Volume 1, Issue 18 | Hidden Intention
You learn some things when you pretend to be an art house movie theater. I’ll bore you with one of the details: when changing settings in serious film projection software, you have to click apply. If you don’t, the settings won’t save, and you will think your audio has died, and that your laptop is dying, and you will panic, and you will switch laptops multiple times trying to save the show. Then, one of those times, you will see the apply button in the settings and you will click it. You will then tell Norton that his laptop does in fact work, but you’ll forget to tell him the bit about clicking apply, and so he won’t, and this will again cause him some panic, before you remember to tell him.
You will later make other, equally critical mistakes, but without clicking apply you would never have even had the chance to make it to those later mistakes. In the end you will still have the best (by virtue of it being the only) screening in the whole city.
But if you just click apply from the beginning you can get to those other mistakes faster.
—Ivan
Happenings
This week:
Yoga with Dan, Sunday, October 13
By the time you read about this it will already be too late, because while I mean to file Paperwork on Sundays, preferably before any Sunday events, I am currently writing this section of Paperwork while Yoga with Dan is taking place. I’m leaving it in here for the historical record.
This one hour, all-levels “flow” class is currently syncing engaging physical poses with intentional breathwork, building flexibility and coordination while attuning inner selves. Students are currently experiencing a moderate, low impact workout with light breathing exercises.
You’re far too late to join for this one, but this happens monthly, the day after PowerPoint Parties.
Knife Sharpening Workshop, Tuesday, October 15
When’s the last time you got your knives sharpened? If your answer is “I can’t remember“ or “you can get your knives sharpened???”—or if you currently find yourself unable to easily cut through a piece of paper held aloft—this workshop is for us.
Elijah—amateur knife-maker, multi-platinum PowerPoint Presenter, and new member of the Company—will teach us how to sharpen our knives! Bring in your dull blades and leave with sharp ones.
Be the sharpest tool in the shed →
Weekly Wednesday Worknight, Wednesday, October 16
The Company is about combining creative work with good friendships. Make an appointment with your side project this (or any) Wednesday at a Worknight, where we oscillate between enforced, focused, quiet time and optional chatty social time. $5, or free for Company and Moonlight members.
Offsite: Make & Tell, Wednesday, October 16
Last summer, local design studio Made Shop hosted a series of events called Make & Tell, described as an open mic show and tell for creative works in progress. Livvy, Norton, and I went to as many as we could, shared some of our own works in progress, and at the very last one, Norton and I met Justin, who thereafter became one of our dearest friends. Half a year later, he was key in encouraging us to go ahead and start this thing we’d been talking about forever—this experiment in community we call The Company.
And so we owe a lot to the fine folks over at The Made Shop. We’re big fans of Make & Tell, and we’re so excited to see that they’ve f i n a l l y brought it back, for one night only. Some of us are skipping worknight to go.
Next Week:
Colorado New Media Arts Meetup, Monday, October 21
Ashton—a composer, sound designer, and member of the creative coding network that Norton’s a part of—is hosting a new meetup at The Company for creators and enjoyers of new media arts.
Some examples of new media art include: Digital Art, Generative Art, Video Synthesis, Glitch Art, Projection Mapping, Art Installations, VR and AR, Interactive Art, Video Art, Internet Art, Sound Art and Modular Synthesis.
If you create or enjoy art with non-traditional tools and methods, and want to meet other people who do, we welcome you to join the first gathering of this new group.
Glint: Ghosts, Tuesday, October 22
True, personal stories, told live, without notes. Pretty much exactly like The Moth except without the competition, on Tuesdays instead of Fridays, and everyone knows each other (or is about to). Our next theme is “Ghosts“, and we’ve got storyteller slots left. If you’ve got stories about things that remain, things that won’t go away, things that spook you, after effects, after-images, inexplicable events, paranormal activity, never hearing back, or things that haunt you, get in touch!
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Also coming up: Ballot Study Hall, Mary Ann’s Book Club: The Watchers, Block Printing Class, Homecoming
Nostalgia
Do you remember that day Marcia walked in to tell us about the intersection changes, and the hundred-year-old flagstones? That she told us that the canoe got sold? How for weeks after that we would talk about how great her outfit was that day?
Or the refugee training that night? Meeting Chad and Michaela, learning about LFSRM, all the terms? How we got such a thorough overview of the different statuses, timelines, and paths toward resettlement? How we teared up at parts, thinking of what it would be like to welcome a family—imagining what it would be like for us, our parents, our grandparents to have been so welcomed?
Surely you remember the Eno screening—all those strangers who drove from so far away. How confident we felt that we had figured everything out ahead of time, but it turned out we hadn’t. How—because of technical delays—the thing we would normally call lingering happened before instead of after. That wonderfully, someone in the crowd was a professional projectionist and helped us out. That during Hustwit’s intro to the film, the second time, when he said that every screening would be a unique experience, someone in the audience said “it has been!“ and all of us laughed—only some of us nervously. You remember, then, that it all worked out in the end. That we were moved and inspired.
And perhaps you left before we packed up and debriefed, and so you weren’t there for it, but some of us also remember the moment when Norton summed it all up by quipping “Best screening in the city!“ and we laughed.
Do you remember the worknight—Molly’s first? How we earned a star, and unravelled reravelled and couldn’t make sense of why it sometimes did and didn’t work?
Or that Thursday with the separate lunches? The atypically quiet Friday?
Or PowerPoint Party? That people talked about love, and poets that talk about love? The encouragement to make things, and the showcasing of made things? That two topics touched on how to deal with USB-C? Or how there were dogs, and we were nervous about the people who might be sneezy, but it was instead one of the dogs that was sneezy?
That strangers came in off the street because they saw, through the windows, the words PowerPoint Party No. 19 on the screen, and wondered what was going on in here?
Bureaucratic Minutiae
The fly is still around.
At the Refugee Initiative Training: we heard from Chad and Michaela about some of the many things involved in refugee resettlement, and everything involved in hosting a refugee family. If you’re interested in joining, please email Allyson immediately at allysonacoan@gmail.com.
At the Eno film screening: we welcomed a lot of Eno fans and gave them a one-of-a-kind experience of a film that’s different every time it’s shown. Many thanks to Alex and Mason for their technical and moral support.
At Worknight: Halie filled a page in her journal and ordered homecoming decorations, Jacob outlined his PowerPoint Party presentation, Molly established a study plan, Livvy worked on Company events, and Norton debriefed the art show and the film screening.
At PowerPoint Party No. 19: Allyson taught us about fresco painting, Elijah told us about why we should make things, Mary Ann Tate talked to us about poetry, Zack explained the complexity of the USB-C protocol, Ivan undeniably demonstrated how nice case-sensitive punctuation is, Jacob shared some of his learnings about social networks, Max told us about his process for trying to determine if he was in love, Paola taught us about choice architecture, and Daniel Evan Quay told us another one of his rules for life.
Finally, a reminder that The Company is a membership-supported mixed-use creative space, and if you know any of us, you’re welcome to pop in any time for free (outside of events). If you know that one of us is here and you’d like to come by, reach out and we can let you in.
Do you know anyone in the Denver area who might be looking for creative community? Feel free to forward this email along to them. Everyone loves Paperwork.
😘
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This issue of Paperwork was made possible by the support of our members, Halie, Drew, Justin, Mason, Lexi, José, Mary Ann, Trevr, Aubrey, Allyson, Lizzie, Madison, Melissa, Elijah, and Dan.
