Poetry makes nothing happen
Neither does music
Is poetry just a soundbite? ('the many not the few')

Beethoven's 9th - played at the end of the war, when the Berlin wall came down - and now Farage &c turn their backs on it

Is a subtle response a cowardly one? What about nuance?

Phelim made a show - The Tao of Glass which looked at 'deep democracy' - the idea that activism can only happen / be successful if you engage at all three levels: consensus reality, dreamland and essence. Dreamland is / is where happen poetry, stories, myth, poems, theatre and art.

Hope comes from community. Get the poets together.

Do we want one enormous poem or lots of individual poems?

Does social media just give us the illusion of community?

How do we deal with our embarrassment at this whole sorry mess?

cf the group that was meeting to discuss the issue that the Right has the best stories, and how does the Left get better stories?

Do we counter lies and fibs with more lies and fibs - or not? Or what?

cf 'World Work' - a discussion / meeting technique which gathers people to bring awareness to an issue through (I think) role player. Shifts in thinking happen eg when a child sings.

The fella that plays the glockenspiel outside the College Green media village and trolls Newsnight.

'The Tin Drum' - subvert the will to march by playing a waltz. How do we do this quickly? Can't get an orchestra on the streets, but you can get a string quartet.

'Bo Jo Woe as Bro Jo Goes' - crude but effective / corrupted poetic / artistic effects

The most successful hashtages are rhythmic and rhyming - #metoo, #pleaseleavemy town

What happens when you're an opera house planning 3 years ahead? What happens THIS WEEK? Pop ups, guerilla poets, opera singers on the streets!

The statue of a Russian poet that Russian political protesters gather round. They aren't allowed to protest politically, but they can read poems - and this is their protest.

Poetry keeps the spirit alive. It keeps people alive.

Poetry connects you to something that is there already - it's not about DOING or PRODUCING - it's about CONNECTING

Lloyd is interested in information ecosystems. How to we tell the truth so it's not fought with?

A chat about virality and the idea of language as an infection.

Viral media interracts with and disrupts our cultural immune system (says Douglas Rushkoff sp?). Virality created with malign intent - it doesn't care about its hosts. How might innoculation as a metaphor work?

What are our defence mechanisms against hurt, how can we share them? Eg unionisation. Defence mechanisms are neutral - systems of supermacy are defence mechanisms against perceived hurt. How do our instincts or unconscious biases harm us?

When Kennedy was killed, Bernstein said that as a response, musicians should make music better than ever before. A commitment to one's own artistic path - but is that enough?

'I've been putting my body on the street in protest for 30 years! The police are better at moving bodies round the street than we are - they are practiced!'
'What we need therefore is - choreography!'








People in the group who are happy to have their details circulated -

Julia Bird - [email protected]
[email protected]
Masaaki Sagara - [email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

Phelim also joined the group at one point