, which is therefuge of its police violence. All dialogue with power is violence,whether suffered or instigated. When power husbands the useof its weapons, language is entrusted the task of protecting theoppressive order. Even more, the conjunction of the two is themost natural expression of all power.Mustapha Khayati,Captive WordsPreface to a Situationist Dictionary

Howdo

youspe

ndyour

day?Wh

ere?Wit

hwhom

?

Arewew

illingto

attempt

tochan

gethev

ery

structur

eandfu

nctiono

flangua

ge:itsw

ords,

definitio

ns,rela

tionship

s,andco

nnotatio

ns?Can

thisbe

doneby

individ

ualsord

oesitre

quirea

collecti

veeffor

tbydefi

nition?


2/19

C of the Willing

Noon Saturday October 29 toNoon Sunday October 30

2005

A 24 hour event with 16Beaver, in which we will move through London,

explore words beginning with the letter C as well as various notionsof willingness. We are proposing an alternative to the Calendar Day,by beginning and ending in daylight. Wed like to stretch the veryunderstanding and location of standard time and the Meridian.Post-PM. Post-AM.

We do not expect everyone to join us for the full length of this event,so come to the section that you like, decide if youll stick around,and feel free to drop in and out.

For specific times and locations and additional materials see below or go to:http://www.16beavergroup.org/londonhttp://www.cca.rca.ac.uk/16beaver

For 24 hour up to date information call: RCA hotline 07962 574 141

The idea of subverting the conventionalbeginning and ending of a day relates directlyto an ongoing concern at 16Beaver for theculture and politics of the everyday. Whetherit is through the theory and practice ofvarious social structures, eccentric lifestyles,or experimental aesthetics, this concern hasbrought us all together over the years, the

months, the days, and the hours. This is ourfirst 24 hour event and the location and historyof London gives our gesture a particularrelevance. People around the world adjusttheir watches and habits according to theMeridian. London, as a past and present centerof imperial power, is the primordial exporterof standardized time. If all roads lead to Rome,then all schedules point to London.

Playing with words is another regular habit ofours. We like to open things up and redefinethings that have been made rigid. What we do islargely defined by how we speak and think, so aplayfulness with language comes as no surprise.

We will drift through language with the samecuriosity, irreverence, and contentiousness wewill take with us to the city.

The claim, as is now the case, that globalismillustrates the victory of free enterprise overtotalitarian collectivism is to understandnothing of the current loss of time intervals,the endless feedback, the telescoping ofindustrial or post-industrial activities.How are we to conceive the change wrought

by the computerization if we remain tied to anideological approach, when the urgent needis in fact for a new geostrategic approach todiscover the scale of the phenomenon that isupon us? And we need to do this to come backto the Earthnot in the sense of the old earthwhich sustains and nourishes us, but of theunique celestial body we occupy. To return tothe world, to its dimensions and to the comingloss of those dimensions in the acceleration notnow of history (which, with the loss of localtime, has just lost its concrete foundations), butof reality itself, with the new-found importanceof world time, a time whose instantaneitydefinitively cancels the reality of distances

the reality of those geographical intervalswhich only yesterday still organized the politicsof nations and their alliances, the importance ofwhich had been shown by the Cold War in theage of (East/West) bloc politics.Paul Virilio,The Information Bomb


3/19

Saturday12:00 to 13:30City of the Willing(Coffee and Cookies)

Curating Contemporary Art DepartmentRoyal College of Art, Stevens Building,

Jay Mews, London SW7 2EUTube: South Kensington or

Knightsbridge + Bus: 9, 10, 52

This discussion is meant to be a casual one in a many to many format.During this time, 16Beaver will give a brief and a casual introduction towhat they have planned for the day: a time to meet and better know oneanother. It will be a good chance to develop a few questions in relation tothe City and the Willing. What are the willing capable of doing in a citylike London? Who are the Willing in the first place? What are the unwillingdoing? How are they changing the cityscape of London and other cities?With whose force and what force will we take this city?

CCapitalIn his book on Nietzsche & Philosophy,Gilles Deleuze writes: The victoriousconceptforce, by means of which our physicists havecreated God and the world, still needs to becompleted: an innerwill must be ascribedtoit, which I ascribe as will to power. The willto power is thus ascribed to force, but in avery special way: it is both a compliment offorce and a something internal to it. (p. 49)

We can think of each of us as a force affectingthe city in a certain way, in whichever way wechoose to. We are also forces affecting eachother. There will always be an affect of an

external force that we like to invite, to takepart and change the flow of things.

If you are there, please think of yourself asthis force, together we constitute anotherforce of forces, i.e. based on the sum of ourforces, that do not cancel each other, and donot eliminate our differences. We would liketo be the active forces of the city for that day(and soon also everyday). One problem ofthe city, often time, is that forces areconstantly being channeled, the channelof work, of school, of family, of holiday,of schedules, of punctual time, of weekendvs weekday time, of formal vs informal time.

Even within the paradigm of the flexiblepersonality* in the dominant centers of ourglobal cities, the channeling is even moreat work, invisible, hidden in the folds ofprocesses, practices, casual days, easy goingto work but with stiff upper lips, personaltime, hobby time, during working hours! Yet,one still never gets anything else thought ordone other that what C. requires.* See Brian Holmes, The Flexible Personality

How are you? What is your name?What brought you here?What will will keep you with us?And where will we be going?

CConversationQ: But how does all this talk of force relate towhat I might do?

A: Deleuze would say that for Spinoza thereis a continuous variationand this is what itmeans to existof the force of existing or ofthe power of acting.

Hello Pierre, hello Paul When I see Pierrewho displeases me, an idea, the idea of Pierre,is given to me; when I see Paul who pleasesme, the idea of Paul is given to me. Each oneof these ideas in relation to me has a certaindegree of reality or perfection. I would say

that the idea of Paul, in relation to me, hasmore intrinsic perfection than the idea ofPierre since the idea of Paul contents meand the idea of Pierre upsets me. When theidea of Paul succeeds the idea of Pierre, it isagreeable to say that my force of existing ormy power of acting is increased or improved;when, on the contrary, the situation isreversed, when after having seen someonewho made me joyful I then see someonewho makes me sad, I say that my power ofacting is inhibited or obstructed. At this levelwe dont even know anymore if we are stillworking within terminological conventionsor if we are already moving into something

much more concrete. But we do know thatmore of Paul and less of Pierre might increasemy power of acting or increase my forceof existing.

In other words, seek the conversationsyou seek.


4/19

Saturday 13:45 to 16:00Counter- Cartography Walk with C.CRED

Meeting point in front of the Albert Memorial, Hyde Park, London SW7Tube: South Kensington or

Knightsbridge + Bus: 9, 10, 52

The route of our walk will be determined by all participants, including ourfriends from C.CRED (see below), CCA, 16Beaver Group, and everyone elseinterested in taking part.

The criteria for suggesting these locations is that these places retain orrecall counter-narratives of the city: forgotten, misplaced, displaced,possible sites of pleasure, resistance, forgetting or sites for proposed scenesfor unrealized films and more. These histories / stories are probably notthe ones marked on a conventional or even an unconventional map orguide of the city.

C.CRED is a London based but very nomadic artist collective and members-

run platform for the development of collaborative structures, projects,interventions and other initiatives linking art and aesthetic practice towider socio-political contexts. Although maintained by a small group ofpeople, it operates only through participation and through the wider,continuously changing collective structure that remains the foundationof the different projects and interventions the collective organizes.

http://www.ccred.org/

Walking is one of the oldest forms ofthinking Individually and together. Theacademy itself began, in the times of those

overrated towel-wearing-slave-owning Greeks,as a group of walking people. Interested aswe are in forms of self-education, wed liketo focus here on the notion of confusion. Theoverlapping of our various maps and motivesin connection to the city of London and theidea of the city itself, will certainly create asomewhat chaotic scenario. And that is OK. Infact, this is exactly what we are looking forA confusion that may give rise to collectivediscovery as we walk through the city.The focus on sites that have a tendency todisappear, or be made to disappear will giveus an additional understanding of walkingas an act belonging to memory, a kind of

time travel to the fictional Rome that Freudpresents in the beginning ofCivilizationand its Discontents, a promenade of tactile

apprehension as Walter Benjamin wouldhave it.

CCartographyWe are not seeing an end to history, but anend to geography.

Cartography in an a-geographical world?! What is the role ofcartography when we are confronted with the imperium oftime? What sites do you associate with counter-narratives?What places that no longer exist do you keep in yourmemory? Do you associate particular sites in London withcultural and political amnesia? What do you think of,usually, when you walk through London? Any particularconnections between a specic site and a specic set ofthoughts or emotions?

Cartography: (early 19th Century), from Fr.cartographie, from Gk. Khartes layer of papyrusand graphein to write,to draw.

8:15 PMWhere can you go in 12 minutes?I can smoke two cigarettes

while I go thereThe first one I would smoke

while I tie my shoelaceMy bag breaks and everything falls to the floor. Itoccurs to me the world is a grin that flickers on ahanged mans dead faceThe shoelace is twelve minutes long.It has a beginning, a middle, and an end.

