We have stayed around the house for few days last summer, painting and running around in amazement.

First, we have no permanent autonomous zones in Lithuania thus any of them is highly appreciated by us. Second, it's not a regular one - it is built by the autonomous zoners themselves and that makes it even more special. We heard swedes talking that they haven't seen anything like this in their whole lives - anarchists building their own house. Well, it doesn't really matter how anarchist or how quasi-anarchist the Cyclops is, it definetely does matter that it's a special and a very important space.

Our experience in building networks/collectives in Lithuania has taught us that space matters much more than we could think before. All that is 'confrontational' (from resisting to fighting the structures that we belong to) may be a big part of the job, it does nothing more but fight the very systems that build spaces (!) that create all the nasty stuff that we hate (hierarchy, sexism, alienation, to name just a few...). Experience has taught us to see it as a sort of space-war even though it doesn't seem like all the people participating in the struggle are consciouss about this. Probably tactics is a personal matter but no one willing to live in a better enviroment (than we're forced or at least supposed to live under this hierarchic regime) can deny that building our own space that abolishes all the nastyness, or at least tries to do that, is a crucial point. If we wish to abolish the nastyness, we should notice that only space (re)invention does that.

It's the space, the atmosphere, the unwelcomed guest that replaces nastyness with beauty in our human relationships. Building an autonomous zone is merely the same aim expanded. The more people join such space (or build their own), the more of the nastyness is abolished. That is what makes autonomous spaces the coolest thing that one can create. In the special case of the Cyclops, the building itself, behind the space that already exists, was another invitation for the unwelcomed guest, even stronger one. It was probably the best thing to get people together, to create a community (comm-unity, a band of peers that have something in common). It was something really special for us to meet all the people working in joy just to create this wonderful house.

The atmosphere among the people, harmonizing rather than uniting individuals in this miracle that dared to happen. And it did. This has much to teach us all. About the possibilities that might haunt us around even though we cannot see them. Whether it's an abstract Another World (That Is Possible) or something minor but radical enough. The Cyclops is the most inspiring project we had ever run into. And it also has much to teach us here in Lithuania. We had sort of a failure about something and we're not quite sure what. It might have been that the collective of enthusiastic people wanted community to crystalise in few months while in other countries it took years and years for it to do that. And fuck the Isms as well. Those Things push the community forward but only towards alienation and misunderstanding. Let it go 'cause non-hierarchy (aka anarchy) is just practical for spaces/communities of people like the Cyclops and it shouldn't be an imposed principle. We chose it because it brings more compassion and joy, not because it's the best plan to run the world, didn't we? It's hard for us to say or even think of how the swedes could feel about that. Things are quite different in Lithuania. Perhaps we're easier to be amazed by some or another wonderful project while we don't get that much of this feeling living in 'our' country. But it was a lifetime experience for us to be at the house and to put our tiny part in it. Hopefully people will enjoy working there in the future. There's so much joy waiting inside the mouth of the Cyclops.

All in all, we're really happy to know that the Cyclops exists in this cold world. We're happy to know that it's not that far and that we'll come back there to grasp inspiration for reversing the perspective in our enviroment. We send much love from the gray, cold, sad and alien Baltics and we wish that peace be upon the house and all ye people putting your hearts inside it's door - the mouth of the Cyclop. Peace out.

Solveiga/Lukas, Curselandia aka Lithuania