flotilla_debrief

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Flotilla debrief, Friday, 14 December 2012 10:34:48 AM

Rasa, Shelli, Tim, Nik, Maja, Uroš, Bart, Carole, Alkan, Christina, Pacome, Dismas, Natalya, Marko

three questions about how we work together on interesting things in this scenario:

yourself and the collective
the flotilla as a possible future
the prehearsal method

you and the collective

Tim

like being permanently stoned in a safe space
useful even if something self-imposed, creating a feeling of value by making our lives more difficult then more easy - like setting yourself a small maths problem
the ladder added an extra degree of silliness to the proceedings, but was it necessary?
gamemaster roles unclear
engineering problem with the power - what is the scenario and what is a “real” issue? - unclear where the line was between this
made-up responsibilities, but the feast the only real responsibility

Carole

entering a very pretty and welcoming space, a home but different from home
inspired by the names - first session transported me to the ship
took me a while to realise about the electricity crisis - need a system in place for critical or dangerous situations
names created an imaginary of a faraway land and involved a long rite of passage in choosing, which turned my journey into something else
an emergency at home meant I had to leave my persona for the whole afternoon - really affected my personal experience - frustrating
need to be very prepared for a 24-hour period in another role
enriching over-excitement about so many great ideas and things to do
felt everything took a long time to do - took ages to do simple tasks

Bart

challenge to still be yourself while being something different
difficult for a non-human
inspired by Ben Okri
I was not an agave plant
wanted to stir up things if I was bitten by a rat
impressed by the level of activity that developed
struggle the first day, next day easier
talking/interacting with objects, non-human entities, e.g. automaton
lots of ideas about the future development of the non-human
people created a multiverse, talking about external world a challenge
surprised by the activities - not more done with the mayhem
wanted to see people find resilience in their flotilla roles but people took up their typical roles in daily life
the fiction vs nonfiction tension

Rasa

natural role to play, suited me very well: serving food, organising, etc.
festiveness worked well
as a collective we have such a great bond with partners - like a family coming together, no need for ice-breaking
great diversity
group was a nice mix - at least one person you didn’t know but also lots of people you know
names were great but difficult to remember
creating the feast was extremely special - wow!
some things quite silly and not necessary but they brought interesting dynamics

Christina

activities very interesting but without aim or purpose
only 24 hours to invent these purposes
no real tasks or problems to solve (except preparing food)
difficult to leave the scene of Marko’s departure and go and meditate
constant business - strange to me
skills make the group very resilient, but we had to invent tasks to use our skills - we managed this very well

Pacome

didn’t want a specific role - nice to be a passenger
food - basic task
a passenger staying longer becomes something else
ritual very important and nice for creating the fiction
the mix of reality and fiction: a tool or liability?

Uroš

came late to the ship which changed my experience - missed the rite of passage, of leaving something behind
at first tried hard to observe and analyse
then just enjoyed being at FoAM - a time off, a different tempo
roles not very structured, not boredom, though some element of laziness

Dismas

French kissing created quite a lot of poisons…
choosing the name, chance to read about the culture novels
collective responsibilities confused with many ideas
being a cook was flexible - learnt a lot of things, e.g. making bread, schnapps, French kissing workshop, gardening
working and living together with diverse people really good
flotilla structure perfect
all activities a bit chaotic
openness about sharing information
getting answer from flexible demeanour you got a flexible answer
Theun was always trying to find time to sleep
power cut - contingency plans for this
real world vs imagined scenario - need to preempt the future
never tried yoga - everyone talking about energy - bringing energy to people
collecting resources for the future

Shell

entry to the Flotilla very moving, opening it up to people not currently at FoAM
enthusiasm and stress about the costumes was really touching because it showed how important they were for everyone
many different roles esp. with documentation - really nice but on reflection maybe just one role would have been better - as a quiet meditation
meditation on responsibility
relationship to the collective - sometimes I need my own space
didn’t take time to be there for myself
dinner was magical
a vague scheme materialises
sense of humour really resilient
to see the space transformed into the Flotilla was magical
not sure if I understood the role switch - getting into character - maybe more distance to get into character
magic to be floated away on the Flotilla

