I’m a million miles from Newcastle, but was able to follow the event (and so can you, right here) via Amplified, another cool UK organization that fosters community participation around events and public conversations using social media. Our friends across the pond are doing some very clever things. I have only scratched the surface of TippingPoint 2012, but am inspired by some of the questions that were posed, and by the concept of creative responses to social issues. I’ve been giving it a bit of thought.

Read the full post here

Read the full post here

The Next 100 Years for Humanity

-2012: Solar Storm causes radioactive devastation over the northern hemisphere triggering widespread power-cuts

-2013: Higgs boson particle is finally proved existent

-2014: population reaches 7.5 billion

-2015: Genetically modifying animals will become commonplace

-2016: Genetically Modified crops become our main food source

-2017: We will be able to go on holidays to space

-2018: Sea levels rise 10 metres everywhere putting low lying areas at risk

-2019: NHS becomes privately owned by investing companies

-2020: First Car that will be able to drive itself is put into production

-2021: North Sea runs out of oil

-2022: Population reaches 8.5 billion

-2023: AI becomes advanced enough to think for itself for a short period of time

-2024: Concorde 2 introduced due to popular demand, (London to New York in 90 minutes)

-2025: A cure for cancer will be developed

-2026: “Super Disease” causes mass pandemic killing hundreds of millions of people

-2027: Vladimir Putin’s head is forever incarcerated in Cybonic head container to remain Ultimate Ruler of Russia Forevermore

-2028: First marine settlements are founded making housing for many thousands of people

-2029: Population reaches 10 billion

-2030: Due to rapidly increasing population a worldwide child limit is implicated in certain countries

-2031: Earthquake on Chile’s west coast triggers Tsunami that hits Chile, Mexico, USA’s west coast, and east Japan killing 45 million people

-2032: Oil prices dramatically increase even more making petrol cost £3 per litre.

-2033: Most roads in MEDCs become heated so that rain and ice melts decreasing the amount of crashes.

-2034: 60% of world runs on renewable/sustainable energy

-2035: Stem cell treatments become available on the NHS

-2036: Population reaches 12.5 billion

-2037: Oil runs dangerously low

-2038: IVF is now has a 80-90% success rate rather than the old 20-35%

-2039: Vaccination that fights HIV is developed

-2040: First prototype flying car is developed

-2041: Another “world’s biggest number” invented: the “googoogle-plex”, (10^10^100^1000)

-2042: Terrorist attacks in London are related to Bin Laden’s death.

-2043: Robot advanced enough to react to most circumstances is created

-2044: Population reaches 15 billion

-2045: Nuclear war averted between Russia and USA over resource disagreements

-2046: Yellowstone volcanic eruption plunges USA, Western Europe, Central America and some Pacific Islands in darkness as ash cloud covers them

-2047: The “year without summer” declared due to volcanic ash cloud now spreading over the whole planet except for central Asia and Australasia

-2048: Due to failing crops worldwide, millions die of starvation

-2049: ash cloud clears; total death toll is 700 million people

-2050: Cash will no longer be needed; “Virtual Money” is all that will be needed

-2051: in a feat of scientific endeavour America lands an astronaut on Mars, no life is found

-2052: Population reaches 18 billion

-2053: Spray on clothing is fully developed and sold throughout MEDCs

-2054: A cure for cancer is developed and thousands of patients are relieved

-2055: Voyager 1 space probe loses communication with earth as it is too far away

-2056: Natural helium reservoirs are depleted

-2057: Helium is artificially synthesised by cold fusion, (this also creates a sustainable source of energy)

-2058: Technology to “design babies” by eliminating embryos which have particular unwanted characteristics

-2059: Clothing that can dry itself after raining by expending the water is created

-2060: Cybonic Integration is possible

-2061: Population reaches 23 billion

`       -2062: Mars astronauts return from Mars unharmed

-2063: advanced camouflage is developed that allows the user to become nearly invisible

-2064: Bionic components in over 30% of people

-2065: Another planet with the ability to sustain life will be found that is just like earth and fairly close

-2066: almost 90% of the world’s energy is created renewably/sustainably

-2067: TV that emits specific scents depending on what the scene contains is invented and sold at a high price

-2068: New planet discovered in our solar system that orbits around the sun nearly exactly opposite to earth. Planet is between mars and the asteroid belt

-2069: Population reaches 30.5 billion

-2070: First marine “city” is finished in the warm waters of the Indian Ocean

-2071: Voyager 2 space probe loses communications with earth

-2072: Amazing study shows that the Amazon rainforest is 40% as big as what it was in 2010

-2073: Due to the world’s low wood sources, wood based products are now by law recycled

-2074: The 3D printer is finally finished development and is now available in shops

-2075: Despite mass controversy human cloning will eventually become legal

-2076: British Empire is reborn, expanding exponentially in Southern Asia and Australasia

-2077: Population reaches 39.5 billion

-2078: Most fast foods are now artificially synthesised using the necessary materials needed for a healthy lifestyle, like vitamins and minerals, and all the other substances required to maintain a balanced diet

-2079: F7 tornado declared after an unbelievable devastating weather phenomenon almost 1 km wide smashed through Kansas, USA. could be mistaken for a small hurricane

-2080: One child policy introduced in western countries like USA and UK

-2081: Experimental procedure to have an “In-built” computer in one’s head, so they would have access to the internet wherever they are

-2082: TV has been re-invented as Holo-Vision is now available; the pictures are projected into the room creating the ultimate sense of “being in the scene”

