Press Release Nov./Dec. 2014. NYC.
Global Directhttp://GlobalDirect.todayArtwork by
Paolo Cirio and currently shown at DOX Prague, Palazzo del Governatore Parma and online on Turbulence.org
With the participation of Carne Ross, Daniele Archibugi, Douglas Rushkoff, Jon Lebkowsky, Ethan Zuckerman, Michel Bauwens, David Moore, among others.
The artwork Global Direct is a visionary political philosophy promoting global participatory democracy driven by information technology and the failure of current primitive political systems.
To illustrate the conceptual work the artist has drawn a series of fifteen organograms for initiating a program for global participatory democracy.
http://GlobalDirect.today/programThese creative diagrams are informed by research in contemporary and emergent forms of democracy which the artist conducted and integrates as part of the artwork. Furthermore, the artist promotes Global Direct through designing a political poster campaign to popularize its visions.
http://GlobalDirect.today/campaignAkin to a traditional political campaign, posters are disseminated throughout public walls in several cities and consistently feature the campaignâs political symbol beside each slogan. In the poster, a clear sky visually represents a bright future full of new possibilities above the clouds.
Global Direct researches in pursuit of a new advanced version of democracy, where everyone can take part in local and global governance, justice, and economy. For this new political civilization, Global Direct aims to inspire new protocols, procedures, and policies that can cope with the social complexity, crises, and speed of contemporary life. These issues are addressed in the artistâs theoretical essay.
http://GlobalDirect.today/aboutCombining multiple voices and ideas about alternative modes of advanced participatory and global democracy, the documentation on the website includes academic publications, links to organizations, and articles that influenced the creation of the project.
http://GlobalDirect.today/todayAs part of its documentary component, the artist produced over ten video statements by visionaries close to the ideas promoted by Global Direct. The collection of short video statements are available on the website, offering a compelling overview of the potentials of an ideal society.
http://GlobalDirect.today/statementsThe website also presents the artistâs research into social sciences for comparing the political structures of several countries, which are presented through many charts that diagram different governmental functions and features.
http://GlobalDirect.today/yesterdayThrough this painstaking investigation the artist was able to analyze common and specific mechanics of contemporary governance and reassemble them with new organograms drawn in order to suggest the creative political alternative proposed by the project.
The fifteen diagrams created for the project are presented via large prints as an installation for art galleries. Each print indicates a single area of governance and social structure.
http://paolocirio.net/work/global-direct/#picsThe diagrams are also presented together on the website and distributed in printed leaflets as interconnected networks of conceptual maps that influence one other in a feedback loop for a fair, self-governing global society.
http://globaldirect.today/press/GD-DIAGRAMS-PDF/0_global_direct-networked_governance.pdfThese diagrams drawn by the artists are the core of the artwork, describing the political program of Global Direct, as the ultimate utopic vision, directly inspired by the multiple perspectives found through research on prevailing political systems, theories, and alternative ideas about advanced forms of democracy.
Global Direct is a 2014 commission of New Radio and Performing Arts, Inc. in NY, U.S., for its Turbulence.org website, which is made possible with funding from the Jerome Foundation.
Global Direct has been especially supported by DOX Centre for Contemporary Art in Prague and Lunatici Cultural A.P.S Association through the Municipality of Parma, Italy.
Keywords:
Decentralization, Participation, Deliberation, Transparency, Accountability and Openness in governance, Open Source Governance, Open Data, Electronic Voting, Emergent Democracy, Online Consultation.
Thank you for the attention.
Paolo Cirio.
http://paolocirio.net