Image credit: https://photomoodblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/photo-mood-124-mountains-landscapes-lake-2.jpg
I am writing.
It takes time to work up to it, but here I am, again. Writing into the void, the aether, the space that is always there, if I want to write into it. And wonder if goodness knows, if anyone is ever going to take me up on any of my 54,590 email invitations. Which, admittedly I myself have lost interest in. I learned so much these last few months, mostly on my own, and mostly, wandering. I read, I wrote, and I even journaled. Notably, I did not blog. I did not do that much email. I also continued to write things but more specific things than just these things here. I wrote zines. With some friends, even. In S P A C E. And now it’s time to try something new. Let’s see how it all works out.
HT RS, IK and F.
#trusttheprocess #projectepicurus #spacethejourney #relationalart
‘An art of the moment’
The idea of beauty-seeking and an appreciation for the aesthetic of what nature creates, as well as what humanity can, moved our team to collage this unique collection.
It is natural to make: to discover, try things, explore, express… and of course to shake our heads with wonder, dreaming up still new questions after the fact. As such, the artists gathered for this co-created zine are four very curious people.
Art, natural patterns, and words intertwine in a collaboration between them.
Here’s a link.
Thanks ;)
DK
#46
It was on a hotel lobby’s shared computers, that happened to have Illustrator loaded onto them, that I first made this image:
DK / Bangkok 2014
Was 2014. Was in Bangkok. Was a long, long road, since then. The concept, however, for connecting people from new and different backgrounds in something called S P A C E, which I didn’t have a name for back then, but today I do (S P A C E, like), well yeah. That was born out of this image.
And today the evolutions since have led to new things, new openings, new doors that open other doors. I need to really thank E. for this last last door. Thank him for asking me the big question that until then, I realized, no one in my community had ever asked me. Or wanted to, I think. Or maybe it was just cool to meet in person in real life organically without all the trappings and expectations that the internet jumbles us up with, when we don’t know each other. I like fresh pages. First steps. New programs. But also, I like to build on what I’ve learned from previous versions. What’s next is kind of like the above, but a version 5.5, or something.
So that might be why. Why, I mean, why I’m doing ‘AoTM.’ Over at DK: it’s this.
This post is for E.
#tothejourneys #grazie
Internet conversations
I’ve been writing a monthly column for a magazine back in the US.
You can find some of the writings from the road at the magazine’s website:
Some of the works plus a few new pieces, set with photos and art from my time in Vietnam, will be part of this new book.
#hanoi #vietnam #nostalgiacaphe
Kismuth & The Way
“Every single day of my life is about challenging people who think you can’t do something because of the way you look.” Jagmeet Singh, featured in VICE
Trust the Process: Day # ‘I forgot what day I’m on’ day
Today I’m very pleased to share this new zine, S P A C E | Brooklyn, ‘Art 4 Art’s Sake.’
This is probably my favorite, to date. Because it does the work of going and seeking people and stories, playing in the conversation space, then interconnecting people who I find truly gifted and inspiring to learn from.
It’s a magical collaboration that somehow managed to make its way onto the digital page, this week, in, uh… Dropbox papers? (I know, right? What is that about?) I have so much more to say about the conversations and interweaving, asynchronous and international shapes of S P A C E that are beginning to converge in the current issues. It’s all starting to feel exactly right, now. It takes time, right? Art. Takes. Time. Well, well. Here we are.
L’art pour l’art
ABOUT ISSUE #43. One contributor is an editor in Finland. Another is DK | S P A C E’s former culture editor, who is based in Cambodia. More about them is in this blog post. I also included a short story of my own, ‘Continuations.’
You can download the issue all this week here.
The conversations in S P A C E
‘Please pay now.’
‘Oh-kay…. there you are.’
‘…’
‘Thank you.’
‘ Welcome to our new place. We just opened three months ago.’
‘Great.’
‘Are you from India?’
‘No.’
‘No??’
‘…’
‘…’
‘…’
‘Okay, then…. Switzerland?’
‘Switzerland??!!’
‘Switzerland’
Finishing touches.
This is going to be published on 18 November. I’m kind of excited.
There’s been a lot to write about and share about, and it’s finally coming into a solid shape.
#shapeofspace #nostalgia #spacethejourney
Work in progress: A book about travels to and from an unlikely home
Difficult people are a buzzkill
Researching a pscyhology character’s profession, for a new commission.
The week included much reading, and now, I am learning about gaslighting, difficult people, narcissists, and sociopaths.