KhlebnikovWhat takes place every day is not what happensevery day. Sometimes what doesnt take place is themost important thing that happens.Kleb den Kopfi think LefebvreUsually on a walk one thinks of nothingCleff, cleff, cleff, barks the middle, while the end

asks the middle to finda good place in the city.It is now around two oclock. What is there to thinkabout?It is necessary to get lost to get to a new place.Ambiguity is a category of everday life, and perhapsan essential category. One could think of the fact ofit being another time in another city.8:20 PMOutside it is rainingBut the familiar is not necessarily the known. wasist bekannt ist nicht erkannt. Familiarity, what isfamiliar, conceals human beings and makes themdifficult to know by giving thema mask we can recognizedada, surrealism

a mask that is merely the lack of something. Andyet familiarity is by no means an illusion. It is realand part of realitylettrists, situationists, yippies, yuppies,deambulation and drive Do we want to leadimaginary lives across time zones?fluxus, street buffoons, strangersstragglers, well wishers, drifters, tourists

The capitalist individual sees theother member of societybe they bourgeois ornotas outside of himself, and in opposition tohimself.animals, paradersHis consciousness only reflects the fact thatcompetition separates one individual from anotherin such a way as to constitute a society which isbeyond the grasp of any individual consciousnessPoets. Beasts, memory machines and devastatedlovers unconsciously willing and consciouslyunwilling all walking together,what the f. are you doin?

angry and ready to meet the zapatistas they arenowhere on the long road to freedom andso we think prisons

what animals can we find in the city?Hospitals, factories, zooswhat areas are they enclosed in?end section!

yes

next?

yes


5/19

Saturday 16:30 to 19:30Cultural Confrontation Cooking

+ Talk / Archive with IOR

IOR, 109 Corbyn Street, London N4 3BXRail: Crouch Hill / Tube: Finsbury Park / Bus: 210

In history as in nature, the rotten is the laboratory of life. Karl Marx

The Institution of Rot (IOR) was founded by artist Richard Crow and writerNick Couldry in 1992 as part of Londons Secret Spaces. Situated in aVictorian House in North London, Crows working and living space, the IORhas been (from 19921996) an active artist-run space dedicated toperformance, audio works and site-specific installations. Included in theLife/Live anthology edited by Laurence Bosse and Hans-Ulrich Obrist(1996), IOR significantly contributed to the extraordinary dynamismof Londons artist-run spaces phenomenon of the 90s. Rooted in a do-it-yourself production and a collaborative process, IORs specific concerns

(and obsessions) were the privacy of the human body and its publictransformations (ingestion, expulsion, cleansing, confession, ritualsand taboos).The IOR was also, from 19851994, the recording studio of the groupDiastolic Murmurs (Adam Bohman and Richard Crow). At present IORis a living archive of recordings, objects, texts and images. It also remainsopen as a point of contact for international collaborations and occasional(unofficial) artists residencies created in partnership with curatorLucia Farinati.Recent projects include: Found Wantingin collaboration with thecollective e-Xplo (2004); a live broadcast in collaboration with SoundArt MuseumRadio Arte Mobile, Rome (Feb. 2005); The IOR Archivepresents The Adam Bohman Talking Tapes Vol 12(ongoing),Resonance fm (2005).For the dinner event the IOR archive will be activated with someoriginal recordings, films, slides, texts and objects.Before arriving to the site of the meal we will all stop in at a marketand look for ingredients that might introduce Cultural Confrontation.Cooking. Coordination is a possibility. Each participant please bring atleast two ingredients.We like their food but we do not like them!We like them but we do not like their food!We like them only if we like their food!

CCommoditiesIn Capital, Karl Marx writes: Commodities

cannot themselves go to the market andperform exchanges in their own right.We must, therefore, have recourse totheir guardians, who are the possessors ofcommodities. Commodities are things, andtherefore lack the power to resist man. Ifthey are unwilling, he can use force; in otherwords, he can take possession of them.(p. 178)

Is there a place in London, a local farmers market or thelike, in which one can trace back the process of production

of the food we will be consuming? Is there a way to nd outwhether the commodities we will be buying were broughtto the market with force? Is there a way to know that theworkers involved in production were not underpaid?Is there a way to know what exactly we are eating?With or without pesticides, with or without hormones?

Do you have a particular philosophy related to foodconsumption and/or agricultural practices?Why is English cooking so bland and simple when thisregion has at times colonized half the planet, gaining accessto the most diverse ingredients and culinary traditions?Is there a food that makes you angry?

The guests would not leave. The meal would notend. The welcome was turned into an entreaty toremain,live long, to forget the other days,the meals, the deals at the local

fast foodhole.The hearts core grows harder from day to day.The heart wears a body;the bodya shirt.Even thats not enough!Someonethe idiot!Everyone got nervous when he tookof his shirt.manufactured stiff

cuffs and clamped starch on the chestAging, people suddenly have second thoughts.End section when? You say when.

Im done.

Women rub in powder and rouge.

Men do cartwheels according to Mullers system.But its too late.The skin proliferates in wrinkles.Each new fold enshrining paths toan alternate path.He sure knew how to make mashed potatoes.Love flowers and flowers and then withers andshrinks.I am also done.

end of poemMayakowskyI am done with this meal.He would serve them in a helmet.8:40 PMstart new section?

Who will bring the sausages?yesyes?yesyesshe asks? what sausage?sure!!!!!!!!!!ok


6/19

Saturday 20:30 to 22:00On Collective Practice & CollaborationA dialogue between 16Beaver Group

& Boyle Family

176 Prince of Wales Road, London NW5 3PTTube: Chalk Farm / Rail: Kentish Town West / Bus: 46, 168, 31, 134

A presentation about the Boyle Family and 16Beaver Group modes ofoperation, and some guidelines or parameters that they think are relevantfor building collaborative modules. It is also meant to be a discussion aboutcollaboration, common work and common concerns.

For more information on the Boyle Family, go to:http://www.boylefamily.co.uk/

What does collaboration mean to you? How does

collaboration relate to politics? Is something collaborativeinherently more political? Have you all abandonedaesthetics? Are you a political front?

Have you ever wanted to kickanyone out?Have you ever wanted to quit16Beaver?

8:45 PM We have hit a wall. Not justmental but completely psychotic. Hewants to talk about his experiences.She wants to talk about something thatwould radically change our everyday.He wants to talk about somethingspecific. He wants to take turns. Hewants to insist. She wants to even the

playing field.Stalin is too rude and this defect,although quite tolerable in our midstand in dealing among us Communists,becomes intolerable in a Secretary-General. Ive only wanted more Renesmore / Ayreens more Johns moreJesals more Yates / more Paiges morePeters more Susans more Steves moreOverall, the guests have no possibleway to know, who was right and whoshould have given up.That is why I suggest the comradesthink about a way of removing Stalinfrom that post and appointing anotherman in his stead who in all otherrespects differs from Comrade Stalin

in having only one advantage, namely,that of being more tolerant, moreloyal, more polite, and moreconsiderate to the comrades, lesscapricious, etc. This circumstance mayappear to be a negligible detail.But I think that from the standpoint ofsafeguards against a split, and fromthe standpoint of what I wrote aboveabout the relationship between Stalinand Trotsky, it is not a detail, or it isa detail which can assume decisiveimportance.

Lenin, 24 December 1922

They only kept going because they didnot like the jefes, the bosses, thegovernors, the presidents, the...But, no doubt, to be concrete at lastfor there is no concrete responseother than the proof that each onemust give of what he really isI must speak instead of my failure.As for the past, I have alwaysattributed, very casually, to most of thecomrades or ex-comrades of 16Beaverat least as much capability and honestyas I perceive in myself, thus deludingmyself about them and me at thetime. Its a recipe against boredom

and apathy.Its a good excuse to talk about thingsyou dont know for sure will happen.For now, it is sufficient for me todeclare my insolvency for having madeprogress a movement that I always heldto be the condition of my radicality. Itwould be like disarming naivete itselfto want again to save a group in orderto save myself, when I havent knownhow to make it be anything I wantedit to be. I prefer therefore to take upagain the stakes that my adherence to

16Beaver had deferred: to lose myselfabsolutely, or to remake absolutely myown coherence and to remake it withthe greatest number of people. Butbefore leaving to the revolution theconcern of recognizing its own people,from now on Im sticking to what thedemands that Ive formulated aboutautonomous groups impose on me:I will not renew contact with comradeswho would wish it, or whom I wouldwish to see, except in the effectiverealization of a revolutionary tumultthat my taste for radical pleasure canappreciate.Vaneigem, 14 November 2016


7/19

Saturday 22:00 to 22:30Casual Conversation

Where: 176 Prince of Wales Road, London NW5 3PTTube: Chalk Farm / Rail: Kentish Town West / Bus: 46, 168, 31, 134

We will remain at 176 Prince of Wales Road, maybe have some juice,tea or coffee, and follow up the event with some opportunity for casualconversations between people at the event.

Habermas: conversation,power and distortionStupid!Normal is predictable?9:00 PM Goffman, E. (1959) ThePresentation of Self in Everyday

Life, (London: Penguin. 251 pages).

