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The word DOTS, the word 'eternity' and the dotZero symbol written on concrete wall in chalk. Large. Example.
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Long Game

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At it’s simplest, DOTS is about getting out there and using chalk to express what’s on your mind.

It is about ‘learning by doing’, embracing the medium, and seeing where it takes you.

To connect your chalking to DOTS simply include at least one of DOTS ‘Unifying Memes‘.

Other than the Unifying Memes, what you choose to chalk is in your hands.

Anything other than a ‘Unifying Meme’ is a ‘Long Game Meme‘.

Long Game Memes are where creativity, customisation and alchemy really kick in.

There are no predefined ‘rules’ for Long Game Memes. Just an ethos of play.

Unifying Memes

The Unifying Memes are five densely communicative words, symbols and phrases which, individually and collectively, express the very essence of DOTS.

The Unifying Memes are what situate your individual chalking within the wider frame of DOTS.

The five Unifying Memes are:

1. dots

simple white chalk dots with sticks of blackboard chalk.
scrawled blue chalk dots
Green chalks dots with orange borders, on bitumen.
blue and yellow chalk dots on tarmac
single, perfectly round, small yellow chalk dot on 'pillar of democracy'
colourful chalk dots with sticks of pavement chalk sitting on them. Pathway and grass.
simple orange chalk dots
dots
simple red chalk dots
Large yellow chalk dots on wall. Faded chalk graffiti and ying yang in background.
Unfiying Meme: chalk dots

Could something as simple as chalk dots come to symbolise our individual and collective will to transformation?

As the most exquisite and abstract of all DOTS symbols, the chalk dot is emblematic of the entire movement.

2. dotZero

Blue dotZero symbol in chalk, on square pavers. Stubs of pavement chalk.
colourful dotZero symbol in chalk on pavers
roughly scrawled dotZero symbol on tarmac. Colours of Aboriginal flag. Yellow, red and black.
rainbow dotZero symbol in chalk on tile
geometric dotZero symbol in chalk on wall with graffiti behind
Bright pink, geometric dotZero symbol with Banksy's 'Eternity', and ying yang, in background
Blue and white dotZero symbol in chalk on pavement. Yellow background.
fiery red and ice blue dotZero symbol roughly scrawled in chalk
Unifying Meme: dotZero Symbol

The dotZero symbol encodes a host of meanings.

By ‘Patient Zero’ in a pandemic, dotZero

In this sense, dotZero offers one answer, hiding in plain sight, to the riddle of DOTS.

3. ‘Democracy On The Streets’

Democracy On The Streets. Gutter. Chalk.
Democracy On The Streets. Red Chalk. Example.
Democracy On The Streets. Category Error. Chalk.
Democracy On The Streets. Yellow. Chalk. Example.
Democracy On The Streets. Hand. Chalk.
Democracy On The Streets. Blue Chalk. Example.
Democracy On The Streets. Chalk
Democracy On The Streets. Parklands. Chalk. Example.
Democracy On The Streets. Colourful. Chalk.
Democracy On The Streets. Parliament. Chalk. Example.
Democracy On The Streets. Chalk
Unifying Meme: Democracy On The Streets

Instantly memorable, when inscribed this phrase answers the essential questions: who, what, when, where and why. It asserts its own legitimacy and purpose.

4. ‘Join The DOTS’

Example: Join The DOTS on pavers (Vivid chalk)
Example: Join The DOTS on pathway (red chalk)
Example: Join The DOTS on tarmac (Blue chalk)
Example: Join The DOTS on wall (pink chalk)
Example: Join The DOTS on pavers (geometric chalk)
Example: Join The DOTS (Simple chalk)
Example: Join The DOTS on wall (Yellow chalk)
Example: Join The DOTS on bricks (kaurna land in background)
Example: Join The DOTS written on pavers (with chalk boxes)
Unifying Meme: Join the DOTS

This phrase can be read as a call to action, a prompt for ‘systems thinking’ and an invitation to play.

5. ‘Eternity’

Example: Eternity repeatedly written in chalk on walkway. Colurful pillar in background.
Example: Eternity DOTS and 'MWe=Me2" written in chalk on wall
Example: Eternity written in chalk DOTS. dotZero and ying yang in background.
Example: Eternity, written in chalk, children in background
Example: Eternity written in chalk DOTS. Child drawing dotZero in foreground.
Example: Eternity written in chalk. Colurful rat picture in background.
Example: Eternity written in chalk. Parliament in background.
Example: Eternity written in chalk. Church in background.
Example: 'Eternity DOTS' using chalk dots.
Unifying Meme: Eternity

Inspired by Arthur Stace, the word ‘Eternity’ reminds us of the scale of the arena we inhabit and of the transformative potential of chalk.

Long Game Memes

Example Long Game Meme 'Quick Chalking' NAIDOC Week
Example Long Game Meme 'Quick Chalking' MWe Need To Chalk
Example Long Game Meme 'Quick Chalking' Black lives Matter
Example Long Game Meme 'Quick Chalking' Naive Fish
Example Long Game Meme 'Quick Chalking' Imagination DOTS
Example Long Game Meme 'Quick Chalking' Uluru Statement
Example Long Game Meme 'Quick Chalking' Universal Basic Income
Example Long Game Meme 'Quick Chalking' naive bird
Example Long Game Meme 'Quick Chalking' Climate Jobs
Long Game Memes: Examples of ‘Quick Chalking’

The Unifying Memes are principally about form. The Long Game Memes are all content.

Nothing is categorically excluded from Long Game Memes.

DOTS encourages any and all chalking consistent with DOTS broad values, ethos and objectives.

The inevitable risk they pose through potential for malign evolution is mitigated by:

  • the tendency of truly democratic forms to bend toward justice, and
  • the framing of DOTS via dotZero.
Example Long Game Meme 'Slow Chalking' "Pillar of the community"
Example Long Game Meme 'Slow Chalking' "Always Was, Always will be"
Example Long Game Meme 'Slow Chalking' 'MWe Not Us'
Example Long Game Meme 'Slow Chalking' "MWe Need to Chalk"
Example Long Game Meme 'Slow Chalking' "Rewild"
Example Long Game Meme 'Slow Chalking' "Green New Deal"
Example Long Game Meme 'Slow Chalking' "Creative Commons"
Example Long Game Meme 'Slow Chalking' "Optical Delusion"
Example Long Game Meme 'Slow Chalking' "Friday's for Future"
Long Game Memes: Examples of ‘Slow Chalking’

The strategic purpose of Long Game Memes is to bridge the gap between three word slogans and the realisation of a fully-elaborated ‘new hegemony’ or common sense.

They achieve their purpose by being ‘ideas lying around’.

When Long Game Memes are thoughtfully crafted and placed in ways that resonate with local communities, people engage.

The novely and game-like form of DOTS reliably prompts the innate human pattern-seeking response.

Subsequent investigation and introspection returns sources which elaborate the thought or perspective informing the memes.

A new common sense begins to coalesce, one neural connection at a time.

Collaborate

Artist? Graphic designer? Writer? Web builder? Organiser? Strategist? Critic. Perhaps you see another angle for collaboration. Maybe you’ve just got a question.

Whatever your skill set or interest, DOTS welcomes dialogue and could do with a hand. Get in contact.

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DOTS depends on you for transmission, evolution and vitality.

  • engage with DOTS, consider how it might serve you, your movement, or organisation.
  • amplify and support our social media presence
  • decrypt dotZero