on building a co-practice

i think a lot about what it means to build with others. as a curator and community manager, i couldn't do what i do without my collaborators. preferably its not a one off, but an ongoing dance and weaving of ideas. a co-practice. something that is somewhere adjacent to everyones main practice, living in between as its own thing.

that's what's been forming between @ruby bailey and i over the past ~ year and a half. we met through the metalabel universe via instagram. different practices on different continents. ruby in johannesburg, me in new york. but the overlaps were evident right away: the liminal, the digital body, simulations and the matrix, crystallized mystic lands, techno-meditation, divinity and the ethereal. not the same work, but the same questions.

and i think that's the key distinction. co-practice isn't about merging into one voice. it's about finding others whose questions sharpen yours. someone who pulls you into territory you wouldn't reach alone. not because you couldn't but because you wouldn't think to.

we're excited to merge the research work of our collective called synthetics to DFOS. synthetics is a network channeling collective consciousness toward new modes of techno-communion, and has only been possible because we committed to making things before the full picture was clear. ether-beta was the first zine. words by me, design by ruby. built around a text called release to enter, an intro module from a larger project still in progress. sometimes you don't have to wait for the whole thing to be finished. the zine was the practice of practicing together. an experiment in trust and rhythm.

then came a night of sermons at metalabel hq, an irl + url event we produced in july. i had just left nyc, ruby had just arrived for the summer. we'd still never met in person. (we ended up meeting a couple months ago for a few hours while Ruby was on a layover in London - she was actually real!) but the co-practice and friendship already felt strong enough to hold something live, public, and real. the event was sold out and a huge success. a full room led by a group of likeminded thinkers from our realm. happy to chat more about this event too. since moving to london in the summer, i've also been able to exhibit ruby in a show here too. i love the internet.

that's what i want to emphasize: you don't need to be in the same room to build a co-practice. you don't even need to be in the same discipline. what you need is resonance. overlapping curiosities, mutual trust, and a willingness to dance the dance of experimentation and conversation. community isn't always a scene or a city. sometimes it's one person on the other side of the world asking the same questions you are. and when you find that, build with them. the work will show you what it wants to become. we're excited to build this co-practice in this new space.