Views social encounters as a dramaticperformance in which people usevarious props, and act in teams.I formally ask you two to not attack

each other in front of innocent publics

ow ow

you are right

this is casual

You cause great shame to the name16Beaver.conversationshame to the nameZeldin, T. (1998) Conversation: HowTalk Can Change Your Life, (London:Harvill Press). A short and somewhatquirky book that, nevertheless,manages to convey some of thetrials and excitement of engaging inconversation, whether for pleasure,

self-education or work. It is the text ofa series of six talks broadcast by BBCRadio Four.PackagedGoogle was one solution for the 20thcenturyWardhaugh, R. (1985) HowConversation Works, (Oxford:Blackwell. 230 pages).Still the best introduction toconversational process that I havecome across. Chapters examine thesocial basis of talk; prepackagedverbositylocating an agenda; co-operationand playing the game; beyond andbehind words; context; getting startedand keeping going; topics, turnsand terminations; and requesting,informing, advising, agreeing,apologizing, promising.Google is the sickness of the 21stcentury?

Is it formal?now lets try pr is out

we are inok.how are you?Malone, M. J. (1997) Worlds of Talk.The presentation of self in everyday

conversation, Cambridge: Polity. 182+ xiv pages. As the title suggests this

book picks up on Erving Goffmansinsights(formally)

about the interaction order to ourself-presentations in talkthe processof crafting our behaviour so that itmakes sense to others.Malone uses conversation analysis todiscover how selves are created andtransformed in everyday talk.Im delighted to be asked that questionThere are chapters on the interactionalorder and the self; the foundationsof interactionism; the construction ofconversations; gender and talk; doingthings with friends; and disagreements.you are most welcome.I have been quite well. How are you?Habermas, J. (1984) The Theory

of Communicative ActionVolume1, Cambridge: Polity Press. 463 +xxxix pages. Includes an importantdiscussion of ideal speech situationsand communicative action.I am alright. Thank you.Gadamer, H-G. (1979) Truth andMethod, London: Sheed and Ward.552 + xvi pages. Brilliant discussionof conversation, understanding,hermeneutics and praxis. New editionnow available.how is your brother?your mother?we can also ip casual

maybe better casual p

a really good conversation

as if we do not know each other

now we know how we are doing

or we do know each other

even better

9:05 PM What is your mother doingnow? well my mother is better now,you know she had this small accidentand her shoulder was hurtand I was worried

but she is much better, i spoke to hertodayI didnt know. Sorry to hear thatYou love your mother very much,right?very much yes how did you know?And so in a way it works more like,

you wouldnt go from micro encounterswhere you are using Goffman to saythe Wallerstein level in one swoop, butyou think about political movements orthe organizations which crystallize outof them, theres a very important wayin which those are sort of blown upmicro-situations.You always speak of her very kindlyand it looks like youve learned manythings from her.In fact, whats really striking about arevolutionary situation is that its anevent which is really changing a macrostructure, but during the momentwhen its happening it feels like amicro-situation. It feels like, say,everybody in St. Petersburg in 1917 isall focused on the same thing. And

people all over Russia are followingthings onthe telegraph and so it actually doesbear out.Id love to meet her, actually.The service could not send themessage: A message or picture is toolarge to be transmitted.So if you think about it that way youmight say the more stable versions ofmacro situations are the ones wherethe micro encounters that make themup are not really linked together orthey are linked together in a prettymuch taken-for-granted orroutinized way.Do you talk to her about 16Beaver?It is true in fact. would be nice,maybe one day if she is here, or we gotogether to PalestineWhat brings them into a much sharperfocus allows the dynamism thathappens in micro-situations to spreadpretty widely.

Some things require blanks in the script.

What should we do?Where are these ideas taking us?


8/19

Saturday 23:15 to 01:30Capturing Certain Conditions

A Late Night Screening of Open Submissions

Rio Cinema, 107 Kingsland High Street, London E8 2PBRail: Dalston Kingsland Station / Bus: 67, (N)76, (N)149, (N)243

Participants are asked to bring in a cued selection from TV, news,a video or a film of their own or by others (Length: 1:00 to 5:00 minutes).

What is of relevance at this point in time?Which films are able to capture those moments?How / where are political struggles present in films / videos / TV /internet?How / where are social conditions in films / videos / TV / internet?What is our current predicament? What is certain or uncertain about it?Can video or film capture anything outside the condition of capturing?

16Beaver has for some time been interested in constructing or looking for

alternative formats of social exchange. This particular exchange will takeplace through the selection of videos that will be screened. Individuals areasked to bring in a cued selection from a video / film / DVD of their own,from television, from films, from friends, which captures a very specificcondition. We should note that we are not interested in great works of artor even artists works. Instead we are interested in encouraging a dialogueto take place about the present moment, our current condition. Theselections can be seen as questions, responses, provocations, or suggestedlines of inquiry. They are also meant to speak toward the ability orinability of the selected medium (television, film, video, internet stream) tocapture anything at all. Our only demand is that the selections be between1:00 to 5:00 minutes in length. DVD-Pal, VHS, Mini DV, DV Cam.

While the choice of capturing certainconditions might seem quite vague for anopen call, we think these words contain anincredibly simple, almost brutal specificity.The fact that the certainty of a fact mightbe debatable does not make it less certainfor those who think it is certain. Thenthere is the possibility of capturing withoutnecessarily communicating enclosed, self-contained, internalized perception. Duringthis screening, however, we would like tosend the censors for a walk, be they disguisedin arguments for decency, aesthetic quality,political relevance, or anything other thancapturing the certainty of this condition.

If you can get your hands on a capturedpiece of a certain condition and you wouldlike to share it, this is the moment to doit. The format of the open screening is onethat allows for visual media to recoverits character as manipulated, handheld,shareable matter. In the US only cult moviesmanage to take the audience and to becomean active public who transforms the veryspace and function of the theater itself.The even rows of chairs and the focused gaze

of the crowd are easily seen as belonging toa totalitarian social structure, yet the mostprogressive radicals sit quietly in thetheater until the show ends. This screeningwishes to bring back the spirit of irreverencewith which teenagers, surrealists, and even

the often romanticized situationists go tothe movies.

CCaptureFor the first time in the history of the arts,in the history of culture, man found themeans to take an impression of time. Andsimultaneously the possibility of reproducingthat time on screen as often as he wanted,to repeat it and go back to it. He acquireda matrix for actual time. Once seen andrecorded, time could now be preserved inmetal boxes over a long period (theoreticallyfor ever).Tarkovsky, Sculpting in Time, 1986

10. the faith that many social scientistshave in film as providing them with anobjective recording instrument is touchingand almost sentimental.

18. I know often means: I have the propergrounds for my statement. So if the otherperson is acquainted with the language-game,he would admit that I know. The other, ifhe is acquainted with the language-game,must be able to imagine how one may know

something of the kind.61. A meaning of a word is a kind ofemployment of it. For it is what we learnwhen the word is incorporated intoour language.


9/19

62. That is why there exists a correspondencebetween the concepts rule and meaning.

64. Compare the meaning of a word withthe function of an official. And differentmeanings with different functions.

65. When language-games change, thenthere is a change in concepts, and with theconcepts the meanings of words change.

66. I make assertions about reality, assertionswhich have different degrees of assurance.How does the degree of assurance come out?What consequences has it? We may bedealing, for example, with the certainty ofmemory, or again of perception. I may besure of something, but still know what testmight convince me of error. I am e.g. quitesure of the date of a battle, but if I shouldfind a different date in a recognized work ofhistory, I should alter my opinion, and thiswould not mean I lost all faith in judging.

67. Could we imagine a man who keeps onmaking mistakes where we regard a mistakeas ruled out, and in fact never encounterone? E.g. he says he lives in such and sucha place, is so and so old, comes from suchand such a city, and he speaks with the samecertainty (giving all the tokens of it) as I do,but he is wrong. But what is his relation tothis error? What am I to suppose?

83. The truth of certain empiricalpropositions belongs to our frameof reference.

166. The difficulty is to realize thegroundlessness of our believing.Ludwig Wittgenstein, On Certainty

What scenes or images have you seen [recently or not sorecently] that you cannot forget? What lms or videos areyou familiar with which challenge established narratives?What lm or video changed your way of seeing something?What is certain to you? Do you know of any troops thatinvade movie theaters to perform dialogues with thebig screen?

The Capture of London, AD 296.Constantius Chlorus.

Description: A classical coin depictingthe capture of London in AD296 byConstantius Chlorus. On the obversethere is a bust of Chlorus in armour

and mantle. The legend reads FL VALCONSTANTIVS NOBII CAES. On thereverse, London is shown kneeling toreceive the general who is mountedon horseback. He is wearing a helmet,armour and cloak and is holding a

spear in his right hand. A fortress isvisible on the right and a galley below.On this side of the coin the legendreads REDDITOR LVCIS AETERNAE.Inscription: LON. P.T.R.

