• A conservation project for the relational field

    They told us it was a net to catch us when we fell.

    A web to connect us like the forest floor.

    But we didn’t realise we were the ones being caught.

    What we’ve built isn’t a network.

    It’s a monoculture.

    Scrolls instead of silence. Content instead of compost.

    But under that hard surface, the roots still twitch.

    The trees still murmur.

    The signal still moves — if you know how to listen.

    And so, Fallow Ground is not a return but a restoration.

    A clearing for those who feel the web under their feet,

    and know it’s not made of code, but of kinship.

  • Are you a creative person? Are you burned out? Welcome to the club!

    You, like me, have been played like a fool by the Internet, Social Media and the Corporations. You thought you were being a creative artist – in fact you were working harder and harder every day… for them.

    The internet demands attention and attention is product that social media sells to the advertisers. You are not a creator, not a viewer, not an influencer – you are the product being sold to advertisers who are the customers.

    You thought you were getting a free lunch!

    It’s time to take a breath of fresh air and take a long walk in the real world – rebalance and work out what to do with the rest of your life in the real, 3D world, to find out how you are going to escape the treadmill and flourish.

    I don’t have the answers, but I’m looking for them, and this website is a part of my search. Along the way, I hope I’ll find something that will be of help to you too.

  • There comes a point when the need to produce exhausts the fertility of the creative mind. It’s not failure — just the natural result of giving too much, for too long. That’s where I found myself a while back: not quite broken, but worn out — and needing a rest I didn’t think I deserved.

    The insatiable demands of the internet — and the corporations that feed on the work of those who make it beautiful — have driven many to burn out. Somehow, that’s become a career path.

    In my fallow year (or two), staring into space, walking the ways, thinking, wondering — I’ve had thoughts. And I’m looking to the future: a time where creative people can once again enjoy what they do, making work that honours and explains the human condition.

    This site isn’t a platform. It’s not a refuge or a rallying cry. It’s just a small patch of internet real estate where I can think aloud. Write things down. Sketch the outlines of ideas I’ve passed a hundred times, but never quite seen.

    It’s not always clear what’s next — but it is clear that something needs to shift. So this is me, stepping off the main path. Not retreating. Just walking differently. On my own path.

    If you’ve found your way here, you’re welcome to walk a while too.

    — Shoo

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