This came into my focus…
“A relationship with a person who has no regard for others and is using manipulation to selfishly gain advantages in the relationship should be ended immediately.
… and I wanted to share the full piece. Lachlan Brown‘s article: Here is the link..
Letting go
Plus:
If you’re already in a manipulative relationship, it may be more difficult for you to pull away, as sensitive people often have a mixed bag of anger, loyalty, guilt, and insecurity tied up in these relationships. Barrie Davenport, at this post.
Both spell it out about the kinds of people you want to show to the EXIT in your life.
Do it ! It’s so great.
Rid yourself of emotional manipulators
A weekly e-mag.
The lead story, ‘A Shift of Phase,’ centers on an intimate, refreshingly blunt conversation between two childhood friends.
This special issue is co-created with Sinxloud‘s Saqib Jan.
https://gumroad.com/l/space-dubai/
thanks ;)
S P A C E | Dubai, ‘Heart to Heart’
Collected short stories from Rīga, Latvia
This special set is a project of Design Kompany’s Dipika Kohli.
DK’s new writings from Latvia, made in Rīga, from April-May, 2019.
Honesty, connection, discovery and trusting the process led to the writing, design and layout of these 16-page PDFs. Checkit.
https://gum.co/kismuth-thisisthis
thanks ;)
Today !!!
D: ‘… and that’s it. So I think he needs me to be an ocean of calm.’
A: [Laughs uncontrollably]
D: ‘What’s so…’
A: ‘You? An ocean of calm?’
D: ‘…’
This and that
[Developmental psychology professor] Monisha Pasupathi says. If you don’t tell, “your memory for that event may be less flexible and give you less chance for growth.” This is basically the premise of talk therapy.
Just as there are consequences to telling, there are consequences to not telling.
If someone is afraid of how people might react to a story, and they keep it to themselves, they’ll likely miss out on the enrichment that comes with a back-and-forth conversation. A listener “may give you other things to think about, or may acknowledge that this thing you thought was really bad is actually not a big deal, so you get this richer and more elaborated memory,”
Read the full story here >
Consequences
It started with ‘The Forum.’
Writing with others. In shared spaces.
This was an outtake of the design to talk about that. It wasn’t quite right. It was too… formal. We are not.
We write and talk.
Quietly, asynchronously, internationally. But most important: conversationally.
#trusttheprocess
Trust the Process, Day 5
Discoveries. Sharing the things, in the online journal. Attentively. Creatively. And… selectively.
The opt-in conversations are so, so good.
#trusttheprocess #spacethezine
Trust the Process, Day 3
The journal begins. For registering guests, meet me in the online forum.
Trust the Process, Day One
From 2014-2017, I hosted an online writing project, something called ‘Cojournaling,’ over here at Kismuth.
Now, I’m doing this.
#trusttheprocess #shapeofspace
‘DK, you know what you do? You show up.’
Almost done.
Will launch it in early October in Saigon.
Pre-order here.
#amwriting #amediting #ampublishing
Something different
I’ve been procrastinating the finishing of This is This for too long.
Now, I’m gonna really write.
#longhand
This post is for K.
Slow moment
So many updates.
Posting here about the things posting in the e-post.
Zines on Tuesdays
This below note is one, I just sent it to my supporters for S P A C E. It has really been fun.
Honestly, I’m not sure how long I’ll keep it going but for now, so far, so good. Sustainability is an issue, as always, but I appreciate the people who appreciate me.
Somehow, I feel a handful of people who have been at this blog, when it was a WordPress site before and now it’s this, following Kismuth from the very start, and who even took part in things here and there ought to be included in this communication. About appreciation. And… since I stopped emailing so much (I know, right? Can’t quite believe it myself, either. But… quality. Means… selectivity. And opting-in. I can’t just keep emailing all over the universe, can I ? That’s quite dull, anyway. The conversation, after all, is what intrigues me. I design for that.)
You can read the comment on the site, but I’ll just put this screenshot here…. click it to see what the context is, the crowdfunding page which, really, is more like a sign up to get S P A C E page, more than anything. ;)
…
S: You link to your crowdfunding campaign everywhere!
D: So!!??
S: …
D: [Thinking: You should be glad you were not on my email list(s). Sheesh.]
…
A new start
I got this link from L.
I’m just listening and like, ‘What the…’
I wonder what you’ll think.
This is really…
More when I have more.
(Or maybe not. Let me not overthink it.)
This post is for J.
‘Overthinker’
Wrapping all my best-of’s from Latvia into a new short eBook, This is This.
Set to launch 15 October.
