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Fallen Empire.As the fire continues to cling on the roofs of a fallen empire,the charred black smoke lingers. Desperate bodies wander tofind scraps to savour and remnants to rescue. Their aged bonesare physically unable to rebuild the mythical glory they oncerelished 40 years ago. The Kingdom has crumbled. It has beenten years since the impending hit - 9/11- the event that cre-ated the first crack in the monumental symbol of wealth, pow-er and security, and where we see for the first time, fear anddoubt seeping into the human imagination. It was an Americandream, a fallen dream that was once everyone's dream that weare seeing beginning to shatter. But what is left?In the dust and ashes of the decade to follow we observe sud-den shifts in values and visions. We see the election of thefirst president of colour, an increasing awareness of globalwarming, a scaling back of industries, the rise of the glob-al south, and in 2008, a major global economic meltdown. Tenyears after the firstmeteorite in the shape of an airplanepenetrated the psyche of the masses, what can we fathom of theworld? Can we accept that dust is dust, and now, we must buildanew?The fires of the forest continue to burn as nature claims itsrightful power over humanity; the remaining debris of many hu-man civilizations that came before lie buried in the Earth.Nature prevails over man once again.

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Bond-firesWhat we see emerging from the ashes is a new consciousness and awareness of each other inthe world and in nature. We witness a new generation burning with energy, one left to undo,remake and re-imagine a world that was destroyed by the misled visions of previous genera-tions. We see an ecological turning and a movement towards traditional forms of pedagogy,craftsmanship and knowledge sharing that was lost in industrialization. But what continuesto burn now are the fires that bring us together.

Around the firewe gather, to keep warm, to provide mutual support for survival. We talk, weshare stories, we dream of the past. A new system is emerging, one that connects us by Eth-ernet, that creates a model of the human mind, and where we search for a collective vision.But there are forces trying to control it. A gripping past of former demons that haunts us.We believe and worship the spirit that brings us together, and celebrate the fires that burnwithin us.

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Fires of DesireFire is heat and burning. Fires spread. It lies dormant in hotspotswithin the Earth, waiting to re-emerge again, connected by a network ofembers. When a flame is killed, it can still grow strong again, in anoth-er time and place. Fire moves silently - warming, cooling, sparking andburning. It is a fire of desire that lies within all our hearts. It is adesire that moves between us and that links us. There are no words forthis desire that grows and burns. It is a desire that emerges and burnswhen fuelled and brought together collectively.

In a seeming apocalyptic time of immense change in a collapsed economyfor culture as conservative governments around the world demolish thewelfare state as uprisings emerge across Europe by disenchanted youthmobilized by social media resisting against high rates of unemploymentand an astronomical rise in tuition fees, how do we maintain hope? Howdo we find space for the desire beyond economic concerns and to find newsustainable models of subsistence? within a globalized community aroundthe world, there is still a desire to create, and that fire will neverdie despite any economy or government support. How can we now begin torebuild from the ashes a new world, a new vision of culture? How will itmanifest in flames? How can we begin to spark imagination of new possi-bilities and utopias and to question the structures that have crumbled?Flames spread, they grow and flare up.As a collective of individuals from a generation lost of opportunities,lost in a time of great uncertainty, altering weather patterns, economicstructural upheaval, social re-organization through digital innovationsand change. Fires of desire is a sparking and ignition of an explorationof new platforms and ideas of collective working to find and create ourown visions and possibilities in a world of dwindling finances and hopesfor the future.

Ashley Wong, 2011