Maja

continuous weight of responsibility of captain
this ship would have sunk
things going wrong - electricity was a simple thing but nothing happened
magnifying glass on how things already are in this group
amazingly strong with simple clear fun tasks, celebrations - rare to find such trust and ease of togetherness - we could run a restaurant or club easily
but I’d be really scared to rely on other when things go wrong
marko’s escape got done really well
but the shared purpose part was lost in the flurry of activities that are nice but not relevant beyond the group
very painful because it became crystal clear that many things need to change

Nik

three main components of the exercise:
- feast
- publication
- maintaining and exploring the scenario
good at randomly dissipating nervous energy - exciting and frivolous things
a distance between activities and scenario - making the connection was difficult
feast leaving behind apocalyptic visions
the world didn’t end
publication a good task to reflect on
brought into focus patterns and antipatterns
getting into character and finding a place within the scenario enjoyable
we were building something, but it was very unclear

Natalya

as a mushroom, mixed feelings
didn’t know the people or the space
confused with the costumes - over costumed, over-theatrical - just wanted to shake people out of this
wanted to some inner connection
lack of observation, decisions about how and what to do - ok for one day but not longer
overplayed and artificial, but very enjoyable - still need to digest the experience
Slovenia was very different - more time to develop
good to see the same people in different situations but still within one network

Marko

lost my resilience
just had an intense month of real-world practices
liberating situation - thought it was going to be very different - expected very concrete tasks - realised this was not the case
stoned or removed from reality but shared common interests
leaving the Flotilla was like bringing an inner world into the outer world - great sense of purpose in the morning - we actually had the ladder, otherwise would have to use sheets
interesting to see what we were doing made sense
role-playing was great
sleeping arrangements and rhythms of sleeping interesting - rest extremely important for resilience
tendency to sleep in this scenario - in any normal gathering no one would just start sleeping - quite beautiful
morning really well executed - really sad to leave
sent SMSs to report my progress after disembarking the Flotilla
met the Slovenian prime minister (surrounded by about 20-35 women) at the airport after the Flotilla - how to explain where I’d just come from?
24 hours very short - read the bulk of the documentation just before the scenario
shows we still have a child inside - this is the most important and resilient lesson we can learn
how I described the Flotilla to others: “I was just with a group of very beautiful people”

Alkan

had a screw loose
struggle with the whole issue of personal vs collective
compressed 24 hours was a nightmare come true, was dreading it
will never be resilient in this kind of scenario
planning was nice, but got flu just before starting - this made the lack of inner connection to the scenario more pronounced and made it unenjoyable
but lot of beautiful little moments - like the the late-night silent “ghost” party
but difficult to find a connection with prehearsal overall

Cocky [via email]

the group dynamics were going down the drain
the ones not willing to participate or giving to the whole might have the hardest time, and were just sucking energy from the others
this mechanism amplified on the Flotilla
everybody was sort of more floating around rather than heading towards a clear direction
for myself, I would prefer not to to dedicate myself for/in a community (unless i could fulfil the role of a passenger)
feels too enclosed - the Flotilla felt more like a cut off entity from the world instead of living in the world

Trudo [via email]

IMO it proves that linear, and non linear travel are best suited as a way of working, collaborating, or simply getting together
overall, the 24-hour timeframe, and the politeness of the participants prevented much of the fragility to break
timeframe was short, on the positive: no need for a lot of magic to make us believe in the trip

Nico [via email]

it is not an everyday thing for me to find company to speculate without boundaries
somehow it ended happening that about a couple of dozen of us where gathered in the same space at the same time
it is a efficient exercise to spend the most valuable resource that we all have (time) under this conditions
being shameless in proposing new subjects which are then fed by the others is a dynamic in such interesting projects
I just found a great tool that can be used many times and that will be shared with many others

Loes [via email]

