Hijack

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Covers Editorial Find a Way, Away Interview with Alex Charnley Stephane Hessel / Poster Inside Outside Please Stop Buying Graphic Design Books The Exchange Market from Taiwan Poster What kind of World?

Fruits & Vegetables Timeline Show Me Your Footprint / Downloading Collective Intelligence Food for Good Apocalypse now Self Organization as Resistance / Artivism of Ai Weiwei Are All Brands Bad? / Corporate Partners

Andrea Bakacs

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It’s hard not to notice the piles of newspapers stacked up at every entrance of our university, untouched. But Arts London News, produced by journalism students as part of their final major project, is, like the rest of the newspaper industry, not always the best reflection of new creative talent, especially where issues of sustainability and the environment are concerned.

Hijack is about to change all that. Designers, journalists, and industry professionals have come together to create a newspaper that will push the boundaries of the creative disciplines.

To produce this paper, UAL students have been collaborating with key members of The Occupied Times – a radical newspaper set up during the first week of the St. Paul’s Occupy protest – to put together a publication inspired by issues concerning the environment.

Borne out of Green Week at London College of Communication in March, Hijack aspires to use bold illustrations and engaging content to raise awareness of these issues and empower people with the belief they can make a difference.

Our generation is experiencing worldwide revolution. From the ‘hacktivists’ of internet group Anonymous to the uprisings of the Arab Spring, young people across the globe are standing up for what they believe in and making a change.

Workshop Group Oded Ben Yehuda Silas Birtwistle Rita Cabral Robin Cabrera Touman Wei-yun Chang Laura Chen Nina Frank Frankie Legere Alice Mary McShane Millie Meng Stephanie Mulvey Leslie Ntambwe Francesca Oddenino Rowan Ottesen Vanessa Poli Henrietta Ross Antoaneta Roussinova Sevgi Sarialtin Fin Sullivan Zoe Teng Thomas Thwaites Lizzy Tweedale Russell Merryman Sarah Temple Tzortzis Rallis Lazaros Kakoulidis Tony Credland

Hijack gives students a voice, allowing them to challenge ideas and extend the dialogue, not only to those within the university, but out to the public.

As well as a platform to showcase the artistic skills of students, Hijack highlights the potentially wasted creative opportunities created by the desire to cling on to the legacy of previous generations of the media and creative industries, as well as the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration.

When thinking about what this project means, a quote from George Bernard Shaw comes to mind: “Imagination is the beginning of creation.”

This project was crafted by imagining what could be accomplished when London’s most creative students put their minds together – there are no limits.

It’s almost unbelievable that a global banking “board game”, played by a few actors, could influence the future and the behavior of entire nations, of entire societies, cities, families. This could happen because our beloved economic system, which seemed stable enough to last forever, has proven to be more fragile than a house of cards. Everything happens in a virtual universe of transactions and numbers, rising and falling constantly. Cold, anonymous numbers changing their combinations as if they were only symbols of a slot machine. Three cherries and you win it all! Except that there is not much winning lately, and the consequences of this international economic and political gambling are serious and dark, almost as the dark side of the moon.

2008 is already ancient history. The post financial crisis world has changed, and the security and hopes which were the roots of the world we used to know do not exist anymore.

Insecurity is becoming the arid soil with which more or less everyone has to deal. Some countries in an easier way, some countries in a harder.

With this picture in mind it seems that there couldn’t be any hope, that all of the future generations would have to develop special powers to be able to survive in a decent way.

But what if this wasn’t completely true? What if people could push their ideals forward, even further than the boundaries imposed?

What if in the land of disillusion people could still believe in a possible future, in a possible personal and social fulfillment?

The strength of innovation and of revolutionary ideas has never been purer and stronger than in periods of crisis. This has been seen with the avant-garde art about a hundred years ago, and is a phenomenon repeating itself throughout history.

It’s almost as if a subterranean river was bursting the constructive energies to fight against the diffused cynicism and resignation. With no satisfactory present, and no money to cover the material costs, the immense value of ideas starts to have a more central role in society.

Talking about abstract ideals is pointless, so this story needs examples. It needs a where, a when, a who, a why.

Italy, because I’m Italian, and I was one of the thousands of Italians who had to leave their country to still be able to build a future for themselves. Because Italy is considered as one of the countries which were affected in the most severe way by the crisis. Because of the gap and disbelief of people for politicians. Because of the incredible amount of resources and marvels offered by a country where every day people commit suicide because of the loss of their job.

Because they have a family they cannot provide for anymore, because they don’t see a future. Italy, because of the tourists saying that it is the best place to go for a holiday. Because we need it to be a place where you can have a great life for more than two weeks.

Italy, because the minimum level of taxation for a young professional starting with its job is at about 60%, and because of the never ending stories of politicians spending public money on prostitutes. Italy, because any Italian living in London will tell you that he misses a good Barbera or Nebiolo, a proper coffee at the bar for less than 1 euro, an aperitif with his friends after work. But

Find a Way, Away

Francesca Oddenino

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he’ll also say: “They told me I was brave leaving, but I consider them braver staying”.

Italy, because people know how hard it is to fight against prejudices and to obtain what they want, because they don’t have the possibilities to have the best so they have to invent it, let it be in the fields of design, communication, branding, or in any other.

Laura Boldrini, because she’s the face for alternative to the past: she’s a real person. And this is not only because she’s not plastic-made and money driven as almost all of the influence the future and the behavior of entire nations, of entire societies, cities, families.

Laura Boldrini, because she’s the face for alternative to the past: she’s a real person. And this is not only because she’s not plastic-made and money driven as almost all of the politicians from the previous governments. This is because, since her election as the President of the Chamber of Deputies, she’s tried as hard as she could to repair the wire that had been torn after at least 20 years of great damages, and that was the wire relating the population with the political part. She’s understood that the greatest enemy of the country now is the lack of hope and the spreading cynicism, which keeps the good ideas and the enthusiasm of the few relegated underground, in that silent river awaiting to do its part in the renewing process.

She knows that the need for the population to believe in a possible change has never been stronger than now.

That is why I decided to insert in this article some of her words which, even though they were written for a specific country in a specific moment of history, could be inspiring for many others: “If there is a word to which history owes a lot, to which I owe a lot myself […], well, that word is utopia.

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Because utopia recounts a doubt. And without doubts, politics would only be a still frame, an exercise in vanity, a condition of solitude. Utopia is research, which means confronting limits, respecting and accepting them, without ever fearing them. Accepting the challenge of change which is the greatest promise of democracy.

Utopia is a journey: […] because what really matters, as the greek poet Cavafy used to write, is departing: “As you set out for Ithaka hope the voyage is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery”. Without this tiring and challenging condition, without the utopia of a next trip, what would have been the destiny of our history?

How could we have imagined that, one day, the president of the most important nation of the world would have been the son of an African, without the duty of that utopia?

Is there, today, a more necessary utopia than imagining an Italy in which rights, equalities, civil dignities could finally be secure words, recognized rules, respected principles?

We live in a historical time that is not equal at all. In the world, the 1 % of men owns the 40 percent of all the resources of the planet. The three richest men have the same economic weight as the 600 million poorest. Without going too far, the assets owned by the 10 richest Italians is equal to the resources of the poorest eight millions.

If politics doesn’t take the challenge of healing these civilization wounds, if we won’t be able to face the urgent and possible utopia of a more equal country and a more equal world, of what kind of good politics are we talking about?

The crisis produced dramatic consequences on people’s lives… but in its hardness it pushes us to shorten the gap existing between the utopia and the possibilities.”

(Laura Boldrini, Discourse for the Biennale Democrazia, Turin, April 2013) Italy is just an example representing a thousand others: a place where, even though cynicism and discouragement are strongly menacing the enthusiasm of the few, there are still believers, still people who think that a brighter future is possible, and want the utopia to become real.

As John Lennon used to say, “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one”. Let’s hope that the contagiousness of a positive attitude could become more and more diffused and could help our arid present to become a more fertile future, no matter the obstacles imposed by the common thinking. Laura Boldrini, as many other unconventional politicians and people, is telling us that an idea can make the difference, and we should not forget it.

Interview With

7 Rowan Ottesen

ALEX CHARNLEY

1. What drives you as an illustrator? There’s passion in your work, a sense of injustice maybe? What are your aims as a contributor to the Occupy Times?

I’ve always been politically orientated, having come from a family with a long history of participation in various struggles on the left. I was lucky to have had a childhood where my parents and relatives challenged my perceptions of people and society and encouraged me to develop a critical prose in regards to my illustration and writing. Also, I grew up in Stoke, which is a former industrial heartland (pottery, coal, steel), laid to waste

by Thatcher, and later New Labour, as industries got outsourced and big finance got its hands on state provisions. That taught me a lot.

Originally Stoke consisted of six towns and had been sewn together in a stitch of dual-carriage ways. It falls between Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool and has been orientated by planners and private developers as an in-between of sorts to accommodate the big supermarket depots. It’s never properly recovered from the initial Thatcherite purges, so the recent cuts to local provisions are devastating. There’s a lot of fallout, a lot of racial tension, a lot of violence, which I’ve felt personally and through the experiences of people I grew up with. This is the injustice that drives me, made more pertinent because I understand that it hasn’t just happened, it’s been dealt. As an individual, I have little to offer but a dissenting voice, so I focus on making that a coherent one.

