The bird comes home to nest. Finally—after some 25 years of traveling around the globe to draw during conferences, meetings, and all kinds of formal and informal gatherings—I have a unique opportunity to exhibit a range of work here in my current town, Somerville MA. Curating highlights from my archives, the ~20 drawings, digital prints, and and video recordings will present a unique window into the art and practice of scribing.
The exhibit will be on view at the Gallery at Washington Street, 321 Washington Street Somerville, MA 02143 on Saturdays 12-4pm, or by appointment 857-928-8088.
In conjunction, local “Studio Session” workshops will offer basic frameworks and tools to those interested in learning more:
The Art of Scribing – Sunday, October 6 from 9am-12pm Learn about the “art of scribing”—a practice that visually represents ideas while people talk—and its role in transforming conversation and decision-making. Participants will explore the profession, learn 4 Levels of Scribing, and experiment with scribing conversation.
Levels of Listening – Saturday, October 12 from 9am-12pm Listening is a cornerstone of all facilitative work. This session will include a review of “Levels of Listening” (by Otto Scharmer), and apply the levels directly to scribing. Participants will practice conversing and drawing with different levels: factual, relational, and generative.
Systems Scribing – Sunday, October 13 from 9am-12pm
Here we dive into the basics of systems scribing and present a framework based on systems thinking, systems being, and systems living (as informed by this article and collaboration with Jessica Riehl). Participants will learn specific methods and techniques for recognizing basic feedback loops in conversation and for 2D modeling.
Who should participate?
These sessions are open to anyone who is interested in the “live” visual practice of scribing, with no previous experience required. Drawing will be our primary form of expression, and conversation the primary form of shared reflection. Ages 12 and older welcome. No childcare provided on site.
The gallery is a 3-minute walk from Union Square (heading towards Harvard Square on Washington Street, gallery on right), or a 20-minute walk from Harvard Square (heading on Kirkland street until it turns into Washington Street, gallery on left). It’s also near or on the following bus routes: 87, 83, 86, 91. Parking available behind the gallery, to the right of the Bornstein Rug & Floor Coverings Company.
For example: On view, a reproduction of my first intentional “systems scribing” from the World Economic Forum – Davos 2012:
From the Edx / MITx / Presencing Institute MOOC u.lab: Leading From the Emerging Future, final digital images originally scribed on 16′ long blackboard during 60-90 minute live, broadcast sessions… The most recent drawing on top was done on black paper under heavy stage lights. (For any reuse, please credit www.presencing.org – tx!)
Of note in the above drawing from September 20, 2018 are two things: 1) the upside down map, and 2) the use of raw ochre. The map… why upside down? To shift our perspective. The map only appears upside down to those of us in the northern hemisphere who are habituated to see it in another orientation… read more about it here, where I describe another drawing from the Transforming Capitalism Lab, where i first drew the map in this manner. The ochre? It is from The First Nation of Yolngu Country in Far North East Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory of Australia, gifted to me by Dwayne Mallard. In working with the ochre today, I acknowledge the Elders Past, Present and Emerging of the First Nations of Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Straits. They were certainly in the room with me, and therefore with all of us. AND, this is precisely the color gold Otto Scharmer and I have been seeking to represent on the wall for years! It finally found us. View the session here.
Life offers chance encounters with destiny. And to be clear from the start – this is not about my professional destiny, but is about the destiny of meeting others in a field of potential. As the timeless poet Rumi penned:
“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase “each other” doesn’t make any sense. The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don’t go back to sleep. You must ask for what you really want. Don’t go back to sleep. People are going back and forth across the doorsill where the two worlds touch. The door is round and open. Don’t go back to sleep.”
This perfectly echoes my own conviction leaving EuViz 2018—the annual, global conference for visual practitioners, held this year at Rungstedgaard in Denmark. Over 180 burgeoning social artists gathered in blazing summer heat to explore the bounds of our work. And this we discovered: we can’t go back to sleep.
I was honored to deliver a 3-hour keynote session on generative scribing, and my heart has been profoundly moved by what we experienced in the room together. My aim with this post is to share the session beyond the confines of a hotel ballroom, to convey the larger movement that was felt, and to keep us—a social body of practice—awake.
The birthing of an “engagement process“: July 2018 with the Presencing Institute.
The Visual Practice Workshop that preceded the conference, where we howled at the blood moon from the beach and tried to stay awake for the eclipse. About half of the group stayed on as organizers, crew, and participants of the larger gathering.
Other workshops over the past year and half that seeded the field, so that when a container needed activation at the conference, there were over 25 people ready to energetically hold the larger group to help it see itself more clearly and grow.
