PRODUCING VALUES + SYMBOLS

 

 

'Think of values that drive people and give them energy. Write them down and come up with a symbol for it.'
 

The workshop kicked off by making use of the participant's diverse backgrounds. Each one of them was asked to individually come up with ideas about such 'values' and other aspects of human identity. They were asked to use the paint and brushes to write their contributions on a piece of black fabric and afterwards come up with a symbol to represent the written term. A set of four stamps was provided for that. They had very simple shapes such as a full- and a half-circle, a drop and a triangle. Through combination of shapes and colors more complex symbols could be built. Translating the written value into an abstract symbol required the participants to additionally question the qualitative aspects of their idea. The idea of using symbols was inspired by the visual language created by Cina Dilber who designed the costumes for the play.

This way all workshop members added their creativity to the collective brainstorming process. They where explicitly asked to not only think of values that they themselves would stand in for, but rather to also think from the perspective of people that they might not agree or identify with. Some inspirational questions were provided for those who struggled with the task. Here some examples:

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• What gets me out of bed in the morning?

• How would I raise my child?

• What do I believe in?

• Which parts of my identity are beyond my control?

• Is there something I would give my life for?

• What opinions do me and my friends have in common?

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DISCUSSING + GROUPING

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'Create connections between the values, by placing those ones next to each other that you find similar or related'

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After the pool of ideas was filled up sufficiently, the everyone got together in order to bring some order into the mess of values and symbols that was spread out over the floor. Taking turns, each participant was asked to take one of their values at at time and place it next to another value of their choice. But there was one rule:

They had to give the reason for their decision to the other participants. Those on the other hand had the right to question the proposal if they didn't agree with it.

 

This approach structured not only the values and symbols, but also the discussion itself at the same time. By always focusing the groups attention to only the relation between a few values at a time, it was made sure that the discourse would keep going, but also not get out of hand or loose itself somewhere off topic.

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Throughout several of such iterations, multiple clusters of values had formed naturally. During the process it was made sure, that each symbol would always move together with its corresponding value.

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ASSIGNING CLUSTERS

 

'Attach each cluster to one of the blank puppets. Pay attention to staple each value and symbol to the body part that makes most sense and that underlines its meaning'

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With the clusters ready and defined so far, the participants could now eventually start designing the puppets. In small groups of three, they were asked to choose one cluster that they found most interesting and attach the fabric patches onto the puppet in order to give it an identity. By having to choose a good place for each term and symbol the group members added one last qualitative layer to their values.​

Here again, discussion was encouraged in order to eliminate as much arbitrariness from the design process and make each puppet as meaningful as possible.

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ACT OF OPPRESSION

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'The puppets now all took on an identity. In a final step, tie them up in order to turn them into political prisoners'

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At this point the puppets had been individualized to a point, where the participants could already project some kind of personality onto them. They had turned into people and therefore the last step of the creation process was, of course, a  brutal one. Therefore everyone was given the choice to take part in this or not and it was no problem if someone refused. The only thing that was obligatory for the each group member was, again, to justify their decision. This time it had to be written on a piece of paper and then thrown into a box.

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After some of the people tied up the puppets and others didn't it was left to everyone for themselves to decide if they wanted to discuss their decision with the group or not. This final action raises a complicated issue, wich for sure does not have a correct answer. Of course it is very noble to avoid the use of violence even in a case where it is merely symbolic. On the other hand there is real violence and oppression happening all around the world and everyday we hear about it through media, without really taking any action. So the workshop closes by leaving a question for everyone to answer for themselves. One that Sontag's 'Regarding the Pain of Others' might give some additional insights to. It's a question about the violence of passivity towards the suffering of oppressed people and a question about the extent to which each observer can be held responsible for it.