Our Changing World - Part 1/3

This is the first of 3 articles - one about the entertainment industry, one about digital fabrication and hacking, and one about meaningfulness. Each of these has to do with the mother of invention, necessity, and how our world is rapidly changing, and what's happening in these spaces, which you may or may not know about.

This first article is about the entertainment industry and artists. If you are thinking: "I'm a CEO/developer/designer/xyz at an innovative technology company, this is not for me!" then hang on just a second. This applies to you. The very meaning of "pivot" is defined here. If you want to see innovation happen in minutes rather than months, this is it. (And don't worry, all images are family friendly).

The next two articles will delve into the other domains I work within, namely digital fabrication and hacking/making and the innovations happening here (3d printed valves in Italy, ventilators being made by makers), and Designing for Meaningfulness, my area of interest and expertise, where we'll look at how people right now are changing how they live and relate to others, and how technology is facilitating that.

For me, I'm worried. My immediate family lives in Canada, Australia, and Denmark. But I'm also fascinated and hopeful about the future, the outcome of all this, what happens after COVID-19. These articles are dedicated to the hope, the beauty of people and their kindness, and how passion for invention is at a high right now, and what we can learn from it.

I work in tech, developing new smart products, and specialize in design thinking and design strategy. I am also an artist and event producer. Some of you may know that I have for 10 years been producing and eventually running the Copenhagen Burlesque Club (Grotesque Burlesque). This is a place where artists, performers, and incredible people create an amazing universe together. Furthermore, I've been an artist at illutron, the Collaborative Interactive Arts Studio. Therefore, I'm involved in a number of artist communities and in the past few days I've seen people rise to the occasion in an incredible way. Artists and performers have literally pivoted - as the meaning was originally intended, turning on the spot and trying something new. Their performances, classes, and appearances have been cancelled. They are literally without a way to make money and while these may seem opportunistic, like profiting off the problems the world is experiencing right now, consider that all are self-employed and suddenly facing literally no paycheque next week. They are doing what I preach, rapid prototyping with what they have in front of them and I couldn't be prouder. I'm going to jump right in, and before I start, let's just have a moment and say: Thank goodness (and Tim Berners-Lee) for the internet!

Let's start in Denmark, because that is where I'm sitting right now.

Tinus (www.tinus.dk) is the premiere drag queen in Denmark. He's the face of Dior Backstage - yes, that Dior, and has perfected couture costumes, flawless makeup and incredible performances. His immediate response to Danes being told to stay home, was on Thursday (one day after the announcement by the government) to begin transforming his home into an Facebook/Instagram theatre. He's bringing the world "Cabaret Corona" an hour long show, coming this Saturday night as a live stream where you can pay via Mobile Pay (our Venmo) under a "good conscience model" - pay what you will. Join the event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1058690097842106/

T?inus on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_tinus/

Cecilia Gosilla is Denmark's sword-swallowing sweetheart. Tattooed head-to-toe, she looks fierce, but couldn't be kinder, and is an incredible performer, swallowing swords, playing with fire, and generally, terrifying audiences whilst entertaining them. As all her gigs are cancelled, she's now selling photos of herself, something she's never tried before, for a reasonable price of 120dkk to bring in some money. And, with her heart of gold, she's taking 20dkk from each purchase and donating it to the homeless organization, HusForbi, as they normally sell newspapers on the streets and cannot do that in these times. She tried Shopify but it just wouldn't work, so she decided not to waste time and went old-school, so you can buy her posters by contacting her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ceciliagosilla/

Cecilia on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ceciliagosilla/

Sweet Burlesque, a burlesque dance school in Copenhagen, is offering video tutorials to replace their normal classes, where they have up to six classes each day for their 300 students. Students in the classes are close and there's a very family-atmosphere, so the students have come together in a private Facebook group where they exchange tips and tricks, and chat about burlesque, and life. Sweet Burlesque on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sweetbur/

Low-Fi, a start-up in Denmark who has a platform for musicians to offer home-based concerts, has now announced Low-Fit Online, a 'digital stage' where musicians can offer live-streamed concerts to ensure their income in these times. Low-Fi explains "These concerts will be freely available to watch on the Low-Fi Facebook page, but we ask you to support the musicians and us by buying a ticket. You can buy as many tickets as you wish." https://lowficoncerts.com/

Interlude time - okay, so far, we have three types of different solutions - live feeds by donation, posters for sale, and online tutorials. Remember that each of these was initiated within hours of the government's announcement that we must stay home. Let's look to some others with similar stories, or variations, and remember, each of these took the initiative to jump in, and try something out, relying on social media, their fans and collaborators, and the magic of the internet to help them through this time:

Dottie Dynamo, aka Fitshowgrrl on Instagram, figured out pretty quickly that her days dancing, teaching and bartending were over for now, and immediately began offering an affording ($7USD) subscription service to fitness classes streaming online. Her tagline is "I help womxn leading unconventional lives take charge of their health & wellness." and she stays true to this, offering the fitness classes for free to sex workers and gig economy workers. Her Instagram is here, with a link to her subscription: https://www.instagram.com/fitshowgrrl/

21st Century Burlesque made a post on their Instagram bringing the community together, by asking everyone to post their Patreon, service or online stores so everyone get a chance to be seen and supported. They've created a master list, here: https://21stcenturyburlesque.com/burlesque-coronavirus-support-list-services/

Many are offering free classes, and not just within burlesque, but also science, *many* within fitness, and therapists and counsellors are offering free sessions for those in quarantine, or anyone affected by this time.

I'll stop here for now - there are plenty more examples but I want to highlight a few things:

• Many of these people are not tech gurus. They use the mediums in front of them and like Cecilia, if it doesn't work, adapts on the spot and starts using something new.
• They have looked to what is available NOW. They are not making a strategy, planning and discussing things, they are acting. Maybe this only works when you're a one-man-band and can run very lean, but maybe it's something large firms can learn a little something from. What can you do today, to try something new? Many of you have, jumped immediately on to Zoom, or Google Hangouts, or Slack and had to ask your employees to take a leap of faith and work from home. Take a moment to a)congratulate yourself, b)reflect on the learnings and c)continue to stride forwards, you're doing great! I'm actually really impressed by how many companies have jumped off the deep end into remote work. It's inspiring. Ask, what else can you try, now that you are in this unique opportunity? Maybe someone in your company has an idea for generating revenue in these tough times that seems crazy but as we've seen above, might just work. Ask around.
• As the world is in turmoil, many of these artists are leaning on each other, helping one another, and donating their time for free - classes for all to inspire, and keep people active, or donating their income, or making their services available on a sliding scale for those who need that.

We've moved online. We're getting comfortable in our homes, establishing new routines, and finding new ways of communicating and living. We might imagine a society where going out and eating with friends is replaced by dinner and Google Hangouts with friends around the globe. We might imagine that we order our clothes, supplies, groceries and take out online and have it delivered. We might imagine that instead of going to a theatre, or a concert, or the ballet or a movie, we instead tune into to live stream shows by donation. We might imagine that instead of going to the opera, we open our windows and doors and listen to our neighbours sing beautiful Italian operas. We might imagine these things in the future, or we might be experiencing them, right now sa the world is changing in front of our eyes.

Article 2: Digital Fabrication & Hacking/Making

Article 3: Meaningfulness today

Tomorrow, we will dive into digital fabrication and hacking/making, and what's happening in that world. A 180 degree turn from burlesque, and still the same theme, with a bit more focus on invention. Hope to see you here tomorrow, and as always, I truly welcome comments, questions and critique - feel free to write to me at [email protected]