THE INSTANT AND EFFICIENT, COMPREHENSIVE AND SYNERGETIC OMNI-SOLUTION (SOS)
Everyone As Activist - The Synergetic Omni-Solution
Buckminster Fuller said, “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To changesomething, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” In2007, the Buckminster Fuller Institute began offering an annual $100,000 prizeto the individual or team who could present the most practical, efficient, viableway to make a poorly-functioning aspect of the existing reality obsolete. Afterpondering at length, I concluded that the BFI itself had come up with the most ingenioussolution of all—by initiating the competition it wasinviting hundreds if not thousands of visionary thinkers to identify andsuggest ways to resolve pressingglobal issues using the fewest possible resources in the shortest possibletimeframe . Bucky called this kind of solution a “trimtab,”named for the tiny rudder on an enormous ship that is ultimately responsiblefor steering.
Rather than enter the competition that year, Iwrote a letter to the Challenge committee to express my sense that theinvitation to participate was in itself a rare, elegant, and effective catalystfor positive change. I thanked them for the opportunity to take partvicariously, imagining that every application they received might be just one piecein a giant puzzle, and that perhaps once all the pieces were put together thetrimtab would be revealed.
From then on, my mind began working around theclock on the riddle of the trimtab. What universally accessible andimplementable strategy could bring as many people on board as possible,inspiring contributors to take immediate action using whatever materials may beat hand? In my work as a conceptual artist, this is precisely the kind of problemI find most intriguing. I began to study appropriate technologies andpermaculture. I started a Facebook group called USE HALF NOW as an experiment based on the notion that moremindful consumption may be an efficient place to begin (at least for those ofus living in “overdeveloped” countries). I researched the wildly successfulconservation and Victory Garden campaigns introduced in the U.S. and Britainduring World War II. Leaders called on citizens to “use it up, wear it out,make it do, or do without,” and people ably complied. This got me thinking: Whatif a similar campaign could be put forth today? What if people were simplyinvited to have a stake in creating a healthier, more peaceful world? What ifthe sense of helplessness, disempowerment, and defeat that seems to pervade ourculture could be overcome, simply by suggesting that each of us contribute inany way possible?
The German artist Joseph Beuys called this kind ofactivism “social sculpture.” Hebelieved that everyone, by infusing even the most mundane action with a senseof purpose and creativity, could contribute to their own health and the healthof society and the environment at large. By so doing, he proposed that “everyone is an artist” of their chosen vocation.Beuys taught that in order for social transformation to be truly constructiveand enduring, methods used to achieve it must be as holistic and inclusive aspossible.
21st-century advances in internet technology and network accessibility offerextraordinary new tools for the contemporary social sculptor. Interactive initiatives based on the dissemination and sharingof information have far greater potential than during any other age in history.Inspired by the spiritof the 1940’s conservation campaigns and the Buckminster Fuller Challengeitself, I am proposing an “Instant & Efficient Comprehensive &Synergetic Omni-Solution” - a conceptual framework within which to investigate our inherent interconnectedness and sharedresponsibility for the health of one another and our environment. It isat once a call toaction, a compendium of possible strategies, and a means of describing,documenting, and contributing to do-it-ourselves revolutions currently underwayaround the world —from simple, constructive, system-defying actions like line-dryinglaundry, freecycling, and home-growing food to more complex and radical measuresundertaken by those demanding basic human rights and an end to oppressiveregimes. Through the Synergetic Omni-Solutionwebsite, SOS Facebook page, interviews with visionaries and activists, interdisciplinaryart installations and happenings such as the SOS launch event to be hostedby Ballroom Marfa in late Aprilin Marfa, Texas I plan to compile works in progress, connect dots, and gathercollaborators. The next phase of the endeavor —the SOS informationcampaign—will be implemented after sufficient data has been collected fromthose across disciplines (permaculture, music, art, politics, history,philosophy, economics, and social, political, and environmental activism) andcondensed into concise, comprehensive, strategic booklets, posters, videos, andmultimedia guides to be disseminated digitally and via alternative mediaoutlets.
It has become amply clear in recent years, months,and days that change cannot come from the top down, since those at the top havea vested interest in guarding and defending the old models. The most innovativesolutions are being developed by those willing to experiment with unconventionalstrategies and materials—revolutionaries working from the grassroots up. To carry Beuys’ proposition a bit further, perhaps infusing actions with purposeand personal creativity not only makes us into artists, it makes us into activistsas well. Through shared information and compassionateaction together we have an opportunity to sculpt a trimtab that's morebeautiful and efficient than anything any one of us alone could have imagined.
