Brief intros to an array of seed ideas came to fruition.
Go to the relevant page for each for more intel.
Some were one off projects, many (not here) not worth mentioning but still good to do, many others were attempted but didn’t get the nod from venues to roll. Others below ran for over a year or months, held weekly or fortnightly. The aim was to set the pace, examples of good will created, tested.
What is proposed is to facilitate a transition in employment globally, into environmental and social projects. Inviting and assisting people to launch and collaborate on projects. These experiences have helped to identify services that can empower this ideals incubator and hope soon to seed flow on effects.
Student Club Creation
An aim, then getting out there and pitching the concept to the students. Inviting collaboration for work experience, written references and the satisfaction. Formal entities were created with minimal cost in New Zealand and then Australia, each functioning for about 2 years.
Creative Expo
The first main events, the Creative Expo and Original Music Festival were ambitiously held on the same date. We wanted to make a statement, by collaborating to create something huge. On the day 35 artists from the region exhibited in this free public exhibition. Students ran the show from inviting artists, promotion, systems, setup and pack down. It was literally huge!
Original Music Festival
That night across two stages- upstairs and down 15 different acts exposed their original works, no covers was the mandate- we wanted it fresh and real to support the musicians to get their works out. Again the students took on a big mission, and saw it through. Setting the pace and example. Genres including folk, jazz, hiphop, reggae and death metal.
Jams In The Parks
Traveling sharing creativity, overseas, down south and at home, making creative equipment available for public use. Simple goodwill gestures was the aim. One was a volcanic jam session on the top of one of Aucklands 50 volcanoes, all kinds of instruments available to use. Another was all kinds of art gear put out in a park for 5 days running, and letting people open and explore through arts.
Creative Retreat
It had been a concept for a while. Free camping with a creative twist! And ran or 6 months before winter and a very muddy driveway sent the campers for cover. It was not made public but did function, as a good will exercise. It was farm land owned by a relative whom I had done a lot of free help for previously. It was offered and agreed a maximum of six people could stay at a time, many were artists and came and helped with the club at the university and on projects.
MASSdebating Forum
Once you start thinking about how to save the world or make it better, the good ideas begin rolling in. This is what we wanted to stir up in the general populous. To get people thinking about environmental and social projects, and provide regular fortnightly events where pleople could launch and discuss these concepts with peers. It ran in both New Zealand and Australia, but even with a fun name was too serious to really take off.
Monday Night Jam Sessions
For a year and a half worth of mondays, the public were invited. The student bar was open to musicians and groupies, to improvisation and not always fusion. It is an experiment, in personalities through tune. And in that time such a range of nationalities and instruments, many were made available to use, drums, guitars, keys, horns, digeridoo, xylophone, mic, synth, frog and improvised sounds.
1 Words For The Future Doco
Woodford Folk Festival is the biggest festival in Australia, we were introduced to the manager to pitch a simple concept for a short film. In which a small team went to interview and edit on site a piece to be played at the main stage on the final night. Asking people for 1 word for the future, and mix them together, for fun but also to get people thinking. Wondering when asked, then discussing after, others also viewing and considering. A bit of futurism and idealism going on.
The Charity Theory
In an apples for apples scenario, would people support nonprofit? A hypothesis that if you give people the option to buy products and services from nonprofit- instead of business, where 100% of the after cost profits go to enviro and social projects. If they do then the profits can fund the transition of the workforce into positive environmental and social projects, recreate public, resolve wealth disparity- the rich getting richer and poor getting poorer, and enable a bio-diverse eternity. A theory soon to be tested. Plan to begin with a non-profit Art & Music Agency.
Open Morning Moving
In Byron Bay, Australia the public were invited to O.M.M. For 8 months, every week, rain or shine, 6am-10am. A broad range of sporting equipment was spread across the sand. Cricket bats and wickets, frisbees, tennis racquets, soccer and all kinds of balls, hackey. People would come and teach various things, yoga, gymnastics, slack line, stretching. It was open to suggestion, different things happening here and over there. A nice simple example.
MASSdebating Mini Documentaries
Again for 8 months. A different reality stirring question every week, put to the passing public, inviting opinion and editing the range of angles together without deleting anything. Interviewing was fun, editing less fun but still good. Then hosting them on youtube and contacting participants by email so they can see themselves and their opinions contrasted with all the others of the day. Sometimes people would have enviro or social initiatives so we would film them and put them on youtube also.
The Womb Room
A place to work, an office, for nonprofit projects. For not long enough it was a reality. A hub where people would come and idealize, organize, edit. The dream was to incubate and cross pollinate good intentions and abilities. Some good work was done there, but with money for the project running out, the bruised good intentions were put on ice and another tack taken.
Then began the poetry.