Deleuze’s The Fold is concerned with matter and thought as endlessly inflecting one another, the world as something that gathers and disperses, as always in process and folding back on itself. In our online exhibition, invited artists have responded to this through their artistic practice. We would now like to invite you to join us in a group experiment to expand our artistic practices, bringing these concepts into how we engage with each other in a ‘De-Symposium’ format that embodies the ethos of The Fold: where we are all co-producers engaging in a participatory curriculum, rather than a top-down, linear event which places certain perspectives over others.
What does this look like in practice?
Our De-Symposium is determined and led by its participants. This means that we will be gathering the topics to address in the De-Symposium from you, to plan what will happen on the day. There is no keynote speaker, no selected panel speakers, all participants at the De-Symposium are equal and entitled to contribute as much – or as little – as they please to the event. Discussions held on the day will be open and constructive, and the outcomes will be determined by the participants.
To this effect, we have put together a document on Riseup Pad, where we invite you to add your thoughts on what you would like to discuss as part of this De-Symposium. Invitations for ideas will be open until 9 November, after which, we will ask you to vote for your top preferences across all contributions. We will then put together a programme for the De-Symposium which includes the top voted topics. Depending on the topics chosen, the De-Symposium will run over a number of consecutive days to allow participants to engage as many topics as they wish. The De-Symposium will begin on Tuesday, 5 January at 5:30pm. This is our usual Virga Ozone slot, but we will extend the time to make a two-hour event, from 5:30 to 7:30pm UK-time.
In summary
- Open the Riseup Pad and write down your ideas for what you would like to discuss at the De-Symposium (we have offered some prompts/questions for inspiration)! You have until 9 November to add your ideas. You will be able to see and respond to others’ contributions. All contributions are anonymous.
- We will collate the ideas and send out a new Riseup Pad link where you can add your vote to which ideas you think would be most interesting to discuss – and you can vote for your own! The ideas with the most votes will be programmed on the day. You will have until 23 November to cast your votes. All votes are anonymous.
- Once the votes are in, we will send out a final programme for the De-Symposium. Sessions will be programmed starting on Tuesday, 5 January from 5:30 to 7:30pm UK-time and continue at the same time on the 6th and 7th of January, if needed.
How do I use Riseup Pad?
Riseup Pad is a web application run by Etherpad that allows for real-time group collaboration on documents. Riseup does not store IP addresses, and pads are automatically destroyed after 60 days of inactivity. All contributions to the Riseup Pad are automatically anonymous, but entries are colour coded to indicate when different people have added to the document. You do not need to log in or add your details to use Riseup Pad, all you need to do is open the document and start typing!
How will the De-Symposium be facilitated?
- We will be monitoring the Riseup Pad entries as they come in. We expect all entries to be respectful and positive if/when responding to others’ ideas, although we do welcome constructive critical discussion. We will remove any entries that may be considered harmful to others.
- We will do our best to ensure as many ideas as possible are heard and programmed across the De-Symposium. The primary restriction will be timing, which includes ensuring that each discussion has a moderator to help the discussion flow, ensure all voices are heard and that discussions remain respectful of differing ideas that might arise.
- Each discussion will have a key idea or theme, and the outcomes of each session will be co-determined by the participants in the session. This might be something specifically outlined as part of the original idea, a clear answer to a question, an output, a collaboration, or it could be that the main purpose is simply to engage in the discussion itself.
- The level of participation of each attendee is completely optional. There is no obligation to add ideas to the Riseup Pad, vote, or speak at any of the sessions. It is completely acceptable to simply turn up on the day and enjoy watching the process unfold and take the opportunity to listen and feel enriched by the contributions of others. Please show up as you are, and be respectful of others in whatever ways they choose to show up. As the De-Symposium will potentially take place over three evenings, we hope that this also gives you time to digest what has taken place, before launching in to the next set of sessions.
- The De-Symposium will not be recorded. Its benefit will be in its live and spontaneous nature. Outcomes of the De-Symposium will be shared after the event with participants and as a critical text on our Virga and [cloud] blogs.
