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==== Doing Nothing ==== | ==== Doing Nothing ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | < | ||
+ | I’m fooling around not doing anything, which probably means that this is a creative period, although of course you don’t know until afterwards. I think that it is very important to be idle. So I am not ashamed of being idle. | ||
+ | |||
+ | --Freeman Dyson in [[https:// | ||
+ | </ | ||
[EN] Doing Nothing is a practice-based research programme where we investigate what happens when we do nothing at all. We carve out time and space to " | [EN] Doing Nothing is a practice-based research programme where we investigate what happens when we do nothing at all. We carve out time and space to " | ||
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[NL] Doing Nothing is een praktijkgericht onderzoek waar we niets gaan verbeteren of verwachten, maar waar we tijd en ruimte willen scheppen om te zien wat er gebeurt als we helemaal niks doen. Kunnen we het onszelf toelaten om midden in de kunstenwerkplaats, | [NL] Doing Nothing is een praktijkgericht onderzoek waar we niets gaan verbeteren of verwachten, maar waar we tijd en ruimte willen scheppen om te zien wat er gebeurt als we helemaal niks doen. Kunnen we het onszelf toelaten om midden in de kunstenwerkplaats, | ||
- | < | ||
+ | {{> | ||
- | “I’m fooling around not doing anything, which probably means that this is a creative period, although of course you don’t know until afterwards. I think that it is very important to be idle. So I am not ashamed of being idle.” -Freeman Dyson in [[https:// | + | == Motivation == |
- | == Motivatie == | + | [EN] Stress, Burnout, ADD and pathological anxiety attacks are just a few examples of the contemporary malaise of too much work -- too little satisfaction, |
- | Stress, Burn-out, ADD en pathologische angstaanvallen zijn maar enkele voorbeelden van de hedendaagse malaise van te veel werk - te weinig voldoening, te veel informatie - te weinig betekenis. We zijn als samenleving een beetje de kluts kwijt... Wat is er gebeurd met de beloftes dat democratie en technologische innovatie een paradijselijke rechtvaardige samenleving met zich zouden brengen, met een overvloed aan vrije tijd en zelfontwikkeling? | + | [NL] Stress, Burn-out, ADD en pathologische angstaanvallen zijn maar enkele voorbeelden van de hedendaagse malaise van te veel werk - te weinig voldoening, te veel informatie - te weinig betekenis. We zijn als samenleving een beetje de kluts kwijt... Wat is er gebeurd met de beloftes dat democratie en technologische innovatie een paradijselijke rechtvaardige samenleving met zich zouden brengen, met een overvloed aan vrije tijd en zelfontwikkeling? |
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We began Doing Nothing as a formal programme in 2013. Informally, we've been exploring different techniques of being, introspection, | We began Doing Nothing as a formal programme in 2013. Informally, we've been exploring different techniques of being, introspection, | ||
- | === Naikan | + | === Stillness |
- | A group of 9 FoAM members participated | + | Photographic experiments |
- | * what is Naikan: | + | * http://entangled.systems/stillness/ |
- | * reflective article by Christina Stadlbauer and FoAM about our experience in 2010: http://lib.fo.am/resilients/naikan_as_resilient_practice | + | * http:// |
- | * http:// | + | |
+ | === Futures of Doing Nothing === | ||
- | The three Naikan questions have since the retreat helped release tensions during conflict situations. | + | A scenario workshop and series of pre-enactments on [[:/ |
- | * What have I received from __________ ? | + | === Naikan === |
- | * What have I given to __________ ? | + | |
- | * What troubles and difficulties have I caused __________ ? | + | |
+ | A group of 9 FoAM members participated in the [[resilients: | ||
+ | |||
+ | * what is Naikan: http:// | ||
+ | * reflective article by Christina Stadlbauer and FoAM about our experience in 2010: http:// | ||
+ | * http:// | ||
- | === Mindfulness/ | + | ==== Mindfulness/ |
In 2010 Maja followed the 8 week course in [[http:// | In 2010 Maja followed the 8 week course in [[http:// | ||
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A 3 minute breathing pause (in dutch): http:// | A 3 minute breathing pause (in dutch): http:// | ||
