Basic.Space: Own the Future

Part "social network" and part shopping experience, the app is opening the door for anyone to become a seller, simply by creating a profile showcases your likes, IG handle and bio. Sellers are now offered the ability to utilize the familiar full-bleed short form video format that we've all grown to love through social media to increase interaction and create narrative around their products.

To better understand this major step into the future for Basic.Space, for mobile shopping — and for our creative community — we spoke with Basic.Space CEO and founder Jesse Lee. We also downloaded the app.

What’s the story behind Basic.Space? What inspired it’s creation?

The initial idea came about 5-6 years ago. I was surrounded by friends and family that were creative and multi-hyphenates yet not all were able to build a successful career from it. There were so many talented musicians, artists and designers that I knew - yet not all were famous or making real money. On top of it all, influencer marketing was nearing its peak and I genuinely felt that we could all use something better or at least different. Why not build a platform that can help discover and showcase individuals with good taste and let them earn a living by selling their own products - whether it’s pre-owned/vintage or new as many creatives have their own merch or a brand that they want to launch. As for the name itself... If you look at the literal definition of the two words, Basic is forming an essential foundation and Space is a continuous area that is free. We want entrepreneurial creatives to thrive in their own unique ways.

You’ve said that Basic.Space is less about being famous or influential, and at its core is about “having good taste”. Can you speak to that? How has that shaped the company?

Curation is at the core of what we do. When we first soft launched with a beta app it was mostly my friends who were selling their own pre-owned items - mix of vintage fashion/luxury goods, furniture, art, etc. Then when we decided to formally launch Basic.Space (the site) a little over 2 years ago we added sellers who had new, exclusive products or collaborations for us. Within the first year of the site launching, we had Naomi Osaka’s first NFTs to Virgil Abloh’s collab with Vitra as well as bunch of other, smaller but cool up and coming brands that people love like Aquatic Leisure Club (hats) and Ian Charms necklaces.

What was the mission from the start, in a sentence — how has the digital platform supported that, and how will the app continue to push for it?

Own the Future. is our globally trademarked tagline, slogan and the North star to everything that we do. It has a dual meaning to us - one is that it’s our mission to help discover and support entrepreneurial creatives everywhere to forge their own path. The other is that we have to continually design and build things (site, app, metaverse, etc) that are future-forward. It’s also why we experimented with NFTs and Web3 early on in the beginning of last year and we have Select.Basic.Space where you can experience and buy things in the ‘metaverse.' Last but not least, we want people to discover adn be discovered regardless of where they live around the world. You don't have to be living in the cultural meccas or major cities to be on the forefront anymore as the coolest things can come out of obscure places. On Basic.Space, innovators can find an audience and others can own a piece of their future.

What do you feel you built with the digital platform and IRL activations that the app is answering to? What is the purpose of Basic.Space?

I would say that we’re building a community or an ecosystem of other likeminded individuals (i.e. multi-hyphenates that don’t follow the conventional norm). To us IRL and URL are the same thing - of course they look different - one is a physical experience and the other is digital or virtual even. However we strongly believe that the feeling of discovery and community can be had the same way both IRL and URL. It’s why we host or support events during Art Basel, NYFW, PFW, Coachella, SXSW + NFT NYC, NFT LA and EthCC Paris.

Basic.Space speaks to the idea of community. Who is this community? And how do you see the app engaging and fostering this community?

We want the best in class creatives to sell things (whether it’s vintage clothing, luxury goods, a new hat or jewelry, even art/photography and NFTs. We then want our buyers/customers to become sellers themselves - this is why we’re launching a completely new app that enables our sellers (previous and new ones) to upload their own Experience videos with products as listings. We strongly believe that the new app will engage, foster and continue to grow our Basic.Space community.

From looking at and utilizing the app, it seems like you have found a few other apps in the e-commerce space and patched together their strong points, while maintaining your own voice and niche. What makes Basic.Space stand apart and stand out from other shopping apps and sites?

It’s not a secret that short form videos have ruled social media in recent years so we wanted to tweak our prior Experience video format on web to make everything shorter (30 - 60 seconds) in the app. Additionally, we purposely designed the browsing / shopping function to ‘float’ on top of the videos so that you don’t have to leave the page to shop. Why not allow the users to scroll up/down for the videos then swipe left/right to buy something from the seller? We hope it’s a seamless, fun ’social commerce’ experience for everyone.

Who are your favorite sellers?

I can’t answer this one as we have hundreds of past/current sellers that all have unique POVs and great listings. I am grateful though for many of our early, original sellers who continue to support us as well as sellers that come up with really creative Experience videos alongside their products.

What do you want to see from Basic.Space, and where do you want to see it in the next few years?

At the moment, we’re still a niche, cool marketplace amongst certain psychographic/audience. We’ve been able to remain authentic and grow in a very organic manner. However, we do want more people around the world to discover who and what is next - whether it’s fashion, design, or art - and we want to help democratize access to ‘cool things.’ In a few years, I would love to see Basic.Space as our friends and their friends’ favorite destination to discover, buy, share and sell things that are unique and special.

Basic.Space is now available in the App Store.

Culture

Synchronicity: Maisie Williams

And who better to speak on personal revelation than an actor who’s grown up in the spotlight, a crucible of self-perception? Amidst the distractions of stardom, the Game of Thrones star’s enduring self-confidence has given her something we all should be envious of: she knows who she is, the path she’s on, and how to traverse the unpredictability of life.

