Practice and Scalability

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Exercise in Interviewing:
Practice and Scalability

During methods class on February 2, 2026, we discussed the text “Some Problems with Scale” (from “The Mushroom at the End of the World” by Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing). Afterwards, we conducted interviews with each other in groups of three regarding our personal practice and how we feel about scale in relation to it.

Our group consisted of Lea, Sibyl and Youjung. We all thought about possible interview questions, then discussed them together and settled on a set of six, with the option to ask follow-up or clarification questions.

After the interviews, we engaged in glossary writing for the Grapevine. We discussed community, curiosity, and care, and wrote a collective entry for the term curiosity.

Interviewee: Lea

Interviewer: Sibyl | Secretary: Youjung

S: How would you describe your practice? If it contains multiple aspects, how do you connect each to the others?

L: Everytime I am asked about my practice, I'm having a hard time defining it. My background is in graphic design and print, but I also like to incorporate drawing and painting, writing, and experimenting with living media and bio-materials. I aim to connect these aspects of my practice, for example by including my texts, illustrations, or experiments within a publication. But this is not always successful.

S: Why is it not always successful?

L: Sometimes I make a drawing and I don't publish it anywhere, sometimes I experiment with kombucha SCOBY or mycelium, but I don't go further than the experiment itself. In these cases, cross-media documentation is missing—I don't really connect, I don't really merge.

S: If you're interested in some aspect, you could just combine and publish…

L: That is the goal. At times it works out, at others, it doesn't.

S: How do you want to navigate yourself and your practice within your field or community? Do you want to collaborate with other practitioners or organizations?

L: Working within a community is something that I would love to expand on. Currently, my practice is mostly based on me. I do collaborate with others and engage in many group projects, but it is not a core value of of my work. Every time I make something in a community setting, I notice that it brings forward more interesting perspectives and gives me new energy. I often participate in workshops and it is a good way to connect with other people. A goal of mine is to deepen collaborative relationships and maybe host workshops instead of just participating.

S: What is the difference between hosting and joining a workshop?

L: Being at a workshop is always very informative. I learn new things and have the opportunity to connect with others. But still, the person who facilitates the workshop is somewhat the one in charge. They lead the conversation and the project that is being made, and they are usually the one to invite or suggest further collaboration. If I want to take a more active part and expand on my own practice, it could be useful to host workshops, and thereby actively bring others together.

S: What did you learn from participating in workshops in terms of community?

L: Most of all, I learned about the topics that were introduced during the workshops. But besides that, I got an idea about doing research and working on art projects in an environment new to me, namely in a situated manner. I often start out by thinking big when working on a new project, but taking part in small scale workshops that are situated in a very local or very precise setting gave me new perspectives on how to approach things. It doesn't necessarily have to be scalable. Limiting the scope of a questions, or looking at something more closely instead of at the big picture is very valuable, too.

S: Which parts of your everyday practice do you consider to be easily scalable? How does the scale affect your practice? E.g. in regards to collaborators, skill sets, impact, technical capacity and budget.

L: To be honest, the way I'm working now, my practice is not easily scalable at all. Every project that I work on contains a lot of trial and error. I like to experiment and branch out in many different directions before settling on one. I feel like this would be in the way of effective scaling. I would need to neglect a lot of playing around, which I don't want to do. Regarding community, I would like to scale up in the sense of working with others. Engaging with many different people or groups can be a lot to process, but also very beneficial.

S: How do you start out when working on a new project? From small scale to big scale, or the other way around?

L: I'm not sure if I can generalize this so easily. Usually, though, I go from big topics to smaller research questions or project ideas. In the process, I am scaling down to find the core of what I want to represent.

S: Have you ever thought about growing your practice into a business? If you have, how do you want to ensure that you stay curious in your practice (instead of just scaling up one or a few single projects)?

L: If I would expand my practice into a business, it would only be the graphic design part. Since this feels most commercial, I could focus on client work without necessarily exploring a lot. I don't want to miss out on other aspects of my practice, though, since all of them are influencing my work. It is important not to lose curiosity, and for me it helps to engage in many different crafts and fields of work. I would be missing out if I stopped pursuing other interests.

S: How do you want to develop your practice? What would be your ideal goal?

L: One thing that I have been thinking about for a while is that I'd like to include more research into my artistic practice—possibly researching social dynamics and community work. Having many different interest is a big part of staying engaged and curious, so I do want to try out new things, either within my practice fields, or outside. In short, a goal is to keep experimenting. I don't have any goals in terms of scalability.

