We are Careful Optimist

“Careful Optimist” is a term I first encountered in the work of Toni Morrison, the African-American writer and critic who also won a Nobel laureate for literature.

I have come to understand it as referencing the kind of optimist who is mindful of the multi-layered, complex and tasking processes required to realise a dream. It is the kind of optimist who brings care, diligence, attentiveness and patience to the work knowing that these qualities are what humanises and gives living values to the material, worldly things we make. If these values are taken along in our process of giving form and meaning through creativity, they will naturally enrich our society and world while humanely connecting us all.

“Careful Optimist” believes that success is not a destination, but rather a journey.

As a platform, it is a space for the making and sharing of knowledge that informs aspects of our everyday life. It allows us to meaningfully reflect on what influences our choices concerning the production and consumption of technology. Our area of focus will be mainly on tech, electronics and cyberspace.

“Careful Optimist” is collaborative, and we aspire to the collective as a fruitful outcome of our subjectivity.

We come from different places and cultural backgrounds. Thus we aim to offer a culturally-diverse approach to conversing/critiquing technology and consumer culture. We are visual artists, photographers, writers, filmmakers, researchers, poets, graphic/motion designers and more.

We take Berlin as a locational point of departure. Yet we move in and with time — intensively and extensively. Expect our reviews, writings, and video content to be context-specific knowledge of how technological devices and tools are used in parts of the world we travel to/across.

At the core of our ethos is the belief that the human-made world is but a tool. Our work is to learn and reflect on ways this tool can enhance our lives; how it can be healthily put at the service of our humanity.

More info: https://www.carefuloptimist.com
Find us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/CarefulOptimist

Emeka Okereke
Convener