2. Who / What do you oppose?

It’s taken a while to accept, because it is a such a loaded term, but I’m an anti-capitalist. I always have been, but it’s a very difficult thing to present to somebody, to be so absolutely against something. Our generation are very much wired to think of ourselves as individuals, bearers of our own merit, so to challenge Capitalism, the stage, is often deemed as an attack on the individual. Therefore, a criticism of an economic paradigm is duly received by the individual as a challenge to their integrity, achievement, or sense of worth. These are the kind of conflicts I experience most days, often with close friends, who regularly endorse the the myth of personal responsibility, “scrounger” rhetoric, sometimes unwittingly and without realising. If you think you’ve achieved something, got a job, house, whatever, it’s easier to point the finger at failure, than accept that your success is partly determined by what you were given that the other didn’t.

This conservatism is embedded in all of us so you have to actively repress it. If it came down to a primary opposition that I bear, it would be this divide-and-rule stuff, the tactics of the elite. There is nothing more repulsive than to pro-actively design a conflict. That’s why I was drawn to work with an indie-media outlet like the OT. Here’s a group of people who put a mirror to the masquerade - I’ll do drawings for them.

3. Are there creators of protest design that you admire? Other illustrators, designers, even writers who you feel on the same wavelength with?

I’m heavily influenced, probably too much, by the artists of new objectivity: Grosz, Dix, Beckmann et al. and lots of other historical satirists, Heartfield, Hogarth, to name a couple. I read a lot of political philosopher/history that is very influential. In terms of literature, I owe a lot to J G Ballard.

4. Have you partaken in any protests yourself, or researched particular protests to aid the creation of your illustrations? If so, please specify.

I’ve been on lots of political rallies and marches since I was a kid (miners marches, strikes, union demos). Lately, I have been on both the big Union demos (distributing OTs) but I’m very wary of this kind

of political participation. I’m always supportive and it’s important to make sure they know we are here, but we need to be more creative in our approaches to mass demonstration, which is near-on impossible a lot of the time because the unions tend to dominate its production. The narrative line of the unions is very derivative, march for the alternative etc. This opens union leaders up to challenges by the media and political elite for a definition of what this alternative looks like. The answer: no cuts, build houses, state investment, more jobs. Unions, such as the student union, actually demanding jobs for their members! Basically, forget the wider crisis of the populous, get the economy working so we can get on. That’s the best way to alienate an important systemic issue: make it about the plight of the aspiring individual.

By creative protest, I mean, situating ourselves in the rhetoric of divide-and-rule. If we are called “scroungers” then we must march as scroungers. Let’s march behind a giant drawn curtain, wielding a statement “here we are, take a good look”. Let’s blow up the images of our deprivation; the names of those who died but were refused incapacity benefit. Let’s take the march through the straights of Kensington and the hills of Hampstead. On the doorsteps of the rich: “Bedroom taxed. Now looking for a second home.” This is a rough example, but hopefully it illustrates my point. We are a terrific threat to the status quo - if only we all knew it.

5. ‘A response to the Coalition’s rise in tuition fees’ depicts a price tag on a recent graduate - do you feel like students are being treated like products? What are your views on the educational system, and how does this treatment correspond to your educational experiences?

Students are not treated as products by those they are close to: tutors, support workers, frontline staff.

They are by the university executive.

They have to be, otherwise who is going to pay their salaries now the funding is gone? It is a traumatic time for university staff, who on the whole, just try and dodge the incoming missiles from the Execs.

Restructuring is now a cyclical programme. Peoples lives, students

and staff, are being wrecked by the absolute marketisation of higher education. Course are being cut on the strength of a questionnaire (NSS). Others because they don’t register a high turnover (humanities).

For any student feeling vexed by the prospect of an imaginary graduate job and a huge student debt, it would be wise to take note of the protests in Vancouver and present the alternative: absolutely no fees, or we just don’t turn up.

Marketisation of higher education has been a slow burner in the UK; I had it a bit when I was at uni. People with clipboards walking around the studio to see how regularly it is occupied, anxious to give it to the expanding business or tourism departments. But it is in fifth gear now and it requires an abrupt message: education isn’t a market, fees are a fabrication, we wont pay.

It’s not that hard to accomplish either. Vancouver showed you can do it by not turning up. Or, collectively, refuse to pay and keep turning up. If thousands of students aren’t officially registered but turn up to lectures and workshops, there is little a detached administration can do. It will be put to the lecturers to refuse entry and the high majority will not be party to that. I don’t know one lecturer who agrees with the white paper, regardless of their politics. There’s no point the union demanding from government the very things they hope to destroy and expect them to listen. We have to think radically.

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STÉPHANE HESSEL

Leslie Ntambwe

Stéphane Hessel was a German born, French jew but most of all, he was a rebellious and strong character, always ready to defend those who were the target of injustice. At 95 years old he died and left several generations grieving the hero figure he had become.

His entire career echoed a true outrage for life, or else what life did not offer to some. As such, in 1939, he joined the resistance against the Nazis and managed to escape their camp at Buchenwald by means of identity tricks. He survived the war and became a diplomat to continue the unfinished process of reaching global peace. Though he loved his father Frank, he had a true admiration for his mother, Helen, who inspired him to live by the maxim: be delighted with what you do not own. Helen, he said, raised him to be open minded as she, herself, was living an unusual love triangle where both Frank

and her lover remained best friends. When Stéphane attended the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, it reassured him of his engagement for freedom. And in 2010, he published ‘Time for Outrage!’, a 35 pages manifesto praising revolt and indignation against the current economic system that only benefits a few, at the expense of many others. His final message was to not be apathetic and get out on the streets to refuse a society that only thinks capital increase and ignores suffering. Many groups around the world have fallowed this motto, occupying ‘sacred’ spaces to show their revolt and their support for those who still fight for liberty. It is time for us all to do the same, to honour this historical figure who awaited death - “a mystery upon which he kept an eye open” - and yet, was still aware that something had to be done. It is time for outrage!

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Inside Outside

A Sustainable Printmaking Project

Lizzy Tweedale

Twelve students from LCC have taken printmaking outside of

the studio, to see how the use

of ecological materials in three different environments could

influence their creative processes.

As the issue of sustainability is becoming ever more relevant, greener ways of thinking are beginning to catch on in art and design education.

‘Inside/ Outside,’ originated by Barbara Salvadori and Jacky Blake, has been developed for students to become more aware of their carbon footprint by printmaking in the open air.

It is a change from the confines of the studio, where is all too easy to forget the effects that commonly used materials have on the environment. By taking work away from the desk, the relationship between print and the chosen location can be directly explored.

All elements of this project had to be carefully considered; from the use of water-based inks and recycled paper, to choosing equipment that was light and portable as it all had to be carried to the location. This included cleaning water, which would have to be used sparingly as outside, it would not be readily available.

As the group was from a variety of courses and levels, it was an opportunity for them to share skills and learn from each other.

Two thirds of the way through the project, they have obtained some insightful results so far.

After working on Hampstead Heath and The Heygate Estate in Elephant and Castle, the students are soon to be visiting Dungeness Beach in Kent.

Having worked against a number of uncontrollable factors, such as the weather and the availability of resources on site, they had to find alternative methods of making prints.

The first workshop took place in late January, on a blustery day upon Hampstead Heath.

Prepared with a few essentials, prints were made with whatever could be found. This was the process of making a direct impression from an inked or textured surface onto paper.

For many of the students, it was their first time printing in the open, and adjusting to the environment was challenging.

“I was overwhelmed by being in a completely different place.”

Maria Florez Lopez However after getting more accustomed, smaller elements of the woodland started to reveal themselves.

With the lack of conventional materials, mud turned to ink and sticks to brushes. These mundane objects, grass and leaves included came to be the most important tools.

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It was the lack of facilities that were so often taken for granted in the studio, that ultimately made each resource, in particular water and paper, much more precious.

“You just had to work with what was there and adapt to the surroundings… it was quite humbling.” Philly Hunt Work was becoming more spontaneous and free, with some describing it as a way of getting back to childhood, as it was without the expectations and usual pressures that so often burden art students in the creative process.

Ideas were further built upon when it came to the second session during LCC’s Green Week at the Heygate Estate. Having been abandoned by most of the former residents since 2011, trees, small vegetable gardens, graffiti and artwork formed pockets of new life amongst the decaying towers of concrete.

This day focused on screenprinting, by turning old picture frames and screen mesh into portable printing facilities that could fit into a backpack.

“Hampstead was about using what was available in the environment… where as at the

Heygate we responded to the environment through a medium.”

William Davey The rather eerie atmosphere of the empty buildings and how nature was slowly reclaiming the estate were common themes in the work.

Links to the past and to the previous residents were found through discarded possessions and graffiti.

With the place abandoned, apart from an occasional car driving through, students were able to make their own marks upon the estate.

“The freedom to print anywhere such as the walls or the floors appealed to me, I really enjoyed getting stuck in with different colours and trying out different techniques.”

Hector Plimmer For those who took part, printmaking away from the studio was a rewarding experience; inspiring them to consider a more environmental approach in their future work.

This could not only benefit the environment, but also continue to promote sustainable processes in art and design.

