INTRO

Formatted like the Social Action Research page, which is different from the other Social Action Research page. Sorry. Half of these will be stretches and the other half is made up, but I was willing to accept a zero for this project so I’m willing to accept a twenty.

PROBLEM

The problem I am trying to address is the depletion of idealism and the inability to imagine a future beyond capitalism, as evidenced by surrounding locales such as my notes on Nicolas Diaz’s notes on Mark Fisher.

ACTION

This. I have a dear, dear belief that art can enact social change, and this webring is particularly direct about it. I want to excite, to distort, to draw connection to and from and ultimately leave the reader to a greater sense of understanding.

PROCEDURE

Brainstorming, which frankly took the longest, and was me just crushing my head over and over again in my notes app. Planning and outlining, which was both organizing my timeline and composing my cartography, to know where to go and when to do it. Writing, which I did separately for spelling and grammar review, and was ready for entry in discrete steps. Coding, which as soon as I allowed it to be simpler than my ambition was easy if still time-consuming. Export and polish, which aside from a slight confusion regarding a flaw in VS Code’s system and Neocities’s architecture, was workable and done in an hour. And also some amount of pain.

BLOG

All my original thoughts had been land-focused and surprisingly possible. Or at least, I’d hope them to be, and that hope is why we do this right? One was to increase a greater feeling of neighbourhood community and start a small enactment of mutual aid, by setting up a community garden. This was particularly exciting because my community had always been something I wanted to become a close part of. The second was to address a growing concern: is all that is getting in the way is logistics? In reference to how tech-startups for sustainable alternatives to almost everything exist and that various issues regarding waste are due to supply lines and the machinations of globalized commerce… Of course, bad logistics isn’t the only reason climate change exists, and so this is marginally less realistic, but that desire to solve the world based out of something I can do from my desk has not left me… I think back to Everest Pipkin’s essay games, or the documentary A Girl in The River convinced Pakistan’s prime minister to increase legislation against honour killings.

How do I create political art about political art? As you’ll see elsewhere written all of the research I had first discovered a few years ago before having it reinvigorated in me. I see the issue apparent in my conversations and arguments with people, and feel it in my frustration with their seeming stalwart refusal of trust and potential. I think I fail to explain the fundamental difference in worldview despite it being present in such plain terms, in such moments. I have to believe then that such an inborn deep-seated sentiment must form a basis or a pillar for the ideology against progress. That it’s not just fear and hate, but a lack of genuine imagination.

I don’t really have a reference for such a topic specifically. While the extent of my research is far and wide, a project into such a metaconception is, as far as I can tell, unique. And while it’s shocking that I could actually do something original (and probably untrue), it’s scary alongside that. While I know that art can surely create social change, there’s a lot of art, and the change might not be apparent and quantifiable. Like any form of praxis I have to be ready for this to fail, and not just because I’m behind schedule.

This was honestly a more than terrible experience. It’s certainly something I’m proud of, somehow, but it is unfinished and yet overdue. That was my fault, mostly: there’s a large swathe of this which I should’ve worked more and organized better, and the consequence of that is a near-total sacrifice to my mental health in these last few hours, to my numb indifference and the protests of my family. And all of it possibly for naught!

EVIDENCE

It’s all around. Self-explanatory.

IMPACT

I don’t know yet. But I think it will. Though part of that is my belief that everybody’s changed no matter what they try, so I’m an optimist to that point. But being an idealist is what this project is about.