Sunday 01:45 to 03:00

Chill out and Drinks

Where: Location to be announced (Kingsland High Street),please call 07962 574 141 for full details

Rail: Dalston Kingsland Station / Bus: 67, (N)76, (N)149, (N)243

In the bar, we will call all meaning tosurrender, altogether different, might aswell do it now: a Carafe that is a blind glass,glazed glitter, a substance in a cushion, dirtand not copper, a piece of coffee, nothingelegant, Mildreds umbrella, a box, a seltzer

bottle, red roses, water raining, colored hats,cold climate, a feather, a brown, a little calledPauline, a sound, a table, in between, the dog,a leave.

A SELTZER BOTTLE.Any neglect of many particles to acracking, any neglect of this makesaround it what is lead in color andcertainly discolor in silver. The use ofthis is manifold. Supposing a certaintime selected is assured, suppose itis even necessary, suppose no otherextract is permitted and no morehandling is needed, suppose the restof the message is mixed with a verylong slender needle and even if itcould be any black border, supposingall this altogether made a dress andsuppose it was actual, suppose themean way to state it was occasional, ifyou suppose this in August and even

more melodiously, if you suppose thiseven in the necessary incident of therecertainly being no middle in summerand winter, suppose this and an elegantsettlement a very elegant settlementis more than of consequence, it is notfinal and sufficient and substituted.This which was so kindly a presentwas constant.

WATER RAINING.Water astonishing and difficultaltogether makes a meadow and astroke.

COLD CLIMATE.A season in yellow sold extra stringsmakes lying places.

IN BETWEEN.In between a place and candy is anarrow footpath that shows moremounting than anything, so muchreally that a calling meaning a bolstermeasured a whole thing with that.A virgin a whole virgin is judgedmade and so between curves andoutlines and real seasons and moreout glasses and a perfectlyunprecedented arrangement betweenold ladies and mild colds there isno satin wood shining.Gertrude Stein, Tender Buttonspp. 8,12,14


10/19

Sunday 03:15 to 06:15Chimerical Walk

A Night Walk Through Dark Spots of London

Where: Meeting point outside Rio Cinema107 Kingsland High Street (corner of John Campbell Road), London E8 2PB

Rail: Dalston Kingsland Station / Bus: 67, (N)76, (N)149, (N)243

Distribution of no shift lag drugshttp://www.shiftlag.comChimera / Also chimaera.1. Gk Mythol. A fire-breathing monster, with a lions head, a goats body,and a serpents tail.2. A grotesque monster represented in painting etc.3. a) A bogey horrible phantasm.

b) A wild or fanciful conception.c) A thing of hybrid character.

Chimeric, -ical of the nature of the chimera; imaginary, fanciful, visionary;prone to entertain chimeras.The route of this walk will be planned in considering and choosing areasand places that are most feared, neglected, exoticized, eroticized andinvisible to the public areas that people advise you to avoid or not gothere by night. The spirit of the walking gang will build the solidarity anddaring mostly inaccessible to the individual. Please come with suggestionsand ideas.

We will attempt to create a short-lived gangof the willing or the unwilling. Our night walkmight help us face situations where class,gender, solitude, and many other aspects ofthe city are exposed.

CCommunicate

A few weeks ago, I made a short trip to Italy.The first evening, in the Milan station, it wascold, dark, dirty. A train was leaving; on eachcar hung a yellow placard bearing the wordsMilano Lecce. I began dreaming: to take thattrain, to travel all night and wake up in thewarmth, the light, the peace of a farawaytown. This is probably the last text RolandBarthes wrote, entitled One Always Fails inSpeaking of What One Loves.Roland Barthes, the Rustle of Languagep. 296

He furthermore writes In the love of aforeign country there is a kind of a reverseracism: one is delighted by Difference, one is

tired of the Same, one exalts the Other

It is difficult to love England, but we dolove London like we love all cities. And wedeclare that London is not England and NewYork is not America and Paris is not Franceand Karachi is not Pakistan and Berlin is notGermany and and and despite all nationalclaims. We only have language to express thislove, and therefore we are doomed to fail.

We will try to express our love through thiswalk. Our reverse racism in this city. How canit show itself? The sensation of that moment,how can we communicate it?

At some point there is also the call to the endof the night. The last call. The nightcap. The

last kiss. The last breath. The last toast, thelast drink, the long days journey into thenight. Night as the final curtain, night as theconclusive finish, the conclusion. The lastsong of the night. Our last night together.And yet, within this ending there is also arestlessness, the ambiguous, the unfinishedbook, the unfinished story or the nightinterrupted by sleep. As in I fell asleep lastnight. And we can even speak of the night,which never ends, the night of Luis BuuelsExterminating Angel. The socially, culturallydetermined, constructed night set against thenight that binds us, bids us to stay on, to notsurrender, to venture forth together, always

easier together toward a new day.Which are the most dangerous parts of London?What do you fear / like most about the night in London orany other city? / Where are the night workers of London?

The arrival of night is announced by cries orother acoustic signals, signs that the inhabitantsare to close off the city from the outside and,within it, to close their shutters and retire into

their houses. The voices of the night watchmen areevidence of the constant presence of authorities:Through the whole night, in all cities of the world,the night-watchmen reassure the inhabitantswith their punctual cries. Here the functions ofreassurance and control can hardly be separated,because without a doubt the security measures meta widespread need. Retreat into ones own home,

so far as it is available, provides the necessaryprotection from the dangers of the night, which arelocked out, banished to the streetand so ascribedto it. At night, ones habitation is invulnerable,

as a rule not even accessible to the police. Thosewho leave the protection of home not only placethemselves in danger, but also render themselvessuspect. The ideal of power is the separationbetween the good citizen lying in his bed and thewicked schemer who sneaks around inthe dark.Joachim Schlr, Nights in the Big Citypp. 3536

One cannot separate notions like fear and securityfrom a history of the night. How can this historyinform our critiques of the current discourses ofheightened surveillance and security of our cities?

What can we discover about the city at night, thatwe may miss by day? What, if anything, is uniqueabout London at night? If the night is the domain ofghosts and spectres, then which spectres will we beseeking out?


11/19

Sunday 06:30 to 08:30Breakfast at Sunrise

Where: Gasworks, 155 Vauxhall Street, London SE11Tube: Oval or Vauxhall / Bus: 38, 185

Sunday 08:45 to 10:00Games for the Willing andthe Unwilling

With Cesare Pietroiusti

Where: Gasworks, 155 Vauxhall Street, London SE11

Tube: Oval or Vauxhall / Bus: 38, 185What we do at 16Beaver can be seen as an experimental form of theaterof everyday life. It is not by chance that many of us who meet there/herefind a great source of inspiration in games and game theories. Gameshave premises, scenarios, frameworks, instructions, rules and often whenthese are the most simple, the most complex social relations develop.The formality of games can be used for social control and/or liberation.Their informality can take to forms of sharing that are impossible withincapitalist routines. Last, but not least, games often provide what we find tobe a great thing: a good sense of humor. We should not forget that we areplayful beings.

Artist Cesare Pietroiusti is no stranger to games and what he calls non-functional thoughts. He will join us for this session to play together.

CCall65. Here we come up against the greatquestion that lies behind all theseconsiderations. For someone might objectagainst me: You take the easy way out! Youtalk about all sorts of language-games, buthave nowhere said what the essence of alanguage-game, and hence of language, is:what is common to all these activities, andwhat makes them into language or parts oflanguage. So you let yourself off the verypart of the investigation that once gaveyou yourself most headache, the part aboutthe general form of propositions andof language.

And this is true. Instead of producingsomething common to all that we calllanguage, I am saying that these phenomenahave no one thing in common which makesus use the same word for all, but that theyare related to one another in many differentways. And it is because of this relationship,or these relationships, that we call them alllanguage. I will try to explain this.

66. Consider for example the proceedingsthat we call games. I mean board-games,card-games, ball-games, Olympic games, andso on. What is common to them all? Dontsay: There must be something common, or

they would not be called games but lookand see whether there is anything commonto all. For if you look at them you will notsee something that is common to all, butsimilarities, relationships, and a whole seriesof them at that. To repeat: dont think,but look!

Look for example at board-games, with theirmultifarious relationships. Now pass to card-games; here you find many correspondenceswith the first group, but many commonfeatures drop out, and others appear.

When we pass next to ball-games, much thatis common is retained, but much is lost.Are they all amusing? Compare chess withnoughts and crosses. Or is there alwayswinning and losing, or competition betweenplayers? Think of patience. In ball gamesthere is winning and losing; but when a childthrows his ball at the wall and catches itagain, this feature has disappeared. Look atthe parts played by skill and luck; and at thedifference between skill in chess and skill in

tennis.Think now of games like ring-a-ring-a-roses;here is the element of amusement, but howmany other characteristic features havedisappeared! Sometimes similarities of detail.


12/19

And we can go through the many, manyother groups of games in the same way; cansee how similarities crop up and disappear.

And the result of this examination is: wesee a complicated network of similaritiesoverlapping and crisscrossing: sometimesoverall similarities.

67. I can think of no better expression tocharacterize these similarities than familyresemblances; for the various resemblancesbetween members of a family: build, features,colour of eyes, gait, temperament, etc.overlap and crisscross in the same way.And I shall say: games form a family.Ludwig Wittgenstein, PhilosophicalInvestigations

Its a game, as youll see. I am a prisoner ofthe Iraqi government, but that governmentwas appointed by the Americans.

