AUTUMN 2007

AUTUMN 2007

We all had to admit that the database wasn't very functional and then Bundes proposed to work with the drupal environment with which we still happily work with. Drupal is an open source CMS (Content Management System) which works with a modular approach and is written in PHP code. So basically modules are very much adjustable by adding them or certain functions to their PHP code. The remnants of the old system can be seen here: granfalloon.karasssuite.net. Interestingly enough this first prehistoric database was named granfalloon as Bokonon invites us to sing along in his Calypso:

If you wish to study a granfalloon,
just remove the skin of a toy balloon.

All a big nothing so to say and that's how it represents itself today as well. A real Vonnegut approach - and a big applaud to our technicians!

In the meantime b# was going to Budapest to ponder with Nina about approaches to the project. B# worked out ideas about religious approaches to the topic and did some study on it. So it was at hand to decide to travel on the 1st of November, the day of the dead, to Budapest to visit one of the biggest cemeteries there. Not only loads of pictures were the result, but also the fact, that the camera has to be operated with a tripod.
View the pictures here

The next chapter gives an idea about the thoughts we had and were developing. We were considering a discussion round of people according to certain topics to work out contemporary religious behaviour. The idea was also to organize the panels along lines of religious behaviour as an idea given in the text mentioned under the link as there are:

first module: cognizer of unobservable agents
humans have mental capacity to create images of unobservable agents who cause
real things to happen (fe. gods, ghotst, witches, angels.....);

second module: sacred category classifier
communicated symbollically; separates things into profane and sacred
categories. rules of behaviour toward sacred and non-sacred objects are
established in a social context. sacredness vs. pollution and taboo.

third module: public sacrifice
is highly symbolic; sacrifice demonstrates a commitment to the ideology of a
particular group and activates cooperation within that group. religious
sacrifices are altruistic, performed publicly, and guided by a shared
philosophy of the sacred.

As panels are running actually quite under a certain power control mechanism (panel with experts there, audience as the not knowers there) we thought of breaking the classical schemata of audience/experts and create rooms along this lines. As according to the first module - cognizer of unobservable agents - to organize a panel discussion online. A chatroom, where the lines between the knowers and not-knowers would disappear.
The second module - sacred category classifier - is pointing to an idea of a sacred room in which people are moving. These can be various things as the sacred room has left church long ago. So it was for a long time the Private room - as the room of things which are not public, but has moved within our society to other places like a car for example. Also we recognized that in the Netherlands the sacred room would be the living room of people, with no curtains, but also the expectation that no one would actually look into the room. Breaking the law - in this case simply looking into peoples' rooms - means being not part of the society and not living up to the laws of society.
For the third module - public sacrifice - we didn't come up with anything particular.

Givan therewile worked with El Nino and Michal on a performance for Next Festival in Bratislava. Shenggi who was supposed to play couldn't come because of visa problems.
Link to files?!

When it was getting colder beginning of November Moootja showed up again and started the first part of her mini-residency in Bratislava (Col-me). Linkx?!