With a range of diverse projects under her belt since the finale of Game of Thrones and a highly-anticipated Christian Dior biopic series freshly out on Apple TV, Williams finds herself increasingly grounded by her own private revelations. She takes the time to explain herself, responding directly and without hurry to my deeply personal questions about meditation, social pressure, and self-perception with honesty and an engaged sense of humble self-assuredness.

By the end of our conversation, I felt a sense of illumination from our time together: like my own philosophies around serendipity and the flow of the universe had been truly seen in a rare moment of human connection across screens.

For this feature, I wanted to present William’s thoughts unobstructed by anything more than this introduction. A snapshot of her current state of mind and own private revelations: perception and epiphany in a beautifully clear understanding of the world.

ON FINDING JOY IN THE SMALL MOMENTS

I love the simplicity of life, really. The things that bring me the most joy are just seeing my post lady, going to my local yoga place, and seeing some of the ladies that I practice with there — just real simple things.

I recently had my pipes freeze over, and so I went to my neighbor's house to take a shower, and I felt part of the community in a way that's just very simple and beautiful. I’ve just been nurturing my circle and my world to a point where I find these little synchronicities, which is really beautiful.

Find the rest of this cover story in Issue 21.

Culture

So Far So Good

April 26, 2024

Nolan Zangas’ first solo book So Far So Good, published by Blurring Books, unveils 160 pages of unreleased personal work spanning the last five years of living in New York City. Growing up running around the city's streets, capturing candid moments on disposable cameras during his youth, Nolan's desire to concretize his memories blossomed into the successful career he has today. This project stands apart his expansive body of work as a diaristic exploration of young adulthood, delving into the intersection of beauty and pain, and navigating "the fine line between success and failure" amidst the perpetual motion of a city like New York, shining a light on people and moments that shape its identity yet are often overlooked.

“In the spirit of La Haine as Vinz describes the man who falls from a skyscraper reassuring himself: ‘So far, so good...so far, so good’ on the way down,” the book serves as a tangible reminder that in life ‘It’s not how you fall that matters. It’s how you land.’”

Ahead of the launch at earshot.nyc tomorrow, we caught up with Nolan over email to talk about his selection process, how he got started taking photos, and why he doesn't post everything on Instagram.

Photography Nolan Zangas

How did you select what made it into the book?
My process is very physical. I hand print my images in a darkroom. I start by making a contact sheet. If I like the images on the contact sheet, I often cut them out and glue them into a notebook. Then I go back and print the images I like. Sometimes im in the darkroom like 30 hours in a week.
How many did you have to sort through?
It’s so hard to say. Easily over 100,000 frames. I made over 1,000 prints and most of them did not make the cut.
A book can act almost like an artifact, in that when you’re picking it up, it exists in that moment — whether that’s the day after it launches or five years from then. Did that come to mind and was there a specific thread you followed to ensure that timelessness?
I think that’s what makes books so important. I collect a lot of books. Images now feel so disposable, and I really like physical things. I think the selection of images are feel timeless, and the layout adds a bit of character to it all.
Not every upbringing is the same and as someone who also grew up in NYC, coming of age here is very different from any other place — at what point in your adolescence did you decide to start documenting your life and the people around you?
I started taking pictures of my friends on disposables around the age of 12. I lost or never picked up any of the negatives and the files are long gone. That really upsets me, and I think that made me want to take a lot more pictures as I got older. Around 18 is when I really started taking pictures of my life and things around me. I wanted to be able to look back at it all one day. I also think I’ve been surrounded with such diverse people. I think everyone deserves to have their picture taken.

How do you know when you’ve found a good picture?
There are a bunch of technical aspects that go into a good picture but I feel like for this project that stuff matters less. If it’s a good moment, and the picture makes me feel like I’m there, it’s a good picture.
The title is self-explanatory in context but I’m curious to know what led you to pick So Far So Good as the book's title.
Pretty early on in the process of making a layout actually. I think one of my friends said “so far so good” in conversation, and I instantly thought about the scene in La Haine where they talk about falling from a building. Then in my head I was like, holy shit thats the name right there”. It’s like, how far can you stretch a rubber band before it snaps. It felt really fitting to that point in my life and the book as a whole. A lot of good and a lot of bad around me.
Creating anything is an act of giving. How do you hope people, and those featured in its pages, receive the book?
I think it’s going to be cool for people who are in it because most of them don’t even know the pictures exist. I haven’t really been sending or showing anyone pictures because then they just end up on Instagram and in my head thats basically the trash can. I think some people won’t get it and others will. I don’t really mind. Everyone grew up doing different things.

It’s like, how far can you stretch a rubber band before it snaps. It felt really fitting to that point in my life and the book as a whole. A lot of good and a lot of bad around me.

Culture

I Only Came For the Parties

Between Rihanna and A$AP Rocky surprise appearance to the open bars, food trucks, and dance floors, the party was wild. As I arrived at the ranch, I was immediately met with a friend of mine running up to me saying, “Pookie and Jett are here. We NEED to party with them.” We began the hunt after stopping by the Passes.com table for some cotton candy. With a wrist full of stacked bands on one arm and a drink in my other, I hurried past Justin and Hailey Bieber before reaching the packed dance floor. It must’ve been close to sunrise when I finally came to and headed for the exit. Walking out, I ran into my friends who told me they just drove in from LA and NYC just for the party. This being my 10th Coachella, I'd probably stay home next year if it weren’t for this party.