Hello Dear Reader, (3) Dear Friends, Colleagues, Strangers, (2) This is Ben writing to you at this moment in time and space. (3) I hope you're feeling rested and that you're standing, sitting, or lying in a comfortable manner. (2) I'm writing this on the 5th of October and it looks sunny outside. I'm on a train somewhere between Plymouth and Totnes, travelling back from Cornwall. Kirsten is sitting next to me and we just went into a tunnel. This newsletter is made up of fragments from my multiple (4) attempts to write it. This is the fourth (and final!) time I'm starting again. You can tell it's the fourth time because there is a number 4 at the end of the sentence. (4)
I'm writing this newsletter for the third time. I told myself this morning that I would write as I walk between Lizard Point and my parent's house. Attempt number three will be written in motion. (3) Waves hit Lizard Point from three different directions: east, south and west. It's an unusual sight to see at sea. When I stand on the point, I try to think about all the different waves that have broken here and then realise I can't because I am a small human being without that kind of capacity for imagination. It's currently low tide and the waves are breaking onto the reef. (3) Last night, I was watching an interview with a surfer I follow on Instagram called Mike Lay. He said that "the nature of surfing is to start again". I've been reading a lot of things about surfing recently in an attempt to rekindle energy for it and to not forget how good it makes me feel. I bought Acid Magazine and started a subscription to The Surfers Journal and now my algorithms feed me the content and I lap it up like a puppy. (2)
I didn't really know what to write this newsletter about so I spent this morning reading through our old ones. I thought that by revisiting our dispatches from the past, it might help me formulate some thoughts I've been having about the present and the future. It didn't help me find my angle but it did reveal to me that this newsletter is almost two years old. On Wednesday the 20th of October at 12:25, I sent out a newsletter called "October Bulletin". I wrote that newsletter whilst riding on a train and I think that movement gave motion to my thoughts and feelings. (2) About 500 metres out to sea from Lizard Point, there is a rock formation on which the waves are breaking. This rock is called the Man O'War and someone once told me that it's 500 million years old. They also said it comes from the African continent. I don't really know what that means but when I see that rock out there and think of these two facts I feel at peace. (3) A woman we met this morning told us that she had been learning about the geology of The Lizard and how it had been formed through the collision of two continental plates and how happy she was that she wasn't around when it happened. (3) Recently at XP, we had a three-and-a-half-hour long meeting where the majority of the meet was given to a discussion of commitment, accountability and communication. (1) When the things we do separately come together under one roof, the internal thoughts we have about what we do also come together in ways that can complement or contrast one another. During these moments when internal thoughts meet one another, like during this meeting, I find myself entering into a state of quiet where I don't really think in sentences anymore. When someone says something, I find myself trying to make sense of it, ingesting it, and letting it have an effect over me. We went climbing in the street afterwards. (3)
A long while ago, Jack showed me a video called How to Learn How to Surf. In the video, artist Tom Sachs presents ten steps he's created in order to learn how to learn how to surf. What I took from the video is that to learn something like surfing you must do the activity in order to know it. (2) I've surfed quite a few different waves over the years. From fun and small to scary and big. These also happen to be the two different types of waves that I like the most. The small and fun waves give me space to test things out, whether that's trying to cross step across a board or cutting back in from the peak, knowing it's all fairly safe. They feel good when I'm on them and I feel like I have the ability to react and play with the unexpected shapes that the waves take on. The big and scary waves are different. First of all, to initially get into a position where I can surf them, I need to paddle through the break which means ducking underwater and continuously paddling which requires a certain stamina. My ability to get to the back of these waves is not only down to my physical abilities but also my own confidence in facing them head-on. The power of these waves can be intense and if you're caught in a bad way, you can do little else than accept your fate and cover your head. When (or if) you finally make it out behind the white water, you can rest and catch your breath. But by that point a new fear has surfaced, now you've got to catch one. You can only hope that you've got enough left in you to paddle and pop-up. You usually spend a while sitting there, building up the courage to commit. Then when a wave approaches that feels right, you paddle hard and wait for the moment that the wave picks you up. You feel a force push you along as the board slides down the surface of the wave and then you have a short moment to stand up. If you're up, you hold on. At a certain speed, the board bounces across the surface of the wave and you try to make sure you don't come off. I realise in writing about it I need better words to describe it: the sound of the wind, the feeling of the board on top of a liquid mound of energy. The feeling reduces the rest of the world to nothing for that brief moment and after you come off it and the next wave comes into focus you realise it's possible for you to take a breath again. (1) To this day, the feeling of standing on a board whilst gliding across the face of a wave makes me glow in a way that little else does. (2)
