Okay so…
10 years ago, I had this idea to send a physical USB stick across the Globe to different artists and ask them to add to it.
In May 2025 - I started to give birth to the idea. It finally felt like the right time. I have a global network of artists whose work inspires me, excites me and has the power to transcend borders.
I started really noodling on the idea, going to the park near my house (Hampstead Heath), sitting on my favourite bench that overlooks all of London (London Eye, St. Pauls and all) to write out my thoughts and try to untangle the idea. I’ve been working a corporate role executing large scale global projects that impact thousands of people, so I knew I could at least tackle the operations. But, my thoughts were tangled - they wrapped around one another so tightly that I couldn’t quite see the end from the beginning.
A few things were blatantly obvious:
Physical Hard Drive
Global Network
The Artists
Decentralised Autonomous Organisations
Archive, Memory, Site-Specific
Feeling Deeply
I chatted with Chat GPT to guide me to the center. (I have to say, I’m extremely cautious and mindful of how much I use AI tools considering the environmental impact. I do not take it lightly and I urge you to do the same.)
Anyway, I took what I felt resonated with me and tweaked what didn’t to finally, for the first time in 10 years, put my idea into an 8 page project brief.
I came up with the following theme:
“Create a trace - an archive - of your sensory experience in this place and time. Capture something ephemeral happening around you or within you. This is not about explanation - it’s about transmission."
Shared my intention:
“Inviting artists/creatives from around the world to engage in a slow, collaborative journey centered on a single open-ended theme (above). Each participant will have two weeks to reflect and respond in their own way. The response will be documented and saved onto a physical hard drive, which will then be mailed to the next participant, creating a tangible archive that travels hand to hand, across borders and time zones.
This is not a project of explanation, but of transmission - a quiet, intimate relay where each artist contributes an archive of their current experience. What you offer doesn’t need to make sense. It doesn’t need to be beautiful or complete. It just needs to be felt. You’ll receive the Hard Drive containing the previous artist’s response, offering a moment of dialogue across distance.
What emerges is a living, evolving record of fleeting, personal moments - transcending geographic lines. It unfolds slowly and intentionally, resisting instant gratification, and changes shape with each artist’s response - becoming a collective archive of presence over time.”
So, with the idea out of my brain - I reached out to about 20 artists who I either attended a residency with, studied with or just admired their work to gauge their interest in participating in this Global Creative Chain.
12 agreed.
I created the route the case would go, thinking about any political tension between countries and mapped out the best way the case would circumnavigate the world. I channelled Jeanne Baret who ironically is one day (and 250 something years) older than me. Jeanne Baret was the first woman to circumnavigate the globe via maritime transport and who disguised herself as a boy named Jean (my dads name) Beret to take care of her boss/lover while on the first French expedition to circumnavigate the globe between 1766-1769 on the Étoile ship. She has a mountain range on Pluto named after her, “Baret Montes”.
The case would start in London, making its way to Santiago then to Los Angeles, Tucson, New York City, Toronto, Shanghai, Hyderabad, Berlin, Athens and back to London.
I put together the materials needed (contracts, excel sheets, the case, a digital backup, a group chat, etc.)
In the case, I created a “notes” section for any physical items that may want to be shared and will make it through customs. See below:
I’ve estimated approximately 6-7 months for the case to make its way back to me. This project is slow and physical by design. The hard drive will travel across borders and time zones, accumulating traces - intimate, fleeting, unrepeatable. No rules. No pressure.
My only suggestion: play (and please don’t remove the AirTag).
18th June, 2025 - the case was handed off to the first artist in London, Katie Weitzmann.
@shayethiel
Love this and can't wait to see what the end result looks like. The fact that 12 agreed! It's definitely going to be worth the round the world trip the USB case has been on.
I’d love to add to this project when it arrives in New York.