For more information, visit: http://insideoutsideprintmaking. blogspot.co.uk

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PLEASE, STOP BUYING GRAPHIC DESIGN BOOKS

Oded Ben Yehuda

Despite the Al Gore’s film from 2006 “The Inconvenient Truth,” which gave me nightmares after realising that we are getting close to the end of the world, I am not one of those fanatical warriors fighting to maintain awareness of environmental and global warming. My sustainability can be summed up as recycling my daily morning newspaper, plastic bottles and the waste paper of my studio. When the term “sustainability” first came into fashion a decade ago, publishers and designers across the world learned to recycle the excess paper they consume. But today, when the concept has gathered a little dust (as “the social otherness” replaces the popular perception among institutions and public personages), and the mission to save our blue globe has become even more challenging, there are some things that designers should start to implement. One of them is to stop buying design books.

The Internet revolution has been one of the catalysts in the unofficial war between the print and the digital design worlds over the last decade in the design industry, and with the latest smartphones and iPads in all their diverse varieties, it appeared to be a clear knockout for the digital and interactive fans. As a big devotee of printed outcomes, I would be the last one to try to bewail an end to the huge international book and magazine industries. A bit like a junkie, I’m sure that many designers know the excitement that surrounds you in bookstores. With the act of sniffing newly printed pages, just as if they were fresh baked buns, that is the moment, I believe, that makes us, as designers understand that we have made the right decision.

And yet, some of the design books are absolutely irrelevant. The design community could easily avoid buying them, and save a lot of ink, paper (and trees), but mostly their money that accompanies the large expenditure.

The numbers of cultural flyers, leaflets, magazines and free lifestyle ‘zines have been increasing in recent years in contemporary urban life. The appearance of high end design brochures placed at the entrance to boutiques, cafes or in some hipster-trendy hairdressing salons in the right stylish areas, is no longer a rare phenomenon. As a compulsive collector of business cards, invitations, gallery leaflets and free street magazines, I realised that after any of my visits to a big city in the world, I return with a whole “book” of the most updated local designs.

Suddenly all the “summary design books” like the “The Best Branding of the Year” or “The Best Designed Business Cards from the Last Year” seem to become “so last year”, useless and irrelevant archives. With the uniquely organised areas provided by the various stores, this has almost become an industry of a printed scene.

The production quality is just getting better each year, and reflects the graphic styles and illustration languages at that moment, like a visual trend index of the contemporary design world.

That alternative phenomenon will not stop, it will just be bigger and more professional. Design students and graphic designers should consider stopping buying design books and just wander the street, which is the biggest printed graphic design museum in the world.

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The Exchange market from Taiwan Laura Chen

‘No money will be used here, everything is FREE.’

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owadays, it’s hard to imagine a life without currency. We buy what we need; sometimes we even buy things we don’t really need to satisfy the unknown void of heart and soul. As the world’s economic system is based on Capitalism, people are accustomed to the value of consumerism unconsciously, which might have also become one of the rules that must be followed.

In Taipei, a small group of young men tried to break this rule by experimentally changing their life style and consuming habit. They started it with founding “iChange Free Market”, an exchange market helps people acquiring goods and things by offering their own manpower or stuff.

ABOUT ICHANGE FREE MARKET The English letter “i” sounds like “love” in Chinese, they are homonymic. This loving event iChange started on November 12th 2011. It is regarded as a follow-up of Occupy Taipei, and founded by four members who met in Occupy Taipei initially. As with Occupy Taipei, iChange free market took place at Shinyi District where the noted landmark Taipei 101, Taipei World Trade Center and many department stores are located. The intention that they choose such a shopping and business section to occupy is very obvious – to create conflicts between consumerism and Anti-consumerism, and attract people’s attention to this swap meet.

It was held every weekend afternoon. In order to help people understand how the market works and maintain the event, iChange set up its own rules: 1. Any “trade ” with money is not allowed, you can only “exchange” (things with/for things, affairs with/ for affair) 2. Attend in your personal capacity, instead of in the name of any organization, group, or assembly.

3. No activity of the event might violate the laws but smoke, alcohol, noise, abandon trades with money, please be aware.

4. If any emergency occurs, please help on another and maintain the events together.

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5. Everyone keeps the place clean voluntarily.

6. Do the best to exchange for your justice.

7. Exchange with “Love”, and respect everyone, each soul.

The goal of iChange is to encourage people to step back from the cycle of earning and spending money. Instead of just selling or purchasing things, the organizers hope participants will get acquainted with one another.

HOW THE STORIES BEGIN “We sat up Facebook Fan Page and Google website to promote our events,” said Donnie Pan, one of the founders of iChange. At the first meeting, most of the participants were our friends and folks. It was held on a flyover between two department stores. We occupied there as we always did in Occupy Taipei.

‘For those who went there for shopping, it was really a weird scene to see us all sitting there on the path of the flyover, laying our goods on the ground or in the tents for exchanging. Some participants even played instruments and singing, dancing which made people feel more curious about what we’re doing.’

The iChange Free Market is full of surprises.

Some ask for items like books and DVD in trade, there were also barbers provide free hairdressing in exchange with beers, an artist provides original illustrations and poems to exchange people’s own stories and experiences sharing, a musician compose songs for individuals to exchange her/his secrets sharing, a diviner provides tarot reading to exchange sticks of incense and camera films, etc.

Having these varieties that people had brought here, iChange gradually developed to be an artistic group. ‘Some main stream media started to report our events, we also received many invitations from other cultural and artistic groups that want to cooperate with us. It’s so encouraging, the more people feel interested about us, the more chances we have to propagate our purpose,’ said Millie Meng, another member in the iChange group.

THE REAL MEANING BEHIND EXCHANGING What iChange had impressed people the most is the atmosphere - peaceful and joyful. “Everyone is welcome,” said Donnie. They share their

thoughts and ideas during the events. They don’t react like “angry young men; don’t emphasize on indoctrinate one unitary thought; don’t utterly reject the contemporary social institutions and capitalism. Without the burden of agreeing upon changing their present life and living environment, iChange encourage everyone to attend their activity with a relaxed and happy mood. iChange hopes to help people re-discover the value of “being-me”. ‘Besides consuming, striving for promoting our social status or pursuing material enjoyment, what kind of value or possibility can one have to express who he/she is? Yet, if people get rid of the basis of value assessment which exists in our contemporary society, what kind of possibility can one have to show one’s personal value?’

Through life experiences, meaning and creativity, they “anti-replace” money but “estrange” it. ‘We’re not asking people to change their life style and stop consuming with money, even we can’t make it thoroughly. Imagine it’s likes an experiment that anyone can join in; what’s important is not the experimental result, but what people experience and reflect on during the process. We have our purpose, but we accept any kind of thought and conception; any kind of voice with open minds,” said Donnie.

THE TOUR BEGINS After few months, the members of iChange had added up to more than 12 people. In order to spread the ideas of trading, they started to tour around Taiwan, and cooperated with different organizations of different counties, such as Tie Hua Music village in Taitung, A Room Of One’s Own Independent Bookstore in Taichung and a private orphanage in Pintung.

More and more people came, no matter they are children or adults, they all had fun in the market, creating pleasant memories together.

“Meeting different people makes iChange more meaningful. We are not only exchanging items here, but exchanging our stories and thoughts about life and everything,” said Millie Meng.

In the 15th iChange event, a bunch of little visitors came to participate. They are students from Forest Elementary School in Hsichi. Except for the goods they brought, what impressed people the most is

another project they were doing in the market.

‘A kid came to me with his handicraft and asked me if I want to exchange with him. I look at the hand-made lampshade he got; it was made of pieces of papers, beautiful and delicate. I said, “Yes, what should I give you to exchange your lampshade?” He said “I have an anti-nuclear declaration here, you can sign it if you are agree with me,” said Donnie ‘Even if he provided nothing to exchange with, I would sign it anyway.’

The nuclear issues in Taiwan have been discussing and debating for years. Since the Fukushima nuclear disaster happened, more and more people are aware of the risks of resuming building Lungmen Nuclear Power Plant, and give their voices to show their determination of anti-nuclear.

Nevertheless, few of the knowledge of the benefit and disadvantage of nuclear have been taught in schools. ‘It’s really touching for me to see these kids stand for the anti-nuclear movement,’ said Millie. “When I was a kid, all I cared about is the toys and cartoons, I rarely had chances to think about the social issues because nobody taught me; not to mention expressing my thoughts about it. Besides, if I have something to say about it, is there any adult want to listen to me?”

Seeing these students took actions to stand up for their rights is encouraging. iChange truly fulfilled their aspirations to be a bridge between all individuals; helped everyone being himself or herself with respect.

STORIES TO BE CONTINUED iChange Free Market stopped holding for few months. Though the members worked on different projects in this period, nobody is quitting.

Now, iChange is ready to be back this April.

This time, they’re going to cooperate with Simple Market in Taipei. Participants have signed up and will provide free hair cutting, personal embroidery design, vegetables, seeds, coffee, clothes, etc. “We’re looking forward to this event,” said Donnie. “After a few months’ break break we took, some of us went travelling, some learned new things and skills; all of us have new experiences to share and stories to tell.”

Next time when you’re travelling in Taiwan, come visit these swappers, see what surprises you will find.

Jan Van Toorn

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What Kind of World?

ast summer I took a sixteen hour flight so I could speak for forty five minutes at the Aspen Environmental Forum, and then another sixteen hour flight back, three days later. Those planes were not fuelled by my own hypocrisy, unfortunately.