Buckminster Fuller said, “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To changesomething, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” In2007, the Buckminster Fuller Institute began offering an annual $100,000 prizeto the individual or team who could present the most practical, efficient, viableway to make a poorly-functioning aspect of the existing reality obsolete. Afterpondering at length, I concluded that the BFI itself had come up with the most ingenioussolution of all—by initiating the competition it wasinviting hundreds if not thousands of visionary thinkers to identify andsuggest ways to resolve pressingglobal issues using the fewest possible resources in the shortest possibletimeframe . Bucky called this kind of solution a “trimtab,”named for the tiny rudder on an enormous ship that is ultimately responsiblefor steering.
Rather than enter the competition that year, Iwrote a letter to the Challenge committee to express my sense that theinvitation to participate was in itself a rare, elegant, and effective catalystfor positive change. I thanked them for the opportunity to take partvicariously, imagining that every application they received might be just one piecein a giant puzzle, and that perhaps once all the pieces were put together thetrimtab would be revealed.
From then on, my mind began working around theclock on the riddle of the trimtab. What universally accessible andimplementable strategy could bring as many people on board as possible,inspiring contributors to take immediate action using whatever materials may beat hand? In my work as a conceptual artist, this is precisely the kind of problemI find most intriguing. I began to study appropriate technologies andpermaculture. I started a Facebook group called USE HALF NOW as an experiment based on the notion that moremindful consumption may be an efficient place to begin (at least for those ofus living in “overdeveloped” countries). I researched the wildly successfulconservation and Victory Garden campaigns introduced in the U.S. and Britainduring World War II. Leaders called on citizens to “use it up, wear it out,make it do, or do without,” and people ably complied. This got me thinking: Whatif a similar campaign could be put forth today? What if people were simplyinvited to have a stake in creating a healthier, more peaceful world? What ifthe sense of helplessness, disempowerment, and defeat that seems to pervade ourculture could be overcome, simply by suggesting that each of us contribute inany way possible?
The German artist Joseph Beuys called this kind ofactivism “social sculpture.” Hebelieved that everyone, by infusing even the most mundane action with a senseof purpose and creativity, could contribute to their own health and the healthof society and the environment at large. By so doing, he proposed that “everyone is an artist” of their chosen vocation.Beuys taught that in order for social transformation to be truly constructiveand enduring, methods used to achieve it must be as holistic and inclusive aspossible.
21st-century advances in internet technology and network accessibility offerextraordinary new tools for the contemporary social sculptor. Interactive initiatives based on the dissemination and sharingof information have far greater potential than during any other age in history.Inspired by the spiritof the 1940’s conservation campaigns and the Buckminster Fuller Challengeitself, I am proposing an “Instant & Efficient Comprehensive &Synergetic Omni-Solution” - a conceptual framework within which to investigate our inherent interconnectedness and sharedresponsibility for the health of one another and our environment. It isat once a call toaction, a compendium of possible strategies, and a means of describing,documenting, and contributing to do-it-ourselves revolutions currently underwayaround the world —from simple, constructive, system-defying actions like line-dryinglaundry, freecycling, and home-growing food to more complex and radical measuresundertaken by those demanding basic human rights and an end to oppressiveregimes. Through the Synergetic Omni-Solutionwebsite, SOS Facebook page, interviews with visionaries and activists, interdisciplinaryart installations and happenings such as the SOS launch event to be hostedby Ballroom Marfa in late Aprilin Marfa, Texas I plan to compile works in progress, connect dots, and gathercollaborators. The next phase of the endeavor —the SOS informationcampaign—will be implemented after sufficient data has been collected fromthose across disciplines (permaculture, music, art, politics, history,philosophy, economics, and social, political, and environmental activism) andcondensed into concise, comprehensive, strategic booklets, posters, videos, andmultimedia guides to be disseminated digitally and via alternative mediaoutlets.
It has become amply clear in recent years, months,and days that change cannot come from the top down, since those at the top havea vested interest in guarding and defending the old models. The most innovativesolutions are being developed by those willing to experiment with unconventionalstrategies and materials—revolutionaries working from the grassroots up. To carry Beuys’ proposition a bit further, perhaps infusing actions with purposeand personal creativity not only makes us into artists, it makes us into activistsas well. Through shared information and compassionateaction together we have an opportunity to sculpt a trimtab that's morebeautiful and efficient than anything any one of us alone could have imagined.
