The launch of Australia’s first magazine dedicated to all types of slowness kicked off in August 2009 in the regional town of Castlemaine, Victoria. A full-colour magazine, ‘Slow. For those who think life’s too fast’ has attracted much feedback and publicity. Slow, a quarterly, is distributed through newsagents, bookstores and community hubs in Tasmania, Victoria, South Australia, Melbourne and Sydney - with plans to expand into a national magazine after issue 4 - but hey there’s no rush.
Created by a media savvy team of treechangers, Slow is available via online subscription or via email to slowcoach@slowmagazine.com.au

I recently sat down to talk with Ellen Kochansky, an Artful Home artist who has always worked in the realm of Slow. For 25 years, Ellen made quilts, working in and around abandoned textile mills in South Carolina.  Her quilts always made reference to previous lives, as Ellen has had a fascination with re-use.  She uses the term “composting” freely, and holds a fascination for the re-use of materials, machines, and objects , giving them a new life.  The quilt below, “Counterpane” was “a farewell to the collage technique  I did for years, which became obsolete when the couching embroidery machine I used at a local factory was sold when the factory went under. The scrap from a decade of hangings became the compost for the last of the series.”The quilt is located in the White House Collection in Washington, DC.  http://www.ekochansky.com/Large-art/history%20art/counterpane.jpg 1992.

Ellen likes to use the term “spoiled rotten” when speaking of her current work, feeling that the excesses of our pre-recession lifestyles can be allowed to rot, or compost, in ways which bring about new life.  She is intent on creating from that which is in the wastestream, and understanding how we all fit into that wastestream.  Much of her work is like that shown recently  in her show “Embedded Energy” at the 701 Center for Contemporary Arts in Columbia, SC, an old mill town where the mill is long gone.  Ellen interviewed past residents and their families, gathered bales of debris from the neighborhood, and collected “rotting” examples of memories, including bridal gowns, letters, and clothes lines.  These came to new life in the show, with this compost harvested between transparent waves of fabric, tied into bales, or displayed reverentially. (Thank you Susan Lenz for your blog posting)
http://artbysusanlenz.blogspot.com/2009/02/embedded-energy-by-ellen-kochansky.html

She is now working on collective projects with a focus on community.  One community in particular was for a hospital which is trying to focus more on patient-centered care, on Slow involvement with patients rather than simply machine-focused data care.  For the Mercy Hospital in Charlotte, NC , Ellen sorted through materials which the  hospital threw away.  All who work in the hospital, from surgeons to janitors, were asked to make individual promises of commitment to patients on a strip of trash, which was then rolled up into a bead.  Hundreds of beads will be included in layers of a giant book-based quilt , showing the intentions of commitment, to be  displayed in the hospital entrance. Volunteers, patients, and hospital professionals have all gotten involved.  To quote Ellen, the project was about
“how do you do what you do,  rather than just what is  the technical stuff that you do?”

Ellen believes that  letting go is an energy field. “ If you compost it (an object, and idea), you protect it.  If you try to protect it, or try to insulate it from harm, you don’t spread it.  It is an active, violent process to let go.  Wrench yourself from your own consumption. “ As Ellen and I talked, we eventually looped back to the world of art and design.  Her opinion, and I don’t disagree, is that in recent decades, in the arts we have, “been spoiled rotten.  We were able to be superfluous, because people had the money to buy what they didn’t need.”  Her approach to re-examining and re-purposing that which is about to be tossed, her version of composting, provides a Slow lens on the world of consumption and art.

Allow me to introduce myself.    Trained as a textile artist and fashion designer, professionally I am known as an executive in the world of retail.   Retail is not particularly known for its dedication to Slow, but rather is a world which thrives on and requires speed to market.  In my field it is all about knowing your customers and responding – quickly – to their needs.  To counterbalance  this addiction to speed, I have retained my connection to my training as an artist and have become a knitter – a serial knitter, in fact – throughout the past decade.

Thought by some to be the domain of grannies, knitting allows me to start something from the ground up, focus on the practice and the journey .   It is amazing to start with balls of yarn and Slowly, Slowly, Slowly create something entirely different.  You can carry that creation with you to multiple experiences, keeping the slow rhythm of knitting a constant during meetings, long plane rides, boring waits.  Dr. Perri Klass, in her book Two Sweaters For My Father: Writing About Knitting knitted her way through medical school, much to the chagrin of her mostly male classmates.  She claimed it kept her alert throughout lectures, a not-to-be-scoffed at accomplishment for sleep deprived residents.  It also kept her balanced and focused on the lectures.

