Sprint/2023/Notes Marieke

'''What would a cultural project look like in Timelab in the year 2046 (one year after the contract for the building) ''' what will people know and remember about this place?

Summercamp 2046!

This format is a format we use in Timelab already for more that 30 years. We bring designers and artists together from all kind of diciplines and collaborate on a shared project. We have another 3 more years of our current subsidy, and even though the space is not ours anymore, we agreed with the owner that we could stay until we found another space. The downstairs is now used by the private owner and Timelab only has the upstairs. But that is no problem. The whole society is mainly working digitally, in this summercamp we don't use computers but get together physical. the weather is great, and we explore the neigbourhood. it looks like Timelab is getting more and more back to what is was in the past, a more event based organisation with one festival every 2 years. Now this is the case with our summercamps and other activities. We don't need the space all the time, but created a community around it that values being together and sharing spaces / infrastructure / to reach things you cannot do alone. for example the project started 20 years ago with the water sharing idea of the big roof we have. Now there is a central installation, and the concept is very well known. it is an example in the city of how neigbourhoods can collaborate to maximise opportunities and enforce each other.

general language is english, and that is no discussion, where we faced in the early years to make everything in Dutch and had old ladys walking by that it is not oké to forget about our own language, nowadays it is common to talk in a language most of us speak quite fluently, also a lot of the elderly.

we look back at posters from the past, every year had a poster, and we can see them hanging at the wall. Pictures are somewhere in the database, but most commonly we have a look at the website, who has some pictures over the years and a glimps to the past.

the end results of most summercamps were not really magical, some of them are in a box, but most of them got lost over time or the people took them with them. some of us remember the last 5 or 10 summercamps, only a few the ones before that. but so what? bringing people together and design around a specific theme always works, you get inspired, get possiblilities and play!

'''/ ex Andrew (remember a project) ''' I see an long table with a press that is a little bit rusty. and a big and heavy mold. A table full of tools, but no other people.

(when I look up) Other people being involved in this project, knowledge hanging, hard to catch. online chaos, memory.

(when I look down) I see the floor and remember the electricity saying BOOM. and harvesting the knotweed.

(what am I doing) Activating people to contribue to this project, explaining and understanding the heart of Knotfactory to others and to clear up the chaos (more than develop new things). sometimes feel like it would be good to have more time to develop, but the energy gets stuck in organising

(what is this action look like) thinking together with someone else what could be the next step. for example: call people; make a plan of how to develop / test new recipes

(imagine your body in this place) different parts are there, other parts are at my desk upstairs. the hands are at the testing unit, trying out new recipes.

(noise / sound?) grinding sound, annoying audio with a lot of interference. people coming by asking about this project, branches are braking (the sound)

(smells) the bone glue heating up, leaving a very bad smell, spreading in the air. stuck in the material

(touch) the installation gets dirty, we leave stuff everywhere, the table is full with grains, small and big parts; the glue sticks on your hands. you feel the different plates with different textures.

(surprises encountered?) the heat press worked. no explosion. but the other way around. needed a fix.

(leaving - how do you close of this memory) the project is not over but i handed in the final subsidy, now it is waiting there for new energy. getting dusty. needs a clean up. maybe that is a good closure, this is the problem with ongoing projects.