ArtCraftTech methodology

ArtCraftTech (ACT) is one of the core programs of Culture Push. The main aim of ACT is to bring together the many different practitioners for concrete problem-solving in an artistic context.  What happens when several creative thinkers use their different methods in concert to approach a defined goal? The core of 5-10 participants will come up with a problem to solve together, and then attempt to find a solution together and in consultation with a larger public. The "problem" to solve can be anything that the participants see as urgent or pressing, from how to make a faster, safer bicycle to how to make diplomacy more attractive than war.  In other words, anything from the very practical to the highly conceptual.  The "solution" may have the same range of conceptual and practical.  The “solution” will take the form of a product that will be constructed together, which can take the form of a model, a performance, a film, a live art action, a series of objects, or a combination of all of these.  This is an artistic context because there will be no right answers, and the products created through the process of collaboration will have the status of art—serving as a way to gather, galvanize, and provoke rather than as (only) a practical guide.

The basic form of the program involves communication between all the core participants via email, phone and video conferencing (e.g. Skype or iChat) and, if in the same city, in person discussions, 4-6 months before the planned date of the public presentation.  During this time, the participants will flesh out their ideas and work on physical details in their own time. Along the way the core participants will share details of their process with the public and invite comment through videos, blogs and other online tools. Sharing the process will serve as a way to draw in a wide range of participants outside the core and build excitement for the public presentation. For ArtCraftTech10, in Fall 2010 there will be an intensive work period of 10-14 days, with a presentation of research so far in the beginning of the week, where the public is invited to offer comments and suggestions, a mid-week presentation for further comments, and a final presentation at the end of the period.