But amongst all the flutter and blather of talk and opinion, arguments and counterarguments, ‘issues’ and ‘awareness raising’ that washes around the ongoing sustainability debate, very occasionally someone utters one of those sentences that actually changes what I think. They might not even realise they’ve done it.

Well, that most rare and wonderful occurrence - someone’s words actually altering my world view - happened to me during Green Week at London College of Communication. And what was this powerful word torpedo fired into the ventilation ducts of my ears, that found its way to the very heart of my brain? Simply this: “It comes down to a choice about the kind of world you want to live in”. This sounds like a platitude, a ‘children are the future’ kind of insubstantial saying, and it’s likely we’ve all heard a similar ‘choose life’ message before. But in the context I was in at the LCC, this time it actually meant something.

I was listening to a panel discussion about fish, or more accurately, fishing. A short film commissioned by Greenpeace called ‘The Last Fishermen’ had just been screened, which accompanies a campaign against the injustice of Global Mega Corp. giant trawlers being awarded 96% of the UK fishing quota, leaving just four % for the small scale traditional fisherman (or woman). A poverty stricken student had just made the point that the giant trawlers surely catch fish more efficiently, which means they’re therefore cheaper to eventually buy in the supermarket. If all our fish came from small scale traditional fishermen, it’d be more expensive, and thus unaffordable for the poverty stricken student.

And there we see the whole debate about unsustainable consumption reflected; bigger is more efficient and so cheaper and so available to more people. Bigger trawlers catch fish more efficiently, so it can be sold more cheaply, and so enjoyed by people who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford it. Bigger farms produce food more efficiently, which means grain prices are lower and the poorest of the poor in less economically developed parts of the world have enough of their income left over to send their children to school. Bigger

Thomas Thwaites

copper mines produce copper more cheaply which means the trappings of modern life are affordable and I can have a washing machine.

And this is one thing I illustrated with a project I did some time ago, called The Toaster Project. I spent nine months and thousands of pounds trying to make an electric toaster completely from scratch; going to an iron mine in the Forest of Dean to mine some iron ore, to smelt into iron, to process into steel, to make the spring to pop up the toast - and so on for various other materials, all involving trips to various other abandoned mines all over Britain. Long story short; my toaster was an almost complete failure as a toaster (the element melted itself), but it did serve to highlight how dependent we are on the unfathomably complex global economy for our existence (the laptop I’m typing this on wasn’t assembled in Warwick).

It seems there’s an undeniable logic to this economic inevitability. Since taking courses in economics as an undergraduate, this has been more or less what I thought.

There may be unfortunate consequences for a few, but you can’t fight progress for the many. And we clearly need all the progress we can get with global populations peaking at nine billion in just a few decades. If big is efficient, well, as a global society we need to be as efficient as possible.

However I’ve come to realise the economists’ way of deciding what’s best doesn’t match reality. While there are laudable efforts by environmental economists to put a monetary price on things like ‘social capital’ or ‘ecosystem services’ or sea level rises (there’s nothing like a monetary value to focus the minds of some in the political classes), the real world is inevitably so thorny and complex that an entirely rational economic argument can be constructed for the value of 10 million fish fingers being more, less or exactly equal to one local community.

How can you weigh the enjoyment and sustenance of 10 million extra cheap fish fingers against a pub in the seaside town of Goran Haven in Cornwall having to close down because the local fishermen weren’t making enough money to keep it afloat? It seems an absurd and impossible comparison to make, and so it is.

And thus, it comes down to a choice. Do you want to live in a world where fish is caught by giant trawlers, or in a world where fish is caught by ruddy cheeked fishermen with pipes? The image of the old Captain Birdseye on a packet, or the reality of Captain Birdseye?

Earlier during Green Week I was running a workshop at the LCC with my colleague Harry Trimble. The Toaster Project had asked some questions, like: How is it possible that 400 separate bits (honestly I counted) are assembled in to a machine whose sole function is to toast bread, which can then be purchased for just a few pounds, but a few years later all of that is thrown away when one tiny component breaks? With the eBay Workshop I wanted to experiment in finding answers. Because if we can buy a toaster for just a few pounds, when the thing inevitably breaks, the very fact it was so cheap to buy in the first place means it’s not worth repairing. So, we buy a new one, and the old one goes… ‘away’?

But what if that cheap toaster was made more ‘special’ somehow? What if we added a bit of design sparkle to it? If that cheap toaster was also a work of design art, then it becomes worth fixing again. So, our two day workshop was an experiment in fixing and then making otherwise generic products unique. While our workshop participants certainly managed that, the next question of course is whether people actually want ‘unique’. We shall see because we’ve put the resultant unique products up for auction on eBay. Check them out - they’re being sold by anecdotedesign. And in a way, it again comes down to a choice - do we want unique small scale things with all their quirks, or generic big efficient things? The current economic system it seems certainly favours the bigger generic picture.

But listening to that panel talk about fish, my personal faith in definitive answers to hugely complex issues as I realised it comes down to choice, not statistics. Of course there are facts (or near enough), and aspects of reality that can guide a choice, but in the end it simply comes down to a choice about the kind of world you, me, them and everybody, want to live in. And where there are choices, there are arguments to be set out, competing opinions to be communicated and competing visions to be envisioned.

Doing this arguing, communicating and envisioning I think is certainly as important as working out how to get an extra per cent efficiency from a solar panel. The economic argument for more and bigger is easy to make, but there are alternative futures, and it seems no one has a formula for definitively working out which one is best. The issues become so complex that it simply comes down to choice. So, we all get to choose.

Illustration: Fin Sullivan

19

Fruits & vegetables timeline January

February

March

brussels sprouts carrot, cauliflower, celeriac, celery, chestnut, chicory, jerusalem artichoke, kale, leek, parsnip, potato, salsify, savoy and spring green cabbage, swede, sweet potato, turnip Bramley’s apple, date, lemon, pear

brussels sprouts, carrot, cauliflower, celeriac, celery, chicory, jerusalem artichoke, kale, leek, parsnip, potato, purple sprouting broccoli, savoy and spring green cabbage, swede, sweet potato, turnip Bramley’s apple, lemon, rhubarb

cauliflower, chicory, jerusalem artichoke, kale, leek, parsnip, pepper, purple sprouting brocoli, savoy and spring green cabbage, sweet potato lemon, rhubarb

April

May

June

cauliflower, celeriac, cucumber, kale, new potatoes, pepper, purple sprouting broccoli, sorrel, spinach spring green cabbage, watercress rhubarb

asparagus, cauliflower, cucumber, curly lettuce, lamb’s lettuce, lettuce, new potatoes, peas, pepper, radish, sorrel, spinach, spring green cabbage, watercress apricot, gooseberry, rhubarb, strawberry

asparagus, aubergine, broad beans, carrot, courgette, cucumber, curly lettuce, fennel bulb, globe artichoke, lamb’s lettuce, lettuce, new potatoes, peas, pepper, radish, sorrel, spinach, spring green cabbage, watercress apricot, gooseberry, raspberry, rhubarb, strawberry, tomato, watermelon

What about all the deliciousness

Have you ever asked yourself why tomatoes in winter were often tasteless, barely red and as hard as a rock?

And when you are lucky enough to come across a good batch, they are likely to come from the other side of the planet and can also seriously harm your wallet to either cover the freight charges or the excess power that was required to grown them.

Before the introduction of genetically modified organisms and greenhouse farming, fruits and vegetables would only flourish in season; hence reaching their very own peak point of

exclusively grown abroad?

With globalisation, we’ve been given a taste of exotic food by enjoying pineapples, mangos and avocados amongst others.

deliciousness when the time was right for them to be picked. For centuries, our ancestors have managed to eat in accordance to the seasons, so why not try to go back to the roots and eat food that is tastier, cheaper and environmentally friendly? To help you in that quest, we have imagined a timeline of all the fruits and vegetables grown in the UK all year around.

Bon appetite!

It would be hard to be completely cut off from it, in which case, companies like Abel&Cole can come in handy as not only do they deliver seasonal, organic fruits and vegetables to your door, but they also do exotic fruits and vegetables produced in season in their countries, organic, sea-freighted and fair trade.

Three principles that you should fallow in case you would rather do your shopping yourself.

(Should you choose to become an Abel&Cole customer, please mention that you’ve heard of it through Leslie Ntambwe, student who’s offered you those few words. Thanks!)

