This is cheesy.

But it helps... kinda sums up alot of things I have been trying to stumble onto. Thanks again Phil.

The Bubble project.

I heard about this months ago, and it was one of the keys to activating my thought process that has led me to where I am now.

Finally found the actual page of it, thanks to Phil.

His manifesto really sums it up. Reclaiming public space from the corporations, turning one way adverts into public dialouge, giving the populace a voice.

Would this be nearly as successful in Wellington?? I have been planning to experiment. Need more bubbles.

This is a real ad...

So as I dig deeper, it seems like Im destined for my project to take a radical stance, based somewhere in the realm of activist art, culture blocking and tactical media.

Kinda just really want to make a statement about crap like this.. i dunno.

Taking an anti - capitalism stance is a dated concept. hmm

Urban renewal kit...

Another something from Shepard Fairey..

The Urban renewal kit... in the context of Obey it becomes contradictory as really it is just his way of advertising what has become his brand.. but i think there is something nice in the basic idea of it.

Its subversive, in that he is encouraging people to Graffiti... I guess the key to it is the fact he is allowing people a means through which they can directly engage with their city, creating a connection for both the grafitti artist and those who view the stickers / stencils. the irony is in the fact that its simply become advertising for Obey, but maybe there is something I could work with.

The key Ideas seem to be...

- Facilitating individuals engagement with their environment. (this could be seen as a means through which one can 'activate the creative class / create 'agents of change ''

- Allowing for a secondary engagement of observers with whatever artwork is created.

- Nice blend of new / old media... ends up introducing ideas of global / local. One can be part of a global movement locally through downloading online pdfs. he encourages people to blow up posters on photocopiers etc.

- opens up nice ideas of ownership. if I create something, and encourage people to make it their own, what does that mean?? Is that a co-created artwork?

what else could 'urban renewal' entail.

does Wellington need 'urban renewal'?

how could one work with 'street' art without creating grafitti?

This could potentially be a great medium to base my work in, but I still need to figure out a focus for it. Simply lumping it under making the streets look prettier is nice, but it leaves it shallow...

Personal advert. From Faub.

This is kind of brilliant. I guess it's using / subverting traditional forms of local media to activate a creative mindset and initiate creative collaberation.

What are traditional forms of local media in Wellington??

- Newspapers

The Dom post / capital times. I guess the only way to really access these on a subversive level would be to follow the example and enter adverts into the personals. Is exposure an issue here? Does it matter if these don't get a response or is it simply the act of doing them that makes them worthwhile? This is probably a good place to get into some more field based research, which I have been really slack on.

- Graffiti

An obvious way to engage with 'street artists' but realistically lacks any depth / new idea. I still have my speech bubbles I need to go and post up, but at the moment can't really see how these will produce an insightful result....

- Trademe

Not the easiest media / message board to subvert as its so highly moderated. And not exactly local... could get some interesting results though..

- Community notice boards.

The only one I know of that actually works is the one in Chafer's New World. I went and checked it out but its fairly mundane. I guess the poster board in Midnight is kinda similair... maybe I need to create my own noticeboard... not sure exactly how this would work but there could be some interesting results..

- Those arty instillations on Courtney place...

Must have to go through council to get work in them, but could be worth a shot. Maybe this is something I could look into next semester to display final pieces... hmm.

- Radio

Def owed some favours by radioactive. and they have a really strong 'community' with them already. Maybe there is something I could do working with Active as a client. They are all about loyalty to underground arts and music in Wellington. + they already appeal to an alternative / creative listenership.

Another thought I have had is to go back to Toi-Poneke this week and instead of trying to create something to counter them, possibly work with them on a more directed / focused project... Need to arrange another interview.

Blogging is helping me figure this out I think. goodo.

A little late... but oh well..

Finally decided I needed to kick a blog off for major. just as somewhere to compile everything I come across without printing ludicrous amounts of paper.

FIRST IS...

http://www.faub.org/

New Orleans based collaberative. Design, illustration, architecture etc. Seems like a pretty good start in terms of creating a general model for collaberation with a focus on social / community developement. Creating a group such as this was one of my earlier ideas, but the issue is looking into what this group does... it can't be all encompassing on a city level, as that would be too complex / unmanageable.. my thoughts at the moment is that I need to create a system / collab group that is based around a focused cause, which goes beyond simply existing for the direct idea of 'design for social change'

i feel taking a generalized idealistic stand in a collaborative environment, while convenient, is going to prove to be a half baked idea. Originally I proposed collaborative art / design projects in order to strengthen the creative community in Wellington, yet without some focus for these projects it simply becomes pointless. Not having a cause / social issue to focus is a major issue, as it detracts from motivating collaborators / contributors.

From reading 'The Creative City' by Charles Landry, I am trying to shift my thinking about how to deal with facilitating action from within Wellignton's creative class. Landry talks about making creative citizens 'agents of change' using creative thinking to solve social / civic issues. I really like this idea of trying to 'turn the switch on' changing the way people think about the city and interact with it. I feel Wellington is a perfect breeding ground for creating creative ' agents of change' from its citizens. Maybe it is something as simple as reconnecting people with their city environment, encouraging them to experience the city in a new light / through new eyes. (In leu of Shepard Fairey's manifesto... http://obeygiant.com/articles/manifesto)

His ideas of 'reawakening a sense of wonder about one’s environment' seems like it could be relevant to where I want to go. One thing I have been interested in from early on is investigating the way the public interact with community space, and how certain groups reclaim certain spots as there own (once again using the DIY skate park on the corner of The bypass and Tory St as a perfect example) Im not sure why, but this absolutely fascinates me.

Sofar I feel I have pieces of a puzzle, but nothing to hold them together.

Lets say these pieces are

- the activation of a creative class as 'agents of change' / rallying the creative community

- reawakening / redefining the way people experience their environment (wellington city)

- Co - creating this experience with other designers / artists in the city.

- Activating 'dead' public space.

I think the glue for this puzzle is going to be in finding a really solid cause to focus my efforts on. In using a cause as a focal point, the previous aim of my project 'To facilitate conversation and create a stronger network within the Wellington's creative community' will come secondary as a natural progression. In having faith in this as an organic result to whatever I create, I can allow for my previous research efforts and ideas to not go to waste. It def. shouldn't be key focus.

Co-creation within a community ----> Social Change / community development ----- > stronger creative community.

Something like that.