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| futurist_fieldguide:six_memos [2015-04-03 14:11] – created maja | futurist_fieldguide:six_memos [2015-05-21 09:50] (current) – alkan | ||
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| - | ===== Six Memos ===== | + | ==== Six Memos ==== |
| - | In //"Six memos for the next millennium" | + | In //Six Memos for the Next Millennium// Italo Calvino proposes six principles for writers of the 21st century. Although Calvino focused on writing, the memos can be applicable to any creative endeavour, including futuring. The six memos include: |
| - | * Lightness | + | * Lightness |
| - | * Quickness | + | * Quickness |
| - | * Exactitude | + | * Exactitude |
| - | * Visibility | + | * Visibility |
| - | * Multiplicity | + | * Multiplicity |
| - | * Consistency | + | * Consistency |
| - | At FoAM the Six Memos are used as guiding principles, inspirations or tests through which we can scrutinise our creative process. We strive for Lightness as a counterbalance to the weight of life and work, attempting to distil the light essence that isn’t burdened by unnecessary details and formalities. Quickness we interpret as finding the right speed that creation needs, from swift responses to slow pondering, taking as much time as necessary. We understand Exactitude as a need for clarity and meticulous preparation, | + | At FoAM we use the Six Memos as guiding principles, inspirations or tests through which we can scrutinise our creative process. We strive for Lightness as a counterbalance to the weight of life and work, attempting to distil the light essence that isn’t burdened by unnecessary details and formalities. Quickness we interpret as finding the right speed that creation needs, from swift responses to slow pondering, taking as much time as necessary. We understand Exactitude as a need for clarity and meticulous preparation, |
| + | |||
| + | < | ||
| - | < | ||
| —Italo Calvino</ | —Italo Calvino</ | ||
| ---- | ---- | ||
| - | ===== A Six Memos Mindset | + | ==== A Six Memos Mindset ==== |
| - | ==== Lightness | + | === Lightness === |
| - | < | + | < |
| —Italo Calvino </ | —Italo Calvino </ | ||
| * Study formal methods, then distil their essence in an attempt to make them as light as possible | * Study formal methods, then distil their essence in an attempt to make them as light as possible | ||
| * Create informal, playful atmospheres | * Create informal, playful atmospheres | ||
| - | * Design | + | * Design futuring |
| * Laugh and encourage others to laugh | * Laugh and encourage others to laugh | ||
| * Lift the weight off the past and present by seeing them through the lens of possible futures | * Lift the weight off the past and present by seeing them through the lens of possible futures | ||
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| * Allow the breeze of possibility to blow through a stale situation | * Allow the breeze of possibility to blow through a stale situation | ||
| - | < | + | < |
| - | —Jim Dator</ | + | Any useful idea about the future should appear to be ridiculous.\\ |
| - | ==== Quickness ==== | + | --Jim Dator |
| + | </ | ||
| - | < | + | === Quickness === |
| - | Quickness of style and thought means above all agility, mobility, and ease, all qualities that go with writing where it is natural to digress, to jump from one subject to another, to lose the thread a hundred times and find it again after a hundred more twists and turns.” | + | < |
| - | —Italo Calvino</ | + | |
| + | Quickness of style and thought means above all agility, mobility, and ease, all qualities that go with writing where it is natural to digress, to jump from one subject to another, to lose the thread a hundred times and find it again after a hundred more twists and turns.\\ | ||
| + | |||
| + | --Italo Calvino</ | ||
| * Practice manipulating time: wrangle and wrestle it, delay it, cycle it or render it motionless | * Practice manipulating time: wrangle and wrestle it, delay it, cycle it or render it motionless | ||
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| * Take as much time as needed to make sure that what you say is the only thing that needs to be said… | * Take as much time as needed to make sure that what you say is the only thing that needs to be said… | ||
| - | ==== Exactitude | + | === Exactitude === |
| - | < | + | < |
| * (1) a well-defined and well-calculated plan for the work in question; | * (1) a well-defined and well-calculated plan for the work in question; | ||
| * (2) an evocation of clear, incisive, memorable visual images; | * (2) an evocation of clear, incisive, memorable visual images; | ||
| * (3) a language as precise as possible both in choice of words and in expression of the subtleties of thought and imagination. | * (3) a language as precise as possible both in choice of words and in expression of the subtleties of thought and imagination. | ||
| - | —Italo Calvino | + | |
| + | --Italo Calvino | ||
| </ | </ | ||
| - | * In order to make the process feel effortless, subject your design to careful planning and testing. Fine-tune the flow and each component of a process iteratively. | + | * In order to make the process feel effortless, subject your design to careful planning and testing. Fine-tune the flow and each component of the process iteratively. |
| * Harvest and summarise conversations: | * Harvest and summarise conversations: | ||
| * Craft every word you record carefully. Make sure everyone agrees on its meaning and intent. | * Craft every word you record carefully. Make sure everyone agrees on its meaning and intent. | ||
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| - | ==== Visibility | + | === Visibility === |
| - | < | + | < |
| - | —Italo Calvino </ | + | |
| + | --Italo Calvino</ | ||
| * Use well crafted media (words, images, sounds, tastes, scents…) to evoke a world, so it can appear as if looking at it directly, as if a possible future were unfolding in front of you right now. | * Use well crafted media (words, images, sounds, tastes, scents…) to evoke a world, so it can appear as if looking at it directly, as if a possible future were unfolding in front of you right now. | ||
| - | * Find a single image that alludes to the general atmosphere of a future, then gradually associate it with other images and words. Create a field of analogies, synchronicities and confrontations, | + | * Find a single image that alludes to the general atmosphere of a future, then gradually associate it with other images and words. Create a field of analogies, synchronicities and confrontations, |
| - | * Make the process open and visible. Let others learn from, scrutinise or build on your ideas | + | * Make the process open and visible. Let others learn from, scrutinise or build on your ideas. |
| - | ==== Multiplicity | + | === Multiplicity === |
| - | < | + | < |
| - | —Italo Calvino </ | + | |
| + | --Italo Calvino</ | ||
| * Train to be a generalist, with wide in-breadth interests | * Train to be a generalist, with wide in-breadth interests | ||
| * Use and modify transdisciplinary methods | * Use and modify transdisciplinary methods | ||
| - | * Use rules in your creative process, as boundaries to work in, a set space to explore. | + | * Use rules in your creative process as boundaries to work within, a set space to explore. |
| * Never assume anything is singular. | * Never assume anything is singular. | ||
| - | * Find meaningful connections between everything that’s at stake | + | * Find meaningful connections between everything that’s at stake. |
| - | * Keep multiple futures open for as long as possible | + | * Keep multiple futures open for as long as possible. |
| - | ==== Consistency | + | === Consistency === |
| - | < | + | < |
| - | - [[http:// | + | --[[http:// |
| Line 101: | Line 109: | ||
| ---- | ---- | ||
| - | Full text of the "Six Memos for the Next Millennium": | + | Full text of the //Six Memos for the Next Millennium:// |
| http:// | http:// | ||
maja