Welcome. I love you already. This is a living document for Playdate, an experiment in creative gathering. Right now, it is plaintext, but I envision to build this "wiki-style" website in collaboration with you all. In short, Playdate aspires to gather people to "make sense of the world through experimental play." We gather to recalibrate the compass of our curiosities and reclaim the simple joy of creation.
1. "Playdates" - intimate, intentional and PLAYFUL gatherings with a small group of people (2-5), where the goal is to see where the experimation of creation takes you all. A playdate could look like an exploration into zine-making or experimenting with different types of inks on linocuts. It could look like coding a weird internet art project. Or making stickers. Maybe writing some poetry or making a blog post!? In any case, it takes courage to play and experiment.
2. Inspiration Hunting sessions will be strategies to get "unstuck," be in creative community with one another, skill-building & art workshops (ex. letterpress printing, bookbinding, graphic design, etc.) & COMMUNAL teaching. A time for creative rest. An idea I have right now is "How to cultivate a digital garden with Obsidian and Are.na!?" These can be hosted by anyone in the community.
3. The Potluck to end all potlucks - THE FINAL SHE-BANG! Where people reflect, talk about what they have explored, what they want to explore, things they've made, etc. We will all get the immense privilege of reveling in full community. Here, we'll try to gather as many people as possible and have a lit potluck.
This way, folks get to know each other more intimately & get involved with other projects - building trust and creating a community that feels tender & supportive. Multimodal forms of gathering feels important to me. It's easier to get work done when you feel less "perceived," lending to the more intimate playdate format. However, I also appreciate building a sort of "collective" community where we ALL gather, to solidify this belief that being part of this community automatically lends you a support system of unimaginable joy.
1. We are fed with an overwhelming amount of information everyday (especially algorithmic), which is easy to get lost in. It's quite easy to be a consumer, passively engaging with content. I instead ask you, how will you assert that you are “here” in the world? Creation has been a powerful form of meaning-making & confidence for me, and I want to share that agency with you.
2. I've been thinking lots about community. Community feels like a shared becoming, an ongoing act of co-creation that blurs where the self ends and the collective begins. This feels incredibly important to me, especially in a world of hyper-individualism. Co-creation is of utmost importance. I want to make a space that feels mutually supportive. I'd like to make the distinction that there is no expectation to collaborate with one another, but being in the same space with people who have the same values can feel quite inspiring. Here, we strive for a culture of gentle mutual accountability. I envision us sharing resources with each other, kiki'ing with each other, and showing up for everyone.
3. I want to think about the immortality of the crab. This means letting your mind wander, something that I don't allow myself to do often enough. When I do though, it gets lit and awesome. Ideas emerge. I want to create a space for that. Childlike wonder and curiosity is SO BACK. Rabbitholes are SO BACK.
I emphasize a horizontal stucture. This quote defines how I'd like to build this community: "Community based and community driven output will always remain at the core. It’s less about bringing one specific vision that I have to life and more about being a facilitator of multiple visions and perspectives, seeing how they come together and inform one another. I consider my role more as a seed planter and a waterer than anything else — it’s not about the tree in the end per say and more about the process of mutual cultivation."
Contact me (Brianna Magtoto) at +1 619-706-7564 or brianna@aninternet.farm. Give me your name, favorite minute of the day, and things you dream to explore and create. Or say something stupid. I'm very excited.