With knitting, if you make a mistake, unlike in the rest of life, you get to rip it out and have a makeover.  The steady movement of your hands and need for counting stitches and rows provides a soothing counterbalance to chaos around and seems to allow true clarity of thinking.  Instead of the mind wandering, the mind seems to focus while knitting.  Some think we are not listening when we knit;  I have been reprimanded for knitting while attending strategic planning conferences.  Silly non-knitters.  If they only knew.
This is my introductory post on the concept and practice of Slow Design.  The posts will focus on artists who, whether they have named it as such, engage in Slow Design.  Those who work in the media formerly known as craft exemplify Slow Design, with their dedication to the connection between the mind and the hand.  Stitchers, ceramicists, glassblowers, furniture makers all practice the Art of Slow.  As I learn from them, I shall pass it along.

Hi all,
I am a Graphic design student in Bournemouth, UK and I am currently doing my final major project on promoting Slow to the UK.

I have written a brief, a (rough) outcome and a manifesto to support my project. Any comments, ideas etc would really help enhance my work and would be very much appreciated. If all goes well then I will carry out this project for real so you guys could potentially get involved!

More development work will follow very soon…

Brief

The aim of this project is to introduce and establish the slow movement mentality to the UK. The Slow ideology is to create a speed bump for everyday life. The goal of this shift in speed is to make people really engage with life and their surroundings; making richer connections with loved ones and friends.

Corresponding to the new slow proposal, the aim is to tackle the taboo of the common use of the term slow. There is of course a bad slow, being lazy for example but there is also a good, considered, slow. This fresh attitude on slow is the desired message. Ultimately the aim is to get people to enjoy and appreciate life by taking a break from the everyday hustle and bustle of life.

Live Slow 2009: a manifesto

We, the undersigned, are patrons of Slow. We, the undersigned, are patrons of speed. We, the undersigned, are patrons of life. Our slow is not lazy nor do we slack or stumble. Our slow is faster than you. We are the tortoises, and you are the hare. We win the race and enjoy the journey.

Like a tortoise we are wise and we are long lasting. Our aim is to engage with life. Living is a series of experiences and connections with our environment, we engage with every aspect of living. Our connection with loved ones is stronger, deeper and richer. And our connection with our surroundings is well informed, valued and utilized.

At home our slow is taking quality time with our family. At work our slow is considered, your fast is not. Our slow is more productive. We take time to look at all angles of a problem to make the best decision.

Slow is not a derogatory word for us; we do not use it like most. Your slow is synonymous with stupid, ours is the opposite. We wish to abolish the taboo of your slow and motion for our new slow.

Your eureka must not be too late; too often an illness or incident results in a new found clarity, but we propose you slow down now! Enjoy the existence you are here to live, we urge you not to hurdle the journey of life.

Signed:

Andrew Jackson

Outcome

A regular event, perhaps monthly, weekly or even daily that would promote and practice the slow mentality.

The experience would encourage people to learn about the slow theory, sign-up to the life of slow movement and, or, raise awareness of this attitude so perhaps the masses could take elements of the slow theory and incorporate them into their everyday lives.

Promotion of this event would be through a pseudonym of a tea party, afternoon tea or simply a tea break. The tea party would be an ambassador for the slow ideology, and act as a literal participation in the slow movement. The slow theory would utilize the normality of a tea break to represent the seemingly extreme ideology of the slow movement. Tea is an international phenomenon with many recognised connotations, which are perfectly appropriate for the slow movement. William Gladstone, four times British Prime minister relays,

‘If you are cold,
tea will warm you;
if you are too heated,
it will cool you;
if you are depressed,
it will cheer you;
if you are excited,
it will calm you’

These were the words he used to advertise tea to the UK. Tea explained here is used as a remedy to solve dilemmas. Now the second most popular drink in the world, tea has a plethora of associations. Tea break, afternoon tea, and tea parties and all the other social associations made with tea are a great representation of a state of mind similar to that of Slow. The common experience of a tea break would be used as a tool to demonstrate the seemingly unfamiliar slow mentality, by taking a break and engaging greater with friends and families.

Possible event types:
Annual - ‘Tea party’ - 12hrs
Weekly - ‘Afternoon tea’ - 2hrs
Daily - ‘Tea break’ - 30mins