Saddam Hussein

The rules of the game have changed... Ifpeople want to come here, they come hereand play by our rules and our way of life. Ifthey dont then they will have to go, becausetheyre threatening our people and thats notright either.Tony Blair

Can games restructure social relations or are they simply atemporary relief from them? How is it that the metaphor ofgame has pervaded every facet of life and yet we may ndourselves as alienated and isolated as ever?

it is believed that, in order toliberate listening it suffices to beginspeaking oneselfwhereas a freelistening is essentially a listening whichcirculates, which permutates, whichdisaggregates, by its mobility, the fixednetworks of the role of speech: it is notpossible to imagine a free society, if weagree in advance to preserve within itthe old modes of listening: those of thebeliever, the disciple, and the patient.Roland Barthes.Listening, 1976

History, which threatens thistwilight world, is also the force whichcould subject space to lived time.Proletarian revolution is the critiqueof human geography through whichindividuals and communities have tocreate places and events suitable forthe appropriation, no longer just oftheir labor, but of their total history.In this games changing space, andin the freely chosen variations inthe games rules, the autonomy ofplace can be rediscovered withoutthe reintroduction of an exclusiveattachment to the land, thus bringingback the reality of the voyage andof life understood as a voyagewhich contains its entire meaning

within itself.Guy Debord, The Organizationof Territory in The Society ofthe Spectacle


13/19

Addendum to C. of the Willing

0. Coalition of the Willing1. Cosmopolitanism of the Willing2. Context of the Willing3. Community of the WillingCCoalition of the Willing/Coalition of the Wealthy/Coalitionof War-Criminals/CoW

The first American President known tohave publicly mentioned acting with aCoalition of the Willing in place of aUN Mandate was Bill Clinton.

Coalition of the willing?Make that war criminalsThe pre-emptive strike on Iraqconstituted a crime against humanity,wrote 43 experts on international lawand human rights.

The initiation of a war against Iraqby the self-styled Coalition of theWilling was a fundamental violationof international law. International lawrecognizes two bases for the use offorce.

The first, enshrined in Article 51 of theUnited Nations Charter, allows force tobe used in self-defence. The attack mustbe actual or imminent.

The second basis is when the UNSecurity Council authorizes the use offorce as a collective response to the useor threat of force. However, the SecurityCouncil is bound by the terms of theUN Charter and can authorize the useof force only if there is evidence thatthere is an actual threat to the peace(in this case, by Iraq) and that thisthreat cannot be averted by any meansshort of force (such as negotiation andweapons inspections).

Coalition of the WealthyAlthough the Coalition of the Willingonly contained about a quarter ofthe worlds countries, it contains adisproportionately large fraction ofthe worlds economically powerfulcountries. For instance, the CoWcontained: 15 of the 30 OECD nations;

15 of the 27 EU nations (Including thetwo acceding nations); 5 of the top 10nations by GDP; 4 of the G8 nations;Nations with 61% of the global GDP.

Current members1. USA 130,000 troops.2. United Kingdom 8,761Had 45,000

troops in and around Iraq at thetime of invasion

3. South Korea 3,3004. Italy 3,030Began phased

withdrawal of troops in March 20055. Poland 1,500Began to withdraw

troops in October 20046. Ukraine 950Announced to

withdraw troops by October 20057. Georgia 8898. Romania 860

9. Australia 850Had 2,000 troopsin and around Iraq at the timeof invasion

10. Japan 550Limited to non-combatzones only

11. Denmark 54012. Bulgaria 450Began phased

withdrawal of troops in March 200513. El Salvador 38014. Mongolia 18015. Azerbaijan 15116. Latvia 13617. Albania 12018. Lithuania 11819. Slovakia 10520. Czech Republic 8021. Bosnia and Herzegovina 3622. Estonia 35

23. Macedonia 3324. Kazakhstan 2725. Norway 10Sent about 150 troops

to Iraq and later withdrew all butten officers. The new Red/Red-GreenCoalition-Government promises thatit will withdraw the remaining tenofficers soon.

Members with no military involvementSeveral countries chose not to, or couldnot, sustain a military involvement, butnonetheless pledged their solidaritywith the Coalition.1. Angola 02. Colombia 03. Eritrea 04. Ethiopia 05. Kuwait 06. Micronesia 07. Rwanda 08. Solomon Islands 09. Uganda 010. Uzbekistan 0

Members which have withdrawn1. Iceland 0

Mainly specialists and such2. Nicaragua 0

Withdrew 115 troopsin February 2004

3. Dominican Republic 0Withdrew 302 troops in May 2004

4. Honduras 0Withdrew 370 troops in June 2004

5. Spain 0Withdrew 1400 troops in June 2004

6. Philippines 0Withdrew 51 troops in July 2004

7. Thailand 0Withdrew 443 troops in August 2004

8. Hungary 0Withdrew 300 troops NATO trainingforce in December 2004

9. Tonga 100Withdrew 40 troops in December2004

10. Moldova 0Withdrew 12 troops in February2005

11. Portugal 0Withdrew 128 policemen inFebruary 2005

12. Netherlands 4Withdrew 1350 troops in March2005, later reduced troop level bynearly 800

13. Singapore 0Withdrew its single Amphibioustransport dock deployed in thePersian Gulf in March 2005

Democracy On Its Way!Britain: 86% say give weaponsinspectors more time, 34% think thatUS and Britain have made a convincingcase for invasion.Spain: 80% opposed to war, 91% againstattack without UN resolutionItaly: 72% opposed to warPortugal: 65% say there is no reason toattack nowHungary: 82% opposed to invasionunder any circumstancesCzech Republic: 67% opposed toinvasion under any circumstancesPoland: 63% against sending Polishtroops, 52% support US politicallyDenmark: 79% oppose war without UNmandate

Australia: 56 per cent only backedUN-sanctioned action, 12% supportunilateral action. 76% opposeparticipation in a US-led war on Iraq.Australian Senate voted 33-31 tocensure Howard for committing 2,000soldiers to US action

With the aim of protecting andreasserting its own sovereign territory,the Coalition of the Willingset aboutmaking explicit what had been largelyimplicit in the ordering of things:it will take responsibility only forimposing the force of law and order;in a denial of community, it will notaccept responsibility for the effects ofthat ordering; and those who dissentor retaliate will be held responsible for

the disorder and the terror that thisimplies. That this response could onlyperpetuate the conditions that give riseto terror is revealed by examining moreclosely the pre-history, not so much ofSeptember 11 per se, but the notion ofresponsibility that has been evoked inattempts to heal the wound it exposed.Rosalyn Diprose, Responsibility in aPlace and Time of Terror

Recourse to revenge rather thanmercy suggests that our ideas offreedom, autonomous responsibility,and sovereignty remain ideals andtherefore insecure. Moreover theseideals are necessarily insecure because,insofar as they rely on shoring up afuture pre-emptively, they support thetransgression of the uniqueness andextra-territoriality of others. Nietzscheadmits to the suffering inflicted onothers in maintaining the self as themeasure of meaning and value in thesocial contracts for which theseself-responsible subjects are destined(Nietzsche GM II 5 & 8; 1967, 64 & 70).In a society of individuals responsibleonly for themselves, justice becomes astruggle, an exercise in measurement,the establishing of equivalencesacross different centres of freedom.Disagreement over law and challengesto the force of law that guides theestablishing of equivalences are thusviewed and lived as the breaking of thecontract, as ingratitude, as a woundingof the sovereign self. And, for this,debts must be extracted from thedissident other, pain must be inflicted,dissent censored.Rosalyn Diprose, Responsibility in aPlace and Time of Terror

CCosmopolitanismWe have doubtless chosen the termcity of refuge because for quitespecific historical reasons, it commandsour respect, and also out of respectfor those who cultivate an ethic ofhospitality. To cultivate an ethic ofhospitalityis such an expression nottautologous? Despite all the tensionsor contradictions which distinguishit, and despite all the perversionswhich befall it, one cannot speak ofcultivating an ethic of hospitality.Hospitality is culture itself and notsimply one ethic amongst others.Insofar as it has to do with the ethos,that is, the residence, ones home, thefamiliar place of dwelling, inasmuchas it is a manner of being there, the

manner in which we relate to ourselvesand to others, to others as our ownor as foreigners, ethics is hospitality;ethics is so thoroughly coextensivewith the experience of hospitality.But for this very reason, and becausebeing at home with oneself (ltre-soichez soilipsit mmethe otherwithin oneself) supposes a certainreception or inclusion of the otherwhich one seeks to appropriate control,and master according to differentmodalities of violence, there is a historyof hospitality, an always possibleperversion of the law of hospitality(which can appear unconditional),and of the laws which come to limitand condition it in its inscription as alaw. It is from within this history that I

would like to select, in a very tentativeand preliminary way, some referencepoints which are of great significanceto us here.

