I like the juxtaposition of touch-stones and off-paper—the one physical, the other virtual. This “off paper” and online presence of The Project Room is entering its third year this summer and it seems like time to take stock, touch stones, and think of what has been and what is to come. While I carry the official title of Editor, the truth is that we operate as a collective Editorium: Jess Van Nostrand’s voice is always there as founder of The Project Room; Assistant Editor Tessa Hulls has provided a sense of continuity to us and has taken on steady leadership for content development in “The Seen” section of Off Paper; Brangien Davis is always available as a helpful resource and scout for potential connections between Off Paper and goings-on in the broader realm of arts and culture. And, truth be told, I was MIA for the last several months, dealing with some personal upheaval/laid flatness that I’ll write about soon. Without Tessa, Off Paper would have been offline—so first, a huzzah to her! And second, after a quick google, I am annoyed to learn that I did not coin the word “editorium”—but I still claim our identity as such.
Jess, Tessa, and I met last week at my apartment to reaffirm what we want Off Paper to be (and to nibble on treats, sip coffee and tea, and pour milk out of a porcelain cat’s mouth).
What Off Paper is not: a slick magazine, with a fixed production schedule and paid employees. What it is: an online companion to The Project Room; a conversation partner to the events and programs of the physical space—liberated from time and place. Some of the pieces in Off Paper are directly related to programs; sometimes they inspire or are inspired by programs; sometimes they are just riffs on the themes of The Project Room (currently: How Are We Remembered?).
Coming up, we have musings by artists, makers, and thinkers—from around the world—in response to the question “Who Was Your First Hero?” Our own Tessa starts us off here; others include Author and Physicist Lee Smolin, followed by other creative voices in the arts and beyond.
We’re taken by how varied the forms of self-memorialization and remembrances of others are, and will be exploring some of them in Off Paper. Look for travelblogues, culinary histories, photo-chronicles, poems, essays, cartoons, and scribblings.
Are you working on something related to remembering or being remembered? We would love to hear from you. Whatever else Off Paper is, we want it to be reflective: of our days, our questions, our communities, our makings. Contact us at editor[at]projectroomseattle.org, and visit often for new writing!
Your Editorium,
Jenifer, Tessa, Jess