We are concerned. We should be. It’s a crisis. Some ideas for how we got here. And where we go next.
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10 Provocations for Now
The original manifesto was posted online in April 2023 and can be viewed here.
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Essay #7: Art is useless.
Oscar Wilde famously quipped “Art is useless”. Like all quotes, it’s been taken out of context. Later in the same letter he explains his point more fully, “A work of art is useless as a flower is useless. A flower blossoms for its own joy. We gain a moment of joy by looking at it.…
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Essay #6: Mama said there’ll be days like this (it’s a good thing)
This is a tough essay to write because we are now almost a full year into our Manifesto for Now and “Now” is a very different place than it was then. Yet, we are hearing, and have been for years, that the problem is the money. We propose that the money is a red herring,…
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Essay #5: When best is no longer good enough.
Following a recipe is a great way to recreate something exactly. 2 tablespoons not teaspoons. Make sure to rinse the starch off first. Thoroughly dry before mixing. The recipe tells us where we are headed, and how to get there. Then the phone dings. Your honoured guest forgot to mention that they are deathly allergic…
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Essay #4: AI is faster than you (or can we be more like the turtle).
Here’s the thing: we agree. It is unwieldy, very stressful and feels dangerous. How can it not be? We agree! And yet… multiple studies tell us the exact opposite. There is a 72-80% reduction in crashes that cause harm and 35-47% decrease to ALL crashes after the change is made. Who wouldn’t want this? Apparently…
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Essay #3: Justice is Fundraising
Money is the problem. We say later that it’s not. But here we are saying it is. Throughout the ages, and certainly in Christian traditions, money is seen as dirty; a corrupter of all that is good in us. This belief is a problem. Because in order to make things happen, right now, in this…
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Essay #2: We are not as important as we think we are (or The Shoe Shiners Dilemma)
A shoe shiner sits poised at their corner, made tense by the hot pavement, next to a busy street, desperately calling out to the passing cars with offers for their shoe shining services. No one in the cars can hear their calls. Windows are up, people are talking hands-free, air con is on. Those who…
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Essay #1:art is for audiences first, artists second.
This essay is for artists and all the people who work with artists. We begin by asking if there is anything that artists could possibly need more than an audience? If the answer is no, as we believe it to be, then why don’t we trust what audiences are telling us? An anecdote from an…
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