OTHER/WISE

When the DesignInquiry framers conceived of OTHER/WISE last fall (and/or, for that matter, Rod and I committed to our year of appreciating the weird), we had no idea how much the goings on in American government would warp the focus. Mainly we were thinking about alternative approaches to practice, and how coming at something from a deliberately obtuse angle can uncover a different perspective, maybe a better solution. By the time I got on the plane to make my annual trek east for DesignInquiry in June, contrary was exhausted, and the concept of OTHER/WISE had shifted to a more prescient, informed, exploratory take. The wisdom in otherness. The quietude of radical practice.

Things that caught my attention on this trip were out-of-bounds, sure, but considered. Expert. Experts dealing with whatever.

And it seemed to be congruous. Everyone at and around the Inquiry this year had this fantastic unspoken commitment to making, to working with what is in front of you (what people brought to the table) and to making something real.

We didn’t talk about politics at all. But we worked our asses off. Every moment, looking sharing talking making observing calibrating. I think we really got somewhere.