Hi John,

I guess my reason for generating this text is quite pragmatic, not
necessarily philosophical. I agree with what I understand to be the nub
of your argument, that the essence of Bricolabs is much more subtle than
something that can be captured as a tool for local development and
empowerment in different contexts.

The work-a-day reality, though, is that to attract resource we need to
engage stakeholders that aren't poetic enough, or inspired enough, to
engage with the eliptical intent of Bricolabs.

When we were in Amsterdam at Wintercamp, our debate concluded that we
were not prepared to define Bricolabs - but that we knew "The Smell of
Bricolabs" when we sniffed it.

Your posting definitely reeks of that smell, whereas mine is masked by
an additional odour of institutional familiarity. That masking scent was
quite deliberately introduced - but I agree with you, it's not the true
essence.

Strong coffee, fresh orange peel, non-slip rubber matting, Dutch
tobacco, the sweat of late-night discussions, the mysterious vanilla
smell of Colombian palo-santo wood.

We should get an expert to make up some scent.

Best Regards,

James
=====

On 15/01/13 15:12, John Hopkins wrote:
> Hi James -- (sorry on the re-post, I thought this would make it to the
> listserv...)
>
>> Looking at the PiratePad notes all I would like to add is an
>> extension to
>> the theme:
>>
>> Bricolabs and "Facing North / Facing South"
>>
>> Bricolabs are uncovering ways of engaging with technology which are
>> critical
>> and empowering. In the Global North, Bricolabs may manifest as creative
>> responses to individual dislocation, community disintegration,
>> unemployment,
>> increasing precarity and post-industrial decline. In the Global South
>> Bricolabs often address similar issues, but in underdeveloped or rapidly
>> industrialising contexts. The centralising tendency of techno-capitalism
>> creates similar problems wherever it operates, and Bricolabs
>> approaches to
>> individual and local empowerment, community building, and acquisition of
>> technological and cultural capabilities may be applicable in the
>> North and
>> the South. This event will share these approaches and seeks to
>> understand the
>> critical factors that make engagement with technology genuinely
>> empowering,
>> sustainable and positive.
>>
>> Does that sound appropriate or useful?
>
> Since you ask, that thematic did come up, see the IRC chat log @
> http://tech-no-mad.net/blog/archives/62375 about 2/3 of the way in...
>
> my objection to that dialectic is that imho brico very much transcends
> & goes
> beyond that very common Cartesian/materialist dichotomy that you
> frame, and for
> that reason I see it as a step backwards (invoking Cartesian is to
> empower that
> model of the world which then sets up spatial dichotomies, which then
> ... etc)
>
> the idea of resonance transcends those old models ... and it does not
> carry such
> a heavy load from any other particular models (or actually, it carries
> many
> different views from many wildly different models!)
>
> "Resonance allows the universe (or any of its parts) to influence a
> human being"
> (Kaptchuk, 2000, p.45)
>
> from scientific - http://tech-no-mad.net/blog/archives/62161
>
> to yogic - http://tech-no-mad.net/blog/archives/60166
>
> or such hybrid ideas: "As mindfulness scans a region of mind,
> resonances appear
> as bright spots of particular order in a dim background. Resonance is a
> fundamental indication of higher or concentrated energy states.
> Fundamental
> quantization of resonance will cause distributed peaks and troughs in the
> strength of resonance. The subtlety of resonance guides our movement
> through the
> flows around us." from http://tech-no-mad.net/blog/archives/1708
>
> Just my 2-cents on that -- Felipe expressed some other points on that,
> Tapio as
> well...
>
> Cheers,
>
> John