July

August

September

asparagus, aubergine, beetroot, carrots, cauliflower, celery, courgette, cos lettuce, cucumber, curly lettuce, fennel bulb, globe artichoke, iceberg lettuce, kale (cavolo nero), lamb’s lettuce, lettuce, new potatoes, peas, pepper, potato, radish, runner beans, samphire, savoy cabbage, sorrel, spinach, swiss chard, watercress apricot, blackcurrant, blueberry, Bramley’s apple, cherry, gooseberry, peach, raspberry, redcurrant, strawberry, tomato, watermelon

aubergine, beetroot, broccoli, broad beans, brussels sprout, carrot, cauliflower, celery, courgette, cos lettuce, cucumber, curly lettuce, fennel bulb, globe artichoke, iceberg lettuce, kale (cavolo nero), lamb’s lettuce, lettuce, marrow, peas, pepper, potato, radish, red cabbage, runner beans, savoy cabbage, samphire, sorrel, spinach, spring green cabbage, sweetcorn, swiss chard, watercress apricot, blackcurrant, blueberry Bramley’s apple, cherry, fig, gooseberry, peach, plum, raspberry, redcurrant, strawberry, tomato, watermelon

aubergine, beetroot, broccoli, brussels sprouts, carrot, cauliflower, celeriac, celery, cos lettuce, courgette, cucumber, fennel bulb, globe artichoke, iceberg lettuce, kale, kale (cavolo nero), lamb’s lettuce, leek, lettuce, marrow, parsnip, peas, pepper, potato, radish, red/savoy/spring green/white cabbage, runner beans, sorrel, spinach, squash, sweetcorn, swiss chard, watercress apricot, blackberry, blueberry, bramley’s apple, damson, fig, gooseberry, peach, pear, plum, raspberry, redcurrant, strawberry, tomato

October

October

December

aubergine, beetroot, broccoli, brussels sprouts, carrot, cauliflower, celeriac, celery, chestnut, globe artichoke, kale, kale (cavolo nero), lamb’s lettuce, lettuce, leek, marrow, new potatoes, parsnip, peas, pepper, potato, pumpkin, radish, red/savoy/spring green/white cabbage, runner beans, salsify, spinach, squash, sweetcorn, swede, sweet potato, turnip blackberry, Bromley’s apple, cranberry, cox apple, fig, pear, plum quince, tomato

beetroot, brussels sprouts, carrot, cauliflower, celeriac, celery, chestnut, globe and jerusalem artichokes, lamb’s lettuce, leek, parsnip, peas, pumpkin, lettuce, potato, red/savoy/spring green/ white cabbage, salsify, swede, sweet potato, swiss chard, turnip Bromley’s apple, clementine, cranberry, date, fig, pear, quince

beetroot, brussels sprouts, carrot, cauliflower, celeriac, celery, chestnut, globe and jerusalem artichokes, kale, leek, lettuce, parsnip, potato, pumpkin, savoy/ spring green/white cabbage, salsify, swede, sweet potato, turnip Bromley’s apple, clementine, cranberry, date, pear, quince

Rita Cabral & Wei-Yun Chang

22

Show Me Your Footprint Y Leslie Ntambwe

ou might be familiar with the procedure of having your fingerprints taken when you have been arrested by the police. If not for having gone through it yourself, probably thanks to the very popular detective TV series genre such as Crime Scene Investigation, Criminal Minds and the German classic, Derrick that started this vogue of for thriller stories, serial killers and the enormous measures taken by the various cells of the justice system to put behind bars those who have faulted. In case this does not ring a bell, and you have managed to stay away from Oracio Keynes who always has a dramatic repartee up his sleeve, the procedure consists of colouring each of your fingers with black ink and running the fingerprints through a universalised program to verify your criminal record, whether it consists of unpaid parking tickets or the murder of 10 blondes in the past decade.

Then, the judge applies a sentence that is more or less punitive according to your criminal past.

The same kind of procedure could be applied to people in regards to their preexisting pressure on nature. With all the technology available today, it would only require to implant a microchip to the 7 billion human beings inhabiting the planet. The chip would calculate the transport, feeding and general consumption habits to then deliver a report on the ecological footprint for each individual and sentence slips will be sent yearly to those who have to decrease their ecological impact.

However this will not only raise issues in regards to individual’s privacy, but also, for such a system to take place, it should require a real, global investment to tackle the issues of climate change causing enormous natural disasters all over the world.

Last year in June, the G20, a group composed from the financial ministers and central bank governors of the major economic powers, had a three day conference in Rio de Janeiro to discuss and revise the 1992 agreement on sustainability. If twenty years ago, the environmental degradation seemed like a somewhat distant problem, the situation now has dramatically changed with ever more alarming statistics on the social and economic welfare of billions of people. Yet, a concrete plan has still not been established. Instead, the UN proposes an outcome document titled “The Future We Want”, reasserting that “poverty eradication, changing unsustainable and promoting sustainable patterns of

consumption and production and protecting and managing the natural resource base of economic and social development are the overarching objectives of and essential requirements for sustainable development”.

Those few lines might be reassuring as to the awareness of the current needs for a more sustainable and respectable way of life, however, it does not address those issues with precise action in terms, for instance, of stopping the deforestation that forces out indigenous people from their home, negating them the right to simply live... All for the profit of corporations that will be able to use those lands to undergo intensive, “GMO-ised” cultures to sell back to millions of people that cannot afford this highly processed food. Until there are concrete governmental plans to eradicate such behaviour, it is the task of the people to advantage of a democratic system to show that the focus should be on promoting a sustainable life, rather than stretching the laws to profit corporations that can elude taxes and receive incredible funding for the sake of the job prospects that it might bring.

However, instead of waiting for the next election, there should already be an effort to keep our ecological footprint to the lowest possible. I have interviewed a few people around the LCC with very different consumption patterns to see how bad it really was. I must say, I am surprised.

START ACTING NOW The WWF has an ongoing campaigned to reduce the eco footprint. On their website, there is a footprint calculator and given that you sign up, you will receive costumed advice and support from the community to reduce your impact. So why not sign up, it’s free and for a good cause! footprint.wwf.org.uk source: www.demographie-responsable.org

Ryan Young, 20 1st year Graphic & Media Design / Vegetarian Considers himself to be an anti-consumerist and travels mainly by bus. He is not really bothered with turning appliances off, though especially not the heating since it’s included in the rent.

“I only buy necessities, rather than luxuries and this goes for everything” Eco footprint: 2.61 / Reaction: “perhaps I should rely on heating less” Oliver Holbrook, 23 Final year, Media & Cultural Studies / Biker Meat is his one guilty pleasure and he won’t stop eating it. Other than that he travels mainly by bike. Not only is it quicker, but it is also good for health and the environment. “I try to shop fairly but my main concern is still economic. I usually go to waitrose and John Lewis as they are cooperative shops.” Eco footprint: 2.36 / Reaction: “I love meat, but I’m going to try to cut down to once a day.”

Samuel Sasiharan, 20 1st year photography / Traveller Would rather buy a good pair of leather shoes, rather than a processed plastic one. As for the rest, vintage is his motto. But he loves travelling the world and meet new people. “When it comes to fashion I’m looking at more natural fibres because it takes a lot to burn and thus a lot of carbon emissions, to produce a plastic equivalent. in the long run in fashion i always try to go for the more natural traditional way, rather than high street.”

Eco footprint: 5.61 / Reaction: “Wow. Well...

I love travelling and I don’t think I’ll ever stop.”

Nicola Baird Teacher and co-author of the book ‘Save Cash and Save the Planet’ / Friends of the earth “Our family policy is that we don’t fly. We don’t own cars either and only rent one when needed.

This might be considered as a sign of poverty by most people but we don’t feel hard done by not having a car. Over the years, we have made some improvements on our house in terms of insulation double gazing - and water heating. In the summer, our showers are heated with solar panels. But this also means that the water is the hottest in the evening. Other than that, we exclusively buy vintage clothing and buy organic food that is not air freighted” Eco footprint: 1.88 / Reaction: “At this point I have no idea how to get lower unless there is a large change in the way everyone lives.”

This last point is very true. Unless everyone starts making an effort, the global footprint will not be reduced. In 2005, the global eco footprint was up to 2.7 planets. And let’s just say that since then, it has only gone worse. The WWF has been working on increasing awareness of such a global system, and since the 1990, there is a better notion of the ecofootprint in general. However, it’s not ‘it’ to know about it, it is time for changes. And since there are no truly major, international action, it is everyone’s responsibility to act on their own footprint impact.

The biocapacity, or the productive capacity of each land, is not set in stone and unless we actively start consuming sustainably, the amount of productive land needed per inhabitant will keep increasing, but there will always be only one planet for us all.

23

Downloading Collective Intelligence Zoe Teng

A

t the end of February 2012, when city rangers removed our tents, furniture and a small patch of guerilla garden from the park (after four unsuccessful attempts), I went home. We all went home. A few friends and me continued the experiment of self-organization in a community project (http://www.facebook.com/ ZhuzihuEcoArtsCollective), based on a traditional three-section house and surrounding property in a mountain village near Taipei. The village is a vivid example of the rapid invasion of consumerist tourism, which rapidly transforms the economy, lifestyle, and philosophy in rural Taiwan in the past few decades.

The project explores sustainability by redesigning and regenerating the value of available space and resources within existing systems. Cooperating as a community reduces the effort and time wasted on living ‘for’ the big system; we don’t have to withdraw completely from the Capitalist world but to self-organize an alternative system within, which co-exist and benefit from existing environment. With junk from the roadside, material of abandoned buildings and natural resources, we started the

project by transforming traditional three-section house into a shared living space. On the border of conflict between the city and nature, between new ideologies and traditional lifestyle lies a transitional bridge of constructive conversation across the gap of differences.

Our house was the only building on the main road hasn’t been commercialized for monotonous catering or florist business; tourists walk in the front yard occasionally, and ask what we are doing. They are interested to know why a group of young people is fixing the roof of a house in ruin, and weeding neighbour gardens by hand to stop the owner from spraying pesticide. We borrowed vacant land from neighbour to grow our own food, and built a dam on the flooded farm for irrigation.

