Welcome to aknownspace. This is a work of love and work in progress of my friends. Each edition is a collective body work of those who wish to share their thoughts on an agenda, or show/tell anything at all. Maybe you would like to read some of the writing and get to know the people who influence me? Maybe you would like to share your work and be part of us too.
aknownspace first came into being on the 7th December 2020. It is a product of having heard from and learned about things from our shared surroundings, physical and online, and my wish to synthesize what was around me and embellish a glimpse of it through an artistic space. Enjoying the process of getting to know people, their beliefs and the fascinating inner worlds, I wanted to know more and encourage them to share something that I could publish. I imagined a digest of sorts, to exhibit ideas in the making. A breathing space where you could talk about / show what you liked, without being necessarily complete or too critical. A known space to undress the many layers of thoughts.
There is an activation energy barrier associated with approaching people with something like this. It is called being brave and reaching out. Initially, as I wrote to people asking them if they would "contribute something for this thing I wanted to put together". The details were vague and I was "experimenting with concepts".
"Write about something that makes you feel something, something real..." it is not easy to ask people to write about stuff like that and it is (borderline) weird to be soliciting such contributions. That is what I wanted to publish and decided to go with it no matter how cringe it sounded to me.
"It is meant to be a stream of consciousness, undercurrents of voices encountered on the world wide web, to be discovered by unknown readers."
After having taken the initial step and having reached out to people and while waiting for their input to trickle in, it was time to figure out what would I write about?
I remember for the longest time wanting to write about love. The devastation of our existence and the devastation of being made obsolete to our selves while in love. I wanted to write about the wonders of nature. The marvel of a universe inside a seed, waiting to transform into being. About the instinct of it as it develops roots, moving around soil. I wanted to despair at the infinite tenderness of the young shoot, curious and alive. Sensing, probing, nudging, while growing, young leaves unfurling from buds, with the algorithm growth processes encoded in its biophysicochemical DNA. I wanted to write about a love so powerful it transcended all. I wanted to talk about the ice caps, disappearing. I wanted to write about my anxiety for the future. I wanted to talk about my love for science. For my love of patterns and processes, like many others like me. I wanted to write about many things even if the work was unfinished, basic, in progress. Learn about beliefs being explored by others.
Every step of the process had huge barriers and self-image issues I needed to confront. It is a process of coming to terms with who you are and accepting your work for what it is. It took a lot for me to calm down and allow myself to write, and abandon the looming fear of being perceived, and breath. I could either expend my energy trying to appease my completionist tendencies, or I could create something and then allow myself to figure things out as they came along. What did I want to write about?
"Something real, something vulnerable, something that makes you feel something".
That was a kachua (really, look it up) anthem.
So here we are. Hope you enjoy reading and exploring this space. Please share this with those who may enjoy such a project. If you would like a printed copy of this edition, please email us. Our information can be found on the contact page. Your thoughts, comments, communication are much valued, sought and welcome. I promise, there will be no spam, only friendly, sometimes awkward e-mails and hopeful plans to meet again.
In the tumblr link below, is a picture story painted evolving on a wall. Enjoy the beauty each photograph is. Close your eyes, now open them and welcome to aknownspace. Check out the current edition in the menu.