XP s̶p̶r̶i̶n̶g̶ spine newsletter: creating & maintaining [space] 🦴💦⛲️ |
📧 Emma’s apology + new (news)letter protocol |
🛟 WE STARTED POOLING OUR INCOME! |
🩻 spine & <body> awareness ... |
 spines of Extra Practice |
Hello dear readers! (Almost 600 of you!!!) |
It is Emma writing to you from the XP headquarters. This is the longest I (or anyone) have ever procrastinated writing an XP newsletter (feeling extra sorry because I am often the one pestering other XP members about getting it out in time). I think I agreed to write it almost 4 months ago…this was supposed to be a spring newsletter. Whoops. I am sorry! |
In our last monthly meeting, we discussed how to deal with this newsletter slacking behaviour. The nice thing about our newsletter is that whoever is writing it has full freedom to write about whatever they want. In that sense they are not necessarily news letters…. Just letters? We only have to write one if we feel like it, there is no mandatory newsletter duty, which helps keeping these letters personal and passionate and High Quality. If we make our monthly rhythm more strict, might we lose that feeling of freedom and fun? But if we are not strict, a newsletter may take 4 months to come out. The solution we came up with and will be trying out is this: the XP NEWSletter WILL be coming out every month on THIS DATE (the 18th), with whatever updates we have to share. And whenever one of us feels like writing a long personal one to you all, there is always space to send that as an extra newsletter. Let’s try it. ✉️ ✉️ ✉️ |
 some things that happened in spring |
I was planning on writing a long one when I volunteered for this SPRING newsletter… I felt very excited at the time, full of inspiration and experiences to report on. I had done a residency, and there had been 3 XP Away Days in Arnhem and Nijmegen, and we were getting close to starting our income pooling pilot, and I wanted to tell you all about it! (I will at the end of this letter) But when I finally had the time to start writing, I found myself in extreme anti-computer mood. This screen aversion has been present for quite a while now, the things that make me happy are outside of screens. I used to love computering but now prefer body mode. Or as Elliott would put it, <body> mode. Moving <body>, taking care of <body>, feeding <body> , listening to <body>, resting <body>. Less <head> more <body>.
Last week I did a trek from Bologna to Florence, after lots of trains and cars it felt so crazy to just travel between two cities by foot... Realising <body> is the most awesome vehicle, and we only get one for an entire lifetime of traveling :o We should maintain them well! |
 XP in body mode during the Away Days in April |
I started writing this while sitting at Elliott’s desk, when he was in Korea for a month doing a residency at Birdcall. His chair SUCKS, so I switched it for the ergonomic ‘knee-chair’ that always kind of floats around the studio. Its design forces you to engage your core, and naturally keeps your spine upright. Apparently it strengthens your back muscles and improves circulation. So you can imagine me typing this newsletter with a very straight back, and blood and oxygen flowing smoothly through my system. In return I would like to imagine you, reading this newsletter, remembering to straighten your spine every time you read the word spine. Just imagine a string pulling the crown of your head up from the sky, pull your chin slightly in, and your shoulders down. Maybe take a deep healthy breath while you're at it. Your <body> will thank you later! |
 the knee-chair | Colin demonstrating alternative use of the knee-chair |
My increased spine awareness began when I started seeing a chiropractor this January. He cracks my back and neck every few weeks, and I'm totally hooked. Whenever I look at my calendar and see I have an adjustment coming up, I feel an excitement in my <body>. The adjustments only take around 5 minutes. But for many days after I feel amazing, like everything is flowing. It’s my new healthy addiction, crack, I mean to get cracked, my back I mean 🦴💥 |
I still don't exactly know how it works, but during the chiropractic intake I was shown several images of spines and how each vertebra is connected to different organs in the body, and then told something about how these vertebrae get misaligned or stuck through stress, and that creating more [space] between them makes your nervous system function better. It's all about supporting the body. Balance, energy, circulation, flow, bla bla. Everything is connected, etc etc. I don't know what is true, but I know when I feel good! |
 everything is connected, bla bla bla |
It's not that I have any specific complaints or pains to fix, I just go to keep feeling good, as a kind of maintenance. The more you get adjusted, the better your spine 'holds' adjustments and the less maintenance you need. I've been thinking a lot about this attitude: not just fixing things after they get broken, but adjusting and maintaining them so they don’t. I think it's a nice attitude to have about everything, not just spine or <body>. This sometimes means giving priority to things that don’t feel urgent in the moment, which can be hard to do. But future you will thank you later! |
