Photography: Anne Helmond

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My day started at 9.30 with wandering around the different networks looking for a nice workshop that would fit me and my interests. But finding a workshop was actually harder than it would seem. Being at Winter Camp one of the last days meant that everybody was tired and needed their sleep. Many groups worked for the entire night and didn’t organize anything for the morning program. After visiting the fourth empty room I decided to wait a while and learn more about the networks in the meantime. The first thing I noticed from reading the booklet is that, even though all the networks are really different, they actually have a lot in common. At this moment it was a mere gut feeling, I had no evidence but I was desperate to find out why felt like this.

10.45, people were finally awake and active. A penetrating smell of fresh made coffee and unwashed bodies contributed to the moldy ambience, it actually smelled like the last day at a music festival. Again I started looking for some action. Most groups were in a heavy discussion about organizing their network. I tried to join them but, even though “Open” is one of the buzzwords at Winter Camp, everybody seemed more occupied by their Macs and their network peers. When I walked into several rooms I felt unwanted, they looked at me like I didn’t belong there (or was that just something I personally experienced?) and I quickly walked away. The first step is the hardest, especially when you try to interfere with such closed networks.

One of the networks, however, made an entirely different impression on me. The people of Free Dimensional, a network that comes with creative solutions for contemporary human right issues, welcomed me the moment I arrived. The tight circle they were in immediately opened up and introduced me as one of the bloggers, I actually felt welcome for the first time that day. At the table was a really mixed group of people: artists, project managers, communication experts and the technological people. The discussion had just started and was mainly about one of the nodes in their network: Res Artis. Res Artis is an organization that supports the needs of residential art centers and programs internationally through dynamic exchange of information and face-to-face meetings. Even though Res Artis was the main subject, the problem that arose was about networks and especially about network language. What language does an artist have to speak to get noticed and does it matter if someone can’t speak English at all? The most relieving answer might have been that art is a language on itself. Sadly everybody agreed that there are a lot of artists that will never be noticed as long as they stay within their own culture and use their own language. This answer might be a little bit disturbing but I was one step closer to my own goal. Every network has a language and everybody has to speak this language. For global networks, like the ones at Winter Camp, this means speaking English.

Ok, so every network uses the English language, that was not the big revelation I hoped for. So after the fD discussion I decided to step back for a while, clear up my mind and come back later when they’d discuss their presentation plans for Saturday. Again I started wandering around and tried to learn more about the other networks, that was easier said than done. Speaking the English language is one thing but understanding other people’s ideas and motivations is another. I found it really hard to get into other subject every time. In the short time I was with them, I grew attached to Free Dimensional but estranged from the other networks, maybe difficult to understand but the truth. Thus, networks are definitely more than speaking the same language only.

At 14.30 I joined the discussion of fD again. But they weren’t actually speaking about the presentation for Saturday as i thought. It was about the so-called problems between the different networks at Winter Camp. They felt like they were being talked into a conflict that didn’t really exist. Yes, there might be a difference between Dyne and fD but only concerning content. They’re both networks that are interested in relations, in bringing people together with the same ideas and believes. Every network is trying to make that happen, so a conflict is not the solution. Also, the clash between ideas creates new opportunities, so it’s not something bad it’s a problem solver actually. I was actually amazed that, from my point of view, the different networks still seemed scattered. Even after being together for more than three days now they still struggled with moving out of their own safe havens. For me this was disturbing, I felt like that the different networks could learn so much from each other but that the imaginative conflict held them back. 

But right after the discussion something weird happened and my mind was set on something completely different. One of the members of fD suffered from food poisoning and I was the one assigned to take care of him and bring him to a medical doctor. Maybe it didn’t have anything to do with networks, but I actually came to an insight. From this moment I think I got to know what a network really means. It’s not about the language, about being open, about the content or about being different. Those are just side aspects which make an individual network stronger. No, it’s about being there for each other, that’s what all the networks have in common. They all help other people to become better at what they do and make a more beautiful world. Surprisingly, something stupid like going to a medical doctor actually made me think of the people behind networks everything became clear. The conflict is indeed non-existent every single network is there to help out others, no matter what ideas or motivations they have. 

