Social Movement Generator

Description of the project
The Social Movement Generator (SMoG) is a performance that equips any visitor or passerby within 30 minutes with a complete social movement promoting any political idea of his or her choice (e.g. „Expropriate Facebook“).
The SMoG provides: a program with essential demands, a strategy of political action, a slogan and a powerful logo, promotion material, banners and posters, a website, a group of supporters – and a spontaneous demonstration.

Course of action
Two hostesses invite passersby to enter the SMoG and to propose a political idea or demand. He or she then passes five stations where the SMoG team develops the idea into a complete social movement.

Stage one: Evaluation & strategy
In a good cop/bad cop situation, two SMoG experts check the idea regarding the potential for a political campaign. Together with the initiator they develop an idea for a general strategy.

Stage two: Program & slogan
A skilled writer from the SMoG team writes the basic program of the new social movement, pointing out the most important demands. These are then coined into slogans and battle-calls by a SMoG copywriter.

Stage three: Logo & propaganda
A SMoG graphic designer creates a logo. Two SMoG tinkerers produce propaganda material for PR and demonstrations such as badges, banners, and posters.

Stage four: New Media Outreach
Within the readymade SMoG-Wiki a SMoG programmer sets up a website for the campaign. Social media tools such as Twitter and Facebook are activated to assemble supporters.

Stage five: Demonstration
With a demonstration the new social movement will enter real life. The demonstrators are collected on site: The hostesses not only ask passersby to initiate their own movements, but also ask them to join demonstrations for the movements that are already being generated. Demonstrators are equipped with the battle-calls and propaganda material generated in stages two and three. During the demonstration they collect signatures and email addresses for a mailing list that enables the social movement to continue beyond SMoG.
 
Set-up
The project should be performed in a busy environment: in public places or semi public spaces like airports, shopping malls etc. It should not be identified as an art project at first sight.
The set-up is based on five desks where the five stages are being executed. It needs access to electricity and internet. It should run for at least three days.

Producing political reality
The SMoG converts up to 30 visitors per day into initiators of a new social movement, and an unknown number of spectators and online-followers into supporters of the movements. Anyone can join.
All social movements remain present after the performance ends: The SMoG website links to all websites generated during the performances.

Initiatives generated
You are many
Zeig Profil
Kiel ist Deutschland – Privatisierung stoppen
Gleicher Lohn für gleiche Arbeit
vs. bureaucratic territorial restrictions
Wasser, Wind, Licht, Atom nicht
Globalize Trade Unions
Gallery Weekend entern
Rollator-Wege für X-Berg
Emissionssiegel für Flugobst
Soldaten sind auch Bürger
Bild dir deinen Aufsichtsrat
Stadtschloss für alle und alles
Grünes Berlin - Dachgärten für alle
Kunst studieren – umsonst inspirieren

Personal and material resources
10 performers
Website/SmoG-Wiki
Tables, chairs
Diverse material  banners, signs, buttons etc.
Technical demands: energy, light, LAN or Wifi, (colour) printer, badge machine

About the artists
Theorie- und Praxisgemeinschaft Dr. Fahimi consist of eight freelancers from the arts, theatre, film and literature who have been sharing a former medical practice at Kottbusser Tor in Berlin since spring 2009. They use it as individual studios/offices and as project space for collective actitivities in which they convert the impulses gained from the presence at Kottbusser Tor into artistic projects that explicitly deal with their situation in the urban space. In August 2010 the members collectively curated the Fenster-Front-Festival, in which the windows giving towards the street were used as display for site-specific installations, performances and video-projections. Since 2011 the members have been developing the Social Movement Generator.

SMoG-Team
Activation: Corinne Halter (cultural scholar, theatre director), Magda Korsinsky (dancer, artist)
Evaluation und Strategie: Jean-Michel Berg (journalist, writer), Florian Kessler (literary scholar, writer)
Programm und Slogan: Anne Levy (cultural scholar), Wilma Renfordt (dramaturge, performer)
Logo und Promotion: Ingo Gerken (artist), Surya Gied (artist), N.N. (graphic designer)
Demonstration: Corinne Halter (cultural scholar, theatre director)


About been out, vol. 1
been out, vol. 1 is an all-arts competition for young artists exploring the parameters of art in the generation of digital natives. In these times of cross media and viral marketing, the open competition been out, vol. 1, organised by Bohème Précaire in cooperation with 2010LAB.tv, questions the art of the digital natives. Do they still know the meaning of art? Is there still a trade based on art?

According to the free-associating motto “go out, be out, include the outside”, the applicants should question and revalue the gridlocked meanings of urbanity, arts, architecture, and private and public sphere.

kunst.labor is the online-gallery of been out, vol. 1.
Further information: www.bohemeprecaire.com
And: www.facebook/beenout