- | === Karma Yoga === | + | A talk from Medium about a [[https:// |
- | Exercise suggestion: Every morning when arriving at FoAM allow yourself to really arrive | + | < |
- | This exercise is inspired by two things: the practice of Karma Yoga (discipline of action) and the 20 minutes of 'daily work period' | + | http:// |
+ | |||
+ | Links from the online [[Mindfulness Summit]] in October 2015 | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Karma Yoga ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | Exercise suggestion: Every morning when arriving at FoAM allow yourself to really arrive in the studio by doing something that will help make the place more enjoyable/ | ||
+ | |||
+ | This exercise is inspired by two things: the practice of Karma Yoga (discipline of action) and the 20 minutes of 'daily work period' | ||
* Nice article on Karma Yoga and volunteering: | * Nice article on Karma Yoga and volunteering: | ||
- | === Morning ritual === | + | ==== Morning ritual |
- | Exercise suggestion: Design a small ritual that would allow you to really ' | + | Exercise suggestion: Design a small ritual that would allow you to really ' |
- | === Regular pauses === | + | ==== Regular pauses |
In order to keep sufficiently concentrated for eight or more hours a day, it helps to take regular breaks (once every (half) hour for a minute or so). | In order to keep sufficiently concentrated for eight or more hours a day, it helps to take regular breaks (once every (half) hour for a minute or so). | ||
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- | === Meeting rituals === | + | ==== Meeting rituals |
- | Exercise proposal: Before beginning a meeting, sit together in silence for a few minutes. Become aware of yourself, your moods and expectations. Experience the presence of other people and remind yourself that they might have a different | + | Exercise proposal: Before beginning a meeting, sit together in silence for a few minutes. Become aware of yourself, your moods and expectations. Experience the presence of other people and remind yourself that they might have different |
+ | ==== Purposeless walking ==== | ||
- | === Monotasking === | + | A number of recent books have lauded the connection between walking - just for its own sake - and thinking. But are people losing their love of the purposeless walk? |
+ | http:// | ||
- | In recent years it has become increasingly apparent that multitasking is quite ineffective and stress inducing - it's akin to an institutionalised and encouraged form of ADD. At FoAM we're experimenting with different approaches to reduce extreme multitasking in the work of individuals and groups. | + | |
+ | ==== Monotasking ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | In recent years it has become increasingly apparent that multitasking is quite ineffective and stress inducing | ||
* get work done before checking email | * get work done before checking email | ||
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* have blocks of time (for some people this is morning, for others afternoon or evening) dedicated to uninterrupted work | * have blocks of time (for some people this is morning, for others afternoon or evening) dedicated to uninterrupted work | ||
* have clear signals (like wearing headphones), | * have clear signals (like wearing headphones), | ||
- | * carve out at least one day per week as a ' | + | * carve out at least one day per week as a ' |
* have a seasonal programming, | * have a seasonal programming, | ||
- | * winter: research, writing, reporting... | + | * winter: research, writing, reporting… |
- | * spring: design, production, co-creation... | + | * spring: design, production, co-creation… |
- | * summer: sharing, workshops, public speaking, fieldwork... | + | * summer: sharing, workshops, public speaking, fieldwork… |
* autumn: presentations, | * autumn: presentations, | ||
+ | * … | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Nothingists / Ничевоки (1920) ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | Decree About The Nothingists Of The Poetry (fragment) | ||
+ | |||
+ | Write nothing! | ||
+ | Read nothing! | ||
+ | Say nothing! | ||
+ | Print nothing! | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Working Less ==== | ||