-2083: due to one child policy parents

-2084: First communication with extra-terrestrial life from a different planet

-2085: Population reaches 50 billion

-2086: WW3 starts over religious matters and MEDC’S getting involved

-2087: Parents can now specifically choose which genes to incorporate into the chromosome of the embryo

-2088: First self-thinking robot will be created

-2089: First dead flesh is resurrected using new technology whereby a gel is injected into the tissue which encourages agitation of cells which makes the tissue “appear” to be living

-2090:

-2091: People will be able to communicate without mobile phones, using radio waves from a “bionic upgrade” in the mind

-2092: the first completely independent robot is created that can think for itself in all situations

-2093: WW3 ends, total death toll is 4 billion people

-2094: Population reaches 61 billion

-2095: Religion banned due to previous disagreements

-2096: We set up a permanent moon colony of scientists and housing for the rich people

-2097: Robot that can self-replicate itself is created and is stored in high security conditions to prevent a breakout of “robots”

-2098: Old Computer printers, (2D) are now redundant as ink is not made any more as it is not needed because 3D printers have taken over

-2099: Landfills are no longer used as there is now a way to recycle anything by sustainable eco-friendly means

-2100: Population reaches 72 billion

We’re here at the Hancock Museum, which is a fabulous inspiration for a conference looking at the social/political impact of Art, because of what Museums are.

Not many people think of museums themselves as ‘art’. They contain art and ‘artifact’, but the artistic role of curator is that of the story-teller, a metanarrational exploration of meaning and theme through the aggregation of artifacts, laid out in a way that tells a story.

And that role is one that has shed some light on a question I’ve been struggling to articulate for the last couple of days – that of the contast in impact and purpose between ‘art’ singular – a “work of art”, even the work of ‘an artist’ – and the impact of ART, writ large across cultures, woven through history, reflecting and directing the development of language and our sense of personhood beyond words, encapsulating the inexpressible sense of belonging we feel within families, communities, cultures, nations and species. Disrupting, upsetting, challenging, scaring and inspiring. Participated in by everyone – wittingly or otherwise.

Here, we’ve been mostly talking about ‘our art’ – the art we make, the artistic practice we do. Our motivations, the way it interfaces with the issues and impetus of our scientifically-understood concerns about the implications of man-made climate change.

But that sits underneath a layer of belonging. A creedal commitment to be “a part of art”, to acknowledge that we belong to art, to a global community of artists, of people exploring what it is to be human by tapping into countless millennia filled with human attempts to express truths bigger than we can contain in facts, to explore Aslan’s ‘deeper magic’, and hopefully inspire ourselves and others while acknowledging that it’s not solely our job to change or save the world. It’s OK for Picasso and LiveAid to exist in the same human experience.

The change of art is a consequence of us – collectively – allowing art to inform the human journey and challenge us to something bigger than numbers, bigger than self-interest, bigger than the fatalism that sees the destruction of the planet as something we can’t respond to positively and bring about a better future.

So, not a call to ignore representative, political art, certainly not an excuse to ignore the challenge of bringing about real change through art, but hopefully a release to allow ourselves to belong to art to, as Dostoyevsky’s Raskolnikov says of happiness in Crime And Punishment, ‘contribute our stone to the building up’ …of the sum total of art and its pivotal role in our human becoming.

- Steve Lawson

Each topic was proposed by a participant in plenary session – then they move on to discussion in groups – the groups self-organise.

The principles and laws of Open Space Technology are used to manage the process (see http://bit.ly/wyAbHo).

• Fashion and its role in helping to achieve sustainability
• WInd Turbines and how they are being used as a source of debate on the issues
• Imagining a better future
• How can art make science more accessible
• Who should the Arts Council be talking to
• Exploring the notions of time and time passing – and how it connects to climate change
• Creating learning opportunities particularly for young people
• How can I write a brief for a £25k residency at the Centre for Alternative Technology
• How can we act as catalysts for change in our own communities
• Language and the way we use language to describe/explain/understand climate change
• Writing a show about an oil spill – wants to discuss impacts
• Natural environment as a metaphor for climate change
• Curatorial processes and new approaches to climate change scenarios
• “reasons to be cheerful” – how can we envisage a positive future yet be taken seriously
• How do we get to a more meaningful dialogue about climate change
• Creating slow conversational spaces for engagement
• Aspirational sustainability – how do we make being good cool?
• Sharing and reflecting on community-based processes
• How can we engage imaginatively in the development of sustainable technology
• Matt Ridley’s message was dangerous – how do we shut him up
• How do we engage with people who are too busy
• How do we collaborate and imagine futures – in a new way
• A topic described as “I am f***ing angry”
• How do we ensure that we get people to participate and engage – built in not tagged on
• How as an artist do I get to work with the scientists?
• Heidi vs the X Factor – how do we reduce the influence of digital marketeers to achieve
• sustainability?  How do we fight the influences?
• Should Art and Culture have a part to play
• How do we make sure that the issue of climate change is taught at schools and Universities and with a radical change agenda
• How can artists and scientists work together to re-sacralise our relationship with the natural world?
• The relationship of art and behavioural change – exploring the role of artists – can they be instrumental?
• What needs transforming – a brainstorm; I need more information

“He [Paul Robeson] realized that the artist had the power, and the responsibility, to change the society in which he lived. He learned that art and culture are weapons in a people’s struggle to exist with dignity, and in peace.”

http://www.nbufront.org/MastersMuseums/JHClarke/Contemporaries/PaulRobeson.html

Do you feel that? Do you have artists who have played that role in your life? Where does ‘reckless creative freedom’ end and the responsibility to change society start, or is the social responsibility to be recklessly creatively free and allow that to change things?

your thoughts are most welcome…

(originally posted on Google + here)