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ANANSI INITIAL INTRASTRUCTURE INITIATIVE // ONGOING 


MISSION

  1. Collectively produce art
  2. Establish a collective of artists
  3. Create community commons
  4. Generate documentation for other artist collectives to organize
  5. Generate income for artists and the maintenance of the collective


PROJECTS



PEOPLE



PRAXIS



PROTOCOL

  1. Membership Guidelines
  2. Voting Guidelines


SUPPORT

  +++  OPEN COLLECTIVE



CONFLUX


The Conflux is an emergent art practice, defined as remote tele-production of art. While this art practice was first used to create music, we have since engaged in the practice across visuals and writing, and are constantly experimenting with new forms of the practice. A true “new media art,” this practice explictly asks, how do we use emerging technologies to enable artists in different physical locations to create with each other.


CONFLUX QP


This Conflux is organized to produce 4-5 tracks per session. With this style, artists are slightly more isolated (working on their own tracks simultaneously), but end up collaborating on many tracks in a confined time session. This technique is great for producing many collaborative tracks at once, hence the name Quick Play.


  1. Create an account and log into Bandlab or Soundation.
  2. Create a track of around laying down just some basic elements.
  3. Share the link with the group, make sure your sharing settings allow others to edit.
  4. Apply a first round of edits to the track. This would be a good place to add another instrument.
  5. Repeat Step 3.
  6. Apply a second round of edits. Maybe add another instrument, maybe tweak the work that came before.
  7. Apply a third and final round of edits. Perhaps add FXs or change the mix.
  8. Listen to all the tracks, name them, share contact details and permissions as the group goes along.


Platform, timing, and number of participants are all variable. For a quick challenge or just teaching the technique, we aim for a full session of about 30 minutes with 5 minute rounds.



CONFLUX JAM


The idea behind this style of Conflux is to come together and create a single track during a one off live session. This style is geared towards teaching and learning; because only one person is working on a track at a time, artists will have the ability to ask each other questions and walk each other through the techniques that they're using in real-time. 

  1. Create an account and log into Bandlab or Soundation (all participants should use the same platform).
  2. The catalyst shares the link with the group, making sure their sharing settings allow others to edit.
  3. The catalyst, or first person in the cycle will share their screen and lay down the base of the track, narrating their process.
  4. The next person in the cycle makes changes to the track while sharing their screen. Perhaps they add an instrument.
  5. The cycle repeats 4 more times. All in all, in a 30 minute time frame, there should be 6 rounds of 5 minutes..
  6. Listen to and name the track, share contact details and permissions as the group goes along.

Platform, timing, and number of participants are all variable. For a quick challenge or just teaching the technique, we aim for a full session of about 30 minutes with 5 minute rounds.



CONFLUXTAPE


The original Conflux style, this technique is geared to asynchronous collaborations over longer periods of time.

  1. Choose a Conflux facilitator. This person is responsible for making sure that tracks are being shared in the right places and ensuring that tracks are moving along.
  2. All participating artists begin by laying down a first round of a track. A vague idea, maybe the initial structure.
  3. All artists share there tracks to the Conflux facilitator, who passes each track on to the next participant.
  4. The number of participating artists determines the number of tracks made, and rounds to have.
  5. Each track is passed along in a round robin, however, given that this Conflux mode takes place over a long period of time, sometimes artists aren’t able to participate in every round. It is the Conflux facilitator’s job to ensure that tracks don’t fall out of circulation if anyone has to pause their participation.
  6. It is recommended that rounds are capped at one week.
  7. Once tracks make it back to their original creators, they make the final round of edits.
  8. All artists then come together for a synchronous listening party where tracks are named.



VISUAL CONFLUX


This Conflux style is geared towards visual artists, and can be used to create art pieces or more practical design work.

  1. Create an account and log into Figma.
  2. Artists should spend time sourcing images for the Conflux. This can be around a particular theme or use specific creative constraints. For example, for a Conflux of photographers, artists can be asked to only use their own photos for the challenge.
  3. Artists should take turns explaining their selections. If they’re using their own work and time allows, treat this as a crit, with folks providing each other feedback on their work.
  4. Set a timer. With the allocated time, artists should use the elements in the board to begin to remix each others work. Make use of blend modes, masks, and Figma plugins to push your understanding of how the tools work.
  5. Come back and explain the work that has been done. If a technique has been used that you’ve never seen or don’t understand, ask questions!
  6. Repeat the process as time allows and as necessary to complete the task at hand.




LYRICAL CONFLUX


The idea behind this Lyrical conflux is to come together and write lyrics for songs/music using prompts that will enable writers to build songs from images shown and from phrases given around several themes/topics 

Everyone has a story to tell. But only some of us have the words.

What if we all had the words?

Instructions:

Tape recorder exercise:
  1. Find a partner
  2. Tell each other your life stories in 10 minutes each. (Only what you're comfortable sharing)
  3. Come back to the main group and play back your partner's life story like a tape

 Writing :
  • To build these song lyrics that will be passed around and have the next person write some more, we will start with some story telling.
  • Use the phrases and images given to write a 2 lines about your partner's life story.
  • Then write two lines from the story you gave to your partner as a second verse.

Collaboration :
  • Pick a phrase then add a few words to make it make sense. Use the given images to inspire you. Then pass it on. Add a sentence to the one passed on to you. Once we have paragraph, we have a song
  • Other Rules:
  • what makes the difference between writing a song and a poem?
  • use repetition
  • what you write can rhyme but it doesn't have to. the melody would take care of words that don't rhyme.
  • focus on writing what you feel, not what you think will sound good. then later, you can edit as much and change the lines to make them fit better. in song writing, heavy, editing is always part of the process.