+ | * http:// | ||
+ | * http:// | ||
+ | * http:// | ||
+ | * http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Fishing ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | * go fishing. if fishing is too stressful, go fishing without hooks... | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Idlers Ideas ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | * a nice trio: [[http:// | ||
+ | * [[http:// | ||
+ | * Braakliggen - zie fragment uit [[http:// | ||
+ | * European Citizen' | ||
+ | * [[http:// | ||
+ | * In 1568 stierf Montaignes vader en werd Michel kasteelheer. Op dat kasteel trok hij zich drie jaar later, in 1571, met zijn gezin, terug uit het politieke leven en de rechterlijke macht, om er te gaan lezen in de talloze boeken die hij van zijn vriend Étienne de La Boétie geërfd had. Hij was toen 37 jaar oud. http:// | ||
+ | * in june 2000 elisabeth schimana and markus seidl started with the following mission: "a farming village in upper austria is sought, whose inhabitants are ready to discuss the following questions with us: what does comfort mean? is it comfortable to do nothing? what does it mean to do nothing? who is allowed to do what about doing nothing? the results form seven days of doing nothing. http:// | ||
+ | * http:// | ||
+ | * Radio Passive | ||
+ | * no-grow zone | ||
+ | | ||
+ | ==== Homage to Idleness ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | < | ||
+ | Over the centuries, the illusion of mastering time through obedience to it came into acceptance. Across Europe, the medieval monastery’s bell tolled as a reminder to eat, sleep and pray. But while there must have been some soul’s release in relinquishing earthly sovereignty to that sound, as the clock’s authority spread, we sealed all the gaps through which curiosity might seep into our days. Curiosity, after all, could lure the susceptible way off track, as the Italian poet Petrarch learned in the spring of 1336, when he famously climbed Mont Ventoux, motivated by “nothing but the desire to see its conspicuous height.” One of the texts he carried along was Saint Augustine’s “Confessions, | ||
+ | |||
+ | Only the Enlightenment redeemed our penchant to while away the hours in wonder. The English philosopher Thomas Hobbes called curiosity the “singular passion” separating humans from animals. Even better, it was “a Lust of the mind, that by a perseverance of delight in the continual and indefatigable generation of Knowledge exceedeth the short vehemence of any carnal Pleasure.” What pleasure we might know by letting curiosity have its way with us for an hour or two. | ||
+ | |||
+ | http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | </ | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== The Right to Laziness ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | < | ||
+ | |||
+ | http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | </ | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Doing nothing experiences ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | < | ||
+ | " | ||
+ | </ | ||
+ | |||
+ | < | ||
+ | "After a week of Vipasana we'd been sitting inside meditating all the time. On the last day I went out behind the conference centre into the garden. And after that meditating the birds in the garden just hipped past me really close. They weren' | ||
+ | </ | ||
+ | |||
+ | < | ||
+ | Ons brein krijgt zoveel stimuli te verwerken, dat we onze focus verliezen. Weinigen snakken naar een wereld zonder e-mail of internet hoewel vrijwel iedereen de nadelen ervaart. Ik stap een jaartje uit het bombardement, | ||
+ | </ | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Bored, on Mars==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | < | ||
+ | |||
+ | http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | </ | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Chronesthesia ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | < | ||
+ | |||
+ | This dark network (which comprises regions in the frontal, parietal and medial temporal lobes) is off when we seem to be on, and on when we seem to be off. If you climbed into an MRI machine and lay there quietly, waiting for instructions from a technician, the dark network would be as active as a beehive. But the moment your instructions arrived and your task began, the bees would freeze and the network would fall silent. When we appear to be doing nothing, we are clearly doing something. But what? | ||