I think the well established setting (location, costumes, food supplies, gifts) was very good and turned out very important
appropriating a role went quite naturally when you can stay close to your own person
there was place for different ambiences: serious thoughts, silence at the campfire, fun, party, ..
open questions that were posed:
- what does the outside world look like during flotilla?
- what catastrophes would make us actually change our lives this drastically?
- would you ever join a community like flotilla?
the prehearsal reflects very well the travels and experiments we've taken during Resilients - it was good to have this experience with the whole group

what resilient and what fragile

respect
agreement on shared means
shared supply issues

issues with taking care of your own trash, awareness of your traces - cleaning up after yourself but goes beyond this to an awareness of the space, of others, of what you use
as a group we could have resolved this - seeing the real problems and addressing them immediately with people able and willing to help
issues of self-sustainability and responsibility

documentation - important but fragile

lack of clarity in certain situations - e.g. in an emergency: what is an emergency and what to do?
but this is in conflict with the fiction
weird in-and-out fiction-real situation contributed to this feeling of being lost

set of principles (not rules)
imbalance in principles
rules and responsibilities emerging spontaneously
how to self-organise when working together
roles and real things - if every role had a concrete duty it might have enhanced the prehearsal
practical down-to-earth survival vs cultural creative resilience - Carole did not know we were doing both - work and life - bot resilient and fragile
ritual important - concretely for the group and keeping the fiction alive - bridge between everyday life and the fiction
no game master, laws of physics - fragile

100% commitment fragile
sharing knowledge, resources - resilient

number of people involved - a limit to the number of people in a group that can function without resorting to formal rules - 25 people?
original idea of flotilla to have 100-200 people - a mini-society

demon of resilience - high expectations
angel - playfulness and lightness
and for non-humans? - they are both angels and demons

time for feedback
e.g. group photos a time for feedback, time out, “reality” checks

prehearsal method

names - good for another role but took too long to remember
introduced a fictional element that had less to do with us or our context
made the exchange more difficult
everything too complex to do in 24 hours
people went out of role
first shift too short - too many things to do
first shift too long?

boat metaphor good
4 hours a good time - long enough but short enough

actual design of the flotilla not clear
unexpected future but no unexpected things happening
Rasa for example had lots of predefined tasks - she knew what would happen - but most of us didn’t have this sense
Rasa not aware we would have to divide roles so strictly beforehand
unequal situation - e.g. Rasa was at home and knew the space/scenario
time to allow roles to evolve - part of the [pre]design or collectively decided
everyone involved in the prehearsal should be involved in the scenario preparation from beginning to end - or else have a much more defined structure
dilemma of more or less structure - if other people are coming in more structure is needed
a neutral or new space

methodology really important and takes time - is it really in character, performing, are you playing roles or is this necessary?
extrapolation of yourself - what would have made this more clear?
email terrible way of communicating complex stuff - so much left unsaid, what is really important and not
briefing as important as the prehearsal: more time to talk before going into the prehearsal - deeper collective briefing
no focus on the dinner the night before, and the morning was also chaotic

last big meeting 6 months ago, wanted to catch up and talk about our projects but if I’m this character what do I do?
an unstructured day where there were no roles, names, responsibilities would have been good

but with formal thing first then people are committed
tried the informal gathering in June but only two people would have been there
handbook discussion first?

preparation vs playing - different between preparing it for ourselves and preparing it for others
confusion over playing for yourself and for others

Marko’s role can fit in the scenario - so let it happen
strictness vs spontaneity
we could work Marko beforehand, didn’t know about Bart’s

several briefings?
e.g. only told our stories once
but if at every shift change there was an elaboration of the story it would be more effective
sit down for 20 minutes to write down our roles as a ritual

prehearsing a skill you can learn?

if we were on a ship, where are we going, what was the weather, sensual experience of being on the sea?
scenario round the ship itself - out to sea on its own, travelling round from place to place?
work on narrative details would have made it more effective
lots of details not decided on - the network, the water, etc.
world-building - more frequent discussions would helped this

integrate a crisis plan for all participants

building up the values of the flotilla - curiosity, integrity…

characters - picked beforehand, not changing characters quickly
confusing changes of characters
could have made roles more clear from the beginning
observers - where the ship was heading to - observing even the music as a way of telling where we were
clearly integrated we could know where we were

never put your eggs in one basket
never put all resilients in one boat

world-building vs improvisation

develop links, foster the mycelia, where will the mushrooms pop up