Both the indoor and outdoor space are transformed by ideas exchanged in the community living room, where we integrate the direction of collective will and projects. With the diverse backgrounds and imagination of participants, the cooperative living mode aims to minimize the time and effort in maintaining the basic needs of daily life, which allows more time and attention to think about ‘how much do we really need’ and ‘what can we do together’ together, and maximizing the functions Chi Tieh Nan

and fluency of shared space and resources for both public and personal activities.

The project is also a creative practice of downloading collective intelligence, and practically performs it in an organic process of community building. We start with mundane issue as a common language; for example - the food supply, which we now cover about half of the vegetarian diet with organic gardening based on Permaculture design based on local knowledge, experiences of guerrilla gardeners and WWOOFers. The rest half is exchanged or purchased from local farmers, except for rice and flour.

With common languages based on common needs and wellbeing we relate and reflect experiences as general human beings without predispositions. By sharing the data of collective intelligence, innovations emerge as the outcome of deepened relativity and awareness. The conversation invites and inspires people to apply multi-dimensional ways of thinking and organization in every aspect of life, therefore allows multi-dimensional innovation and solution in solving collective problems. The open platform allows sustainable progression based on decisions of collective will and condition, which can be a difficult yet the most positive path in present day.

We believe real sustainability is an ever-evolving process of achieving collective balance - spiritually, materialistically and ecologically.

24

Food for Good Rita Cabral & Wei-yun Chang

LCC’s Green Week had a lot of innovative ideas and projects to promote a better world to live in. Among many others, there was one group that had an extremely smart idea worth looking into: Food for Good.

This project started two years ago when three girls Anna, Chiara and Martina on their last year in the BA Media and Graphic Design at London College of Communication decided to work together on a cause they believed in.

One of them worked in a bakery and was amazed by the amount of food thrown away at the end of the day – quite expensive food actually, that some people would be very thankful for, and had lost its value by the end of the day just because the store closed and they would make more the next day.

So the project began with a very simple idea: save surplus food from being thrown away and give it to the people that need it.

This created the social entrepreneurship project Food for Good (and Good for Food) to take food from the “eat and go” places in London to charities so they can distribute it.

After winning an award from UnLtd they had the funds for their first step, so they ran an extremely successful trial in March 2011 where they took food with a rented van from two Planet Organic and two Carluccio’s at closing time to the Salvation Army.

The difficulty lies in finding places willing to donate food, since most supermarkets have strict policies that make them lock the bins after throwing it away in fear of repercussions in case someone gets sick from their food. Then coordinating those places when they got some of them to agree, since the food collecting needed to coincide with several different closing times.

The project includes incorporating a programme to reward the places that donate the food by getting the councils to reduce the Rubbish Tax on those places so they can profit from

25

TOGETHER WE CAN DO ANYTHING

helping. Saving the food from going to landfill is also very important for the environment as it produces greenhouse gas.

They feel they learned a lot from the coordination of all this process and it prepared them for future problems.

“It worked very well. The charity was happy to receive the food, and the food organizations were happy to donate the food – especially the staff.” said Anna, one of the organizers.

Apparently, the staff also regret having to throw the food away, and are thankful to have a way out. By the end of the trial, they had managed to save 500 kg of food.

Food for Good’s objective is to be completely “green” and sustainable in their campaigns so in order to raise money they create products like screen-printed posters with left-over papers and discarded fabrics from the workshop space and providing catering using surplus food. Some of these products are available on their site and are definitely worth taking a look at.

But their funding doesn’t come just from their products and catering. They have now won their second award, and are planning their next trial.

This future trial will consist of a team on volunteers (you can sign up on their site if you wish) that will use a bicycle to deliver from

donator location that’s more convenient for them to the charities. They provide a small trolley for the back of the bicycle, and you provide your time.

This would answer the sustainability problem of renting a van, not only for the environment but also for the costs of renting and fuel.

They have maintained a good relationship with the organizations that donated before and have contacted some new ones, so hopefully the next step will be as successful as it has been until now.

To find out more about them, please access the site www.foodforgood.me or find them on Facebook, they are very nice and friendly girls, and I’m sure they would love to hear from you.

26

APOCALYPSE NOW

Marine debris – trash in our oceans – is a symptom of our throw-away society and our approach to how we use our natural resources. It affects every

Silas Birtwistle

country and every ocean, and shows us in highly visible terms the urgency of shifting towards a low carbon, resource efficient Green Economy.

– Achim Steiner (Executive Director, UN Environment Programme).

A

t some point in the near future, we may all be pushed into a corner and forced to lead a frugal existence. It is now widely recognised that the worlds’ oceans face unparalleled human-induced threats from industry such as fishing and transportation, the effects of waste disposal, excess nutrients from agricultural run-off, and the introduction of exotic species. If we fail to understand both the susceptibility and resilience of the living sea, the comparatively short history of the humanity will face a catastrophic fate.

The problem with trying to understand the world’s oceans, is that as an onlooker, superficially they look much the same now as they did thousands of years ago. It is harder to see the extent of acidification and pollution that lies beneath.

The scientific facts of climate change appear to be unquestionable, and trying to deal with it will require significant shifts in consumption and economic organization.

This is not really a scientific problem, but rather a cultural one, and perhaps the power of art can contribute and communicate towards this shift, touching the human consciousness.

I woke up one morning, and set about finding ways to make a poetic and very ambitious idea into a reality. The concept, was to travel to four biodiversity hotspots around the world, (Belize, British Columbia, Tanzania and Borneo) in search of driftwood that I would eventually use to make a large conference table, surrounded by twelve chairs.

At each location, I worked alongside local communities and an environmental non-governmental organisation (NGO). The finished piece therefore, is an attempt to unify the plights and issues these places and communities face, and demonstrate

that global biodiversity is inextricably linked. The driftwood table became symbolic of the link between land and sea, but a practical piece designed to be used for discussion and debate.

The sculpture was eventually unveiled during the International Year of Biodiversity at the historic UN conference on Biological Diversity (COP-10) which took place in Nagoya, Japan in October, 2010. It provided a platform for high-level UN debates on environmental issues, and ceremonial signings of agreements.

Since Nagoya, it has been exhibited and used at a number of venues, including: The Annual Meeting of The World Economic Forum (Davos); The World Museum (Liverpool); Price Waterhouse Coopers (London); The Southbank Centre (London); Save The Children International (London) It currently resides at Google HQ, London.

I am delighted that its journey still goes on, and hope the table will continue to serve as a platform for debate, bringing together business and people, to shed light on the plight of the world’s rich and varied biodiversity.

Having completed the driftwood project, I was invited to devise another sculpture for the next UN summit which was to be held in Hyderabad, India.

This time, the concept was to make a symbolic piece of art that unites, and gives a voice, to a large group of youth delegates within the framework of marine and coastal issues for COP 11. The project engaged participants from a variety of countries, to collect pieces of coloured plastic from the coastlines with which they already had an intimate relationship.

A way of telling their own local story and contributing to the bigger global picture, that was eventually represented by the artwork Forty individuals from a variety countries around the world, sent me a collection of

plastic pieces found on the coastline of their native country, wrapped in a small parcel.

Once all the parcels had arrived, I collated everything according to colour, and made a giant fish that was displayed at the entrance to the conference centre.

I had every intention for the piece to be visually eye-catching and colourful, but on closer inspection, it was also a statement on marine debris as a global environmental problem.

This artwork is concerned with the plight of the individual, their community and most importantly their place in the fragility of the global environment.

The sum of all the parts which can lead to a better understanding, united in a symbolic sculpture.

Everything is now so inextricably connected, that I knew exactly what the poetics would be for an under-graduate design project on The Thames for LCC. Using the novella, Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad as a reference point, we set about examining how Man’s greedy, capitalist pillaging of the earth’s natural resources afforded the early colonists, God-like powers, and set about what Conrad described as “the conquest of the earth.”

Although the Empire has now collapsed, Mankind’s persistent search for progress and improvement is still “not a pretty thing when you look into it too much.” All that has really changed are commodities. The quest for Ivory illustrated in The Heart of Darkness has simply been replaced by, for example the richness of oil.

The meandering river is a perfect metaphor of both the literal and psychological journey into the interior. Our investigation was a moral journey, and The Thames was to become for us, a microcosm of the worlds’ domestic and corporate neglect, laid before us in one bend of the river.

27

“The sea-reach of the Thames stretched before us like the beginning of an interminable waterway ... leading to the uttermost ends of the earth ... into the heart of an immense darkness.�

Illustration: Fin Sullivan

We are all living in the natural world but surrounded by rich interlocking biodiversity ecosystems. On the banks of the Thames we can witness this relationship and deep connection between Man and Nature, yet it is obvious we are using its resources rather than working alongside it. It might be worth taking a leaf out of indigenous First Nations communities who believe they are mere stewards of their land.

The irony is that Man is still very much engaged with nature but we all now predominantly live indoors and are destroying the natural environment: polluting the skies, overfishing the seas, cutting down the forests, and most alarmingly, overpopulating the planet.

Just like our ancestors who learnt how to grip an object, we must now acknowledge the unfathomable darkness, inherent within every human being, but celebrate and make full use of our resourcefulness and imagination to make the necessary changes.

We must learn to look anew at the reality around us, to see afresh the natural world – to pause and consider.

28

Self-organization as Resistance Zoe Teng

O

ccupy Taipei was started as an experiment; an experiment on the self-organizing ability of the general public,” as I said to the reporters in front of Taipei 101, the symbol of capitalism in Taiwan, none of them seemed to believe exactly what I was talking about.

