NOTHING TO SAY #1

Nothing is… beginning

by Jonny McEwen

Last year I was contributing at a little festival for creatives. I was asked by the organiser to do something in the mornings and something in the afternoon. This struck me as repetitive. So instead suggested that I would organise “Something” for the mornings, and “Nothing” in the afternoons.

The Nothings were a hit. Creating space amongst busyness was what many people actually wanted. Permission to opt-in to opting-out.

When the call went out for creative ideas for Belfast 2024, it seemed to us in Daisy Chain Inc, that there was a lot of big ideas, and that maybe we could propose a modest idea, something small… Nothing!

Our thinking developed into thinking of Nothing as possibility, as pause and as protest. We enjoyed the playfulness and the process. We moved between thinking, there is no way they can fund this to thinking, this is amazing, they have to fund this!

We said in our application that if we didn’t get funded we’d do it anyway.

We didn’t get funded.

We did it anyway.

We were top of the reserve list, so when someone had to drop out. 

Nothing is happening.

Be curious.