Wash Away

When you get frustrated as all Heretics inevitably do, find a body of water like a stream or the ocean and stand by it and imagine that the water is rising up into your body and when it flows out, it washes away all of your turmoil and angst, leaving you clean and open.

Out of the Box

The Heretic invited a group of people to an Experientity that he had planned for a small open space downtown. The group gathered at the appropriate time and the Heretic showed up with a large box. From the box he pulled out several small boxes and gave one to each of the participants. On the outside of the box was a QR code. You couldn’t tell but each one was unique.

“Oh,” said Kathy, “I think I have a QR reader app on my iPhone!” She pulled out her phone, opened the app and focused it on the QR code. This brought up a web page with instructions. The rest of the participants followed suit. James had to ask for help to download the app.

Following the first instructions, they removed the contents of the box. Each box contained a small object and an accessory to wear like a hat or a scarf. The participants were to play characters in a story. The next instruction was for each participant to seek out another participant with a particular object. They then needed to interact with that object in a particular way: Jane read Tim’s map; John used Mary’s wrench to fold a piece of paper; and so on. Through this interaction, the participants begin to understand the beginning of a story.

The last instruction is to go and meet in another open space where the heretic will have a new box and the process will start all over again, and the participants will get the conclusion of the story. James, who has been involved extensively in storytelling said “I’ve never seen anyone tell a story like this. It really involves you.”

Resources
A Fluxus Boxes
QR Code Generator
QR Code Ideas

Learn About Technology from Low-tech Magazine

Thanks to one of my favorite sites, Cool Tools for the link to this site, Low-tech Magazine, dedicated to finding low tech answers to todays problems by examining the history of tools and the illogic of our current use of technology. Counter-intuitively, from this examination you can get a lot of ideas on how to use technology in new and more powerful ways.

Above is my idea for a battery/wind/human powered vehicle, inspired by reading the articles. (Full disclosure: the image of the man riding the bicycle is from clip art. The rest is mine.)

The Dance?

Bring a pole held puppet dragon to a plaza and randomly ask passersby to hold the poles. Then walk away.

On each pole is a note:

“You don’t have to do anything. You could just stand there or you could leave the pole on the ground. But you could also dance. What would happen if you did? Would the others join you? Would you have fun? Would you be embarrassed? I’ll be embarrassed if everyone just lays their poles down. You don’t have to be like that. You could take a chance. You’re not alone. You have nothing to lose.”

Real Life Heretic: Chase Randell

In the process of working out how to teach young people how to live in society, Chase Randell began to question society's assumptions. He decided to take them on starting with the assumption that only qualified professionals can build things of value. He committed himself to building an underground house on a patch of woods in upstate New York. He then looked for people to help him learn how to do it. The result was not only an underground house but a beautiful underground house with a wall of bluestone, intricate stone walls, high timber ceilings as well as doors and stain glass windows found in junkyards. If he had gone to the "qualified professionals" with his idea the costs would have been enormous. His heretical idea is to teach other people how to do this so they can be more self sufficient.

Fluxite:

Find something that you want to do but won't because you are not "qualified"

Commit yourself to doing it anyway.

Once you've committed to it, find a way to make it happen. Ask for help. Change the parameters.

Think about all the times you assessed whether something was possible before you committed to doing it.

Resources:

Chase's ideas on education are influenced by reading John Dewey

Chase's rejection of consumerism is similar to these eloquent essayists

Chase assertion that people can make there own stuff is mirrored in the Maker movement.

Advantages of underground houses.