What remains
after we
destroy
the world?

Allotment gardens obscure the aging stands of a football field whilst an apartment complex looms in the background. This is the Gurzelen, the former site of FC Biel’s matches and now – at least temporarily – a publicly held garden, where anything from tomatoes to cucumbers and salads are grown, for self-sufficiently and but also for distribution to vendors and restaurants around the city. Surrounded by beanstalks, self-made playgrounds and compost piles different people come together and harvest their crops in the centre of the city.

Radical changes away from the monotonous life in modern society like this occupy the students as they explore methods of escape, of resistance and of resilience in the face of a self-propagating capitalist society that shuts out every other possibility, every attempt at a more egalitarian or equitable way of life. Steps away from capitalistic societal norms can manifest themselves in many ways: Old, rusty bikes repurposed for a playground, the sounds of a communal dinner, a body relaxing in a hammock in the middle of the day or banners of resistance flying from occupied buildings. Over the decades, generations have fought for their own niche, their own understanding and their legacy in a system that shuns them. But to change it, they need to go beyond resistance and understand the system.
Engaging with the structures of our society requires active involvement with things that might seem innocuous in our every-day life. Insurance ads, work related obligations and calendars full of dates marked out weeks in advance. In shedding those commitments and consciously analysing letters normally left unread they encounter the vicious pull that drags them back towards captitalism, back to conformity, back to overtime, back to exploiting not only themselves but everyone around them.

After living in conscious knowledge of capitalistic society and finding ways to live outside of it, the students convene to exchange experiences and to plan for the coming weeks. The module culminates in projects of interventions, documentation, of performances and artworks. More importantly however, they take with them hours of political and philosophical discussions reinforced by finding their own ways to explore these topics, to find their own truth in this tumultuous time we live in and to forge paths of living differently to be followed, rediscovered later or entirely forgotten.