The Graz commons with farms either side

It was a brisk, crisp walk to the Schloss Berg in Graz where the last in a series of public discussions on the commons was being held. The venue, Dom in Berg, a theatre carved out of a mountain (the Schloss Berg itself), actually in the mountain, provided an inspired setting for what turned out to be a pivotal, necessary and invaluable exchange of ideas and debate.

The focus of these discussions were towards Reclaiming the Commons - struggles, strategies, visions. David Bollier wrote about the first session, which I had regrettably missed, but captured the tone of it through David's article. The panel was comprised of farmer and winner of the Right Livelihood Award 2007 Percy Schmeiser (CA); leader of Creative Commons Brazil, author and professor of law, Ronaldo Lemo (BR); author and Commons expert, David Bollier (US); founder of the Free Knowledge Network, Petra Buhr (DE); Commons activist and blogger Silke Helfrich (DE); political scientist and economist Massimo De Angelis (UK); and, Stefan Meretz (DE), who studies the political economy of the free software movement.

The following is based on notes I had taken during the discussions and as such, are not indicative of the depth and extent of the forum that took place. At the outset of the discussion, the moderator Silke Helfrich and David Bollier, keynote presenter, it set out two primary objectives, 1) Reclaiming the commons, 2) Building the commons.

(more...)

It was 1997 when I made my first visit to Austria during which time I was the house guest of Monika Jouvert (formally known by her family name as Wunderer) and her flat mates. Their apartment housed a large community of Smurf's who would leave messages for their human companions, often busy in the very early morning hours with chores, preparing the kitchen, for instance, for the days labour.

This is a a short film about one such Smurf, inspired by my own travels, who decided to venture out into the world with the support of his friends, his entire community and their elders. The Travelling Smurf documents his journey from Vienna to Camden Markets in London where he spent much of his time catching up with some old friends of mine.

The Travelling Smurf from andrew garton on Vimeo.

For Monica and the Mariahilfe strasse Crew of 1997!

Shot entirely on location in Vienna and London in 1997 on a Casio digital camera, 320 x 240 resolution.

A "Na ja, es ghet" Production!

It gets dark here around 4pm so by 5 one can be easily confused if you've been in doors too long. It could be 10 and as cold as any night can be in central Europe.

The city is lit up for Christmas and I love it... It is cheerful, inviting and the commerce is no where near as crass as it could be.

Tourists, mostly Italians and Russians, flock to the city centre this time of year to sample the hot gluwhine and folk-art stalls that are in abundance. during the day light hours Russians buy up clothes, often Chinese made labels, which tend to be a kind of Ikea for fashion.

I watched the reflections of Christmas street lighting in shop windows and the against architraves of churches. decorative projections added a wash of colour to buildings otherwise sombre in their evening stone Gothic. trams drew all ends of the city together, from across the Mur to where I stood, listening to church bells sound on the hour.

And it was at some such a quadrant, amidst old stone, the sound of an accordion nearby, that I was reminded of Prague, May 1994, and the urgency of those times when I wrote God's Tear's Europa and Gone to Stone.

Here's a performance of God's Tear's Europa from my first of the several Fierce Throat choirs I would put together in the years since Trance Plant... The Brisbane Power House never looked so good.

God's Tears Europa from andrew garton on Vimeo.