LACK OF INFORMATION BOOTH

Key questions:
1) What do we mean by information?
how do we arrive at an open-ended concept of information that neither turns it into a mere tool of power nor into the universal ‘salvation’ for those who do not have information?
Filling in information is a de facto acceptance of the general parameters within which it circulates or fails to, of the structural forces which define certain information as valuable, and of information as such as the key political question. Taking “lack of information” literally—in some way making it present and felt rather than filling it in—might allow us to call into question the political functioning of information (and the necessity or reality of the informed rational subject of citizenship it assumes, in favor of a more direct and active involvement).
The trick would be to make lack of information trigger a feeling of what matters that is not itself couched in information terms, but rather in relational terms concerning how people act and interact as social and political subjects on the everyday, local scale.
2) How can we find techniques which address the absence/lack of information?
explore modes of making the lack of information felt through triggering the link between information and presence.
3) From presence to experiential intensity
experiential intensity (“presence”) and how to connect it to or make it spin off from circulations of information which often have a distancing or de-intensifying effect (by separating “us” from the experts or those in a position to know, or on the contrary by dint of information glut).
4) Performativity
This seems to point to need to find ways of making the kiosk more performative, and to distinguish it from more familiar initiatives on the part of community groups or more traditional political formations to fill in information that is held back or lacking.
5) Transversality
triggering a “transversal” move away from the centrality of information and towards a more direct, relational engagement that can be entered into without access to information, simply because it happens aside from that economy, at a more accessible, directly lived, ethical level (not uninformed, but more focused on modes of engagement than points of principle or questions of correctness).
6) Potlatch?
Are there ways that we can have people give us their lack of information, in ways that makes visible what matters beyond localism and self-interest, rather than giving information to them? Could this be done with some kind of performative element? Could the kiosk design integrate in some way this? Would it be interesting to pair the lack of information booth with a too-much information booth that makes felt the trivializing influence of the mediated circulation of information for information’s sake and the over-exposure of the image economy?
7) Architecture!
part of the performative element of the project would be the construction of the kiosk itself. This would be an act of amateur building with few resources that would hopefully set in motion other forms of productive incompetence. What seems to be important is to consider how political organisation and action necessarily occurs in a state of partial knowledge.
our kiosk would not be an attempt to fill the information gap, but rather to explore what potential exists to act politically from within this apparent state of lack (lack of information, lack of skills, lack of contacts, lack of resources…).
The kiosk could be an attempt to perform/express a political situation that is endemic to urban planning (the complexity of city governance is kept at a safe distant from a public that is considered to lack the necessary expertise to participate), but also to demonstrate that politics is nevertheless able to take place from within these conditions.
as Jacques Rancière points out, the tradition of democracy is a system of government by those that have no qualifications to govern. I wonder if our kiosk could both serve as a reminder that expertise is not a prerequisite of political engagement, while also provide a small staging of a politic event that takes as its starting point a shared state of lack, incompetence or inexperience.CONCRETE GARDENS

UPDATE 20 April 2009

CLEANING
We are meeting next Friday at noon on the site to clean up the place. We have to find when recycling is coming to empty the space. We need to bring garbage bags.

PUBLICITY
Celine and Marie-Pier are working on a flyer that will be put in the streets this week.
Here is the fnformation that we thought shall be found on the flyer. If anybody has an idea for a logo please send it to us. But think that it will be black and whit print.

The Society of Molecules
Lack of Information Kiosk
April 29th BYO-BBQ &
May 1st, 2nd and 3rd Camp
May 2nd Recording of the neighborhood and explorative walks at gare de tirage (Paths and Patterns: meeting at noon on site) and night walk at Chabanel (Northern Dérive: meeting at 10pm on site). Discussions on site will follow the walks.

ALL WELCOME!

Plus a hand-written map of the site so people know where it is

SEED
Jonas and Christoph left with a plant cloning protocol. Basically we will clone a tree that is on the lot (I'll check if we can do it with the Mexican Bamboo). It is a very easy protocol that does not require much materials (all stuff we can get or at a botanic shop or at a grocery store). We will extract living components from a plant and then clone it so everyody can leave with his little part of the plant to grow and take care at home. We will do the protocol here and videotape it and send the video to our host molecule in New York so they can activate their seed after May 7th as mentioned on the hub. We have to agree on a specific time we want to do it, and think about ways of documenting the protocol. Jonas said he'd liek to start a website to document what we do.

EVENT: GENERAL INFO
We decided to do two official walks. The first one to the gare de triage and the second one to Chabanel (a generic space where not much is happening because everything shot down. We can get to both sites using the railtracks from the lot. We decided to do only two walks in order to invite people back to the camp afterwards in order to discuss. We said that we will group ourselves in pairs and divide the walkers in small groups (5-6) in order to facilitate exchanges.

EVENT SCHEDULE
We have to check the forecast to make sure the event can happen even if it rains. We thought of putting a big plastic as a temporary ceiling. In case it rains we should think of setting up the place in advance.

Wednesday April 29h:
18h: BBQ with the emissary from NY (hopefully with the Toronto one as well). We have to decide what we bring (food, drinks, candles, music) to make people feel welcome. We can use a transitor with batteries for music. We have to set a time for a meeting the following day to clean up.

Friday May 1st
9am we meet at Jean-François's place to get the gear
10am we go to the site, set up the camp site, have a BBQ. First night on site!

Saturday May 2nd
12 pm: First Walk: Paths and Patterns.
We walk from the site to the tracks towards the gare de triage and discuss the site's paths and patterns. Discussion on site after.
Kytes: Cecilia, we did not choose a time for kytes, we thought we could probably put it in between the walks...unless you prefer to do it on Sunday.
10 pm: Northern dérive. Night walk to Chabanel through the tracks. Discussion on site after.

****Celine and Marie-Pier are trying to find people to look after the camp whilst we are gone for walks. If you know people please tell them to show yourself so we can all do teh walks.

Sunday May 3rd
Or we unpack on Sunday or we decide to continue until Monday morning. Depends on what we decide for kytes and on how everything is going. Whatever we decide we have reserve time to bring everything back at Jean-François' place.

GEAR (please fill in)
List of what we have (whom has what) and what we need
1. Plates, cuttery, mattress (Jean-François has enough for everybody)
2. Tents: 1 tent- 3places; 2 tents- 1 big place or two intimate ones (Both Cristoph and Jean-Francois have one). (What we need is mostly tents. Anybody has tents? That's the most important feature we need for camping!!!)
3. Wood, matches, and paper
4. Propane Cooker (Cristoph)

FOOD
Water
Maybe we should do one big grocery shopping and share the costs or we can decide to bring our own...(and share!)

Movement Profile

Empty lot, rue Marconi in Little Italy
Between avenues Mozart et Beaumont
Across from the Charcuterie Parisienne
North of the Chinese shop

Google Map link :
Terrain rue Marconi

Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from noon to 1:00pm

It will be a great advantage if the emissary considers that our molecule is climate dependant (warm better than cold, sunny nicer than rainy/snowy).