It,
the thing that seems somehow now so distant, has been dancing for awhile now. And I am happy about that. I won’t lie, I was sick of it. I did the dance so many times. Every time I had to test a small moving of the margin of a text, I had to dance. Every time, I did anything, I had to repeat. I also needed to do the choreography to see the pages. I was subject to my own constraints (for better or worse, just like you). And the Friday before the launch, I just. couldn’t. look. at. it. anymore. No more. I’m not even so sure I am ready yet. The rest is still a blur.
But the battle of content ensues (and my urge to write)
= confusion
At the launch in Berlin, I was asked if I had any new reflections or conclusions about dancing and technology. Maybe like some of you, I am (still) confused. I am still in a bit of a come down. I still need time to process.
But confusion is a big part of it. I start to think dance is perhaps about confusion. You put yourself in a system of rules (the rhythm, the space, the type of dance, the floor, the social…), but your body does its own thing, maybe doesn’t do it right, you don’t always have control, it’s not supposed to be strict———-things just keep moving forward——————————————
And I think that’s why I did it. That’s why I used dance as a therapy after my dad died. It’s a way for me to explore something without knowing what exactly it is because it still has a system. It has a system that allows me to get lost in the in-between. I can read the system and then I know enough to move, to jump right in and to dance. I don’t need to know all the answers or the processes. My body somehow knows what to do anyway.
It’s the same with design. It’s the same with technology. We use technology everyday with only understanding a small part of the system. We get it. But do we really dance? Do we really have the power to lose control?
I hope throughout Flee Immediately!, I also give you some sort of way in and some sort of system for you to dance and to understand. I hope that you can also learn to lose control. And I don’t just mean to give up your power to the mighty google (ahem wordpress) gods, but to have the power to lose control in order to gain control. It’s complicated and I’m still processing this concept…something about the balancing of control….
And in the end, I hope I at least achieved enough confusion here that you feel free and not frustrated. It really is in your dance floor now and out of my control. It’s a new code for you to use?
Speaking of dancing and coding
There is one thing about dancing that I haven’t yet talked about: my dancing with the code itself. In the launch it was also mentioned that issue 02 emerged purely as an interface. It is perhaps more conceptual than life/form changing this time. And the code is still somewhat hidden behind.
But there there is another story, and another type of dance. A whole system I created from frustrations, experiments, playfulness, fun, needing to just get things to work, problem solving– and most importantly writing.
I’ll save that story for another time. I’ll dissect the code for you alongside my emotions. But for now, I’m not yet ready. I constantly need to think of the next steps. There is so much to do. I am behind. I must work on other things ($).
But one step at a time.
See you in the next one.
