Democracy Workout
Flex your democratic muscles!
A strong democracy requires active citizens. So, come exercise your democracy muscles with us and follow the Democracy Workout, a fitness trail within the exhibition, throughout Design Museum Gent, and even at some locations in the city itself. The Democracy Workout is a call to action: an invitation to develop your own democratic muscles, such as listening actively, developing your own voice, negotiating compromises and engaging constructively with conflict. It is inspired by the ‘Ten Democracy Muscles’ defined by We Do Democracy, a Danish social enterprise advising on democracy and participation.
Throughout the various stops of the Workout, visitors will encounter interactive installations, many of which take the ‘Ten Democracy Muscles’ (and other new ones) as the starting point for the exercises. ‘Democracy is not something we study. It’s something we practice,’ says We Do Democracy. Let’s flex those democratic muscles, then!
Have fun, and stay democracy-fit!
Perseverance (Goddess of Democracy) - zweintopf
In 1989, only days before the Chinese military violently ended weeks of pro-democracy protests on Tiananmen Square – killing an estimated several hundred to several thousand people – art students erected a ten-metre-high statue of the Goddess of Democracy. Artist duo zweintopf has resurrected her as an inflatable sculpture connected to a pumping station.
Exercise: Train your perseverance!
Keep pumping and prove your staying power, or (the goddess of) democracy will collapse, leaving behind nothing but an empty shell.
Kiosk of Easy Answers - SCHAUM
Unfortunately, the Kiosk of Easy Answers is permanently closed. Simple answers may be available elsewhere, but rarely pass quality control.
Exercise: Embrace complexity!
Please feel free to continue to the other stops in the Democracy Workout or visit the corresponding exhibition at Design Museum Gent.
Controversy Teeter / Totter, Fitting In / Standing Out - Esra Gülmen
This piece taps into something most of us have forgotten – the particular vulnerability of the seesaw, the feeling of being at the mercy of someone heavier than yourself, the power that comes with keeping a lighter person up in the air. The seesaw asks us to yield – and to trust that our turn will come. With two ends carrying opposing concepts, the Controversy Teeter / Totter becomes a physical discussion: to hold one side up, you must let the other fall. Or find a balance.
Exercise: Find the right balance!
Invite someone to seesaw with you. Choose to remain in the position you would rather not be in. Notice carefully whether it feels right for you, and for how long. Try to do the same the next time you have a discussion.
Table of Tables - Orizzontale
Table of Tables takes the table as a starting point for thinking about public space. Modular in structure and varied in seating, it creates a flexible setting for gathering, playing, working and debating. Like public space itself, the table is multidimensional: a place of conviviality and intimacy, a workspace for sharing knowledge and a site of collective decision-making. What holds the potential for conflict is an invitation to seek common ground.
Exercise: Negotiate competing uses!
Use the table! Push it together or apart as needed. Play ping-pong, read a book, discuss the exhibitions. Consider your own needs, but also those of others. Make new friends.
G80 - Fragmentin
Can we use mathematical models to address socio-political and ecological issues such as overpopulation, energy, consumption, access to services and resources? And how are all these factors entangled with one another? The installation G80 shows 80 variables that are suspended in precarious balance. When one variable changes, all the others react, demonstrating how contemporary issues are entangled in multiple ways. The installation is a contemporary interpretation of Richard Buckminster Fuller’s World Game, a global scenario simulation game designed to achieve ‘an equitable distribution of resources’. Yet, as it turns out, this is not so easy to achieve.
Exercise: Understand interconnections!
Interact with the 80 variables and see how they affect each other.
Controversy Teeter / Totter, Asking Everyone / Listening to No One - Esra Gülmen
This piece taps into something most of us have forgotten – the particular vulnerability of the seesaw, the feeling of being at the mercy of someone heavier than yourself, the power that comes with keeping a lighter person up in the air. The seesaw asks us to yield – and to trust that our turn will come. With two ends carrying opposing concepts, the Controversy Teeter/Totter becomes a physical debate: to hold one side up, you must let the other fall. Or find a balance.
Exercise: Find the right balance!
Invite someone to seesaw with you. Choose to remain in the position you would rather not be in. Notice carefully whether it feels right for you, and for how long. Try to do the same the next time you have a discussion.
Self-As-Other-Trainings - Vivien Tauchmann
What if empathy were not just a state of mind, but an actual physical state? This choreographed training session invites participants to embody the experience of another person – not by knowing them personally, but through gestures, repetitions and movements. Guided by audiovisual storylines, the exercises make structures of oppression tangible at the scale of the human body, challenging internalised behaviours and asking whether solidarity might begin not in the mind, but in the muscles.
Exercise: Feel empathy!
Mirror the trainer’s movements and join the workout. Remember: with repeated practice, your sense of empathy may grow stronger.
Wishing You Well - AATB
How can we find the persistence to go on? The installation Wishing You Well explores hope and persistence – two qualities that will be crucial in shaping the democratic future we might wish for ourselves. A robotic arm throws a coin into a fountain, mimicking a gesture known to humankind for centuries. It repeats this action relentlessly – showing determination or foolishness – as it attempts the perfect throw.
Exercise: Practice hope and persistence!
Throw a coin and wish for the best! It is precisely this hope and confidence that we are invited to embody as we continue to live within and shape the imperfect but living democratic systems we
Faketual Reality - Paulina Zybinska
How would you react if you had to confront a deepfake of yourself? Faketual Reality uses video- and audio-controlled deepfakes to give visitors an immersive experience of facing their own alter egos. Through the uncanny experience of seeing the opposite of oneself, the installation allows visitors to gain a deeper understanding of the social and political dimensions of machine learning and privacy. While for some this technology is treated as a harmless trend, it carries clear risks, as it allows fake content to be deliberately produced and misused for global, political and personal purposes using increasingly simple means.
Exercise: Train your perception!
Step in and see how easily and quickly you can generate a deepfake of yourself. Can you identify the line between what is real and what is fake? And can those around you?
Bad News - Tilt en DROG
It’s all fake news! Or is it a more pernicious strategy of media control? In the game Bad News, you take on the role of a fake newsmonger. Drop all pretence of ethics and choose a path that builds your persona as an unscrupulous media magnate. Don’t forget to keep an eye on your followers and credibility meters! Your task is to get as many followers as you can while slowly building up fake credibility as a news site. But watch out: you lose if you tell obvious lies or disappoint your supporters!
Exercise: Understand disinformation!
Play the game and see how the mechanics of disinformation work. Have you ever been confronted with similar headlines? And can you now better identify fake news?
