The possible massive change wrought by unforeseeable ecological mutations is to say the least, for us, a moment of opening, a gaping crack through which to develop experimental approaches to infrastructures. We see many unsatisfying strategies; from a neo-conservative attitude that calls for a return to “nature”, under the guise of balance and harmony and as if there is some fundamental accord that governs the world with which we have fallen out of line. Likewise, we see an opportunistic capitalism producing new branding strategies— ‘sustainability’ and ‘eco-friendly’, which
threatens to strengthen a first world imperialism through a lifestyle of consumption while perpetuating structural violence around the globe.
Connected to this strategy is a utopianism arguing that our technological infrastructures can harvest a limitless supply of resources. In response to these strategies we can offer no clear cut solutions, only a few experiments.
Our project Field Notes: Cocoons, is engaged in these concerns by creating a portable squatting device made principally from shared, free or hacked materials. It is a simple structure that folds into a back pack. It’s location of installation is very flexible, it can go most anywhere there
is enough support to carry the weight of a person. There are three types of cocoons (though there could be infinitely more) one is constructed with 1 dollar plastic beach mats, the second is made of Tyvek postal enve- lopes hacked from the post-office, the third is made of construction netting hacked from construction sites in New York. The different cocoons have been installed in various locations— trees in public parks, community gar- dens, or hidden in the midst of construction scaffolding. We have produced a small publication that documents and maps the processes of the cocoons, it is in the tradition of a how to manual though it provides no instruc- tions; instead, it tries to distribute a set of techniques to the reader, providing either an introduction or a synthesis of principles.
The cocoons combine Forays’ interest in pursuing and developing infrastruc- tures that are based on mutual-aid, the redistribution and novel use of resources and waste, and turning spatial production into an open-source, low-tech, DIY project. Field Notes: Cocoons is a report on a continued experiment in re-orienting our lifestyle, in turning a moment of “crisis” into an opportunity to re-organize our lives with low-tech, open source so- lutions and the hacked resources and infrastructures of the city.