We are also applying this at XP. For example, we plan in monthly maintenance days where we do things like: mop the floors, clean the fridge, weed the garden, change our desk-layout, update the website, clear out the storage space, etc. After a maintenance day, there is always some [space] freed up, both in the actual studio and in our brains. In a super busy week it can be frustrating having to spend time on XP maintenance, when you could be working on that big deadline project. But the more we prioritise working, the less room is left for living & learning, and so treating the maintenance days as seriously as a paid job feels good, sustainable. We want this place to exist in the future, so we gotta put in the maintenance work now. |
 Elliott & Emma's spines prototyping the XP climbing gym (WIP) on maintenance day |
I spend a lot of time dreaming and scheming about how I can make sure the things I enjoy now can keep existing in the future, or how the things I want in the future can take shape by actions I should take right now. I'm a firm believer in actively creating [space] for things you want, sometimes even using some (healthy) force…it can feel scary 💥CRACK💥 but then aaaaahhhhh. Things start flowing!!! |
For example: with most XP members we have joined a research group called Communal Living that Felix initiated last summer after another wholesome climbing trip. Around 12 people who meet once a month to explore the desires & possibilities of collective ways of living non-nuclear lives. We visit inspiring places, look into finances, sketch our ideal spaces. Sometimes it seems like an impossible utopian dream and I feel like we are a naive group of losers, other times I am certain that this will happen in a matter of years. But just having started this group and pushing through the doubts feels good, cause things have started flowingggg |
 the Communal Living research group at work |
 Away Days quest map + locations |
As promised, a short, belated report on our annual ‘XP Away Days’ : the small yearly trip we take together to reflect on where we are at, as Extra Practice and as people, in an inspiring environment nice and far from the studio. Our route from Arnhem to Nijmegen became an adventure-style quest map with mythical places to serve as backdrops for unravelling some mysteries that needed to be solved, such as: Where do we see ourselves in the future? What do we need to thrive there? How can XP play a role in those needs? First stop: the Bilderberg hotel, a legendary place where world leaders used to meet up. Instead of spending our entire budget on a meeting room we used their lawn to share our life visions with each other, and then practiced some break dance moves and took this culty picture. |
 you can see that Elliott has not joined the Pool and is thinking about leaving the cult |
Next stop: the Oracle, where actual magic happened. We each had a walkie talkie (nice leftovers from the STRP workshop I mention in the end of this letter) and without planning it, we started a sort of collective LARP therapeutic visualisation session, in which we took turns standing in front of the big face and asking the question: what is the space I need to thrive? The rest of us, sat on the other side of the face, slowly answered the question by describing a physical space, each contributing sentences to the growing image. For Kirsten, it was different rooms that allowed them to easily dip in and out of different parts of their practice. For Ben, it was a rural place with lots of computer stuff. It's hard to explain, but I want to remind us all of how great that session was and that we should develop it into a method or a workshop! There is something very touching about other people describing a space that feels perfect for you. There were even tears. We recorded each oracle answer, I would love to do something with them at some point. For now here are just some photos of our Oracle visit: |
 the Oracle experience |
Some other stops of our Away Day quest included: meeting old friends in a pub in Arnhem (The Tavern), searching for inspiration and signs in an old bookstore (The Library), visiting a huge community housing project in an old monastery (The Castle), picking nettles for our dinner that we cooked at the city-farm we stayed at (The Farm) and walking through the Ooijpolder (The Swamp) to our final destination where we reflected on everything that had come up. It is a shame I only type this up now (again sorry) because I don't remember very well what themes were most prominent. I think there was talk of creating more making space in XP (less [screens] thinking more <hands> making!), and the first ideas for an XP shop, which we have slowly been developing since then. I like these newsletters as documentations of where our minds were at a given time. We definitely came back reconnected and pretty hopeful after this one, and a little bit in love with Arnhem/Nijmegen (communally live there?). |
 if you are wondering who took all the beautiful photos, it's the person who's not in them: Gijs is always documenting. it runs in his family! |
Anyway, back to spines! Just kidding lol but I was thinking that our income pooling experiment is another, more radical way of creating space and balancing flows. 'Create more space for rest & self initiated work' is one of the aims described in the contract. Yes, the contract... |