First, what we have been calling thecity of refuge, it seems to me, bridgesseveral traditions or several momentsin Western European, or Para-Europeantraditions. We shall recognize theHebraic tradition, on the one hand,those cities which would welcome andprotect those innocents who soughtrefuge from what the texts of that timecall bloody vengeance. This urbanright to immunity and to hospitalitywas rigorously and juridicallydeveloped and the text in which it firstemerged was, without doubt, the Book

of Number.God ordered Moses to institute citieswhich would be, according to the veryletter of the Bible itself, cities of refugeor asylum, and to begin with therewould be six cities of refuge,in particular for the resident alien,or temporary settler. Two beautifultexts in French have been devoted tothis Hebraic tradition of the city of

refuge, and I would like to recall herethat, from one generation to the other,both authors of these essays arephilosophers associated withStrasbourg, with this generous bordercity, this eminently European city, thecapital city of Europe, and the first ofour refuge cities. I am speaking here ofthe meditations by Emmanuel Levinasin the Cities of Refuge and by DanielPayor in Refuge Cities.

In the medieval tradition, on theother hand, one can identify a certainsovereignty of the city: the city itself

could determine the laws of hospitality,the articles of predetermined law, bothplural and restrictive, with which theymeant to condition the Great Law ofHospitalityan unconditional Law,both singular and universal, whichordered that the borders be open toeach and every one, to every other, toall who might come, without questionor without their even having to identifywho they are or whence they came. (Itwould be necessary to study what wascalled sanctuary, which was providedby the churches so as to secureimmunity or survival for refugees,and by virtue of which they riskedbecoming enclaves, and also auctoritas,which allowed kings or lords to shieldtheir guests (hotes) from all those inpursuit; or what occurred betweenthe warring Italian cities when onebecame a place of refuge for the exiled,the refugee, and those banished fromanother city; and we who are remindedof writers in this context can call tomind a certain story about Dante,banished from Florence and thenwelcomed, it would seem, at Ravenna.)Finally, at this juncture, wecould identify the cosmopolitan(cosmopolitique) tradition common toa certain Greek stoicism and a PaulineChristianity, of which the inheritorswere the figures of the Enlightenment,and to which Kant will doubtless havegiven the most rigorous philosophicalformulation in his famous Denitive

Article in View of Perpetual Peace: The law of cosmopolitanism mustbe restricted to the conditions ofuniversal hospitality. This is notthe place to analyse this remarkablearticle, or its immense historicalcontext, which has been excised fromthis text without trace. It was Cicerowho was to bequeath a certain Stoiccosmopolitanism. Pauline Christianityrevived, radicalized and literallypoliticised the primary injunctionsof all the Abrahamic religions, since,for example, the Opening of theGates of Israelwhich had, however,specified the restrictive conditions ofhospitality so as to ensure the safetyor security of the strong city (26, 2).Saint Paul gives to these appeals, or to

these dictates, their modern names.These are also theologico-politicalnames, since they explicitly designatecitizenship or world co-citizenship: nolonger foreigners nor metic in a foreignland, but fellow-citizens with Godspeople, members of Gods household(Ephesians II. 19-20). In this sentenceforeigners (xenoi) is also translated byguests (hospites); and meticbut seealso immigrants, for peroikoidesignates as much the neighbour, froma point of view which is important to ushere, as the foreigner without politicalrights in another city or country.Jacques Derrida, On Cosmopolitanismin On Cosmopolitanism and Forgiveness

Can we imagine the will of a city

in sharp contrast to the will of thestate? As Derrida notes, the notion ofcosmopolitanism has its roots in theHebraic and medieval traditions of thecity of refuge. If states like Britain,Spain, or Denmark will continueto wage preemptive war, againstinternational law, against the wishesof their own citizens, can the city actas an alternate assemblage, to provide


14/19

an alternative force for advocacy,tolerance, critique, and refuge? What,if anything,is worth salvaging in this discussion ofcosmopolitanism within the context ofa city like London?

CContextSlovene politicians desperately triedto steer a middle course between USpressure and the unpopularity of thewar with the majority of the Slovenepopulation. First, Slovenia signedthe infamous Vilnius declaration forwhich it was praised by Rumsfeld and

others as part of the new Europe ofthe Coalition of the Willing in thewar against Iraq. However, after theforeign minister signed the document,there ensued a true comedy of denials:the minister claimed that, beforesigning the document, he consultedthe president of the republic and otherdignitaries, who promptly deniedthat they knew anything about it;then, all concerned claimed that thedocument in no way supported theunilateral US attack on Iraq, but calledfor the key role of the United Nations.The specification was that Sloveniasupported the disarmament of Iraq,but not the war on Iraq. However,a couple of days later, there was abad surprise from the United States:Slovenia was not only explicitly namedamong the countries participating inthe coalition of the willing, but waseven designated as the recipient offinancial aid from the United States toits war partners. What ensued was purecomedy: Slovenia proudly declared thatit did not participate in the war againstIraq and demanded to be stricken fromthe list. After a couple of days, a newembarrassing document was received:The United States officially thankedSlovenia for it support and help.Slovenia again protested that it did notqualify for any thanks and refused torecognize itself as the proper addresseeof the letter,in a kind of mocking version of please,

I do not really deserve your thanks!,as if sending its thanks was the worstthing the United States could do to us.Usually, states protest when they areunjustly criticized; Slovenia protestswhen it receives signs of gratitude. Inshort, Slovenia behaved as if it wasnot the proper recipient of the lettersof praise that went on and onandwhat we all knew was that, in this casealso, the letter DID arrive at its properdestination. The ambiguity of EasternEuropeans therefore merely mirrors theinconsistencies of Western Europe itself.Late in his life, Freud asked the famousquestion Was will das Weib? (Whatdoes Woman want?), admitting hisperplexity when faced with the enigmaof feminine sexuality. And a similar

perplexity arises today, when post-Communist countries are entering theEuropean Union:Which Europe will they be entering?Slavoj iek, What Does Europe Want?

iek continues by asking To put itbluntly, do we want to live in a worldin which the only choice is between theAmerican civilization and the emergingChinese authoritarian-capitalist one?In invoking the city as an assemblagethat can stand in opposition to theState, there is also the possibility ofreaching to the assemblages, formalizedcommunities outside the state.Although the EU has seemed destinedto be a mere economic bloc in theservice of larger industrialists, it has

also had the potential to be more thanthat. The Europe that Blair has invokedis in stark contrast to a Europe thatcould possibly stand in opposition tothe models of subjectivity and politicalrepresentation presented by Americaand China. If, by this invitation, we canrespond to what ties the US to Englandtoday, it is in fact that they are the twocentral bodies in this coalition of the

wealthy, the coerced, or the willing,And if there is anything to ask here, itis how this bond between these Englishspeaking nations may be presenting anobstacle to the development of Europeas a potential oppositional force. Andbefore we can ask What can Europedo? We could ask not only WhichEurope? but also Europe for what, forwhom?

CCommunityThese communities, local, national,global, are formed, not by associationbetween autonomous, free individuals

who respect the same sovereign powerand freedom they find, by analogy,in others. Rather, community arisesfrom the way that, as finite or mortalbeings our finitude and hence ouruniqueness can only mean somethingof value to others. It is as bodies thatwe are mortal, finite, vulnerable, andmake unique sense as an expression ofbelonging to social worlds in a way thatno one has access to and, with this, asthe basis of moral value. But the bodysunique sense only appears and makessense, not as a sign of sovereignty,but by exposure, through death andthrough birth, to the finitude (andhence uniqueness) of other bodies incommunity (Nancy 1991 p. 28; 1993p. 204). At the same time, community,and the circulation of meaning thatsustains it, only arises and makes sensethrough the sharing and preservation ofthis uniqueness. A community, howeverlarge and however disordered, cannotbe maintained when suffering inflictedby these elusive forces of Westernimperialism strip the bodies of othersof the opportunity for community.Under such conditions, community,meaning, and Being will implode.In the extreme, those guardians ofa disorder that is maintained by somuch collateral damage may be calledinto account and reminded of theircommunity and, therefore, of theeffects of their imperialism, by violencein return. Then there may be no future

toward which impassioned freedomextends, and no home to want to comehome to. Terror: the disabling of thefuture and an attendant implosion ofmeaning and Being, not from a singleevent that we might call 9 / 11, butwithout a locatable origin and possiblywithout end.Rosalyn Diprose, Responsibility in aPlace and Time of Terror

The novelty of the coming politicsis that it will no longer be a strugglefor the conquest or control of theState, but a struggle between the Stateand the non-State (humanity), aninsurmountable disjunction betweenwhatever singularity and the Stateorganization. This has nothing to do

with the social in opposition to theState that has often found expressionin the protest movements of recentyears. Whatever singularities cannotform a societasbecause they do notpossess any identity to vindicate norany bond of belonging for which toseek recognition. In the final instancethat State can recognize any claim foridentityeven that of a State identitywithin the State (the recent historyof relations between the State andterrorism is an eloquent confirmationof this fact). What the state cannottolerate in any way, however, is that thesingularities form a community withoutaffirming an identity, that humansco-belong without any representablecondition of belonging (even in the

form of a simple presupposition).Giorgio Agamben, The ComingCommunity

We ran away from our community, weran away from our responsibility, weran from what kept us hungry, we ranfrom the fight, we ran from our dreams,we ran to our homes, but our homeswere gone, our ground was groundless,

our fears were our dreams, our securityour terror. Who could hope in thistime, could find the leisure to thinkin this time, in this time of lost time,reigning time, its raining time. Time togo. Time to move. Time to call on newforms of collectivity. Communities ofthe future, held together, outside evencities, regions or ballooned balloons,full of hot air. The community to come,the community we would strugglefor would have to confront not justAgambens whatever, but however.However will we get there? This placewhich only this day, this time can openus to?


