2026 symbolic lab

four square watercolor wash paintings, one next to the other, with the words of Nemik's Manifesto handwritten in black pen
Nemik’s Manifesto artwork by Elena Solano

a close reading of Nemik’s Manifesto

Join Elena Solano + shea in the catskills for this collaborative, online, arts-based research project meeting on the 2nd Friday of each month at 5pm et/2pm pt (time zone converter) beginning March 13, 2026.

Each 90-minute online gathering begins with calling in the dead + a group check-in. Then we ground together in the practice of self-responsiveness + invoke the expansiveness of what research can be + include. Taking up a line from Nemik’s Manifesto (see below), we’ll use the tarot’s images to connect with our own experience of the themes + questions we encounter. We’ll invoke the emergent intelligence of the group to deepen our research + practice together.

In last year’s Symbolic Lab, Elena + shea brought the following aspirations + intentions to each session:

  • for there to be coherence between the content + form our sessions
  • to invite each participant to be a disobedient, restful human body with its own intelligence, autonomy + sense of connectedness
  • aiming not to arrive at conclusions, but rather to generate abundant meaning + nourishing spells

Everyone is welcome, regardless of your experience with tarot or familiarity with Nemik’s Manifesto + Andor!

Bring your curiosity, a journal, something to write with + a tarot deck if you have one.

by-donation/pay-what-you-can tuition: $29 per session
if you are able to pay more to subsidize others’ tuition, please do that!
if you are not able to make the full suggested donation, please pay what you can!
we will send recordings to registrants

register

NEMIK’S MANIFESTO

Nemik's manifesto is the creation of Karis Nemik—a character in the tv series Andor—that reflects his evolving thoughts on the cause of rebellion in the galaxy. You do not need to have seen Andor or be interested in the show to participate in The Symbolic Lab! If the words of the manifesto spark any curiosity in you: that’s all you need to know.

The Symbolic Lab will meet on the 2nd Friday of each month at 5pm et/2pm pt (time zone converter) beginning in March:

  • March 13: There will be times when the struggle seems impossible. I know this already. 
  • April 10: Alone, unsure, dwarfed by the scale of the enemy.
  • May 8: Remember this, Freedom is a pure idea. It occurs spontaneously and without instruction.
  • June 12: Random acts of insurrection are occurring constantly throughout the galaxy.
  • July 10: There are whole armies, battalions that have no idea that they’ve already enlisted in the cause.
  • August 14: Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward.
  • September 11: And remember this: the Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural.
  • October 9: Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear.
  • November 13: Remember that. And know this, the day will come when all these skirmishes and battles, these moments of defiance will have flooded the banks of the Empires’s authority and then there will be one too many.
  • December 11: One single thing will break the siege. Remember this: Try.

WHAT IS RESEARCH?

What is research for you? Symbolic/arts-based research can include:

  • traditional and non-traditional research methods
  • present moment, historical memory + future visioning
  • knowns + unknowns (known unknowns and unknown unknowns)
  • data/material
  • people + relationships
  • the arational/nonrational
  • the scientific
  • fictions + myths + history
  • conscious + unconscious processes
  • sound, music, speech, song
  • solitude + togetherness
  • art, color, design + structure
  • fluidity + flexibility
  • active imagination
  • Symbols
  • language
  • culture
  • making practices
  • dreams of the day or the night 
  • play 
  • creation and movement
  • (e)motion
  • pleasure + feeling joy
  • pain, doubt, despair
  • all shapes, sizes, frames, schemas, states, stories
  • anything else the researcher chooses to include
register

symbolic lab testimonials

The most important thing I learned in this workshop is my previous resistance to "trust" as a concept was more permeable than it felt. The thing that surprised me most was how what felt so stuck internally could be engaged with really fairly gently. I would recommend this workshop for anyone who wants to learn how to learn in community, how to explore concepts in an embodied way. —Nina H.

I loved how open the process was. The most important thing I learned in this workshop is to try to internalize a broader concept of research. I would recommend this workshop for anyone who wants to learn about what is going on inside themselves about trust. —Pam M.

The most important thing I learned in this workshop is: Research as play. The idea of connected play. Curiosity and expansiveness. I would recommend this workshop for anyone who wants to learn, period, and to have a spacious place to show up and be with others who are showing up in a similar way. I was also surprised and delighted that I didn't need to have a background in tarot to enjoy and benefit from the workshop. —anonymous