After more than a year of speculating & investigating, figuring out sheets & formulas, fears & doubts, rules & clauses, we can proudly announce that we have officially started the Income Pool Pilot. Last month we all transferred thousands of euros (a retrospective calculation including a 4K buffer deposit) to the Pool bank account. On July 1st, we all* received 2000 euros 'Pool wage' for the first time. From now until December this will be a steady income, despite what factually does or doesn't come in from your own clients that month. There is a lot more to say and share about this, we are currently working on documenting the pilot on a webpage (WIP), and in an exhibition at Foundation We Are this autumn! 💦 |
*when I say we all, I mean Kirsten Gijs Ben Jack Emma; Elliott has decided not to join the experiment, which is totally cool and understandable. He probably thinks we're all crazy? |
 you can see this is not his first rodeo as a lifeguard |
For now, one last thing I'd like to share about the Pool is that I think it has definitely already made things flow within XP. Getting work and getting money feels great because it is shared, flowing in 5 directions. Not having work feels less heavy because the pressure is distributed. When Ben cooks lunch while Gijs and Kirsten are in a client meeting, and Jack works on a commission and I am writing an XP newsletter Elliott sets the table, we are kind of like different organs in one body, (or vertebrae in a SPINE?) taking care of different parts but together keeping everything balanced and flowing!!! There is the space for that now, although managing The Pool also takes a lot of work and effort (we've already had some sheet errors and tax confusions) but I am curious to see where it will take us. Stay tuned to find out! Only one month till next newsletter! 💚 |
future events at Extra Practice |
We got a tiny bit of municipality funding to host more of our beloved Mending Circles, initiated & guided by Wietske. Dates are not confirmed, but keep an eye on this newsletter / xp website / our are.na event channel / our instagram for announcements. They will be monthly-ish sessions!
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🔫 Groot Rotterdams Atelier Weekend |
Every year we participate, because every year some unexpected visitors and conversations make it kiiiinda worth sacrificing the entire weekend, so this year we signed up again :) How or what we will be organising is still TBD, but 19 & 20 September our doors should be opened all day (and so will lots of other creative spaces in Rotterdam) so if you happen to be in town that weekend, drop us a visit! |
🏷️ We're making an XP shop |
And that's all I can say about it right now. Just saying it here so we have to really do it. Dropping in December. |
current XP status (according to Emma's observations) |
🟢 Elliott is juggling a lot. He is also spreading gossip about moving away, again... will he leave for good or just for a little wander? Either way, his first stop seems to be Squamish. But Bell Kiosk is still open if you are looking for a handmade website. |
🟡 Jack has been working hard on a new spatial design for our friends at zip.space . Now he is going on holiday to France. His car has no airconditioning, but the house has a pool. He is bringing some Go-stones with him. |
🔵 Gijs has about 10 projects going on, so he is giving himself a break from PhD-hunting. He is also leaving on a well deserved holiday soon. Gijs is adding a lot of money to the pool! |
⚪ Kirsten is cycling and swimming again! After a second knee surgery, their leg can now bend a lot further. Next weeks will be busy because of a big website deadline. Luckily the load is shared with Ben, and a holiday may be waiting after. |
⚫ Ben came back after having been in his home country (the United Kingdom) for many many weeks! He had to get used to stinky loud Rotterdam after wholesome rural life. After website-deadlining with Kirsten his is escaping to nature again, to Norway. |
🔴 Emma is back from Italian holiday. She has changed her mind about starting teacher-school in September, and is postponing 'stability' for now. Too many projects she wants to put energy in, and too much XP-fomo love. |
some past events worth mentioning |
 On June 28, we hosted a book launch of In But Not Of: Practices of Commoning in Art and Infrastructure, a new publication edited by Cecilia Casabona and Noam Youngrak Son, published by Onomatopee. It was a lovely event with readings (broadcast on GTBT) and music, and the topics discussed were very aligned with XP values & interests which we loved! We are always open to hosting small events like this if it feels right, so don't hesitate to reach out if you are interested. |
📟 STRP workshops by Gijs & Ben |
On March 27 & 28 Ben and Gijs hosted two workshops at STRP festival Eindhoven, exploring the bottom-up network of the Mesh and the potential for Communal Devices, to allow different groups to work together.
Participants split in three groups to sense and publish the mood of Eindhoven: The Ears listened to cues on local radio stations, the Fingers sensed the vibes outside and within themselves, and the Tongue processed the input into a Mood Report, which was printed and distributed silently.
Thank you Maisa Imamović for inviting us and to STRP festival for facilitating.
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