Call For Designs That Promote Long-Term Thinking

Time Buoys is a new project to trigger long-term thinking in public spaces by promoting and disseminating physical reminders that will remain present for millenia.

By trying to build something for our descendants 10 000 years from now, organisations such as the Long Now Foundation hope that people will start to see themselves as living in the middle of history instead of at the end.

Time Buoys shares this goal and wants to act now to gather designs which can start being built in 2012.

To achieve this, Time Buoys proposes a design contest. We are looking for makers, designers, engineers and artists to submit designs for projects inspired by the idea of the Clock of the Long Now. Designs can be based on ancient megaliths, anallemae, sundials, time capsules, or some unprecedented concepts. Submissions would be judged on various technical and aesthetic criteria.

All designs will be publicly available under a suitable Creative Commons license that permits modifications and reuse. Prizes will awarded to the top designs. The goal is to find funding so that the final open source plans can be assembled / remixed from the pool of submissions. The end product would be several models to choose from, varying in sophistication and cost, which local groups could appropriate, customise, and actually build in a nearby city park.

We're currently working on the structure of the Time Buoys organisation. We'll need a board, judges and expert evaluators. Contest rules and guidelines will need to be published. Prize sponsors found. But the key thing is to start.

So if you are a maker, designer, engineer, artist or just someone with whom the idea resonates add you name to the list of interested people and we'll updated you on progress and let you know when the contest is open.

12.12.12

Given that the next apocalypse "scheduled" is the end of the Mayan calendar let's designate 12.12.12 as Anti-Apocalypse Day. We aim to have some Time Buoy projects in place by then so that their dedication ceremonies could play a role in the 12.12.12 celebrations. Not long to go now so let's get the ball rolling!