The Locksmithing Institute of Disjecta, Portland, OR, October, 2006
In Lesson #5 of The Locksmithing Institute students were given the chance to change their relationship to their keys. A furnace was constructed in the parking lot and if the students wanted to they could melt down their key and have the instructor pour it into a new form. The abstract piece of brass that remained was still the student’s key, however their relationship to that key was now changed. This was done in conjunction with the Haunted Show in Portland, Oregon in October of 2006. Full lesson plan below:
The Locksmithing Institute of DISJECTA
Lesson Plan #5: Changing States
Lesson #5 is dealing with our present state of affairs. The faculty and staff of The Locksmithing Institute have found it necessary to broaden our definition of keys to encompass these modern times. All of the people, places and things in our life are keys as each allows us to enter or exit certain cognitive spaces. When viewed in this way, the world then becomes one giant possessed entity that acts as a trigger to fluctuate our consciousness. Its haunted condition allows us to bounce between many different times, places, and emotions without even realizing it. The faculty and staff have found that word “haunted” itself doesn’t mean anything. It is instead a sensation that arises due to the perpetual state of occupation that exists everywhere. Our physical keys mirror this paradigm. As they rattle in our pocket our state of occupation becomes amplified. They are not all they seem to be. Keys are supposed to unlock our feelings of safety and security but on the contrary they are our shackle to certain things, ideas, or people. We are supposed to be a free people, but we are not. In our present haunted/occupied condition we are our own jailer and we have been fooled into thinking that our keys (be they physical or mental) are the proof of our supposed freedom. There is no need for a prison for the majority of the people because our pockets maintain our detention.
In light of this the faculty and staff of The Locksmithing Institute feel that it is not enough to show someone how to pick a lock, make a key, or even find their lost keys as was taught in the previous lessons. If one is to experience their own liberation they must change their relationship to keys. This change of state is the focus of Lesson #5. Students will be taught how to foster a freer association with their keys than they are presently enjoying. On Saturday September 30th, students will be shown how to melt down their keys and change them into a new form. This experience will last thru the night as they sleep on a friends couch for an evening because they have melted their apartment door keys, or perhaps, as they consider how they will get their car home without keys. Whatever the outcome, it will be a decision that each student consciously made as opposed to a random result of accidentally losing their keys. This conscious new experience will then become embedded in their internal relationship with the spaces, people, and emotions that their key allows them to physically and metaphorically access.
Tuition is of course free and please be sure to bring your own bagged lunch as the cafeteria of DISJECTA is currently going thru renovations.
