The People Speak (UK)
PLANETARY PLEDGE PYRAMIDE, 2009
- Social networking service, pledge banking, live talk shows, mixed media
Using media formats people can relate to, The People Speak is dedicated to engage people in conversation in a fun and appealing way. In collaboration with Digital Aesthetics Research Center and Center for Digital Urban Living the artist collective has produced Planetary
Pledge Pyramid, a worldwide pyramid game developed to run a large-scale global discussion on the climate.
As an alternative to the representative system of COP15, the project involves the people of the planet. Through an application in facebook, players can recruit 5 friends to discuss what they can and will do for the climate. In 13 weeks Earth’s entire population will be reached! Players are encouraged to pledge 5€ to Pledge Bank, a bank dedicated to collective action by the slogan “If others are willing, I am too!” To decide what to do with all the money, ideas will be discussed in public talk shows (‘Talkaokes’) on street corners, in shopping centres, schools, etc. Finally people will gather in Copenhagen Friday the 18th of December 2009 at Klimaforum09, Peoples Climate Summit, for a dramatic, democratic, decision-making game-show where they will vote on their ultimate collective action.
Partners: Digital Aesthetics Research Center / Center for Digital Urban Living (Denmark)
about The People Speak
The People Speak is an artistic, technological commune from London, developing new technologies and strategies to make people discuss and debate in an open and engaging manner – thus, creating a common public domain.
One of their methods is “Who wants to be…?” which is a reality show where the audience creates the questions themselves, have the answers and create the rules based on a simple voting procedure. With methods like these, The People Speak attempt to create a radical form of audience participation, which is useful for public involvement in local projects and debates. The People Speak consists of a growing network of people who, depending on the need and their desire for participating, enter into the commune’s projects.