The Participatory Lithology project was selected for evaluation in the final phase of the “Falling Walls Engage” contest. This is an initiative launched in 2009 in Berlin, Germany, to celebrate scientific progress and innovation as elements for “breaking walls” and to increase public engagement in scientific activities.
While the preparation of the milestone event for our little participatory lithology exercise [1] is under way….
..music is flowing, both in the form of our Lithobags, and thanks to Pietro “Raman” Crivelli from Piloni (Southern Tuscany). Peter is sending us before sunset either a song or a painting (e does both), asking to republish them and spread around to wish the universe a good night (see this link). Then:
20.4.2007, Scalvaia (SI)
Monday 20:
We started to publish the names of some of the analyzed samples (see article).
The Jug Band Colline Metallifere published its first track on Bandcamp.com (see article).
The Jug Band Colline Metallifere was invited to do something at a May 1st celebration event. More details will follow.
13th anniversary fo the first fundraiser for the palla a 21 to Chicago mission. In Scalvaia. i finanziamento della missione della palla a 21 a Chicago. A Scalvaia. More photos found on another external HDD (just kidding…it was the same one). Yet more memories emerge, for those who were there, and yet more incredibly strange characters appear, for those who were not there: see article, with the same note as above for non-Italian-reading folks.
Thursday 23: In the vault of New York’s Natural History Museum a portrait of teenage Mauro Tirannosauro was found. The shot is just after he had is first scooter. You can tell from the light in his eyes…this was around 70 million years ago: see the article. The portrait is also on sale by Tattistampa (same link)…Ben Stiller ordered ten copies.
To receive directly the weekly-or-so newsletter on Participatory Lithology, plus other initiatives by the pibinko.org network + Jug Band Colline Metallifere, please write to info@pibinko.org asking to be added to the mailing list.
In the search window below you can type something, and the system will tell you if the project is related to places or people whose names contain what you typed. Even a single character will do.
Clicking on the name, or nickname, of a participant, a new window will open with additional information on that person, if available (if not, you will see the main role he/she is covering, either as collector, classifier, entertainer, or sponsor).
You too can be part of the project. Check out the roles linked above, and write to introduce yourself.
The workflow requires for each sample: at least one photo by a collector, at least two agreeing reviews by the classifiers, at least on song each day from the entertainers, and support by sponsors here and there.
With an approach strongly based on co-design, attention by various media, and the incredibly strange presence of a T-Rex following various aspects of our work, and occasionally singing, the project is gradually unfolding. Starting from a base team of ten people in Tatti, after four weeks it has engaged in participation about 35 folks, spread across five Italian regions. We have some 250 samples on the radar, and about 60 songs related in various ways to rocks, stones, and minerals, with both lists growing. The songs are broadcast via daily articles on the “Lithobag” series of articles by the Jug Band Colline Metallifere (surely in Italian, when possible also with an English translation).
A map of participants as of April 8, 2020.
After one month, it is finally possible to review some of the samples at the end of their review chain, with a lot of music in the background. You may see them either from the main gallery, with a beige background, while the samples still being reviewed have a white background. As an alternative, you may use this link. Please note that in the pilot phase of the project the sample pages are presented only in Italian (depending on audience response and sponsorship we will be glad to propose them also in English). At this point, entries are being validated day by day, so the list of “beige” samples will gradually grow.
Participatory Lithology continues, between resilience, a pinch of structured post-dadaism, and looking sometime around mid-May to present the final results of its pilot phase.
Note: the article was sent to ASEF on March 25, so it does not account for various developments occurred over the following couple of weeks, but it is perfect as an introduction.
Right now it is not so relevant to expose the differentiation of participant roles. We can say that there are about 30 folks spread across seven Italian regions. For more information and booking: micalosapevo@pibinko.org.
If you don’t know who is the character in the background, please follow this link.