S: Keep experimenting in your current practice or on other pathways?

L: Both, I would say. I don't want to limit my self in terms of interests and would like to always stay open to new influences.

Interviewee: Youjung

Interviewer: Lea | Secretary: Sibyl

L: How would you describe your practice? If it contains multiple aspects, how do you connect each to the others?

Y: In general, I like to keep things crafty in my practice. I work mainly in graphic design, illustration and coding, and I like to engage in all of these fields in a crafty manner. Right now, there is one really personal side, and another one that's very corporate. I would like to find a good balance between personal practice and commercial work.

L: Do you have a workflow to combine the different parts of your practice?

Y: Somehow, the personal and the corporate automatically blend together, since they influence each other. I cannot separate myself from my work.

L: And how do you connect illustration, design and coding?

Y: For this, I have come to study at XPUB. I have already used paged.js: printing a zine into a illustrated publication using CSS. For now, I am only technically blending these three, but I also want to start blending ideas and methods together.

L: How do you want to navigate yourself and your practice within your field or community?

Y: I can't really say what field I am currently in. At the moment, I am in a process of transition: Graphic design used to feel very commercial, but I am trying to distance myself from that. One field that appeals to me is alternative technologies and art around it. I want to research how art can be combined with technology, and how we can embrace new technologies. I would love to be part of a more tech-orientated field, and I just started to use Fediverse to find my community.

L: Do you want to collaborate with other practitioners or organizations?

Y: I would like to collaborate with developers and activists. So far, I only collaborated with brands and in product marketing, but I would like to shift to a collaboration with people—especially people who take action and focus on visualizing an idea rather than a product. Regarding organizations, I want collaborate with NGOs. I am not super sure about my political stance, but would like to connect with people who are more politically active and I want to be influenced by them.

S: Which parts of your everyday practice do you consider to be easily scalable?

Y: For now, illustration is the field that would be easiest to scale up as I have my own coherent style of drawing. It could be profitable, and it is an easy way to train my practice. By expanding my works into products, and promoting them on social media, it could become a kind of business.

L: If you would actually focus on starting a business, how would you ensure that you stay curious in your practice?

Y: I definitely want to keep learning to code and being engaged in XPUB. I love illustration, but I would like to keep it interactive. I would like to keep making prototypes and experimenting to bridge them with illustration and design.

L: How do you start out when working on a new project? From small scale to big scale, or the other way around?

Y: I don't think I have a usual way to approach things, I just go with the flow. Even though it might not seem like that, I am quite a scattered person. I start something new after it pops up in conversation, and I will look up key words and connect the dots with other interests.

L: So you are saying that you're aiming to find a place for your projects within the larger surroundings…?

Y: I never really think about scalability, I just find something that is interesting and dig into that. I try to focus on the meaning and how it resonates with myself and others. That is why want to incorporate more research. Maybe I do need to think more about scalability, to gather information on the surroundings and ingredients of ideas.

L: How do you want to develop your practice? What would be your ideal goal?

Y: Currently, what is lacking the most is the part of research: I am wondering how I can start a conversation through my practice. I feel like the work I am doing is often the end of a sentence, it doesn't open up new questions and discussions. Through research, I could bring up more subjects and start important conversations. Then, my work would not end in me, but open up to other influences and it might resonate with more people.

Interviewee: Sibyl

Interviewer: Youjung | Secretary: Lea

Y: How would you describe your practice? If it contains multiple aspects, how do you connect each to the others?

S: My practice is based in graphic design, but since studying at XPUB, I am learning how to code. I also love research about sociology and anthropology. Caring and working with and around people is very much at the core of my practice. Coding is very physical, and it could be a bridge to connect my research with people.

Y: Can you elaborate on how coding would be able to connect people and research?

S: When I go through coding, I can make something that is interesting and cute. For example, the server charms from the actinomy workshop could be a tool for social participatory practices. I am also interested in virtual community and communication. Technology is crucial in our world, so I could be the key to connect to the world.

Y: Yes, coding is very interactive and therefore invites people to partake. I can relate!

Y: How do you want to navigate yourself and your practice within your field or community?

