Papers is a way for people to explore ideas together, in a nonjudgmental safe space with a seasoned editorial team headed by Dipika Kohli at DK, to guide.
An online writing-and-design-and-generally-creative circle for community. Ambient community that is. International and asynchronous: ‘Papers.’
Here’s how it works.
How does it work?
No meetings. Just email: asynchronous, international. Four prompts, sent on Mondays at 7AM USEST. Email converstaions follow with your group, in order to develop your ideas, push past the edges of your creative thining, and link you to our international community.
Why?
Because we are tired of superficial, inane chatter and want some actual depth, progression and substance in our online converations. That’s why. Four weeks of amazing online conversations with a max of 4 hosted by DK. More than 120 issues of our zine have been created through ongoing conversations with our guests and collaborators.
Writing. Sharing. Making. New stories. Together. In S P A C E.
Melbourne-based Sticky Institute hosts its world-famous (amongst us who make zines, anyway) Festival of the Photocopier next week. DK will be in it! DK was there last year in the real life version, thanks to our collaboration with a Melbourne based teammate that year, Nicki Duncan. For 2021, we’ll launch a very special zine collection. This time, it’s made with those with whom I’ve worked with us closely over the last six months in 2020 project online, DK | Interactive Papers Project.
I love sharing the work they do, in forums like zine festivals. It’s fun.
Cool to be able to take part in the 2021 Festival of the Photocopier. The idea of a virtual zine fair was something that got my curiosity when I first heard they’d be doing this online. So we reached out to them, and wrote an interview-style post to share more about how that got sorted out, internally, behind the scenes. Read it here.
I’ve seen a lot of zines, ladies and gentlemen. They’re about [deleted] and everything under the sun. For this coming festival, we’ll make a very special zine collection set, S P A C E | Decolonization. So many things to say. Saying what we we feel. Putting those ideas, images, stories, narrations, discoveries, and what we’ve learned–together—into the 16-page PDF format that is S P A C E the zine. For those who want to know how to educate themselves on this important topic. I’m learning a hell of a lot, personally. Which is always a nice perk. Actually, you know, writing and sharing on topics like this… it’s pretty exciting.
For those who have applied, thank you ! Will be sending the informational Welcome and Orientation Packet to you, this week. Emails are set to arrive on Mondays. If you don’t see ‘Papers | Welcome’, with the syllabus for December, kindly just let us know. Exciting ! More to follow, from there.
Fascinating insights this week as I review all my notes, in one sitting (thank you, desk!) from a three-month period of time in one place. That is to say, DK did not move (naturally, right?) in March, April and May. Instead, we hunkered down in one point in the Central Highland of Vietnam.
Going to be sharing about the learnings, gleanings, insights and beautiful beginnings of extraordinary things, soon. In Papers.
It will be confidential, and only relevant to those who join in. That is, nothing is going to be put there if it’s not somehow part of the spheres of interest of those who join. Which is why it’s so fun. [deleted]
Papers is my online conversation space, now, pretty much exclusively.
And it’s also exclusive, just four guests at a time.
The point? A place to go to share ideas, bounce things off of others, and connect. Deeply, not trivially (as R. Pirsig put it so insistently, and endearingly, in Lila). Because we need this. We need quality conversation space and not just massive 1:many thingies.
I don’t really like 1:N. Partly why I’m not doing this blog so much, these days. I used to! Wow, did I ever. I blogged every day in 2006, I think. Jeez, though. That’s just a… lot of stuff… And I don’t feel like sharing now with the big vast internet. Most of it is a mess. Rather than nondescript ‘N’, I made Specific ‘N’, as in 16N, a project on hiatus. Had thought about doing a virtual version, but that’s just… anti-thematic to ‘N’. So I’ll just wait until I feel like it. If at all.
But what is the point of Papers you ask ? To help people realize their own projects. I think a lot of people stall [deleted]…. done; at least, that’s what I’ve seen. So I like to give people structure—a scaffolding—something to build onto. A formal form. I know how to do this, because of my past life in architecture and journalism and design and moving around the world on my two feet.
And I can point to things, say, ‘Why not try…’
It works.
If it didn’t, why would anyone join, anything, ever, that I do? Yet I really love that there are 600+ people in our FB community (sorry I haven’t been putting anything there, ever), or some 300 some on Instagram (ditto). Meaning… there are people around or who used to be around who wanted to know how DK could help.. them… accomplish stuff? I think… for me, that’s it. I make Papers to keep some conversations going, sure, but also, to help people figure out how to figure things out.
So those people (and I do invite quite carefully, mind), can get places… so they can… ‘Break on Through!’…
Speaking of breakthroughs
Because I certainly have, using these methods, in my own work here at DK and at other things I’m up to, too. Yeah, and so, given all that, I’m ready to include a few more voices for July.
HT Michael Bridgett, Jr. Working with MB is a great pleasure for us, as always. And it starts with things like Papers, to get the ball rolling on getting more and more deep into these layers of connexion. We are filtering all he time, based on.. sincerity! What else matters, lol.
Good conversations, with depth and substance, are taking place behind the scenes here at DK’s blog. Wanted to share a little of the backstory of how this whole ‘Papers’ idea got invented. Working on that, this month. Thinking, sharing quietly, 1:1 on email with the people I feel most ‘get’ it.
S P C | ‘There Is No Next Time’, an exclusive for guests of ‘Papers’
Late registration opportunity for June Papers..
Here’s what it is.
For the very curious.
A conversation in the cloud with new and different others. Guests are from DK’s 2006-2020 network of friends, collaborators, past clients, and newcomers. Make a space and discover your stories. As usual with DK’s spaces, *anything can happen*. But, given who has already registered, it looksl ike writing and poetry mostly, for June.