By the midday of the 15th of October 2011, hundreds of people had arrived under the former highest building of the world, where the head offices of major banks locate. Next to the tower was one of the most luxury department stores in Taiwan, which closed the entrances in the afternoon to prevent the protesters from causing destructions inside.

The constant flow of people reclaimed public spaces both outside and inside the building.

Consciously breaking Taiwan’s parades and assembly law, people occupied the space for themselves and their communities, delivering speeches, gathering or losing audiences with their voices, demonstrating identities and issues, playing music, leaf letting…The media and cameras rushed around to interview everyone, politicians, students, labors, NGO represents, indigenous elders…because they couldn’t find a single spokesperson for Occupy Taipei, and to answer the question it proposed. The question was: How do we avoid or fix systematic failure when we see and experience the signs of disorder in our daily lives? As one of the initial volunteers, all we did was design a framework of conversation to allow information to meet and integrate from different viewpoints (economic, environmental, cultural, political etc.) As the cross-relativity of all the signs of systematic disorder emerge, the realization of ‘we are all facing the same problem’ motivates people to solve it together. The question was purposed with an urge to have conversation to create solutions with everyone; it was purposed with acknowledgement of the diversity of voices, which was almost forgotten by our official systems.

The history of social movements in Taiwan has been a struggle for identity and recognition.

Looking back, from the colonial times of European marine powers and Japan, to the post-war American dream of development, both indigenous Taiwanese and Han Chinese migrated from the mainland have been conflicting constant invasions of land, resource, and culture. It is said the education and businesses systems inherited from the hierarchy age are still training ‘the spirit of slaves’ today.

Most known social movements in Taiwan were organized in linear and centralized way, often

led by vivid political flag or ‘somebody,’ to resist or demand specific change of unjust systems.

However, social movements in the past seldom win the battle, with or without violent suppression of the authority. Moreover, because of the selfcentered way of protest, movements failed to influence and collaborate with people outside their fixed territory and were unable to explore issues from a holistic point of view. In recent decades, our social and environmental problems complicate with globalization; it is getting clear that the ones in power are unable to solve or answer systematic issues no matter how much we question them. It is also getting clear that social movements should not have boundaries, should be more flexible than the social or political systems we disagree with. The power of people can be demonstrated better, louder, more beautifully and sustainable in de-centralized environment. The form of social movement in Taiwan has to change from the demand of salvation to the demand of self-rescue and collaboration; from the request of answer from someone else to the invitation of conversation to answer the question together. A more responsible demand and more interactive form of social movement can take us on a productive journey that embraces more options of solution. The fact is, no one is wise enough to take full responsibility for complicated social disorder. Yet, the complication of social systems, technology and media 2.0 has improved the collective intelligence of general public, which is an important potential for social innovations today. If social movements can raise questions in a manner that enables collective intelligence and responsibility to solve problems, social movements are already part of the solution, so does everyone involved in the process.

As change agents we create new associations of idea, passion and action across the boundaries imposed by existing systems, especially when the system does not benefit or recognize the true value of its parts. We want to regenerate the value of the parts of society – each individual, groups, and cultures - by relating and reflecting a collective intelligence in self-organization, which reassembles the whole with meaningful connections instead of just the sum its parts.

The Occupy experiment carried on for four months in front of Taipei 101 at a small public park and skywalk. We pitched a few tents and stayed, taking turns to negotiate with the police, cook dinner, host the Occupy web radio every night which delivered interviews of current issues, facilitate open space conferences and no currency

29

Artivism of Ai Weiwei

Zoe Teng

C llie Mi ng Me

market on weekends. Between the skyscraper and tents on the grass, cardboard signs were held in the busy business district and received both warm support and criticism everyday. I do not remember all the details of those intense days, all the debates and emotion, but the way people of different backgrounds came together to maintain public space as basic living space, and collaborated with their own skills, experiences, knowledge, resources and devotion to sustain different situations and make the space more functional in raising public awareness, became my favorite example of selforganization as resistance.

Although none of the major media covered our stories after October 15th, one independent reporter came and asked an important question: What is the difference between Occupy Taipei and social movements in the past?

My answer was: Social movements used to be like marking a goal in the center, to gather people and resources inward; the goal could be the changing of a law or the apology of a politician, and movements were the concentration of pressure towards success defined by that goal.

What I think of Occupy Taipei is the opposite; it was marked as the starting point, for people to step outward with a new integrated balance towards their own directions.

hinese artist and human rights activist Ai Weiwei is famous for his political criticism and investigation as the background and reference of his creativity. The Chinese authorities had threatened him with violence, and closed down his blog, which published articles on social issues and scandals. The attempt to halt Ai’s influence on the general public was unsuccessful as he was introduced to Twitter, which is a less censored social network in China, his account @aiww is now followed by 208,000 people. After Ai’s three-month imprisonment from April 2011, he was named the top figure of ArtReview’s annual Power 100 list.

I started translating Ai’s Twitter posts to English with a group of online volunteers in 2010. The translation allows international conversation and support on the issues Ai documents through his unique perspective, including the Sichaun school scandal after the earthquake, and live reports of various stories in unjust political and social system.

Ai Weiwei is online everyday. He tweets many times a day and responds to every message from the online community. Ai Weiwei’s twitter account serves as an independent media of ongoing social struggle, which is characterized by Ai’s encouraging spirit in the voluntary will of everyone to pursue freedom by leaping the walls of censorship. Taking social networking as a tool against total control, Ai discovers and empowers existing potential of people by guiding collective expression and participation.

He launched a citizen investigation project “#512birthdays,” which sources and publishes the names of victims in Sichaun earthquake on their birthdays, exposing the cover-ups of the government and addressing the value of lost identity. Challenging the “Clickitivist” generation, Ai provokes his online audience to overcome the fear imposed by invisible forces. He launched a campaign of real identity, which encouraged anonymous dissidents to publish their real names with tweets responding to Ai’s words: “Every bit of the arrogance of autocracy is built upon the timidity of the anonym,” “each time one chooses to be anonymous is an acquiescence to power,” “life is not long, so use your name.”

The assembly of real identities is a metaphor and practice of assembling reality, in a country where truth rarely exists on public platforms, Ai calls for the

collective will to reveal and demonstrate reality by telling real stories with real identities.

Ai Weiwei is called “God Ai”by Twitter followers, the nickname sounds like “the God of Love”in Chinese. Representing a vivid example of using one’s name and fame as the medium to motivate general public, Ai became an idle figure similar to Mao in seemingly unrealistic digital activities. Yet as an artist, Ai plays with his celebrity with humor and responsibility. He posted nude photos, danced the Gangnam style, requested for a loan from his fans for his 12 million yuan fine, and paid every creditor back. His popularity offers temporary protection from direct political prosecutions, allowing him to document and even make fun of the struggle between himself as a citizen and the authority.

The authority is afraid of Ai Weiwei because of his popularity, and his popularity bases on his attention, respect and love for everyone – “Twitter is my city, my favorite city. I can talk to anybody I want to. And anybody who wants to talk to me will get my response. They know me better than their relatives or my relatives. There’s so much imagination there; a lot of times it’s just like poetry.

You just read one sentence, and you feel this kind of breeze or a kind of look. It’s amazing.”

Creating and self-publishing the irony between his power and the power of the authority is the greatest art of Ai Weiwei.

30

Are All Brands Bad? Antoaneta Roussinova

I

n an ever-growing consumer economy, destructive repercussions have had a toll on the environment and people have slowly come to see big business and corporations as the almighty evil.

After the 2009 global recession, society was greatly discouraged by capitalism and felt that democracy had once again been undermined by its heavy emphasis on material wealth and unlimited governmental power.

The system was economically and socially working against the people and authoritative businesses had become detached from safeguarding the natural world.

Companies were more concerned with their revenues and profits when producing products, so cheap labour was endorsed and working in partnership with ecosystems was not enforced.

The easiest and most cost-efficient ways to produce, extract and distribute to the masses were favoured instead.

However in the 90s, child labour, polluted waters and blood diamonds all became widespread public knowledge and pressure from ethical activist groups started to mount on ʻbig companies like Nike and Walmart… for discriminatory and unfair labour practices.ʼ according to environmental campaigners This resulted in boycotts of certain products amongst consumers that greatly tarnished the image of these popular brands and caused revenues to fall. Governments began to put stricter regulations on corporations for fair treatment of employees both home and abroad and demand an annual report of their carbon footprint and environmental damage.

Society began to see a change in core business principles, a move to turning ʻgreenerʼ and healthier rather than only focusing on increasing shareholder profits.

Despite business’s apparent shift in principles and newfound care for the environment, not all was as good as it seemed.

As Time magazine reported ‘Long before Obama started talking about how green is the new gold’ companies saw potential in exploiting the prominent issues of climate change and exasperated ecosystems to create an intense reaction from their buyers.

Many corporations began to discover that social responsibility attracted investment capital as well as reduced annual taxes, thus resulting in a greater turnover and companies racing to ʼoutgreenʼ one another. As we entered

into a new decade, brands began to turn their attention towards retaining existing customers.

Going ʻgreenʼ aided this, by refreshing their look and glazing it with a green trade stamp, well-known brands effectively sustained consumer interest in manufacturersʼ whose practices were otherwise deemed damaging to the environment. More importantly the economy became steady and a widespread consumer belief evolved, that purchasing specific products was actually good for our ecosystem. Therefore eliminating the feeling of guilt from over consumption and creating a revolving cycle.