The XP Instagram bio says "working & learning together", which over the two years that this newsletter has unfolded, still rings true. (2) Working and learning together has been a process that we could only really have done by doing it. We could have spent a lot of time designing speculative processes and methods that we thought might help facilitate certain ways of doing things but instead we kind of just did it. We've spent time working together, learning together, and then working together again. These two activities of 'working' and 'learning' look like distinct processes when written like this but I think they are a lot muddier than that. It's something that I find hard to describe because there aren't a lot of words for the ways in which these processes happen simultaneously. (2)
I have a small rock in my pocket right now that usually is in my rucksack. I picked it up from a beach called Poltesco. I like being on this beach and ever since my parents moved to this area of the country, this has been my go-to place. Earlier this year, my sister told me about a little ritual she has where she collects a rock from this beach and carries it with her everywhere so that in moments of stress she can hold it in her hand, feel its shape and texture and be reminded of Poltesco. Each time she visits she puts the rock back and picks up another one, starting again. (3) Movement and motion. Back and forth. Ebb and flow. (2) This newsletter will be late, but the Man 'O' War rock reminds me that sometimes things take time. (3) I rarely take the train anymore. As life has shifted and changed into new layouts, so has my way of being in the world. (1) I'm going to start walking now and I'll find another spot to start again somewhere down the path. (3)
XP Event Announcements Good Times Bad Times: Open Radio!
💬🎤👂🌐🎛🎹🔊🌔📣 Hello friends, Good Times Bad Times is back. For one month we will be broadcasting 24/7(ish) from Extra Practice as an Open Radio where we invite you to become part of Good Times Bad Times. From September 25th to October 25th you can listen in to the day-to-day sounds of the studio or for one of the impromptu (but also sometimes planned) radio shows going on. If you would like to host a radio show during this month, send us a DM on instagram!
ThemeWork 6: High VATea 🫖🧾🥪🧁☕️💻🍰🥄💶☕️📈🍓🫖 Time to do our taxes with a theme again! For Q3, we’re keeping it simple & classy with tea, scones and cucumber sandwiches. Bring your receipts and your manners, we’ll take care of the rest ☕️🥪 Come and join us on Thursday October 17, 15:30 - 18:00
Darn it!
🧦🍂🫖🪡🧤🩹♻️🧷✨👕 The season is starting to get cozy – the perfect time to learn how to darn! On Thursday, October 24, Wietske Nutma will be hosting a 2-hour hands-on workshop that will cover all you need to know about darning. We'll learn about darning tools, how to pick the perfect yarn, get a step-by-step darning demonstration as well as the chance to take part in a darn-a-long, and we’ll end with weaving in the tails. All you need is a damaged garment you want to repair. By the end of the workshop, you will have mended a small hole in a knit or woven garment. We'll start at 19:30 and finish around 21:30. There are 12 spots, RSVP by emailing wietskenutma@hotmail.nl.
A special dinner at XP! 👩🏼🌾💭🏡🫏💬🥬🍄🥕🍽️ Agro-ecologist, chef and XP-sister Renée Verhoeven dreams of starting her own farm, where she can combine her passions for organic farming, gastronomy, and culture. As a first step, she has just launched her catering company Renée’s Farm. To kick off, she would like to share her lovely food & farm-dreams with you on Wednesday, October 30, with a regenerative dinner and lecture evening at Extra Practice. Renée will cook four vegetarian courses using seasonal and local ingredients, each dish exploring one chapter of her future farm story through different media. Come eat, listen, watch, brainstorm, and regenerate together! We have 20 seats available and work with solidarity payment, starting at €22.50 per seat. The dinner-program starts at 19:00, and doors open at 18:30. Everyone is welcome, those interested in food/farming/circularity are especially invited to join. Hope to see some of you there!
Guy Fawkes Night!
🎭🔥🪵🍎🎆🌝✨🍽️🧨 On the 5th of November Extra Practice will once again transform into a restaurant. Hosting a Guy Fawkes folk night; this time in collaboration with the artist Luca Gerry Conte. More details to follow soon.
XP News
Thanks for reading and until next time, x |
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