Thank you so very much for your presence (this extends to those who were only able to send vibes on the night), I am deeply grateful to know you all.
We had a beautiful time together and shared some delicious food and drink. We spoke about a lot of things, so I’ve done my best here to capture my memories and reflections of the conversation streams here. There maybe important things that I have missed so please share anything or any perspectives that I have omitted.
We spoke about
– The importance of creativity, imagination, of free and critical thoughts and voices, of creating and inhabiting alternate models of organisation.
– Cross pollination and the importance, need and deep desire to work in community
It felt like there was consensus feeling that these/this idea forms a pillar around which we can construct whatever we wish to come next.
Magnet as:
‘a place to belong’
– a flexible space, capable of holding hundreds of people during peak surges. — well suited to having quiet/loud spaces for undertaking our personal practices during non-surge times
– well geo-socially positioned
– Sharing Teaching Learning Growing.
Activities we expressed desire for doing
Making
– Time, space, privacy for loud, knowing that others won’t be disturbed
– Workshop space for building, sawing, cutting, drilling, hammering, blasting, spraying, exploding, imploding
– A Tesla Coil
– Workshop space time for electronics
– Playing
– Jamming/Rehearsing
– Photograph Processing (Darkroom)
– Food and medicine from the Garden
– Interwoven Beauty and Mess
Showcasing
Importance of sharing insights into the Creative Process, as well as any outcomes from it
– Documenting, Archiving and Sharing the happenings and explorations that unfold (there is also a chunk of capturing some of everything that the space has been and held before this moment in time)
– Podcasting (animated!?)
– Zines
– Blogs and writing
– Performing
– Hosting talks and discussions
– Skill Sharing / Workshop holding including Elder Knowledge Share
(picture: one day Magnet might have 15 people working on their cars led by Sorcha’s dad – the next there might be Group Breath work in the Spatial Studio with tea and debriefing in the garden afterwards, the next day there might be people making their first solder joins and making bleeps and bloops, the next darkroom experiments)
Bringing forth
– Artist Residencies
– Market (Artists Market meets Farmers Market meets Community flea market)
Administrative Stuff
Cooperative Model
– Personal creative agency and freedom, joining together for group endeavours, unfurling out to broader community interweaving. (A note on ‘group endeavours’ – for me this means anything from a record label/artist collective gallery to a performance/happening that we all work together to build – and anything in between)
– Growing like tree rings
– The appearance of a benefactor is most welcome
– 80/20 option – we spend a bit of time doing something that enables our free creative explorations. We discussed icecream shops, mushroom farms and medicinal supplements, outdoor cafes, shipping containers that interface with the world outside the gate, plant medicine.
– An international/non-Local outer ring/base of Subscribers who pay a small amount to access the ‘e-fruits’ (online documentation/presentations) of our creative explorations and support the organisation.
– A Local in-between ring (people who physically attend workshops and become regulars)
– Need to set up dispute and accountability processes from the beginning
Operational
– Loosely we talked about the operational costs currently ballparking 6k per month (4.5k rent pcm)
– it would be far better in all respects for us to own the property, we are in good standing to negotiate this as the juicy cash jellyfish waves their abundance tentacles.
– Current Legal standing – Matt and Erin have a Discretionary Trust set up, which owns Magnet Pty Ltd. More members can be added to the Trust easily. The Pty set-up ensures that no-one holds personal liability.
– Officially Incorporating as a Cooperative may grant us access to big cash biccies.
Next Steps:
– Matt and I will create a map of Magnet with potential uses, trajectories, time based harmony and dissonance overlays, futures and send through for you each to peruse and mull over before,
– We meet again!
To discuss the floorplan and begin the process of defining what the co-op is about/for.
I think for this one a Zoom/Jitsi call might be most effective. I propose next Monday 30th November starting 6:30pm and running till 8:30 at the latest.
A Thinking Provocation:
Consider a trajectory down which each member desires to flow, reflecting on personal interests, skills, strengths, and how their fullest self can be nourished through the group project.
Love
