Shards of Imagination

So it’s a funny thing what catches peoples imagination, or at least the media attention which then feeds the public’s sense of what’s important. Today’s action at the Shard certainly did that, and I wonder why? Is the audacity of climbing what is a bloody big building? The idea that all the climbers were woman – not bearded men? Was it the synergy of online and offline activism, and the live streaming Ice Climb – which was well cool? Or was it simply a slow media day?

The organisation has a reputation for dramatic actions, which over the years has grown less newsworthy to a jaded media. Climbing building and cranes, boarding ships and shutting down polluting factories is just as dangerous physically and legally as it was in the 80’s but rarely generated a peep out of the mainstream channels. Is this because the media is bored of such things or is the public (I don’t think so) or is it because our media has slipped into the hands of corporate interests who actively discourage such reporting? And I’d include the Beeb in that camp, who are subject to the most pernicious of establishment and corporate lobbying – the quite chat over dinner.

So why did this resonate? My instinct would be to argue for the digital elements. That anyone could tune in and be part of the protest. And of course the very real concern that they weren’t going to make it – so it was worth coming back for more. One of the conversations on the ground between a friend and some professional riggers who routinely clean the building was that they were simply carrying too much weight – that they couldn’t do it. Including the bloody great big banner and art installation that never got used. His response was that they were failing to allow for determination, and dedication to the issues, which went well beyond the physical challenge.

But the crowds at the base suggested that offline networking still works as well as online. That people hear what’s happening from their colleagues as well as the news and a website. And they feel the need to go be physically present. It seems surreal that the idea of talking to the crowds, or leafleting them, or even signing them up as Arctic Defenders was an afterthought and a last minute scramble. The organisation needs to remember its roots in talking to real people face to face, not just from behind the screen.

And me? Well I was between here and there, back from Ireland and heading to Bangkok to work with an Indonesian forests project. Which put me in a frustratingly non arresatble world running media footage and carrying expensive heavy objects. Which proved to be long, and hard work, compared to deploying ladders or getting arrested doing so – but nothing of course compared to climbing what is a bloody big building. I’m still impressed.