I will have a kind of ‘show and tell’ event after Pchum Ben. It’s a Zine Launch, and it’s going to take the shape of a reading-sharing-make-and-take event that stretches out over a morning and through lunch and part of the afternoon. This is styled after my Seattle parties at Design Kompany’s office there, when I would open up my studio’s spaces that were mine and borrow some of the shared spaces with the other people who occupied office spaces in that building, too. We talked, laughed, sometimes brought food and drink, and most importantly, can together begin to discover something new about each other, and hopefully, if we were lucky, ourselves, too. I hosted brown bag lunches like ‘Dream Kitchen’, or went across the street for ‘Designers’ Korner,’ at a specialty Belgian beer bar in those days when I was younger, switching to the gallery Vermillion at one point because of change and supporting the kinds of venues and the owners who supported DK and DK’s ‘let’s just try it’ initiatives.
In the moment, on the spot
Popups and meet ups, and networking, and parties. In borrowed-for-a-time spaces around Seattle that were cafes and restaurants and bars and the occasional theater spot, if I could find one, or a lobby, or something that fit the aesthetics of the event concept.
Then, I sort of moved many of these over to my house, which we nicknamed ‘Kornerhaus.’ I stopped renting office space in 2007 because it seemed like extra overhead and DK wasn’t much of a ‘come to my office’ type as much as a ‘meet me at a cafe and we’ll see how it goes?’ type. I remember those days and recognizing that what was more ‘DK’ was more relaxed spaces, more informality, but more depth, too, because in that playful moment you can go to really elevated, aesthetic moments of discovery, and co-discovery. I’m grateful to the clients in those days that I had had who helped me understand that the best part of making things is playfully discovering our way toward insights, or designing spaces for clients to arrive at them. Together we go, into the moment.
That was fun.
I still care about fun and discovery, about meeting new people and trying new things. But, selectively. Also: I like nurturing old ties. This is the month of catching-up calls; next month, too, for the every-so-often conversations that remind you that you came from somewhere and that, when you connect with those you talk to seldom, you recall details about who you used to be, which of course, informs something, in this day, and this moment. It’s nice to do this, for that bird’s eye view kind of perspective, from time to time.
Real life and online events are outlined, for those who like writing, journaling, and reflection, at my other site, Kismuth. Here is a link to the upcomings.