15/19

Royal / Beaver Correspondence

From: [email protected]: RCA -- Discussion -- 03.08.05Formal or Temporal orTemporary ParalysisDate: 3 August 2005 19:09:58 BSTTo: [email protected]

Contents:1. Writing2. Playful Ambition________________________________2. Playful Ambition

Something that stuck out after ourdiscussions together was the quality ofplay. One element of that play wouldemerge from the dialogue between us byattempting to make the process a centralpart of the work. Another element ofplay could emerge in the manner inwhich we address the questions we areinterested in, within the activitiesorganized in London.

Though, play is not the theme we willbe exploring per se, it is quite possiblya mode in which we may work.

The main point to be made is to considerplay as a part of our process together.And in this particular case, play couldopen us up to re-examine our roles, totake liberty in thinking or attempting

to think, what in fact is possible in thiscontext of an exhibition? What is it weattempt to do when we organize a groupof artists who dont necessarily produceart? What is it we are doing when werefuse the exhibition in the context ofa first year exhibition?

One way of looking at 16Beaver would beto think of it as an experimental space,where everyday life, cultural practice andinterests, intellectual pursuits, politicalwill and thought, social interaction,friendship, and various other facets oflife are allowed to mingle and informone another. Unlike a squat or commune,however, it remains a distinct space,separate, on the borders of all of thesecategories. Although there is a space

located at 16 Beaver Street, time is thekey territory we share. It is time we giveto one another and through time that ourvarious ideas, interests and questions areallowed to inform one another.

What is the most we could do together,given the fixed conditions, given thetheme of exchange, given the 13 of you,given the institutional demands, giventhe questions we are interested in, giventhe 350 possibilities we have manifestedthus far in the various activities 16beaverhas organized over the last 6 years, andgiven our openness to the outside?We may begin by playing.

16 BEAVER GROUP

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

From: Emma RidgwaySubject: Re: RCA -- Practical -- 22.08.05 --Proposal: The C of the WillingDate: 31 August 2005 15:01:46 BSTTo: Royal Beaver

Hello All,Thank you for The C of the Willingproposal of a 24 hour marathon ofevents. Ahhh, jetlag, platforms, screeningand marathons; a potentially surreal mixof willing and disruption. It sounds anexciting and ambitious project, bothin energy on the day/night/day andresources. Thanks for your versatilitywithin the structure; we will no doubtrequire it as the ideas and venues evolve.

Content of this mail1. Very simple Question

2. 12+12 = 24hr3. Other events to be aware of aroundLondon________________________________Very simple QuestionI have a simple question (but this is notnecessarily my one and only): Whatdoes the C stand for? Collaboration,Community, Camaraderie, Control,

City, Curation, Concept, Context,Cybersex (Paul Virilios point, notan Emma confession), Confession,Competency, Contestation, Chain, Capital,Conversation, Coalition, ConsciousnessI presume that it stands for something,perhaps I missed you explaining it earlier.----12+12 = 24 hrWe were thinking that the 24hourmarathon could run from Saturdaymidday 12pm Sunday midday 12pm.How does this sound to you?----On Sunday, I spent four hours at the B&Bcurated discussion event for Londonin six easy steps, which worked well.I thought I should try and build upmy event / talk / screening stamina,like runners do for marathons.

All the best,Emma

>>From: Emma RidgwaySubject: RCA -- Practical -- 04.09.05 --

Expansion (& regards from the C)Date: 4 September 2005 22:47:11 BSTTo: Royal Beaver

Hi all, email, to my mind, is not themost concise and accurate form ofcommunication as it can be moremisleading than it appears to be. It doesnot necessarily force brevity and clarity(as suggested in Peters mail 22.08.05)- as I amply demonstrated in my last mail.

Reading Aryreens response, I realise thatI should have been more explicit aboutthe reasons for the second and third partof my mail 31.08.05.

Contents:> Expansion of point 2 : 12 + 12 = 24

hours

> Expansion of point 3 : Events aroundLondon----Expansion of point 2: 12+12 = 24 hr

We like the idea of the marathon as aschedule of events that will disrupt theexpected timings of things. However,we do not want to only be internallydisrupted i.e. some thing that involves

just our two groups.

>PublicsWe are concerned that the projectaddresses the public in different ways:the chain of events creates the opportunityto include different publics at differentevents. In the proposal there are eventsthat can be more intimate (such as themeal) and more open (such as the walk orscreening). Our group has been discussingthe issue of creating and addressingpublics throughout our course (lookingat Habermas and Warner). Examining theindividual responses to your questions

(currently being compiled) it can be seenas one of the concerns of variousmembers of our group - we will sendmore on this soon.

>Schedule shuffleWith this in mind, we feel there arecertain events in your proposal that willattract a wider public and therefore callfor more emphasis. We consider theseevents to be the screening, the night walkand discussions. These will inevitably getmore of our budget and take more energyto produce. For example, the screeningat the Rio cinema will realisticallybe the most expensive part of theprogramme and we would like it tobe well attended. As we chose a publiccinema, not an art or university venue,

we feel it is important to choose anunusual but realistic time. Althoughmorning movies sounds appealing, wethink that a Sunday morning show goestoo against Londons drinking habits (i.e.possible attendance); therefore midnightmovies could be more attractive but stilla rare thing in London. This seems a moresubstantial way to fill the central hoursof the marathon and could replacethe party, which may be beyond ourmodest budget.

>12 until 12We suggested the marathon runs from12 until 12 for a few reasons. Firstly, wethought that the momentum of the wholeevent would be better sustained if wefinished earlier on Sunday. This

conclusion came from discussions ofour personal experiences of stayingawake, for various events, through thenight. Secondly, from your proposal, itcould be abrupt to start at 6pm with thediscussion. Starting earlier on Saturdaycould be a good way to build up tothe events of the evening and night(discussion, screening, walk) and for ourtwo groups to familiarise ourselves witheach other. (Also, as openings are usuallyat 6pm, it may be more interesting toopen at 12!) If the event happened earlyafternoon (Saturday) to early afternoon(Sunday) it could be anytime, such as 2to 2, but for us 12 to 12 sounded right (asit marks out midday, midnight, midday).------

I hope this is clearer - expanded - andmore precise.

Regards from the C (Copenhagen),Emma & Silvia

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>From: [email protected]: RCA -- Practical / Discussion-- 08.09.05 -- A-Z + Budget +Date: 8 September 2005 23:51:48 BSTTo: [email protected]

RCA -- Practical / Discussion -- 08.09.05-- A-Z + Budget +

Contents:1. Notes on Conversation (A - Z)2. Budget3. Flights4. Scheduling

________________________________1. Notes on Conversation (A - Z)

It was good to talk to Victoria and wehope the task to communicate the basicideas discussed with the entire group willnot be too difficult. This note is to helpclarify the main points.


16/19

a. you and i and we need to give thiswhole thing time, thought, ideas.

b. we could think about how our desirescould be fulfilled within this context, howcan one best intervene given this context,generating research, finding interestingmaterials, introducing interestingquestions, possibilities for walk, locationsin the city, c words, a list of c words, cword of the day, interviews with artistsi like in london whose name starts withthe letter c, process, creativity, unknownheadings, hmm, sleeplessness, the historyof sleep deprivation.

c. we would like to think more aboutthe ideas informing this work, c of thewilling.

d. 24 hour event is the event, if theentire event needs to be seen as aperformance to give it orientation inartistic terms, then so be it, but it is anevent underway, on its way. each of itselement is important but it is not theobject of the work by itself.

e. if we felt the pressure of representing(definitively) 16beaver in one event oreven publication each time we didsomething on our own or withcollaborators, we would never doanything. this event needs to be seenwithin a wider context of 350 events,

not 1. 350 + 1. 351f. having said that, we have never triedthis before, so it should also be somethingnew, should add a new move, a new twist,a joint we never discovered we had.

g. the latter requires play, and our abilitytogether to be creative with ideas

h. in regards to organizational concerns:we created the 24 hours framework,specifically to make things clearer andeasier. within this frame, we werehoping to allow some space, some play,for things to take place. this is animportant part of our way of working at16Beaver. the timeframe, giving the time.some of the elements will be predefinedmore in advance, and others more closer

to the events and some directly willhappen and surpise us during.

i. we will try our best to give you theknown parameters, because it will help.but if it is not possible, it might be agood idea to work in a more flexible wayaccording to what is given and what isknown.

