Science-Art Renaissance

JOIN US: SAGI -- a Nonlocal Action Thinktank -- invites you to network, collaborate and collectively dream, design and build exemplars of Cultural Rebirth with us as we envision and embody the future in the present. Let's create practical exemplars as the foundation memes for the next few decades. What visions of ourselves do we need to actively embody to ensure our survival as we move forward?

SAGI offers exemplar projects for the hot futures of a New Renaissance as an alternative to Apocalypse. It is a vision rooted in the negentropic forces of life itself. Let's transcend boundaries in diverse fields, including durable lifestyles, political theory, health science, intelligence, macrohistory, women's studies, art history, deep economics, ethics, medical best practice, communications theory, and more. Today's research challenges are so complex it takes many minds to find viable solutions. We urgently need new options for collective participatory wisdom. SAGI is one such option -- may we commend it to you.

VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY: The transdiciplinary Science-Artificers Guild, Int'l (SAGI) is a glocalized association for artists, scientists, engineers, artificers, mentors, healers and others interested in work that crosses the artificial boundaries separating contemporary arts and sciences as well as the divide that separates thinking and doing. Together, we form a Virtual University or Subversity of Scholar-Practitioners.

SCI-ART FUSION: We feature illustrated articles written by artists and scientists about their own work as well as articles by historians, theoreticians, philosophers and other researchers that are particularly concerned with issues related to the interaction of the arts, sciences and technology in contemporary society and their contribution to a positive creative and sustainable future society for our grandchildren.

Negentropic Futures: In today’s complex and turbulent world it is vital to have artful futurists who can collaborate on collective projects, focus on action codified in exemplar projects and validate actions towards a better world. Unfortunately current ‘education’ systems focus almost exclusively on the individual learner and have separated the learner from the praxis of the lived life. Furthermore classrooms separate the learner from design, production and integration of learning into community life.

Future Perfect Tense: SAGI argues that overcoming this separation of thinking and doing is one of the key challenges for modernity and in futures in particular. We applaud wider application of "Intern" programs, learning while doing. We encourage mentoring at every scale in every niche opportunity. Ideas at the leading edge of culture cannot, by their very nature, be adequately reviewed by conventional peer review processes. There is simply no one there capable of graspng the concepts adequately. But those who can, DO...

Subversity: The periphery is a source of power in terms of new research directions. Smaller universities are vital in this regard. On the outer periphery are independent scholars and further in are 'pracademics' and in the inner sanctum the 'career' academics with little or no 'outside experience.' Incredible skills and enthusiasm are possessed by those effectively excluded from the conventional University system by the systems of exclusiveness and preciousness so dear to the academic profession. Universities are no longer relevant in that the public sector, banking, armed forces, large corporations etc are all downsizing. Part-time work and associated 'multiployment' is in the increase. The informal sector is booming. We encourage 'Polyphonic Multiversities.'

DEFINITIONS: We may be able to meet this challenge as ‘Artificers’ - innovative individuals who look forward wisely and solve collective problems today through applying their ingenuity with what is available. Integrating thinking, doing and being in ancient times was called Poiesis and in Medieval times ‘artificing’ and today can be seen in Action Learning and the Artificer.

Artists in Action: Many artists in this technical age are faced with perpetually learning new protocols for artistic production. Several media require elaborate production knowledge and technical skill. Much of this leading edge tech has to be self-taught, then unique applications in art may be discovered. One needs technical craft to produce digital fine art, for example. Today's artist also has to find and meet commercial and competetive goals in promotion, marketing and design.

Practicum: Blending personal and business acumen in the enterprise of your life. The four principles, as well as examples, of the Science-Artificer approach are discussed including their exemplar projects. Finally, the importance of the Artificer approach to ‘futuring’ and creating living breathing examples today of a future our children can live with is emphasised and collaboration sought. Having a product in demand now means you're dead in five years. The University system cannot solely answer 'how can we then live?' (note live not think). A system of learning needs to be practical and respond to the huge transdisciplinary and intergenerational challenges upon us such as:

Research Training: To be real you have to get out in front of the competition and indeed even the customer. Not so far that the customer is lost sight of but rather far enough to be able to explore alternative futures in which the customer may find herself in 20 yrs or so. Further the conventional academic qualification ie the PhD is in many ways inappropriate for professional students ie the 'business' of business is lateral thinking, decision making in turbulent environments, compromise, constant innovation, rapid and decreasing product development cycles, multi management etc. None of these readily fit into a conventional PhD.

A Science-Artificer or artificer learner now may be defined as:

someone who while being deeply and broadly technically skilled is reflexively orientated and who ethically and participatively explores the big picture and prioritises, chooses, designs and enacts forward wisely by creatively developing prototypes towards a world transformed. [Paul Wildman 15-12-03]

French: Bricoleur - A bricoleur is a ‘Jack of all trades or a kind of tinkerer, a professional do-it-yourself person.’ There are many kinds of bricoleurs - interpretive, narrative, theoretical, practical and political. The bricoleur produces a bricolage - that is, a pieced-together set of representations or components that are fitted to the specifics of a complex situation [closest English equivalent – tinkerer – though usually used disparagingly]

French: L’esprit Accor – is the art of blending skills, of combining traditions of the past with the modern innovation, adding the generosity, discipline, imagination and warmth which can carry our work to a higher level of excellence. L’esprit Accor then is a transforming vision of success (the closest English equivalent is – efficacious magnanimousness/morale – 20 per cent fit).

Critical Futures Praxis – here futures related praxis is used to problematise or criticalise the present.

Futuring – proactive action research to establish actual futures oriented demonstration projects today – to show that a different future is possible. This may be termed Futuring ‘acting ahead wisely’ and is called in this study Artificing commonly know as Artificering. Here reality is established through enactment that is the braiding of thinking and doing. Certainly in terms of futuring this research project suggests that a Artificer approach may be seen as one direct application or manifestation thereof.

Intentional Action Research - in this concept action research is directional and intentional in that it anticipates a change in the status quo and works from that perspective backwards

Communicative Action - Communicative Action refers to active citizen engagement in discourse-ethical dialogue with diverse others in order to develop actionable outcomes towards a better collective world.