A flower is not a flower. “It is made only of non-flower elements—sunshine, clouds, time, space, earth, minerals, gardeners, and so on. A true flower contains the whole universe. If we return any one of these non-flower elements to its source, there will be no flower,” says Thich Nhat Hanh.

On the practice of process, we need to start with the most basic elements: what is creating and why do we create?

On what—it's the things we manifest, from a stray observation that pops in our head to a defined project with scope and other participants. Creating in the broadest sense stretch beyond what is traditionally defined as art: illustration, music, writing, etc. Organizing work is deeply creative, waking every day to work towards a better alternative world—that requires creative energy. The role could be organizing events or managing an action, every step requires creative input. This translates creativity into an abundant and overflowing entity, it's not bound to an artist, or constrained within a painting in a gallery. It's something we all exercise in big and small ways, constantly and continuously. What happens when we are truly aware of it?

On why—it's fun, or we have nothing better to do. It feels good, and everyone else is doing it. But dig deeper: it's fulfilling, it can make us feel more connected to others. It has the power to change, both ourselves and the people around us. Art as a way to communicate, as a way to feel, as a way to process.

Why create if not to realize a better world?

a flower is not a flower is a working manifesto on creating, an archive and directory of the work we create and how they are connected. Its underlying thesis is that we have shared goals in why we create, and these goals are meaningful. The details of this project are yet to be written, open to collaborative interpretation and constant iteration.

While most exhibitions and galleries focus on a product, a finished work, a culmination, afinaf could be an opportunity to showcase in-progress (even the scope and details of the project itself is in-progress). What is a retrospective in the moment? A perspective, or maybe even a conversation? afinaf looks to shift the focus, prioritizing the process.

As we explore why and how we create, the first step is to interrogate how we're exploring this learning/unlearning process. We're accustomed to sharing our work (and our learnings) after they are fully formed, our theory and practice as a complete product. While it is important to independently study and digest, there is value in thinking and working through the ideas together. Instead of devising a destination (a difficult and daunting task!) alone, is there a way to plan the trip with other people that are headed in the same direction? Our art can be questions that push our collective imagination forward, instead of declarative answers that are limited by an individual's imagination.

In that spirit, it is very hard to pin down what afinaf is or can be, the structure of it is unknown, it houses things that will change, and it's working towards something that is cloudy and hazy. But I think that is just the task of creating, the bounds are not defined, the extent is never reached.

Creativity is a way for us to tap into another mode of thinking and relating, that's why this construction is called a flower is not a flower. Can we use creativity to rethink the very fundamentals that surround us, can we use it to rethink what individuality is, what truth means, what linearity is composed of? And then from there, can we use these findings, these paradigm shifts, as strategies to imagine and manifest a better world? Can a more connected framing alleviate our isolation, can it work towards building a more collaborative and communal system that supports each other? We can push past narratives of linear progress to disrupt capitalism's claim of advancement. We can reject absolute truth to expand beyond a Western lens of problem-solving. We can imagine beyond, to manifest a better alternative world.