Back at Winter Camp, the end of my day there came near. After having a not so delicious meal (I hate pasta I decided to join the Bricolabs viewing. Frekuencia Kolombiana, a documentary about the Columbian hiphop scene, then confirmed my final point. Not only the makers of the film wanted to be there for the oppressed population, to make people aware of their situation. Even the oppressed population in the movie takes care of each other. They’re one big network, no I mean, we are one big network. The documentary was a beautiful metaphor for the end of this day and I no longer felt like a lost soul, I was part of the network.

At first FD began by posting orange sticky-notes to the board – each with a different theme for discussion. Twenty sticky-notes later they decided they would give a brief introduction and then split into separate discussion groups. Since fD is a multi-dimensional network, by breaking into smaller groups they could better target the parts of the Winter Camp audience that share an interest in collaborative writing, education, the use of video for storytelling etc. In line with the fD’s general philosophy, they “hope to use the power of open-space as a meeting tool.”

FD wants to make clear that they are an inclusive network – “everyone is invited: artists, writers, tech people…” On Day 4 they will ask the audience to engage and raise questions. I’m enthusiastic about this approach, for as long as the crowd is willing to interact it could be a nice dialogue. They affirmed, “any type of communication can be seen as jargon”, so rather than hide behind network jargon they’ve decided they’ll open up the discussion and ‘include everyone’.

But then freeDimensional arrived and the topic changed to a mutual interest. When looking at the focus, and organization of both networks, this meeting seemed to be quite logical, as there are numerous similarities. Both have the same amount of local nodes that are geographically wide spread, and both offer a platform for artistic as well as activist strategies. But where the focal point at Upgrade! is more on the artistic side, within freeDimensional activism takes a dominant stand, thus in difference offering each other some solid ground for knowledge sharing.

After both groups explained the merits of their organization, previous collaborations were briefly discussed. Each of the networks zoomed in on their ideas and activities and addressed each other several questions. For example, Upgrade! asked freeDimensional if approached art centers ever refused a request for collaboration because they were afraid that activist projects would stir turmoil when being to politically sensitive? As freeDimensional cooperates a lot with human rights organizations, and addresses related issues, in the past they certainly dealt with art centers that were hesitant about collaborating and fearful about political consequences.

Without reiterating the specific merits of the discussion, it’s most important to notice that both networks benefited from this ‘confrontation’ through the sharing of ideas, as well as the sharing of their practical experience. At the end of their meeting even some concrete collaborations were offered over and over, which was certainly entertaining. While the Boston node of Upgrade! offered their Turbulence.org webspace to freeDimensional for exhibiting their net-art projects, freeDimensional responded directly, offering a position for Upgrade! as an affiliation on their site.

The second part of the screening is a short campaign created by a group of young Brasilians. The campaign is one of the projects of a cultural association Casa das Caldeiras based in Saõ Paulo. The campaign starts with a statement in Portuguese; “rights for true people”. Who are true people and who have the rights? By using avatars or so-called dolls they introduce project. The avatars are placed everywhere in Saõ Paulo; in supermarkets, in someone’s house, during classes and more. The group of young people use the avatars to stand up their rights and they are screaming for attention.  

The third and last part of the screening was an installation of a visit to New Delhi. The installation is meant to be shown at galleries and museums. The New Delhi installation was made by an animal activist Shira Golding.

After all, although freeDimensional seem to be an over-idealistic network with great visions and goals to achieve, their screenings give an impression of real work. Work with concrete projects and missions accomplished. Of course, this objective impression is created by just a small account of their complete work, though their shared community value may be a strong or even their strongest force to produce sustainability for their network.