+ | |||
+ | The answer, it seems, is time travel. </ | ||
+ | |||
+ | From: TIME http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Unemployment ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | "What do you do when you find yourself with a lot more time and a lot less money on your hands than you’re used to?" | ||
+ | |||
+ | http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Hannah Arendt on Scholê, in Thinking (The Life of the Mind) ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | Wat alle mentale activiteiten gemeen hebben, is de specifieke rust, (...) de terugtrekking uit elk engagement en de opschorting van alle onmiddellijke belangen, die mij partijdig maken en die mij op de een of andere manier deel doen uitmaken van de werkelijke wereld – een terugtrekking waar we eerder naar verwezen (§9, tekst na noot 14), als de eerste vereiste van het oordelen. (...) distantiëring van het doen (130) | ||
+ | |||
+ | Scholê is niet de vrije tijd zoals wij die verstaan - de niet door activiteit bezette tijd die overblijft na een dag vol van “bezigheden ter vervulling van de levensbehoeften”. Scholê daarentegen is het weloverwogen afzien van, zich onthouden van (schein in het Grieks) de gebruikelijke activiteiten in dienst van onze dagelijkse behoeften (hê tôn anagkaiôn scholê), met de bedoeling ergens rustig de tijd voor te nemen (scholên agein). (...) We hebben hier dus te maken met een weloverwogen, | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Paul Lafargue 'The Right To Be Lazy' ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | "And meanwhile the proletariat, | ||
+ | |||
+ | Let us be lazy in everything, except in loving and drinking, except in being lazy. – Lessing | ||
+ | |||
+ | http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Dzabalebariti ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | An excellent Balkan word meaning 'doing nothing': | ||
+ | |||
+ | A competition in lazing around in Monte Negro (the winner managed 37 hours without a toilet break): http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== theaternyx* ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | "in october 2013 we had a great experience with our colleagues during one week of (nearly) doing nothing. we were creating a design for the week with some simple structures and tools to provide a frame for the group. after a time together in the morning with feldenkrais, | ||
+ | after the walks we were guests at our host's places. also these hosts, sometimes a group, sometimes a single person didn't know what we were exactly up to. the only information given before was, that a group of people will come who will do nothing. and this situation was one of the "big surprises" | ||
+ | |||
+ | all the people from our group and also our hosts were invited as the entire person they are. we were together not for work, nor to discuss something in particular; not to find anything out, not with a concrete theme or issue and nobody had to be a specialist for whatever … | ||
+ | all the people were asked to be only themselves. they were not asked to participate because of their profession (artist, performer, | ||
+ | and still, in the evenings of those days it felt as if the group had become larger and larger and our experience was that the time together with these people was so inspiring, a respectful learning from each other by doing nothing together." | ||
+ | |||
+ | Claudia Seigmann, theaternyx* | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Five reasons ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | - “Doing nothing” isn’t really doing nothing | ||
+ | - Aimlessness, | ||
+ | - Too much busyness is counterproductive | ||
+ | - The brain depends on downtime | ||
+ | - You’ll regain control of your attention | ||
+ | |||
+ | http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Space Out === | ||
+ | |||
+ | A few weeks ago, on a Sunday afternoon, about 70 people gathered at Ichon Hangang Park in Seoul, South Korea, to do absolutely nothing. There was not a smartphone in sight, no texting or taking selfies, and no one rushing to get anywhere. | ||
