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Meet Jørn from Oslo, Norway! Owner of print number 5 of square N1P1. We met in the fall of 2024 while traveling through Scandinavia. Below are answers to the seven questions I asked him while sitting on the patio of a hotel in Bergen, Norway on the evening of September 6, 2024.

1. What do you do? What is your occupation? /// tour leader, Oslo guide
2. Where is “home” to you? /// Oslo. Has lived there his entire life.
3. What is something you did as a kid that brought you joy? /// skiing in the winter, being with friends, being a scout (13-18yo), youth group (18+ yo), church choir (19-20 yo)
4. There are many different ways in which we categorize ourselves (e.g. race, s*x, nationality, occupation, political party, etc.) How do you first connect with others? /// perception of society & politics; perception of how to run a society; rational, logical people; he has been continuously studying all his life
5. What’s your gift? What are you really good at? Are you sharing it with others? /// multidisciplinary; linking together different ideas; good at patterns & ways of thinking; currently writing a book about connection, social psychology, political science, psychoanalysis; focusing on groups and psychological influence; group dynamics have a strong influence on people and we are constantly influenced by processes within us that we’re not aware of; humans mimic one another to fit in. Yes, sharing gift!
6. Is nothing something? [Note: when trying to elaborate on this open question to Jørn, I used the LLLinked square as an example of what something might be (the ink) and what nothing might be (negative space)] /// he sees countries in negative space; black attracts him more as he sees animals, countries, a dragon; ink makes you look for things you recognize
7. What are words of wisdom you would tell the descendant of your square who lives 100 years from now — the person you will never meet but who will hold the very object you hold now? /// Jørn would like to ask that person questions: What do you think about our era in history? What is your perception? What do you think? Is it strange? Are homo sapiens still alive?

Meet Dennis from Brookfield, WI! Owner of print number 5 of square N2P2. We met in the fall of 2024 while traveling through Scandinavia. Below are answers to the seven questions I asked him while traveling by train from Oslo to Flåm on September 4, 2024.

1. What do you do? What is your occupation? /// finance and banking; real estate (handling bank/lender real estate holdings)
2. Where is “home” to you? /// childhood home and childhood MEMORIES of house in La Crosse, WI. Childhood friends from that time. Childhood memories are still vivid.
3. What is something you did as a kid that brought you joy? /// playing with neighborhood kids — kick the can, baseball. Getting ice cream at neighborhood grocery store.
4. There are many different ways in which we categorize ourselves (e.g. race, s*x, nationality, occupation, religion, socioeconomic status, political party, etc.) How do you first connect with others? /// people with a sense of humor — people that “get it”; goofiness; wit; not taking things too seriously
5. What’s your gift? What are you really good at? Are you sharing it with others? /// hard worker; dependable; good at showing up! (Ann sitting next to Dennis says Dennis is “guy behind the scenes making things work without needing praise or recognition”). Yes! — sharing it with others.
6. Is nothing something? /// Yes. No decision IS a decision. Before they met one another, Ann and Dennis both made the decision to move on after losing their partners. They made the decision to not do nothing.
7. What are words of wisdom you would tell the descendant of your square who lives 100 years from now — the person you will never meet but who will hold the very object you hold now? /// Don’t take yourself too seriously. As Kurt Vonnegut said “you’re just here to fart around.”

Meet Paula from Olympia, WA! Owner of print number 5 of square P2P1. We met in the fall of 2024 while traveling through Scandinavia. Below are answers to the seven questions I asked Paula while sitting in the lobby of a hotel in Copenhagen, Denmark on September 2, 2024.

1. What do you do? What is your occupation? /// business owner, publisher, journalist, editor, event producer, volunteer activist
2. Where is “home” to you? /// on the water
3. What is something you did as a kid that brought you joy? /// snow skiing (downhill); taught [skiing] for a couple years; skied in Idaho and Whistler
4. There are many different ways in which we categorize ourselves (e.g. race, s*x, nationality, occupation, religion, socioeconomic status, political party, etc.) How do you first connect with others? /// connects with empaths and artists
5. What’s your gift? What are you really good at? Are you sharing it with others? /// organizing people — events, neighbors, non-profits. Fundraising. Yes! — sharing it with others whether they like it or not! :)
6. Is nothing something? /// Yes
7. What are words of wisdom you would tell the descendant of your square who lives 100 years from now — the person you will never meet but who will hold the very object you hold now? /// You’re a connection to a bigger piece of something.