Upon reading the SoC Issue 2021 you may soon notice the colourful, thematic threads running through and between each of the different publication contributions.
These thematic threads are based upon the ubiquitous concept of the “red thread”, though, in this specific case of the School of Commons 2021 cohort, and subsequently, this Issue of the publication, there is no one, singular red thread, but instead numerous, overlapping, interweaving themes, methods, ways of working, concepts and topics, and, thus, weavings of thread.
The thematic threads that you can see listed below were developed independently by each Lab as they developed their research and practice over the 10 month SoC fellowship period, but also collectively, through meet-ups, kitchen sessions, open events, discussions and intensive weekends in smaller groups and as one, larger, SoC cohort.
The threads began weaving from our very first meeting in March of 2021, and extended, entwined and unraveled more and more over the ten months spent together. These threads, which individually and collectively embody the foundations of our individual and collective doing, thinking, researching and practicing together, are documented across this publication. Through them, we are able to visibly see where ideas have overlapped, collided, been inspired and led to new insights, threading through the contributions as a collective, showing that no individual submission is a standalone instance, but something in conversation with all the other submissions that formed part of School of Commons 2021.