Worldmaking Questions:


1. View:
·    What is the big picture? Memories can be linked and indexed so as to preserve their integrity, they can exist as fragmented shards that float on surfaces depending upon what they're suspended in.  A memory can come to us for study, when they do, we're not sure where they came from or what they mean, these are issues that are interpretable and impressionable, and depend greatly upon the the context in which they're being studied in.

·    What is the paradigm (of values) behind it all?

Memories are worth, preserving, maintaining access to, opening up for sharing with others and that we need not be present when this happens.  The importance of the accuracy of memory can vary depending upon the outcomes such accuracy will affect.  We need, therefore, to understand better what memories are, where the come from, how stable they are and what they can and cannot do.

·    What are the main values that it is in opposition to?

Keeping memories in such a state that they don’t survive, aren’t shared, are misinterpreted, misunderstood, relied on to much, not enough, not at all, internal only vs. external possibly, interpreted or re-lived by one instead of many, that memories exist only within the past and there isn’t a way to affect change in them. 


·    What model of action are you using?

I am thinking about ways of understanding memories and the context of where they exist and how an understanding of memory might be important to us in ways that we don't currently understand.  Sometime I do this by indexing through linkages and setting them adrift from their originator, but I also write them down and create art from them and then live in that art so that I can understand the memory better, I communicate my knowledge of memories to others, I speak with other professionals who work with memory, I seek out new life forms on other planets and ask questions about Einstein and Carl Yung.  I dream about trees.  I study tree rings as indexes to weather, farming, forestry, lumber, economy and industry. 


2. Intention:
·    What is the practices concrete intentions? To preserve and link memories, to make them accessible to us all for possible collaboration
·    What are the practices implicit intentions? To share lifetime narratives, to allow others input into our memories, to gain a better understanding of how memories, depending upon how they’re suspended, can become weak or fragile
·    How do you differ from the intentions of a single piece and the whole of the practice? A single act serves a limited purpose for a smaller number or people, the whole of the practice teaches others the value or memory, how to collaborate within an enivirnment where memories are shared

·    3. Speech:

·    What do you need to communicate to allow the work to have a context? The possibilities of how we can share and access memories is changing and participation is invited
·    What terms and concepts do you have to develop? Terms for environments where memories can be shared and accessed, terms to describe processes for interacting with memories that are external, terms that describe processes of linking to a memory
·    What spaces of dialog is your work involved in? Work space is a place where dialogues can begin and be carried on, picked up from, reviewed, revisited, collaborated on, perhaps there would be supplemental materials to guide us, therapeutic artwork books, life story libraries both on line and in physical form

4. Action:
·    What are the practices associated with the work? (The practices of engagement, i.e. “Viewing” the work). Demonstration, discussion, invitation, outreach
·    What are the key actions involved in making the work? Recollecting, recording, publishing, linking, sharing, responding, joining, asking, teaching, reflecting

5. Livelihood:
·    What are the actual life practices associated with your question? Linking people to memory collaboration centers
·    How do you make a livelihood? Membership fees, contribution, donation and grant
·    Where do you need to work? Potentially anywhere, libraries, record halls, in a computing cloud
·    What does this consist of? Forming collaborative environments and assisting in their administration and functionality
·    Who are you working with? School age and beyond, students, teachers, the curious, the wounded, the lost, the curious, families, veterans, genealogists

6. Effort:
·    Perfection: What does perfection look like in regards to this work? Perfection to me would look like resolution of unanswered questions, reacquainting people with memories and people, new understandings and appreciation for memories,
·    What are you actually striving for? (For the art and in your own life). Collaborative environments that work to preserve and share in personal memories

7. Mindfulness:
·    How do make sure all the parts of this practice are part of the same general logic? (It is important to imagine that your thoughts and your actions link up so to speak). I seek feedback, input, revisit key goals frequently, re-evaluate my progress frequently, reaccess outcomes,

8. Concentration:
·    Where should you locate your effort? (It is easy to shape your practice into existing methodologies but given your problem in a pure state where should you locate your activities -- imagine that it is not in art as we know it...) A public forum, a publically available space, open environments, learning conducive, inviting and easily navigable