The Self is Not Enough
The CCA checks in
The lockdowns have forced a new perspective on familiar interactions. In private rooms far beyond Montréal, we continue to reflect on just how, and for how long, we’ve been alone.
Now, as people around the world emerge from isolation, or re-enter it again if facing a second wave, there is a shared pulse of awareness and concern. Let us turn toward this tension and explore it, looking with curiosity and care at the interactions between people, their immediate surroundings, and the city—how they fit into and need one another. We have many questions and a hypothesis: that the self is not enough.
Searching for ways to reshape our individualism toward a shared future, we began by posing questions to voices from within our global network.
Kayoko Ota reports on Tokyo and anticipating the next disaster.
Martin Huberman finds unusual solidarity in Buenos Aires.
Doreen Adengo describes unequal effects in Kampala.
Guido Beltramini reflects on the health infrastructure of Vicenza.
Understanding the global situation a bit better, we went looking for new ideas about collective living.
Architect Sam Chermayeff’s projects investigate sharing and sociability at scales ranging from a table to an apartment building.
Sociologist Eric Klinenberg argues for social solidarity rather than social distancing.
And Greg Lynn and Nicholas Negroponte discuss potential transformations to come, roles for technology, and whether we will ever use elevators again.
Finally, new perspectives are essential if you hope to find ways out of familiar problems, so the young researchers of Is There An Expert In The Room—Aged 13-16? share comments on what changes they hope remain after lockdown.
Now, we are left with all these ideas—confused, but empowered, and ready to continue the conversation together.