The MAIN PRESENTATION (commentary under each picture once you click in)
At this point, to convey the feeling of level four scribing, i played a video by Abby Johnson:
And then i continued to describe generative scribing and the role of containers:
Ripley Lin, from Taipei, had been scribing this whole time. Here is her stunning image. (Photo by Visual Facilitators)
THE EXPERIENCE
Here we shifted into the more experimental part of the session, diving into “source” and an exercise with resonance. I read a chapter from my book, everyone drew with black marker into an A3 sheet of cream colored paper. I then referred to Arthur Zajonc‘s framework of “Focused Attention” and “Open Awareness”, rang a bowl three times, and asked everyone to practice attending and opening, in succession.
Participants hung their drawings on a wall of windows, stepped back in silence, absorbed the field of energy the images generated, then returned to small groups to converse about the “after image”—any impressions, feelings, gestures that arose as a result of the absorption.
From there, we began the third part of the session and shifted into a fishbowl dialogue. Participants from five previous workshops initially seeded the center chairs, and the incredibly poised Anna Siegel anchored the circle. People rotated in and out as they felt moved to be part of the unfolding conversation. It lasted about 40 minutes, and could have gone on much longer had we not needed to break for lunch!
Oh, and i scribed that final fishbowl—in part to give a demonstration of my “live” work, and also to synthesize the conversation of the conversation, the resonance of the resonance.
Remarkably, i barely remember the content. It was an immersive exchange, and I rely on others now to help recall what was expressed. Reflective highlights from fellow practitioners:
Scribing as swimming. Not only swimming, but diving. Scribing as dancing. Art surfacing in the scribing (the kiss). Connecting to source and distilling the essence. In Finnish we say “päästä iholle” : get to the skin/ your skin/ someone’s skin. It is something to do with getting close & feeling—both as something emotional & tactile. Something to do with permission & trust. – Raquel Benmergui
Generative Scribing brings us to a place where we have an opportunity to connect with parts of ourselves and with others like never before. Which explains emotions, feelings, resistance, and shifts. I’m always surprised by what it brings up and welcome it by remembering “let come/let go”. – Heather Martinez
I felt an energy accumulate in the room and in me. Or resonate. I felt very emotional. So now the question is in my head, that Karolina Iwa expressed: “How do [we] become kung-fu jedis of and open heart & keep it open, being at the same not more protected than a shell-less snail??” – Laura Lagaaij
Let‘s put the spirit into practice – let’s cross the pond together – Ben Fellis
And notes from the dialogue, tx to Marieke van der Velden:
‘how far can we go in reflecting what wants to be seen – when clients aren’t there yet?’
‘in case you feel alone, as a scribe, trust that you are NOT. there is a sense of belonging. you are with your clients. and also: you are part of this bigger community.’
‘stop chasing. lean back and trust what happens next. what wants to be seen will unfold.’
And last but certainly not least… A VIDEO ENCAPSULATING the WHOLE DAY (by the Visual Facilitators team of Christian Rath, Tim Rath, Rico Reutimann, and Joep van der Laan).
It was a magical time. Thank you EuViz! “There is a field…”
AND…… this post would NOT be complete without mentioning the 2 other keynotes, by Martin Haussmann/Karina Antons and David Sibbet, which obviously fed the field. (Full schedule of the conference activities is here.) And and and – a HUGE shout out to the organizers, some of whom worked for years behind the scenes to pull this off: Coordinators Christina Hemmingsen and Mara Callaert; Stream Leads: Bea Broskova, Nicolas Gros, Olivier Pesret, and Sabine Soeder; MCs Karolina Iwa and Anna Siegel; Bookstore by Aušrinė Balkaitytė; Environment +++ by Mona Ebdrup; Branding and marketing by the team of Visuality; Support from the International Forum of Visual Practitioners; and crazy-generous Neuland – keeping us all with markers in hand and surfaces to drawn into.
Neulandsocial media correspondent Sandra Dirks will host me online May 16, 2018 from 12:00-1:00 EDT, as part of an “Ambassador Tour” series. During the hour, I’ll talk about Levels of Scribing and we’ll have a practice round, followed by Q&A.
Last month just outside Hangzhou, I was part of an annual “happening” that brought together over 80 burgeoning and experienced visual practitioners from all over China. I could not keep up with the high volume of social sharing on WeChat, where there were dozens and dozens of amazing videos and photos posted. But here are some of my favorites – representing the spirit of beauty, collaboration, and fun i witnessed.
Here, too, are slides from a brief presentation I gave on scribing. The intent was to set some global and historical context for the gathering and community. I expect a bit of clarification and pushback on my accuracy and interpretation of this practice! Please comment and help flesh out this picture.
Note: As of Dec 12, i have amended the file, based on Matt Taylor’s helpful reminder of prehistoric drawings. I also found an old journal from 1983, when I studied for a few weeks in the Dordogne region of France and saw some of the 15,000 year old cave paintings. Funny, my notes are all text – but it was an art program. (Download a .pdf file here)
