Is hope a privilege? Or is hope a muscle, a practice, a ritual or a discipline? An axe, a tactic or a strategy? A distraction, a tangent, an excuse? We take an old saying and modify it to remind ourselves that; I hear futures and I forget. I see futures and I remember. I do futures and I understand. We dare to maintain because we dare to do, and when we do, we come to understanding.
Simple questions are often the best ones. We have been thinking about this one: „How dare you maintain hopeful visions in times like these?“ for over two years already and it is still productive. We know this question has no answer. But it has many responses. One of ours is: I hear futures and I forget. I see futures and I remember. I do futures and I understand. Some other responses might be found nearby. Some of these you will have yourself. Some of them will come about because people thought and acted “as if” the world was already changed. Some of the responses emerge to contradict what we thought we all knew. The questioner aimed the question at us and our work. We felt defensive for a moment, provoked, criticized. Despondency and dejection do not show a lack of intelligence. Action and hope also not. Grief, anxiety, creativity, doubt, resilience and activity are all valid reactions to the polycrisis. There is much to do. We need volition, understanding, choice and agency to deal with this volatile, uncertain, chaotic and ambiguous world.
Under the title "Just asking for a friend" we are happy to spread the question during the ARS Electronica Festival in 2024 with it’s motto Hope - who will turn the tide, wishing that the question - staged in place - will inspire part of the audience or any other participants of the festival to find responses, either by themselves, in groups or even with us.
This project emerged from audience interactions with the exhibition Dr Ruhsam: or how we learnt to love sleep in Romania and reflections within the FWF funded arts-based research project Curiouser and Curiouser Cried Alice.