AW: Working with visual artists at an Open Space

[Pat Black]

Dear Reinhard
I am following your posts closely because I am intrigued by your intensity
in feelings and opinions and because I am a visual person.  I do work here
with polarized communities having them draw pictures instead of using spoken
or written language because they are so armoured in spoken language and
visual language seems to allow more vulnerability.  But that is another
discussion.  I have a couple of questions and comments and will just insert
your text throughout.  I want to also say that my intention here is to get
at the topic hopefully even more deeply because it is important to me as
well but I will use your thoughts as the vehical becuase you offered them.

If i see, that i can be of help for someone, i always jump. i don't care
then for selforganization, i simply go. or draw. For me it is fine, that you
and me are different.

Is this not self organization?  Self organization is not self conscious it
just does in my understanding.

I like of course, what Birgitt is writing in her parallel mail. So i am
glad, that we had this dialogue, and am open to continue it ore leave it
like that, because the important things have been said. I would rather draw
what i feel, but this listserve is textbased.

I am not sure whether this group is tex based or not, I am not text based.
In reading the posts I imagine people have many primary modality
possibilies.  The listserve is text based for sure.  I do not know if there
is any other way to participate on the list except through text.  I
appreciate some attempts at using keystrokes to create visual images
although that would not satisfy my visual expression.  I also appreciate
Lisa's attempt to distill discussion threads into poetry.  So far on this
list that has been the most staisfying visual expression.  Her last poem
distilled out of the posts on one topic was for me beautiful and moved me
emotionally to tears so the experience is the same for me as a picture.  My
question is how would you use the listserve to be more visually expressive?
How can people become more comfortable operating in visual expression while
here?

So we can sit inbeteen the people and hear, see, feel what is going on. We
use the 'Visual Language', a combination of images and words. we work with
feltpens on cards, which we hang in rows of 6 to form a picture wall, where
everybody can see, what was said, and also ask for corrections and
additions. At the end mostly we transform these images into a slideshow of
some minutes to let the day flow by, because almost everybody has forgotten
more than 50 % of what he heard, saw and did during a day.

Could a photographer participate in the same way?  Would a photagrapher
sitting in the group as you describe documenting through photographs serve
the same purpose?  If not what is different in what the visual photographers
do?

Or we have "Storypainting sessions", were we split the group in story
inventors, story drawers, a witness, and to show the result (a long strip of
images with added sentences) a person like a medieval ballad-monger.
Or we let people draw their company, group ...as a human person on a flip
chart in little groups.
Or we develop maps together, land- and seamaps, full of metaphors and
dragons ...

C. We prepare sessions, conferences etc. with metaphorical maps, after
gathering the content in interviews we document in drawings. That can take
some months.

So is what important here and perhaps absent on the list metaphors?  Do you
think what we need to do as facilitators of any variety be more intentional
about metaphor?  Should there be more intentional time spent on discovering
the metaphors that show up to the event and that influence questions and
their answers?

 For Open Space it would be beautiful to always have paper and colors
available, flipchartsize or bigger. Colors might be broad (!!!) felt pens,
chalk, crayons (careful with carpet floors), water colors. Yes, a person to
introduce and help is helpful, but not necessary. But you must show the
possibilities of using these materials as something normal.

And maybe you experiment with people documenting with drawings, on big or
small paper!!!

The drawing should not be the theme, but a byproduct. That is one reason i
don't call me an artist.

I would agree with everything you said in the previous paragraph.  I would
add that a person to demonstrate the possibilities of visual expression is
needed also to show how to enter into the process and to discover the
metaphors revealed by drawings no matter how primitive or unstaisfying to
the drawer.  In my somewhat limitied open space experience, paper and
colored markers have always been present.  So the tools are there but it
seems the visual person may not always be identified.  I also agree that a
great number of literate people have competency issues with art and music
that stifle there willingness to do it and their understanding of the value
of what can be expressed by someone who is not fluent in the language.  My
fluency allows me to see where fluency can be nurtured in another, how to
enter in.  I am wondering how you envision the best way for this to happen
in an open space format?  What can you imagine in the open space format?
Thanks for the dialouge

Pat Black

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