Although corporations were at first sceptical to this new green idea, in time they realised that instead of being punished for unethical behaviour, they could maximize their profits by promoting sustainable future plans. ʻCompanies began to realise that just as some consumers boycotted products for unethical behaviour, others would purchase products in part because their manufacturers were responsibleʼ according to Time magazine The arrival of the new millennium saw a shift in societal values, people became interested in living better lives, eating balanced diets and using natural products! Today a switch from eating meat to going vegan is more popular than ever and public smoking has been banned in most western countries along with a promotion in quitting altogether. People have been pushed to recycle, reuse and renew– but has it really made a difference? With all this controversy over buying products that are green, are we really on the road in changing our consumer patterns or are we just covering up our true addictions?

In the last decade alone many prominent environmental organisations have sanctioned to collaborate with brands that have previously been exposed for unethical ecological conduct.

Examples of these partnerships have been, the World Wildlife Fund with beverage giant Coca-Cola, The Nature Conservancy with Sony and The Earthwatch Institute with car manufacturer Mitsubishi.

Additionally, brands such as British Petroleum (BP) have attempt to portray a change in their practices. Altering their name with a green tagline of ʻBeyond Petroleumʼ and changing their brand logo to wind turbines and plants the company has tried to revamp their image and allure the public that they

are searching for ʻalternative energyʼ. In reality little has been done to change their harmful practices and no amount of expensive advertising has hidden the fact that billions of pounds are still being invested in fossil fuels.

This specific marketing technique has today come to be known as greenwashing, a term first coined by New York environmentalist Jay Westerveld. Defined by U.S. based watchdog, ʻCorpWatchʼ greenwashing is “the phenomena of socially and environmentally destructive corporations, attempting to preserve and expand their markets or power by posing as friends of the environment.”

With this in mind, people have begun to question whether brands are making a mockery of ethical consumption and if green is now something we can buy. After closer examination, it seems most of the worldʼs conservation projects today are interconnected with those same brands that have caused the devastation in the first place. One could wonder whether sustainable projects exist solely because of big donations from corporations and if so how reliant does this mean we will be on them to protect our world in the future?

Others argue that instead we are entering a period of social change and we are recalibrating our sense of what it means to be citizen and the responsibility we have towards the natural world. In the modern age, not only can we make our voice heard through voting or volunteering, but we can also attempt to change companiesʼ practices through our commerce habits. Yet the question still remains: Is there any freedom outside the corporation, even in terms of green sustainability?

Although the future is unknown, one thing is for certain, the planet is getting warmer and natural resources are becoming fewer. Over-consumption is certainly a threat to our planet and in order to ensure a future for generations to come, we need to push for a mass societal change. A shift in contemporary human ideologies is in order; individuals must learn the importance of conservation over materialism and the belief that nothing is more meaningful than our natural world. As we continue to prosper and evolve, we must also be selfless, considerate and sustainable, or else all of Earthʼs raw beauty could be lost.

31 WWF CORPORATE PARTNERS IKEA – invested 1.5 million Euros in promoting sustainable forestry since 2002 2002, works in 16 countries Other focuses include; climate change, cotton. Yet in the 80s, IKEA received pressure from environmental activist groups for over-using tropical rainforest in order to supply their mass produced furniture.

IKEA also ran into an environmental problem that when tests on some of their particle-board furniture showed that ʻformaldehydeʼ emissions exceeded the standard specified by environmental law The Coca-Cola Company – focuses on number of issues, most prominent being Water Stewardship campaign and Arctic Home. Company is committed to neutralizing its water footprint worldwide and helping preserve the Last Ice Area for Polar Bears.

However since the early 2000s Coca-Cola have been subject to sustained criticism by watchdogs.

Allegations against the company are varied; questionable labour practices (including allegations of involvement with paramilitary organisations in suppression of South American trade unions), the company’s water extraction in drought-prone areas in India and violations of human rights.

Nike – ʻClimate Savers programʼ promises to re-examine its supply chain and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their operations worldwide Nike also will measure greenhouse emissions from international shipments operations with the intent to ultimately reduce those emissions as they were outside the accepted boundaries of a company’s footprint.

Nike has also been criticised for conditions below minimal standards in several of its factories overseas and unfair treatment of employees particularly in Asia to cut back on costs. the company has been attacked ceaselessly since 1990 and strict recommendations have been made to improve conditions.

Hazardous materials, extreme temperatures, abuse from employers, and long days, made Nike unethically take advantage of these labor markets often earning pay far below living wage.

EARTH WATCH INSTITUTE CORPORATE PARTNERS Mistubishi Corporation - Began in 1993, to promote environmental and social projects in Europe and Africa. Since 2006, company has supported project Coral and Coastal Ecology of the Seychelles and Okinawa Japan, as part of their Global Coral Reef Conservation Project, launched in 2004.

However previously Mitsubishi has been attacked for rainforest destruction and deforestation problems caused by extensive logging. Other problems include Mitsubishiʼs industrial salt works in Baja California. Also the company is still a big player in the memory chips arena and disposal of toxic waste.

Starbucks – Partnership since 2001, supporting sustainable farming practices in the worldʼs premier coffee-growing regions Costa Rica. Worked with farmers to increase use of practices and tools that benefit the natural environment. 2006 introduced paper cups with 10 per cent post-consumer recycled fibre that saves about 110,000 trees a year.

Still, the 2.5 billion cups Starbucks bought for stores in North America that should have been recycled, ended up in landfills. Also criticised by environmental experts after allegations of a “dipper well that pours millions of litres of precious water down the drain because it has a policy of keeping a tap running non-stop at all its 10,000 outlets worldwide, wasting 23.4 million litres a day.

(Enough daily water for the entire two million-strong population of drought-hit Namibia in Africa) HSBC – Climate Partnership and water sustainability project will protect freshwater ecosystems in South Asia and West Africa. Forest Research- five-year global programme to determine how temperate and tropical forests are affected by changes in climate and logging. Previously, HSBC was accused of funding fossil fuel projects and unethical and environmentally damaging investments. Ranging from tar sands in Canada to logging projects in Borneo that are destroying rain forests, although HBSC have now launched an audit into its relations with logging companies after protests at their annual general meeting in May. Further had a policy natural gas extraction platforms in the Bay of Bengal off the Burmese coast with allegedly no Environmental Impact Assessment for the project that runs through many delicate ecological areas.

THE NATURE CONSERVANCY CORPORATE PARTNERS BP (British Petroleum) – ʻDevelopment by Designʼ campaign started 2006, to conduct research and analysis that could help them identify priorities for habitat preservation and conservation projects needed to offset the impacts of oil and gas drilling and infrastructure development in Wyoming and Colorado. As well as forest protection in Bolivia to protect 1.5 million acres of tropical forest that benefits both people and wildlife.

As BP identifies sites for energy exploration, occasionally the same places are targeted for conservation to help. Help them make better decisions about how and where development could occur and where it shouldnʼt before damage is done.

However, BP’s portrayal in the news is as an environmentally unfriendly companyresponsible for massive 2006 oil spill off the Gulf of Mexico which released 4.9 million barrels of oil; which means that it is now considered to be the largest accidental marine oil spill in the

history of petroleum industry, which caused extensive damage to marine and wildlife habitats and the Gulf’s fishing and tourism industries, as well as human health problems.

Dow Chemical – Dow committed $10 million over next five years to develop tools and models for valuing nature in business decisions. The Cachoeira Restoration Project in one of the six main reservoirs of the Cantareira Water System in Brazil. The goals of the project include restoring 865 acres near the reservoir; creating a fund based on the sale of carbon offsets; reducing carbon dioxide emissions with the protection of trees; and creating new jobs and income for local people.

In addition, the foundation has also supported the Conservancyʼs work on the ground in Michigan, where Dow will work to incorporate biodiversity into its company and collaborate in scientific analysis to help reduce the loss of biodiversity and sustain lakes, rivers, forests.

Nevertheless the company is allegedly a major polluter of drinking water and aquatic ecosystems, around the world. In North America, Dow is paying for work to clean up dangerous dioxin contamination around global headquarters in Michigan, and has been accused of causing similar contamination in Western Canada, Vietnam, New Zealand and Brazil. There were also calls for India to boycott the London Olympics over Dow’s sponsorship of the event because the company now owns the chemical firm Union Carbide, which was responsible for the Bhopal disaster in 1984. 15,000 people died in a gas leak; Dow bought the company 17 years after the disaster, but are now being accused of not taking responsibility for Carbide’s liabilities in Bhopal.

AVON Cosmetics – From its launch in 2010 ʻHello Green Tomorrowʼ Project generated more than $2.7 million for restoration of the Atlantic Forest in Brazil as part of the companyʼs mission to help end deforestation. Also focused on Energy Efficiency, Water Management, and Recycling Efficiency Greenhouse Gas Emissions.

Conversely, Avon still uses palm oil in their products, the very ingredient that is allegedly a leading cause of the destruction of the rainforest.

Approximately 85% of palm oil is grown in Indonesia and Malaysia this can have a severe impact on the environment, and lead to the clearing of huge tracts of rainforest. It is also claimed that the expansion of palm oil plantations results in the draining and burning of wetlands.

Palm oil is allegedly a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions.