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Steps towards dancing solo

Habitually coupled with the preposition from, dissent is often dened by thething against which it takes a stand or strives to dier. It is brought into existenceby the very terms that it wishes to dispute or challenge, constituted by the logicof the same system that it simultaneously seeks to resist. Based on a practiceof alterity or of being otherwise, dissent sets itself in willful opposition to thesentiment or conventions of the majority opinion, the ascendant order. In doingso perhaps, it inherently plays into the sticky trap of binary relations wheretwo partners are coaxed into the hold of a slow-playing conceptual waltz whereone term will always lead and the other follow. Each creates the momentumthat keeps the other in play, the awkward choreography of an uneasy dance

pair forever bound to and yet repelled by one another. Parallel energies pullingin opposite directions create the dynamic of rotation or revolution; the closecoupling of two systems transferring force from one to the other and back again.e relationship between dissent and its oppressive antithesis is often symbiotic.Each is propelled by the power of their opponents resistance or reaction; everynew manoeuvre conceived in tentative anticipation of the others next step. Inorder then, for dissent to truly refuse the terms of the system in which it ndsitself ensnared and encoded, it must devise new rules a new choreography orform ofautopoiesis specically for the purpose of going it alone, for breakingestablished pattern or protocol, for dancing solo.

The Yes of

the No!

First

Borrowingallowsfortryingsomethingoutwithouttheresponsibilityofevertrulyowningit,northeriskofbeingownedbyit.Dissidentmodesofbeingorbehaviorappearinsensibleorscrambledtodominantchannelsofcommunication,whichwillalwaysoperateonadierentwavelength.Covertbandwidths

thepsychic,thevirtual,thenocturnalorsubterraneanrequireadierentkindofreception,requiretuningtoamorenuancedkeyortimbre.Non-standardor(seemingly)abnormalfrequenciesofexistenceoftenfalloutofrangeandcannotbesoeasilytraced.

atwhichisperceivedaspowerlessthusbecomesablindspotinvisible,exemptedorignored.Impotencyemergesasamodeofstealth.

AmIbothered?DissentderivesitsetymologicaloriginsfromtheLatinsentire:tofeelorhear,toexperiencethroughthesenses.However,itisthenegationorreversaloftheverb,astateofnotfeeling,ofresistingsentiment,offailingtobemoved.Yet,todeferreactioncanaugmentonescapacitytotrulyactorbeaective,foractionwaversatthemercyoftheemotions,atsensationsbeckandcall.Reactionisonlyeveractioninresponse,moreoftenaforceofhabit.Lackofresponsivenessisnotfortheapatheticoridlethough,foritisfareasierto giveintodistraction,toloseonesfocusand

fallbackintoline.Tonotcare(whatothersthink)thwartstheopinionofthecrowdortheconsensus,bydemonstratingthatyoucouldntcareless,thatyoudonotgiveadamn.Practicedindierenceisasunswervingasanasceticsabstinence,requiringthemeditativewithdrawalofonesinterestawayfromworldlypressuresandexpectations,towardsaneutralstate.eteenagerthusbecomesthesiteofagerminalpolitics.eirrefusaltobebotheredisthedeclarationofanemergentindependency,anattempttoseparatethemselvesfromtheirsurroundings,toprefernottobeoverlytroubledoraectedbythem.Adolescenceisalwaysunmotivated,lackinganyrealdirectionorpurpose.Ithasyettosuccumbtoroutineorsettleintoidentiablerhythms.Here,thebodyisexperiencedasanawkwardandunpredictableassemblagethatjerksandstutters;thatisstillundecidedonwhichshapeitshouldtake.Habitsareadoptedbrieyandlovedintenselybeforetheybecomeboringandareabandonedwithhastealiationsbloomforthedurationofaday.

WithoutrhymeorreasonUtilityisthelawofuse,whichmeasuresindividualthingsbytheircapacityforserviceoremployment;settingtheirvalueorworthagainsthowecientlytheygetthejobdone.Here,nothingiswithoutgoodreason;everythingiswhereitshouldbe,asyouwouldexpect.

Ergonomicsmaximizeecacythroughthetbetweenformandfunction,betweenworkersandtheirplaceofwork.Performanceisoptimizedthroughchoicedesign,greaterspeedsyieldedtothemorestreamlinedcut.Whilstutilitydetermineshowsomethingwillbeused,alackofspecicpurposeopensupthepossibilityofunexpectedinteractions,ofpolyvalence.Actionsappearisolatedanddisinvestedofdirectionorbecomerepeatedsenselesslyuntilmeaningisevacuatedormadeabsurd.Tolackpurposeistorefusetobehaveaccordingtodominantteleologicalorgoal-orientedexpectations,toremainunmotivatedandwithoutclearaim.Purposelessnessmeanderserrantlyagainstthelogicofthemostdirectpath,takingfurtherdetoursratherthancuttingcorners.Uselessnessisactivityliberatedfromitsservitude;orelsetheexpectantstateofpromiseorpotentialitybeforepurposehasbeenfullydeclared,beforeauseorfunctionhasbeendened.

Bideyourtime (S)hewhohesitatesislostaccordingtothelogic

ofswiftanddenitiveaction,seeminglyunableorunwillingtomakeamove.However,todallyordawdleistotakeonestime(back).Failuretorespondinstinctivelyordirectlyleavesthinkingspaceforimaginingunexpectedlinesofaction,forinitiatinganewtrajectoryofeventsratherthansimplyreactingtoorrepeatingtheold.Hesitationwaitsforthepropitiousmoment;areectiveintervalwithinwhichtoconceivealesspredictableorpredeterminedfuture.Toencourageadelaybetweenstimulusandresponsedisruptsthelogicofcauseandeect,shiftingattentionawayfromthedeliberatetowardstheprocessofdeliberation.Stallingdisturbsrhythmandunsettlesfamiliarpatternscreatingthespacingofamissedbeat,anaectivegaporvacuumintowhichsomethingelsemightbeconjuredtollthevoid.Momentsofstillnessandslownessofcreativenon-productionortheeventofdoingnothingbreakorrupturethesmoothowofhabitualroutine,momentarilyilluminatingopeningsandssureswithinwhichtoimaginethingsotherthanwhattheyare.

Twelfth

Eleventh

Tenth

GoingoverboardTojumpshipatteststoalossoffaith,tothehopelessrecognitionthatthereisnothingelsethatcanbedone.Yet,thereareotherwaysofbreakingrankbyremainingonboard.Anyunevendistributionofweightoractionwillinevitablyunsettletheequilibrium.

ehorizontalorder(ofleftandright)canbesupplementedbyaverticallogic(theprinciplesofmoreorless,ofdecitandexcess).Expectationcanbedisappointedthroughthepracticeofineciency,ofdeliberatelyfailingorsomehowfallingshort.Itcanalsobeexceeded,surprised.Dissidenceadverselyplaysoutunderthecoverofover-eagerness.Enthusiasmcanbecometoomuchofagoodthingwhenitisover-excitedandalittlelawlesslikethesugar-rushofahyperactivechild.

BeingintwomindsDissidentpracticesseemdiculttoreason(with)fortheyarepronetoswitchtack;theyappeartobelackingdetermination,keepingformlessormercurial.eirsisabipolarlogicthatoscillatesbetweenopposingpositionsinordertoavoidbecomingxed,immobilized.Asceticismisswiftlyfollowedbyconviviality;gravitasbylevity,insensitivitywithcare.Willingnessexhibitswaveringcommitmentcomesoverwilly-nilly.Utilityisconceivedtohavenopurpose;theactofnottakingsomething seriouslyisperformedwithcertainsobriety,

critiqueturnsfromnegationtowardsarmationtowardstheyesoftheno.Contradictioncansignalthedesiretokeeponesoptionsopen,forthingstoremainstillunresolved.Inconsistencybecomesamethodthenforresistingorrejectingconsistencyasthedesirableparadigm,atacticforpreventingcomplexhumanexperiencesfrombecomingreducedtoasingleorstableposition,frombeingsimplied.Bysimultaneouslybeingbothandneither,inconsistencyrevealstheinadequacyorfallacyofexistingsystemsofclassication.Itdescribestherestlessstateofbeingcriticaloforfrustratedwiththeexistingoptions,whilstrelentlesslysearchingforanotherwaytodescribetheconditionofbeinghuman.

Ninth

Thirteen

thHopespringseternalDissentisnotsomuchresistantthenasforeverhopeful,aprospectivepracticethatis

alwayssearchingfornewwaystorupturetheconditionsofthepresentinitscommitmenttothepossibilityofsomethingdierentanotherfuture.Dissentishavingabelieforfaithinthecapacityofthingstobeotherwise.Itisaquestofanirresolvablekindhowever,foreverynewsituationbringswithitaneworderofnormalityandconvention.Assuch,dissentremainsanongoingendeavourthatrequirescontinualattentionandrejuvenation,acriticalfollowingfromwithineverynewgenerationwhorefusetoseetheworldandtheirplacewithinitasxedanddetermined,asunchangingorunchangeable.

EmmaCocker,2009

Fou

rteenth

Fifteenth

OptinginDissentplaysgamesbutrefusestoplaythegame;itquestionsormisusesthelogicofthedominantsystemwhilstdecliningtoleaveitsframe.Toplaylifelikeagameistoacceptitsrulesforthepleasureofexploitingtheirloopholes,aspointsofcriticalpressureorleverageagainstwhichtowork.

Ratherthanbeingsurrenderedtowithpassiveandacquiescentobedience,therulesofagameshouldbeapproachedconsciouslybyonesownvolition,modiedordismantledoncetheybegintostieactionornolongeroerprovocation.Toplaylifeaccordingtoadierentsetofrulesinvolvesteachingnewrecruitsthetricks,forallgamesrequiretheirplayers,newinitiateswillingtoyieldtothedelightofplaysdarkerarts.Dissentisplayedoutthroughtheforceofcollectiveaction,thwartingthedisempoweringandatomizingeectsofindividualizationtheoppressiveregimeofdivideandrule.Groupformationsalignspontaneouslyintounstructuredcommunities,thelogicofshoalingreplacingthatoftheschool.Synchronicitiesformthroughanityratherthanconformity,eachnewmovedeterminedbythedirectionofthecollectivethatisitsownleader.

Summer of Dissent brought together a range of practitioners seeking to dismantleand reassemble cultural norms through collective action and singular acts of sedition.e events invited participants to reect on concerns around physical and psychologicalsurvival and to question current geo-political structures.

The Yes of the No! essay is the result of the Summer of Dissent writer-in-residenceEmma Cockers interaction with the programme.e text provides a framework andoverview of the themes, concerns and issues raised by the Summer of Dissent and itsparticipants.

Each Summer of Dissent artist has produced an A4 document expressing an aspect oftheir event.ese documents can be downloaded from the Plan 9 website.

We would like to thank all the participants for shaping and producing the Summer ofDissent.

Karen Di Franco + Sophie MellorSeptember 2009

Summer of Dissent took place during July and August 2009 in and around Plan 9,Bristol and was initiated by Karen Di Franco and Sophie Mellor.

Publication design by Sophie Dutton (folder) and Summer of Dissent artists (A4 sheets).

Commissioned text by Emma Cocker.Commissionedy poster by Laura Oldeld Ford.

www.plan9.org.uk

Summer of

Dissent

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Girl Gang

Ali Jones

James Kennard

Laura Oldfield Ford

industrial union of psychic workers

Tom Watson

Rebecca Weeks

If everything has been done, thenwhat is left?

Revolution may never be exhausted but neitherdoes it reach an end, for it is an impossiblepursuit like that of the tireless dog chasingits own tail, like Sisyphus with his rock.edownfall of one form of oppression bringsanother in its wake; one tyranny collapses asanother burgeons. Dissenting tactics are swiftlyabsorbed and redeployed as strategies of controland order; insurgent methods scrutinized andmirrored back, manifold. Progression does notnecessarily bring about change, simply new waysof keeping things the same. However, progressiveregimes are always predicated on the illusion ofmoving forward, leaving the old ways behindby declaring them useless or pass. Here then,dissent might mean to refuse to keep pace, ratherto turn away towards what is and has been left.is reveals a latent politics, which by wayof opposing the right harnesses the energyof the lefts wrongness, its untimeliness.isis the politics of the wasted and ignored; theoverlooked, obscure or obsolete; the peripheralor illicit; all that has been cast aside, discardedand forgotten. Leftovers. Goods surplus torequirement or deemed unt for purpose, havingfallen foul by the wayside. Abandoned practices.Outmoded technologies. Redundant skills. Herethough, the rejected or unwanted is resilient likethe wily knotweed or the uninvited admirer whorefuses to move on or go away. e left is out oforder, out of line, out of sight. It is to be out oftime, step or sync with the dominant societaldrive onward, ever upward it is to operateanticlockwise. If ri ght is to tighten, then left isto loosen it is a politics of undoing, of allowingthings to unravel. Left is also a lovers language,

being closest to the heart.

Prepare for the unexpectedReadiness is the state of being at the cusp ofaction, mind and body poised, awaiting signal.To be prepared is to anticipate the unforeseenfuture. Unknown situations, however, demanda speculative approach for you can never bewholly sure what to expect, what skills will berequired. Yet, certain practices can be rehearseddaily: using your eyes; creating secret signs;receptiveness; reading maps; judging heights anddistances; simple doctoring; stalking; learningto hide; plant identication, dierentiatingprovisions from poisons; imagination; freespeech; making re; building bridges; early rising;whistling; wood whittling; weather wisdom,nding the North. Practice does not makeperfect, rather a precarious capacity with no goal

Becoming the causeRather than taking up a specic cause orposition against something else, dissent hasthe capacity to be constitutive (causal in and ofitself), a critical and creative practice undertakentowards the production of new or unexpectedways of being in the world. Here, a shift occursfrom being mobilized by external forces towardsself-mobilization, towards causing oneselftoact. Dissent is a form of protestation againstnormative or hegemonic ideologies (whateverthey might be), the desire to break or escapefrom the pernicious stranglehold of conformityand expectation. It is the rejection of prescribedand accepted cartographies of subjectivity infavour of a perpetual daily and life-long quest for new modes of creative inhabitationnot yet fully mapped out or declared known.Dissension necessarily involves some degree ofcontrariness founded, as it is, on the pr inciple

of not concurring or agreeing with the authorityof dominant modes of naming and knowing.It makes no sense then to try to make sense ofa practice hell bent on thwarting the logic ofconsensus, the homogenous accord of multiplevoices tethered to the tenor of a single note oropinion. It would be at odds with the idea ofdissent itself to pin down individual moments ofrebellion or sedition within a broader genealogy(political, theoretical or otherwise). Dissentresists such familiar strategies of organizationand classication, for it perceives in them anascent orthodoxy. Looking for other ways toinhabit the system without being capturedor constrained by it requires that a givenlanguage or set of rules are no longer used tohold things in place, but rather become workeduntil malleable, bent back or folded to revealother possibilities therein.

Fifth

otherthantobecontinuallypracticed.Repetitionofasingularactioncreatesthinkingspaceinwhichtocontemplatestrategylearninghowtoaimanarrowstraightistocomprehendthevertiginousdynamicofalineofight,toconceptualizeanescaperoute.Topreparefortheunexpectedhasa

dualfunction:itisthegestureofgettingoneselfready(foranything)butalsoofscarifyingtheground,creatinggerminalconditionsinwhichsomethingunanticipatedmightarise.Emergencyisbothastateofcrisisandtheeventofemergence,thebrinkofthenew.Dissentdesirestobreakwithordefyexpectationbywillingintoexistencetheunexpectedorsomethingunlikewhathascomebeforetheeruptionofaformofthinkingorbeingdierently.

Makedoenewordierentisnotsomethingtopassivelyanticipatelikenextseasonsshoes,betteritbeconjuredfromtheconditionsofthepresent,fromwhatisalreadyhereandnow.Surrenderingtoonescircumstancesdoesnotmeantogiveintotheinevitablebutrathertoyieldtothepossibilitiesofwhateachspecicsituationbringslearningtoberesourcefulwithwhatistohand.Reinventionisthepracticeofbreakingdownthefamiliarintoamoltenstateinordertodivertitsow,ofaectingachangeinperception.Neweconomiesemergebasedonalternativeprinciples

ofasymmetricalexchangetheftandpiracy,giftgivinganddonation,theartoflosingonethingandndingsomethingelse.Lendingshouldbetreatedwithsomecautionhowever,forwhilstitsuggestsgenerosityitoftenexpectsmorebackinreturn.Tomakedoisnottomanagewithlessnorhopeformore,ratheracalltowardsalifeofcreativeactionoverdutifulconsumptionaninstructiontobeginmakinganddoing.

KnowyourlimitsLimitsmarktheedgesofwhatisdeemedacceptableorpermissible,whatcanbedoneorseenorsaid.eydierentiatetheknownfromwhatremainsunchartered;distinguishthesanctionedfromtheimproperortaboo.Limitsdeterminecapacityhowmuchsomethingcantoleratebeforeitbeginstobreak,thedegreeofpressurethatitcanwithstand.emostinsidiousarealwaysself-imposedorvoluntary,thosethathavebeennurturedlovinglyinthedarkoveryears.However,limits(socialorspatial)arerarelystakedoutwithanyrealclarity.Linesonamapareofteninvisibleatgroundlevel, psychologicallimitsrevealedonlyoncetheyhave

beenbreachedorpushedtoofar.Toknowyour

Sixth

Fourth

Third

limitsdoesnotmeantodutifullyremainwithintheirboundsbutratherlikethepoacherorpioneertodeveloptheborderknowledgethatwillallowthelimittobenegotiateddierentlyorrenderedporous,tolearnwheretheboundariesareandbemindfulofhowtofacilitatetheir

crossing.

EmbodyknowledgeKnowledgeisanoppressivetoolofpoweronceitisinvestedin,likelumpsofgold.Yetwayscanbefoundtoavoiditsformsfrombecomingbankable,transferable.Knowledgecanbeconcealedtacitlywithinthebodyandsmuggledacrossborders.Havingcondenceinsomethingisamatteroffaith,oftrust.Memorizationistheburningofanideaintotheheadandheart.Expertandamateurareboundbytheirlove,forbothobsessivelysurrendertheirattentiontoasinglepassion.Unlikelydissenters,bothresisttheliquidtermsbywhichtheyareincreasinglyexpectedtoconform.Onerejectsprofessionalism,whilsttheotherisalittletoohonedandfocused,acutelyspecic.Localizedknowledgefailstoadaptormodifyitselfobedientlytothesocietaldemandforglobalformsofgenericandmalleable(non)skill,ratheritstrivestoretainitsawkwardspecicity,itsstrangeandimpenetrabledialect.Ideasbecomelocatedatthengertipsoralongonestastebuds. Fleshrefusestobemadedispensable,togive

upitssecretseasily.Otherformsofknowledgearewillfullyscatteredordispersedthroughacommunity,wherevariousindividualsareentrustedaskeepersorprotectorsofacarefullychosenfragment,asinglecoordinateonalivingmap.Suchstrategiesrefusetodivulgetheextentoftheirknowledge,butratheronlyeverindicatetowardsthecollectivepotential.

FallbeneaththeradarPinningyouragtothemastisthesurestwayofbeingseen,ofannouncingyourlocation.Dissentisthusalwaysunspectacular;failstoputonashow.Visiblelinesofstrategyareequallydiscernibletofriendandfoe;aninsurgentssourcesshouldthereforeneverberevealed.Failuretoprovideadequatereferencesordocumentationisawayofinformationorapersonbeingtakenoutofauthorizedcirculation,ofbeingrenderedunveriable,insubstantial,evenalittlesuspect.Dislocatedorliminalstatesofbeingoerasenseofbothliberationandloss,wherenothingcanbetakenforgrantedandwhereeverythingisupforgrabs.Dierentpersonae

mightbeadoptedasameansofsubterfugeorfortestingthepotentialofanothersstyleoflife.

Seventh

Eighth

Summer of dissent

Alialani

David Berridge & Hyun Jin Cho

Kayle Brandon & Heath Bunting

Emma Cocker

Rod Dickinson & Class Wargames

Barb Drummond

Rosie Farrell

Chris Fordwoh

www.plan9.org.uk