SXSW Interactive 04

20x2

Sunday, March 14
Love. Voting. Jesus-themed consumer products. You. These are a few of the 20 two-minute responses to the question posed by the 20x2 event Sunday night at La Zona Rosa: What's the Big Idea?

The answers varied. Props were used prolifically. Performers used their two minutes in a dizzying range of ways, from spoken word, to music, to silence, to some seriously weirdass shit involving five men gallumping around in orange jumpsuits. Photographer Rannie Turingan offered a slideshow of his digital photos, explaining that photography is not about camera model or megapixels, but "seeing the world through different eyes." The explosive spoken-word artist Genevieve Van Cleve looked forward to a day when we would all be "wearing tunics and driving space-cars."

This kind of variety is to be expected at 20x2, which began at the SXSW Interactive Festival in 2001 with the question, "What Is Interactive?" As the event has grown, so has pressure to outdo and impress, leading to stunts like the orange jumpsuits, or Mark Couvillion's video of liquored-up interviews at UK pubs.

However, some still take a serious bent. Dan Gillmor of the San Jose Mercury News gave a simple speech expressing his awe at all the social, political, and information networks blossoming online. Craig Newmark of Craigslist praised the people like Joe Trippi and MoveOn.org who were doing the "heavy lifting" of developing these networks – networks he believes to be essential to the country's future.

"We can connect and make things change," Newmark said. "We have seven months to change history."

But for sheer emotion, none topped Dallas blogger Tina Winslow, who opened 20x2 with a raw manifesto on "love" as the big idea. It ranged through deeply personal territory from putting a dog to sleep to body image with a brutal, engrossing honesty that set the mood for an enthusiastic and supportive night.

"How can love be the big idea?" Winslow asked, fighting tears. "In a world that passes judgment, how can love not be the big idea?"