An angel, a badger and an evil-tempered dad walk into a citizens’ assembly…

What work would you be doing right now, if you were truly “living in the times we’re in”?* That’s one of the key questions that motivates us at Absurd Intelligence. That, and telling bad (good) jokes.

So at Absurd Towers we’re proud to help launch not one but two (!) projects this week that respond to the question – not with a definite solution (as Charlie wrote last week) but with art and invitation to be on the journey to build a better world.

So what are these projects? What do they tell us about how to live in the times we’re in?

#1: What is it that makes democracy good?

In the last half of 2024, we partnered with our friends at Humanity Project to run a series of dialogues on what makes democracy work well for people where they live, on the issues that matter to them. It’s called the Assembly Dialogues Project.

That’s because some answers to these questions lay with assemblies – where people gather, sometimes by choice and other times by ‘democratic lottery’, to learn about and deliberate on subjects that matter to them. It could be bin collections, youth mental health, housing, or anything.

Assemblies are spaces for listening, and breaking down barriers. Give people five minutes, and we’ll likely find out we have more in common than what the newspapers say. Give us a few weekends, and we may not agree, but we’ll be able to disagree with respect and dignity, because everyone’s felt heard.

So we partnered with Humanity Project in organising these dialogues. They get into what works best about assemblies, and what might need to change if they’re to be legitimate spaces for democratic practice away from Westminster. That’s legitimate in the sense that our friends Claire Mellier and Rich Wilson talk about: not in terms of an abstract “neutrality” but in whether or not they actually deliver for people.

We heard from over 70 practitioners, experts, assembly organisers, participants, artists and interested people. They were truly a delight to attend, because they were spaces where everyone listened to each other. We also want to give a big shout out to the other question holders, alongside Claire and Rich: Graham Smith, Jon Alexander, and Lee Jasper. And it would not have been possible without Clare Farrell conceptualising, directing and convening the space, Alex Lockwood doing the organising, and David Bent and Nick Anim on facilitating duties (intimidating, when half the room are global facilitation experts!). 

The five dialogues have been summarised into 10-12 minute videos, as well as the full dialogues being available to watch. We’re super pleased with them. If you care about democracy and want us to take back our power, agency and action where we live, please watch and share around in your networks.

https://assemblydialogues.net/ 

#2: Daddio! a collaborative novel

You might ask: what good is a novel in the face of the threats we face to our ongoing way of life? To all the things we hoped to contribute to? To the collapse of democracy, or even to a good night out?

The answer isn’t clear. What is? But if art is the place where adults get to imagine how to live in the times we’re in, then a story is as good as any place to do that imagining.

Daddio! is the story of a man driving his elderly and evil-tempered father to a funeral. They never arrive as their dysfunctional family dynamic unravels on a journey overshadowed by glimpses of a fascist and climate-ravaged future. Daddio! is a portrait of the crises in democracy, climate, and truth, a parable for our times – but don’t worry, it’s a comedy!

(Buy the book or collect the full digital release.)

It’s the latest release from the cultural collective HardArt, a network of artists, musicians, activists, makers and doers, who meet at Brian Eno’s studio twice a month to stand in solidarity in the face of climate collapse, genocide and authoritarianism. 

The novel takes some ideas that have emerged from the Hard Art workshops at Brian Eno’s, and mixes the words of our resident author Alex with aural and visual responses from others to #HardArt’s themes: democracy, climate, love, building a new society.

But don’t worry, it’s a comedy! (I know, it’s worth repeating though!) A climate comedy that honours activists as human beings, inside a family drama, also made up of humans. As John Lennon said, the only two things the forces of control can’t deal with are nonviolence and humour. So let’s experiment with what humour can do to mobilise us to feel the risk we’re in, and feel the love we sometimes push away.

The novel is an experiment: it turns the traditional novel inside out to show that even novels are collaborative works of what Brian Eno calls ‘scenius’:

It is this willingness to collaborate, share ideas, and find artistic solutions to our political problems that will see us through the Long Dark of turbulent social change.

You can get more than just a book! The limited edition release is made up of:

• Sounds by Brian Eno (arranged by Alex Lockwood; imagine, the brass neck!)
• Front cover by Turner Prize winner, Jeremy Deller
• Foreword by the author of Wild, Jay Griffiths
• Illustration by artist and educator Bette Adriaanse, author of What's Mine
• Alarm Clock concept by Leon Oldstrong and Hard Art
• Portraits by artist, singer and performer Ian Bruce
• Words and family dynamics by Alex Lockwood

After costs and contributions are covered, profits from the book are going to support HardArt’s mission to create the next Fête of Britain. The Fête is a place fit for the times we live in, where people, just like in an assembly in fact, can come together, listen and talk (and dance, and relax), and share stories and ideas for the kind of country we all want to belong to.

Collect the release here: Daddio! (Father’s day June 15th, just saying!)

So, what does happen when an angel, a badger and an evil-tempered dad walk into a citizens’ assembly…? You’ll have to watch the dialogues or read the book to find out…

Elsewhere in Absurdity

What we’ve been up to this week…

• Clare was at the launch of Scientists on Survival, an important new anthology of essays, 24 voices from Scientists for XR detailing their personal responses to the planetary emergency and the path that led them to become activists; 
• Clive was part of the Ocean Rebellion crew who staged a traditional puppet show outside the first day of the UN International Maritime Organisation’s 83rd Marine Environmental Protection Committee meeting; the puppet show featuring familiar faces as well as a new character: the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) greenwashing sponge: “that’s the way to greenwash it!”;
• Both Alex and Charlie visited Pete Wyer’s The Forest Within a marvellous composition and performance/installation at St Stephen’s Church, Sydenham.

* “Live in the times we’re in” was an exhortation from the artist Julian Oliver made back in the 2010s for artists and creatives, everyone really, to do work appropriate to the crises we face.