Mike Rafail / That Long Black Cloud — Communication Log
Tracks contact with someone Patrick and Asia met and were inspired by, not a defined collaboration project. May stay a personal conversation, may develop into something more concrete (a Greece-base reference point, a future collaboration) — kept here because it’s tied to the relocation decision, not because there’s a scoped project yet.
Overview
Section titled “Overview”Mike Rafail is a Thessaloniki-based creative director and designer. Patrick and Asia first met him in Greece in 2016, during a private Fighting Monkey seminar. He was instrumental in developing Fighting Monkey/Rootlessroot’s visual identity and brand image; he was part of the multi-awarded Beetroot Design Group for 16 years (2001–2017) before going freelance. He now runs That Long Black Cloud, his own design studio and interactive space in Thessaloniki (Piniou 9), spanning graphic design, photography, filmography, and exhibitions/installations/music sessions. He also serves as Visual Art Director for Fighting Monkey/Rootlessroot and for the Kalamata International Dance Festival.
Contact: hello@thatlongblackcloud.com Website: https://thatlongblackcloud.com/ Personal site: https://mikerafail.com/
Patrick and Mike stayed in loose touch over the years, including an attempt around the start of COVID (2020) to schedule a FaceTime call that never happened. This is the first substantive contact since then.
Why this contact matters
Section titled “Why this contact matters”Baseworks is planning to relocate out of Canada, with Europe as the long-standing original intention (not North America, not a return to Tokyo). Athens and Thessaloniki are both under consideration as a European base — less for what any single city offers and more for proximity to the rest of Europe, and for being around people working at the intersection of science, entrepreneurship, creativity, and culture in unconventional ways. Thessaloniki is specifically on the list partly because of something Mike said about it in an earlier conversation.
Mike is a plausible on-the-ground reference point for that decision: a creative producer with deep roots in Thessaloniki, direct experience with movement/performance culture through Fighting Monkey and Kalamata, and his own hybrid design-studio/interactive-space project that reflects the kind of unconventional, cross-medium thinking Baseworks wants to be around.
Note on Fighting Monkey framing: Baseworks and Fighting Monkey are both in the movement research space and are both inspired by deep work in physical and artistic expression, which can read as similar from a distance. Baseworks is practically rooted — repeatable structures, progressions, and concrete tasks — rather than built on open-ended exploration. The outreach to Mike is not routed through Fighting Monkey or Joseph; it is specifically about his own work and the impression he made in 2016.
2026-07-27 — Reconnection email
Section titled “2026-07-27 — Reconnection email”First substantive email since the pre-COVID contact attempt. Covers:
- Update on the Canada years: mother’s dementia care (fifteen Japan–Canada trips 2016–2020), forced return and Tokyo studio closure in early 2020 due to Canadian visitation-law changes and pandemic mandates, her death in May 2024, wrapping up her estate.
- The shift in Baseworks’ direction during this period: no interest in another in-person space, hybrid programming, and a research focus on perception (perceptual/sensory resolution) over physical outcomes, extending toward a broader push for a different narrative in education.
- The clinical/scientific direction: exploring Baseworks as a potential intervention for pathological body-representation applications, and the resulting academic neuroscience conference presence (BRNet 2026, Padova).
- The Fighting Monkey distinction (see note above), with a link to a Baseworks/Fighting Monkey comparison video for context: https://youtu.be/pgT9xoUmyWI
- Recent published work, spanning both Patrick and Asia — see links in the email.
- The Europe relocation reasoning and the Athens/Thessaloniki question — asking for Mike’s read on whether either city fits the backdrop Baseworks is looking for, independent of any decision either way.
- An ask to get an actual call scheduled.
Full email text, edit history, and links: Reconnection Email to Mike Rafail — 2026-07-27.
Status: Drafted by Claude, revised by Patrick, sent from pat@baseworks.com, cc asia@baseworks.com, to hello@thatlongblackcloud.com.
Communication Log
Section titled “Communication Log”| Date | Subject | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| ~2016 | Met in person at a private Fighting Monkey seminar in Greece; Patrick mentioned his mother’s dementia onset | In person |
| ~2020 (early COVID) | Attempted to schedule a FaceTime call; never happened | Patrick ↔ Mike |
| 2026-07-27 | Reconnection email: update since 2020, current research direction, Fighting Monkey distinction, recent publications, Europe relocation / Thessaloniki question, request for a call | Baseworks → Mike |