unMonastery - define yourself
(written by @Bembo_Davies and @katalin)
You cannot have it both ways: the unMonastery demands a simple life of hard work. Adapting the posture that the world is complex so that tasks are best left unfinished is cowardice. To remove the Protocol from the BIOS is to perform a sleight of hand maneuver that is transparent in its collusion with a culture of denial. Solving the conundrum of personal reluctance to make hard decisions may prove to be our most valuable contribution to ‘The Process’.
If the unMonastery is primarily a hub which links local needs with initiatives of a global scope; that which defines us is not our friends who work on the global scene, nor the dinner parties that worked in Matera. We need to define what we do in order to cultivate this connection. It is written that The Geek shall not inherit the Earth. The key moment of the unMonastery contract is service to a vibrant community. Without being embedded into such a community we are not living a life unMonastic.
It is a great challenge to see how a Transmediale presence embraces these working principles. At this moment the going idea is to form a recruitment centre around engaging small groups of people who are playing an as yet to be fleshed out boardgame. As more and more tables each become their own unMonastery participants will be confronted with what they can contribute and how their individual skills and concerns can find the resonant walls of a supportive community.
To present that in an exhibition setting is neither to serve soup, nor to have speeches by others, but to invite all our friends and make them sit down to the unMonastery boards to play a round of unMonastery. So people from Matera, random visitors from Berlin, and the cleverest people we know can try and do the unMonastery together, similar to Bang!.
To design the unMon game we need to define:
- characters with descriptions
- conflicts
- a goal to reach by the end of the game
- etc.
If the game is called The Process, is not the Protocol its set of rules? The greater community encourages the naked Athenians to design and play the game ad nauseum.
yours,
The Jealous Masses