j. for example the space we need forthe talk, would be a space that canaccomodate 30-100 or so people, thathopefully has a projector that can beconnected to a dvd player and acomputer, because we are thinking oforganizing an event similar to the oneswe usually organize at our space in NY onmonday nights. it will we be a kind ofintroduction to 16Beaver, either literally

or through a how, how does 16Beaverwork, it will last approx. 2-3 hoursdepending on the rest of schedule andthe capacity of the space.

k. We would like to orient each of theevents around one or several c words.l. all the obstacles we (who we?) face(what obstacles?), the demands forfixing things long in advance, of gettingapprovals through bureaucratic channels,getting funding via grants that requirea proposal for a project to be concretebefore a project has had time to breatheand actually become, etc... all of theseare the walls that are constructed oftenwithin artistic contexts, in society at largeeven. 16Beaver is in part a response tothat, a response against that. we believe

that if you have a choice to publish orprint something that is not yet there,not well developed, better not publish itat all.

m. If you want to be ambitious know whatyou are ambitious about, if you want tobe modest, know what you are modestabout.

n. we are modest about what we thinkwill be achieved in our 24 hour event.it will be one day. hopefully interestingand stimulating. but if someone walksaway from that event and says, boy, nowi know what these guys are doing, goodthing i read the brochure also, because itis all clear, lets go home and get takeoutit would be news to us. we hope we do notfully know what we are doing, because wehope that it changes and grows with time.next month, we may yet be somethingeven more interesting than today. (notclear, especially this oh boy thing!)

o. we are ambitious about the idea of apublication together. but it needs togrow in the same way we explained ourmodes of operation. not to run ahead ofourselves with the formalities before wehave a substantial content that we thinksuitable in this context. so better notto do something than doing somethinghastily because of some pressure ofproduction. (of course, again we wouldlike to do it!)

p. and, ambitious publication does notrule out a simple web component, nor asmall handout, nor a map. the only thingthat needs to be understood pertains toresources. all modest things should bedone on DIY level financially.it is possibly the ambitious things

that require some finances, and eventhose, with some resourcefulness, otherdoors open.

q. ambitious publication does not rule outa web component, nor a small handout,nor a map. the only thing ... doors open.(difficult for me to reformulate! becausethe following is maybe enough)

r. reformulation re: publication - let itemerge through our conversations andeven through the events. it needs tohappen after. along those lines, ifsomething needs to be published inadvance, it can be a website, which is avery useful way to communicate with alarge public on practical matters and tooffer some introduction. And if we wantto give a handout, this should also be

done on a small and modest budget. Andif the interest for something ambitiousis not there on the part of people in theRCA, this is also ok, because it will needcommitment to follow through.

s. another clear note: if a grant applicationneeds to be written, lets put it togetherbased on what we know. all will be fine.a. we do not think so much about successor failure. b. if we think failure, we arenot afraid of failure, because this willnot all end today. it may, but based onpast results, it probably will not. (insteadof failure replace with rechannelingof plans or change of plans, because weare flexible to adapt to given parameters,success and failure may not be the best

terms as noted in the text itself)t. every failure presents us with newpaths to follow. One could argue that it ismore difficult to fail (than to ...?). maybewe should attempt failure more often. (iwould not drop this whole passage)

u. coconuts, camps, castles, cathedral,carpooling, catastrophe, collisions,collaborations, commitments, cases ofbeer we can drink together in the partythat should not be too expensive.

v. car, this is a different kind of car, howwill we drive?

w. if (we will never leave each otheralone, without a leash at least)

x. there is an interesting story from the

past. For mass moca, the institutiondemanded a set title for our eventmonths in advance, they had to publishit for the catalogue, they had to makea postcard, we thought about it, we didour best, we gave them a title, threeevents, at the end, what resulted in theprocess was quite different, the eventwas great, but it was something which

emerged from the 7 or 8 events we hadorganized at our own space in new york,so 200 + people attended, many peoplewere involved, the event exceeded theirsand probably our own expectations, andfortunately they were flexible enough andhad enough trust in our work to let us goahead and change our path. What we canconfirm in this context is that we will staywithin this 24 hour frame, and if we fixelements such as a location, we will workwith that, and if we say a small guide inadvance, we can work with that, but letslet the things that really need contentthe breathing space they need, and letsactually engage on that front at least withequal vigor and energy as the fronts thatare organizational.

y. one might say that we do not produceanything we leave things behind as wemove, maybe we should think aboutall the things we have left behind orwill leave behind. Consequences ratherthan appearances. What is it to producean event? Is an event a production?A product is mostly understood as aclosed finished entity we mostly opendoors and leave them that way. (thisis an unfinished thought, but just leaveit that way)

z. z should be left open. (this is toopredictable, lets add a note about all the

possibilities that we have left unexploredthus far, this would already begin topresent us with a relation to advanceddeterminisms and reverse causalities)

16 BEAVER GROUP


17/19

CCAOn City

There was once a sad city, the saddest of cities,a city so ruinously sad that it had forgottenits name.Salman Rushdie, Haroun and the Sea of Stories

C of the Willingis the promise of an act ofempowerment: for 24 hours, a group of peoplewill be given the opportunity (oras its oftenthe case that nothing is given but everythingis, by an act of the willing or due to a playof circumstances, producedwill create forthemselves that opportunity) to re-name thecity, according to a set of prescribed ruleswhich are themselves the result of a willing forarbitrariness, understandable from a group thattakes its name from the name (and number) ofa streetbut also according to their mood, theirprevious knowledge or simply to meteorologicalfactors, which remain, in all cases, the unknownfactor, to be taken into account and not tobe predicted.

The act of re-naming will be performed inEnglish, and therefore the city will be given backits original name: the (C)ity. New itineraries willbe discovered, which are meant to change thecommon cartography of the city, to challenge thespirit of adventure, to test the spirit of resistanceand to stimulate the spirit of adaptability. It willbe remembered that this is the city where theart of conversation reaches one of its extremepeaks, and hence there will be an attempt tode-construct this tradition and to talk aboutmore than conversation. There will be momentsof cooking, as one of the most convivial ofcollaborative acts, and crossingof streets,canals, bridges, gaps, prejudices, boundaries.There will also be a great need for courageto confront not only fears of the dark,

the promiscuity of certain locations or thefatigue, but also ones own lack of emotionalavailability and interest in sharing or exchangingwith potentially too many others. The (C)ity willthus be revealed as the territory that allows foran infinite number of encounters, but also thecold and deserted space where one has to findinside ones self that particular willingness tocohabitate and to contribute to a dialogue.

Probably there will be no conclusion; the chainof events and surprises will be cut by thepragmatic and implacable 11.59 am, after whichthe (C)ity will become London again, the curatorsand the non- or never-to-be- or not-even-

tempted-to-become- curators may all seekrefuge in the privacy of their beds and the24 hours marathon may, at least for a second,look like a dream, like a fantasy in a remotecorner of someones brain. However, the city willbe there to remember its 24 less ordinary hours,when it was interrupted from its coordinatedor chaotic routines, and it was given (back)what, once in a while, every city aspires to:its capital, complete name, and all the contentsand discontents within it.

CCAOn Chronology

Time is geometrically conceived in spacethrough the movements of the clock hand.60 seconds (60'') equals one minute (1'),60 minutes (60') equals one degree (1) and90 degrees (90) equals one right angle. In onehour, the minute hand of a clock turns through360 degrees. Similarly, in one revolution,a wheel turns 360 degrees. These are thebuilding blocks of Euclidian geometry,and the basis of Western societys conceptualframework. Based on these conceptions,there are certain geometrical axioms,or statements that we accept in order toproceed. 16Beaver, in part because of thefluidity and multiplicity of its constitution,is a capricious collective that is defined in bothtime and space. In developing our project with16Beaver, we played within, outside, and aroundthe axioms that define our understanding of theworld around us, in order to develop a projectthat analyzed these conceptual frameworks.

A point has no magnitude: Our year groupon the Royal College of Art MA Curating

Contemporary Art is comprised of thirteenstudents from ten different countries. Ourgeographical disparateness is but one of manythings that makes us different from one andanother. A point on a map has no magnitude,but a person does.

The whole is greater than its parts, but equalto the sum of its parts: In joining the curatingprogramme, each one of us agrees to invest twoyears in a situation that defines us as a group.When we approach a project, we approachit as individuals, and as a group. In workingwith 16Beaver we skewed the dynamics of theconventional artist-curator working relationship.

They are a group that mirrors us. The projecthad more curators than artists. How would thisaffect the outcome of the endeavor? The wholeis equal to the sum of its parts, but do the partsnecessarily constitute a whole?

A line has length and direction, but no breadth:In our conversations with 16Beaver we didntwant to travel in a linear direction, and thenature of the project didnt allow it. We aremany, and so are 16Beaver. I began something,she finished it, he edited, and then we allagreed we didnt need it. Our conversationshad breadth, but no length and nopredetermined direction.

The shortest distance between two pointsis a straight line: In developing the project,we exchanged emails from all around the worldin frenzy and in complacency. At dusk for oneand dawn for another, words traveled throughthe cybernetic sphere. They crossed each otherand missed each other, but sometimes met oneano

Documents

cofthewilling