​“A company is one of the most precise structures for talking about yourself" — Min Guhong

​​Min Guhong of Min Guhong Manufacturing, a fictional but operational one-person company based in Seoul, will guide you in writing your own company into being through text, structure, and maybe even a tiny website.

The workshop is happening on Wednesday, July 9 at from 7-9pm at SVA MFA Interaction Design (136 West 21st Street, 3rd Floor). It's presented by Ultralight School, which is directed by Laurel Schwulst.

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What or who is Min Guhong Manufacturing?

​​A while ago, Laurel (who began Ultralight School) interviewed Min about introducing your own company — how a company can be a therapeutic tool for living, the complex appeal of products, the guiding quality of names, and embracing conventions to explore modern life...

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​Overview

​“If you don’t want to work for a company, invent one.”

​“If you don’t want to work for clients, invent one only for yourself.”

​In this workshop, you’ll invent a company of your own. But this isn’t just play. A company is one of the most precise structures for talking about yourself.

​A company name is a name you give yourself. A company product is the language you produce. And a company policy is your personal ethics, disguised as structure.

​Guided by Min Guhong and Laurel Schwulst, you’ll write your own company into being, through text, structure, and maybe even a tiny website.

​What You’ll Do

• ​Name your company

• ​Write a short company introduction

• ​Invent your first product (text-based, conceptual, or structural)

• ​Declare one thing your company does not do

• ​(Optional) Create a prototype website or page

​Schedule

​Talk & Conversation

​What is Min Guhong Manufacturing? Guhong briefly introduces his parasitic practice and company logic.

​Make Your Company

​Work alone or with others. Structure worksheet and prompts provided. Guhong & Laurel will assist throughout.

​Sharing (Optional)

​Read aloud your company name, a one-sentence introduction, and your “We do not…” policy.

​Writing Prompts

• ​What is your company’s name?

• ​Why does it exist?

• ​Where does it live or parasitize?

• ​What is the first thing it makes?

• ​What does it not do?

• ​What kind of structure does it use to introduce itself?

• ​What does it make as a product?

​Example Sentences

• ​“We do not sell our time.”

• ​“This company makes one sentence per day.”

• ​“Our product might not be understood by anyone.”

• ​“Instead of a manual, we leave a preface.”

• ​“We don’t introduce ourselves on LinkedIn.”

​Tools & Materials

• ​Laptop

• ​Structure worksheet (provided)

• ​HTML template (Neocities-compatible, optional)

​Outcomes

​You will leave the workshop with:

• ​One fictional—but existing—company

• ​One short company profile

• ​One poetic or conceptual product

• ​One sentence of refusal

• ​A new way to introduce yourself—not just as an individual, but as a structure

​“Min Guhong Mfg. is fictional, except when it isn’t.”

​“Everything becomes a product, the moment we call it one.”

​“To write is to design what not to write.”

​Details

• ​Fee: $40-60 per person

• ​Languages: English and Korean

• ​Capacity: 15

• ​Date: Wednesdsay, July 9

• ​Time: 7-9pm

• ​Place: SVA Interaction Design (136 W 21st St 3rd floor, New York, NY 10011, USA)

• ​Presenter: Ultralight School

• ​Duration: 2 hours, one evening

• ​Facilitators: Min Guhong, Laurel Schwulst