Universal Scenarios for Peace (USP)
Let us speak quietly whilst other things in the world are happening
(2016) A project by Francis Patrick Brady that took place at PLX, Extraordinary Life Center, as H. Bergdal Gallery’s curatorial contribution in Malmö, Sweden.
You are invited to discuss the production of peace, the reproducibility of peace, and the recyclability of previous scenarios for peace. Universal Scenarios for Peace is a transdisciplinary collective, a multinational office, a huddled group of mystics, a pensive collection of academics, or a church of interreligious pastors in sacred conversation.
“To Exhibit the perfect uselessness of knowing the answer to the wrong question”
The foretellers from Ursula LeGuin's ‘The Left Hand of Darkness’ form a group of mystics that are known to be able to answer any question regarding the future through a mixture of communal hunch, prognostication and channeling of natural predictive qualities of humans when gathered in groups. The group finds the answers to future events yet the process is so draining and the monetary cost so high that they are only able to answer a single question (for king or pauper) at a time. Within their society it is regarded as useless, in itself, to know the future and the foretellers real function is as a demonstration of the futility of gaining a small amount of knowledge about the future as a method for steering your own existence.
“To Exhibit the perfect uselessness of knowing the answer to the wrong question”
The foretellers from Ursula LeGuin's ‘The Left Hand of Darkness’ form a group of mystics that are known to be able to answer any question regarding the future through a mixture of communal hunch, prognostication and channeling of natural predictive qualities of humans when gathered in groups. The group finds the answers to future events yet the process is so draining and the monetary cost so high that they are only able to answer a single question (for king or pauper) at a time. Within their society it is regarded as useless, in itself, to know the future and the foretellers real function is as a demonstration of the futility of gaining a small amount of knowledge about the future as a method for steering your own existence.
Thinking the unthinkable, Heaven at last.
Inspired by previous attempts working in groups, to build alternate scenarios using past, present and future to imagine something radically new. These creative discussions often lead to cynical dystopias that exemplify the worst elements of our current situation extrapolated into the future. What happens when we begin with a concept like peace? Taking place within a semi-scripted installation, where play-tables, dice, flags, music, and fabric, ( USP ) forms three separate zones for discussion somewhere between a Greek Agora and a future casino. The performance is centered on a participatory game, which leads you into encounters and experiences involving role-play and free-form dialogue. With the help of performers, or 'Explainationeers', you become a storyteller and a radical worldbuilder; you are part of the scenario and play an integral role in the performance of peace.
Inspired by previous attempts working in groups, to build alternate scenarios using past, present and future to imagine something radically new. These creative discussions often lead to cynical dystopias that exemplify the worst elements of our current situation extrapolated into the future. What happens when we begin with a concept like peace? Taking place within a semi-scripted installation, where play-tables, dice, flags, music, and fabric, ( USP ) forms three separate zones for discussion somewhere between a Greek Agora and a future casino. The performance is centered on a participatory game, which leads you into encounters and experiences involving role-play and free-form dialogue. With the help of performers, or 'Explainationeers', you become a storyteller and a radical worldbuilder; you are part of the scenario and play an integral role in the performance of peace.
