The Curator is calling for „The Application form”
1. WHAT
My project developed to an institute named:
Satisfaktor – Institut für beglückende Erfahrungen
It`s an institute working on providing people experiences to pimp up their life.
It’s meant as a
non-profit enterprise offering people support and on the same time working on research and strategy
development for a more exiting life.
The importance of
community and the
issue of interaction is the basis of the organization. Our business is experiences of exitment and experiences of satisfaction.
The name- satisfaktor is the factor of exitment in your live, that empowers you to be a more happy and beloved person.
Satisfaction is also meant as sexy, desired and a fulfilment of existential needs,
- the stolen- name-story, actually when we came up with the institute name we had problems with a pornfilm company claiming the name as theirs. we still conduct a lawsuit with them.
-the hymn: refers to the fact that it doesn’t matter if there is an altruistic way of thinking and acting existing , to create community always supply people with exitment.
2. WHO
Katja Fillmann is founder, real- live researcher , head of the development department and president of the institute. It’s a rags to riches story. Within a short time of starting the institute the community of members developed over 100%, still expanding. This summer we started to cross the borders and opened a filiale of the research department near Lisbon for interaction within language - borders. A very fresh and exiting project!
The structure of this enterprise is community based, and self evolving. As we recognised that communities are supporting and always are in a flow of change, we adopted that knowledge in the construction of the institute, being able to be flexible and open to change structures if needed. Best to compare it with a bubble (than a pyramid). We are still in development. This attitude has been proved to be a very successful strategy in building up the institute.
Although to get better focus there is
the department of emergency: people drop in and get help very fast
the department of research in real life interactions
the department of education
the department of inner affairs call it the SATISFAKTOR_FAMILY- community of members
at the moment as I mentioned we are building up the department for international- community-stuff ( I excuse this stupid name, but it was accepted by basis democratic election, so I had to accept)
we are always interested in members clients and supporters
mainly to state- everything is always in a flow, constantly shifting things. Its bind to the philosophy of flow of the institute.
3. When
The history of the institute started with a project I started on getting to know my neighbours. The initial moment was actually a handsome foreign guy with 6 volvicbottles, that helped me entering my house. I felt very moved and surprised by this little warm gesture of help. I felt a lack of community and emptiness. That was the moment where I realised: me, that little innocent girl from the country turned into a modern urban individualistic egofighter. I just had to change something and i started doing a project on that change. I developed a list of strategies in how to get my neighbours that finally led to the fundament of the institute.
Chronology of events follows
4. Where
Cause of flexibility reason the use of internet was very important from the beginning on. So you can find the institute on the internet- at the moment we restructure the platform so unfortunately its under construction. On the platform you can find first aid help- instructions and strategies .cause our philosophy is deeply connected to the principle of sharing, we ask people to report about their experiences guided by us. Also to evaluate the effectiveness and quality standard of our work, but also to show other people, that it works.
The headquarter is sited in the beautiful heart of Berlin Kreuzberg, Germany.
But as many people who need our help are living a kind of urban nomadism, we are moving from time to time and give courses lead by the department of education.
We did also squat public places in order to create a situation of surprise and coincidence where people looked up from the routine of their everydaylife.
5. Why
I recognisesd by “getting to know my neighbours”
The importance of experience.
The importance of community,
The personal development of an individuum
The learning of new competences to cope with a more exiting every daylife.
Creating a community around you provides a homie-feeling.
The work of the institute and following the strategies of the institute can help you to source out possibilities of communities around you, break down the stupity of routine and help recognising the potential of knowledge, skills and possibibilities to have fun around around you.
Its mainly about to experience and to realise the power of that special form of learning. Because we work with the effects of exitment you will have fully emotional experiences that stays with you as an intense longlasting memory of new and profound knowledge.
6. How
We are operating on different levels of strategies:
-As we recognised the basis of every community is the principle of sharing- we try to implant the filter of sharing into peoples mind.
In courses we train people to recognise options of sharing and initiating the practice of sharing.
-Exitment is dealing with the unexpected, and the feeling that things happens- not planned, but coincidentally.
Therefore we are working on creating coincidences especially in meeting people- actually there is a whole department carrying for “the art of meeting people”.
- Create situations like inbetween places where people can meet . The importance of the epherme isn’t to be overlooked. We are doing research about that- like for instanace squatting ephermal places like a waitingroom in public spaces, to build up possibilities of meeting people.- it’s a overseen potential of community creating.
Concrete example to provide good experiences
Example:
Use the universal meaning of music- the power of synchronicity. Music is an ideal topic where people can come together, like singing a song.
A task:
Work out a House-Music-Sampler, by asking your neighbours for their favourite songs- that can gives you the feeling of being surrounded by them although you are sitting alone at home, but finally you had to meet your neighbours before and talk about their music in order to get their favourite songs, ideally they invite you to share to listen to their favourite song. You already gained exiting expierence and you can do something for the community of the house :in providing everybody with that house-music- collection, that represent the community of the house and engraving an awareness of the community.
another example: In our educationprogram "satisfaktor1" we invite people to a one weekendcourse postulating to accept that they don't know exactly whats gonna happen. But we create before of that expectations, e.g. we gonna do sik-painting, but then we will do 1 day spending on e.g. how to produce icecram, or a course in geometry.
We work with the break of expectations. People are drawn to deal with the unexpected and transform it into the known. and that in a very creative way. because they all desperately try to understand why they do have to learn geometry or making icecream in order to do silk-painting, they will start to make creative bridging creating new meaning and strategies. We are using this tendency. they will discover new perspective on the topic of silk-painting - for example that they could do much more interesting things then silk-painting. At least they are observing how they others start to deal with this stiuation. They cant help it - it`s a law of mimic habitude. and by doing it they experience going togehter but on the same time beeing very creative on their own solutions.
in "satisfaktor 2" we take the partizipants a step further. every partizipant gets a "Betting-partner". This step is mainly working on to overcome the anxiety with the unknown and welcoming exitment. Partizipants have to push their borders within reallife research, the betting partner is the observer and controller of this reallife research. Its a giving and taking: For example P1 gives himself the task: go to foreign people on the streets that you would like to approach and ask them to take a photo- they try to catch attention on them by doing a small videotake with the camera and saying something like I really would like to get to know you. and do sthg expressive.
So p1 might be scared Now he tells his bettingpartner p2 I am betting with you that i will do this, otherwise Ill have to fullfill your task.
Now p2 observes and takes care for p1 supporting him in nice thrilling sportive way.
p2 at the same time gives himself again a task, e.g. : "I dare to dance at night in my flat in front of the window after putting a letter into my neighbours postbox saying: surprise for you tonight8pm watch out of the window, otherwise i will have to fullfill your task." Now they support each other, pushing each other and sharing the project of the other beeing the witness of the other project. This principle provides exitment, shared experience and profound knowledge.