S: I want to engage my practice within a community. I love getting feedback on my ideas and projects, and that's one reason why I want to dig into that. I would like to work more on funny stuff, to invite people from the different communities. One idea that i have been thinking about is finding a research topic, and then writing a question that offers an opportunity for reflection to people.

Y: Can you describe how you previously worked with a community? What kind of community was that?

S: I defined an area of 5km, with me in the center. So my community is based on my location, and I want to connect to people near me. Mostly, I was interested to connect with teenagers, because at that time, I worked on a project to invite young people to move from online to offline spaces. The research question was: How can teenagers connect to their community?

Y: Do you want to collaborate with other practitioners or organizations?

S: I haven't thought about this question before. I do want to collaborate with NGOs. Most of them have their own goals, and a set core of their work. In Hongkong, I worked together with an NGO that does important work on sexual assault and violence. I would also like to engage more with seniors and children.

Y: Which parts of your everyday practice do you consider to be easily scalable?

S: At this moment, I am thinking that I would like to expand on CSS. Every day I am learning, and because I am just starting out, I learn a lot. So for me, it could be scalable. I can scale my own knowledge.

Y: I am curious... How could you do that in regards to community work?

S: I want to work on an online community. The first entry I made is a simple document, but if I want to work on another event now, I would like to make it real on the web. It would heavily depend on what kind of organisation I am working with.

Y: How do you start out when working on a new project? From small scale to big scale, or the other way around?

S: I usually start with research. I draft a question that I want to dig into. Then, I find people who belong to my target audience. I want to do more work that is meaningful for people, not just for me. I ask myself how I can help my community with the practice that I do.

Y: I also want to make something that doesn't end in me. I don't need to change the world, but what I do should have an impact.

S: Some projects are based in my own feelings. Often, other people have similar feelings and issues, so it can be useful for others as well, and we could elaborate on our shared experiences.

Y: Have you ever thought about growing your practice into a business? If you have, how do you want to ensure that you stay curious in your practice (instead of just scaling up one or a few single projects)?

S: I have not thought about that and I don't want do that. I think my goals, especially in regards to community work, are not compatible with corporate approaches and scalability.

Y: How do you want to develop your practice? What would be your ideal goal?

S: Mostly, I just want to keep learning! I would like to develop my core practice further. I don't have a clear ideal or goal, but it is very important to me that I don't stop learning that I keep my curiousity. As I get older, I seem to have less curiosity, so I want to focus on not loosing that.

Glossary Entry: Curiosity

In methods class, we conducted interviews with each other in other in groups of three.

In the interviews Sibyl, Youjung and Lea did, the term curiosity came up a lot. While all three of us are struggling to see a perspective of scale in our practice, we are very motivated to stay curious. Having many different influences—that can be personal topics of interests, or other people and communities—is crucial to "growing" our practices and stay engaged in what we are working on.

Curiosity is very strong (almost magical) and is a driving factor in a lot of the things we are doing daily. Even though it is difficult and time consuming, Youjung is leaning how to code—because she is curious!

Curiosity connects strongly to childhood. Playing around and experimenting (as a child does when it learns to get around in this world) is useful in doing research and art. When you're growing older it becomes harder to stay curious but it is still of big value.

• strong motivation

• happy vs comfortable

Zine Making Protocol

1. Set some global styles in the CSS template https://pzwiki.wdka.nl/mediadesign/Practice_and_Scalability/style.css

2. Make your own style2.css and add more styles.

3. Make on of the two versions of the curl + weasyprint bash script and run it.

curl 'https://pzwiki.wdka.nl/mediadesign/Practice_and_Scalability?action=render' > zine.html
curl 'https://pzwiki.wdka.nl/mediadesign/Practice_and_Scalability/style.css?action=raw' > style.css
weasyprint zine.html -s style.css -s style2.css PracticeAndScalability.pdf

#!/bin/bash
PAGE="https://pzwiki.wdka.nl/mediadesign/Practice_and_Scalability?action=render"
PAGE_CODE="$(curl $PAGE)"
cat << EOF > zine.html
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
</head>
<body>
$PAGE_CODE
</body>
</html>
EOF
curl 'https://pzwiki.wdka.nl/mediadesign/Practice_and_Scalability/style.css?action=raw' > style.css
weasyprint zine.html -s style.css -s style2.css PracticeAndScalability.pdf

4. Separate the pages and add them to sergio /home/youjung/public_html/zine/PracticeAndScalability

5. Make all parts into a printable zine with pdfbook2.