+ | |||
+ | The crowd was taking part in South Korea' | ||
+ | |||
+ | "I was suffering from burnout syndrome at the time, but would feel extremely anxious if I was sitting around doing nothing, not being productive in one way or another," | ||
+ | |||
+ | http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | ==== On Agalmic ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | Nik Gaffney' | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Keeping Quiet ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | by Pablo Neruda | ||
+ | |||
+ | A callarse | ||
+ | |||
+ | Ahora contaremos doce\\ | ||
+ | y nos quedamos todos quietos.\\ | ||
+ | |||
+ | Por una vez sobre la tierra\\ | ||
+ | no hablemos en ningún idioma,\\ | ||
+ | por un segundo detengámonos, | ||
+ | no movamos tanto los brazos.\\ | ||
+ | |||
+ | Sería un minuto fragante,\\ | ||
+ | sin prisa, sin locomotoras, | ||
+ | todos estaríamos juntos\\ | ||
+ | en una inquietud instantánea.\\ | ||
+ | |||
+ | Los pescadores del mar frió\\ | ||
+ | no harían daño a las ballenas\\ | ||
+ | y el trabajador de la sal\\ | ||
+ | miraría sus manos rotas.\\ | ||
+ | |||
+ | Los que preparan guerras verdes,\\ | ||
+ | guerras de gas, guerras de fuego,\\ | ||
+ | victorias sin sobrevivientes, | ||
+ | se pondrían un traje puro\\ | ||
+ | y andarían son sus hermanos\\ | ||
+ | por la sombra, sin hacer nada.\\ | ||
+ | |||
+ | No se confunda lo quiero\\ | ||
+ | con la inacción definitiva: | ||
+ | la vida es solo lo que se hace,\\ | ||
+ | no quiero nada con la muerte.\\ | ||
+ | |||
+ | Si no pudimos ser unánimes\\ | ||
+ | moviendo tanto nuestras vidas\\ | ||
+ | tal vez no hacer nada una vez,\\ | ||
+ | tal vez un gran silencio pueda\\ | ||
+ | interrumpir esta tristeza,\\ | ||
+ | este no entendernos jamás\\ | ||
+ | y amenazarnos con la muerte,\\ | ||
+ | tal vez la tierra nos enseñe\\ | ||
+ | cuando todo parece muerto\\ | ||
+ | y luego todo estaba vivo.\\ | ||
+ | |||
+ | Ahora contare hasta doce\\ | ||
+ | y tú te callas y me voy.\\ | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | Keeping Quiet | ||
+ | |||
+ | Now we will count to twelve\\ | ||
+ | and we will all keep still.\\ | ||
+ | |||
+ | For once on the face of the earth,\\ | ||
+ | let's not speak in any language;\\ | ||
+ | let's stop for one second,\\ | ||
+ | and not move our arms so much.\\ | ||
+ | |||
+ | It would be an exotic moment\\ | ||
+ | without rush, without engines;\\ | ||
+ | we would all be together\\ | ||
+ | in a sudden strangeness.\\ | ||
+ | |||
+ | Fisherman in the cold sea\\ | ||
+ | would not harm whales\\ | ||
+ | and the man gathering salt\\ | ||
+ | would look at his hurt hands.\\ | ||
+ | |||
+ | Those who prepare green wars,\\ | ||
+ | wars with gas, wars with fire,\\ | ||
+ | victories with no survivors, | ||
+ | would put on clean clothes\\ | ||
+ | and walk about with their brothers\\ | ||
+ | in the shade, doing nothing.\\ | ||
+ | |||
+ | What I want should not be confused\\ | ||
+ | with total inactivity.\\ | ||
+ | Life is what it is about;\\ | ||
+ | I want no truck with death.\\ | ||
+ | |||
+ | If we were not so single-minded\\ | ||
+ | about keeping our lives moving,\\ | ||
+ | and for once could do nothing,\\ | ||
+ | perhaps a huge silence\\ | ||
+ | might interrupt this sadness\\ | ||
+ | of never understanding ourselves\\ | ||
+ | and of threatening ourselves with death.\\ | ||
+ | Perhaps the earth can teach us\\ | ||
+ | as when everything seems dead\\ | ||
+ | and later proves to be alive.\\ | ||
+ | |||
+ | Now I'll count up to twelve\\ | ||
+ | and you keep quiet and I will go.\\ | ||
+ | |||
+ | —from Extravagaria | ||
+ | |||
+ | ==== Become the sky ==== | ||
- | *... | + | Inside this new love,\\ |
+ | die.\\ | ||
+ | Your way begins on the other side.\\ | ||
+ | Become the sky.\\ | ||
+ | Take an axe to the prison wall.\\ | ||
+ | Escape.\\ | ||
+ | Walk out like someone suddenly born into color.\\ | ||
+ | Do it now.\\ | ||
+ | You’re covered with a thick cloud.\\ | ||
+ | Slide out the side.\\ | ||
+ | Die,\\ | ||
+ | and be quiet.\\ | ||
+ | Quietness is the surest sign\\ | ||
+ | that you’ve died.\\ | ||
+ | Your old life was a frantic running from silence.\\ | ||
+ | The speechless full moon comes out now.\\ | ||
+ | -Rumi |