http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.8.vii.html
Even though we deal with New Media, the above book from Plato's "The Republic" is extremely relevant to seeing sideways. Funny how ideas stay the same throughout the ages. I came up with a version of this idea when I was a kid and just about peed my pants when I first read it in a classics course as a Freshman at Earlham College. Very formative! (at least for me...) I hope you enjoy it (and can get past the way it is written - well worth the effort!)
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Peel back your skull a little and let me in for a minute...
I do find it interesting that several people are saying that we had no class this week... (FYI - I am not mad, just interested in this reaction, therefore, here are my thoughts and intentions with this exercise.) Warning, this will probably be a long post that no one except me will be interested in. But isn't that, after all, the beauty of a blog? A place where you can prattle on to imaginary people about your innermost thoughts with the notion that someone, somewhere in the entire world might read it and give a crap about what you think??? Sorry, I drifted there for a second... Back to the defense of an imaginary class...
While we did not meet in one location at one time (as every traditional class in the world usually does, with the exception of a field trip, which is still usually taken together) are you really sure we are not having class this week?
What is a class, anyway? Isn't it a place where you go to learn things in a guided way? Who says it has to all be together physically or chronologically? What does that make a distance education course? I propose that assignments like this are sometimes more important than traditional ones. There. I said it. Doing "nothing" is as important, sometimes, as learning Maya, or inorganic chemistry. It is also a way to learn. But our society does not place value on learning "nothing." To those who do not understand my motives with this course, an exercise like this week's "class meeting" is frivolous and a waste of time that could be used to actually educate you about something "important." You, and I, have been reared in this society that only values work and logic (but really money and status - oops, sorry again.) Therefore, when faced with a class like yesterday, your natural assumption is that we just did not have class. But that is precisely why you are in this class in the first place. Well, that, and the fact that it is an easy class where you don't have to actually do anything to pass. (Do you still believe that, if you did on the first day? If so, then I have failed you...) Open your eyes, but really more importantly, open your mind! I firmly believe we did have class this week, just not in the way you were expecting. I have shaken your solid idea of what a class is, or at least that is what I am trying to do...
Just because we are not sitting at little desks inside the same 4 walls does not mean we are not having class this week. Could it be that this is a new way of seeing the concept of a class meeting? What if I am giving you the freedom to be your own teacher, mentor, guide, task master, instructor (insert your own word here...) while still laying out a carefully crafted plan for you to follow? Do the blogs not count as class discussions, assuming you write them and the other class participants read them? You can even comment on one another’s' entries... Hmmm, there is a teacher, there are participants, there is a plan of study, and there is discussion and an open exchange of ideas... Sounds like a class to me. But this is a class you can have anywhere, anytime, forever and ever, if you want to open your mind to this idea... (Pass the Kool-Aid, would you?)
This is a course designed to change the way you view the world around you, and this is just one of the exercises I have created to guide you on your personal journey toward a more creative way of seeing your world (or, mwahaha, living your life!) Apparently my goal is world domination, one student at a time! But only if I get the cool lab coat and those shiny metal sticks that conduct electric pulses to the ceiling while my half finished creature lies prone on the table... Oops, sorry. Drifted again. (See? Isn't this just like class - I can't stay on one thought in my blog, either!)
What if you (being me) show the students (being you) that there is actually value (greatly undervalued value) in giving yourself the gift of time so that by following your own true interests you can possibly bubble up a well of creative thought/ideas from that contented pool in the center of your mind. or at the very least, allowing for sanctioned "play" (oh, that dirty, dirty word) allows you to relax enough to get rid of a little stress, thereby stalling that headache, heart attack, ulcer (insert your own malady) a little longer.
I have been a creative professional long enough to know (at least for me) that good ideas only really come when I stop trying so hard to make them happen. Spontaneity is my friend! And so is daydreaming, or just relaxing. I sometimes get my best ideas when I am in the shower and not thinking about anything other than if I already washed there yet and where has this soap been...? (Sorry, TMI...)
In today's world we are never taught to look after ourselves, unless it is in the form of prepackaged allotments of time purchased from your favorite supplier (therapist, personal trainer, yoga instructor, doctor - none of them work for free - we have to pay for what they offer... hey wait a minute, you paid to take this class... I feel so dirty... see shower comment above...) But the skill I am giving you with this exercise is the idea that you can take time out to do your favorite thing occasionally and the world will not necessarily end. And (here's the real power of this tool) if you can do this spontaneously and steal a little "me" (meaning "you") time when you find yourself just overwhelmed with things the illicit quality of that time makes it even more meaningful. Therefore I forced you to cut class this week - sort of...
We have a finite amount of time in this world, so why shouldn't you be in charge of some of it? If you work 8 hours a day, sleep 8 hours a day, and live your entire life in the other 8 hours of each 24 within a day, then you are only living 1/3 of your life... And that 1/3 is chock full of driving, bills, taxes, doctor's visits, cleaning the toilet, cooking dinner, attending awkward social events, plunging the toilet, school, working some overtime to pay for the new toilet you need because you just shouldn't eat some things, attending funerals, etc. But if you can find ways to reclaim a little of that time for doing what others would call "nothing" then you might be a little happier and in a better place to do everything you have to do. It has to do with mental health as much as it does creativity.
Of course, this all relates to our lessons about repercussions of actions. You need to be responsible with this tool of blowing off stuff occasionally to do something you want to do. If you do it too often or if you ditch the wrong thing (like work, or an important meeting) it may have an adverse effect on your wellbeing. The real point of this is that I am asking you to look at what is important to you. No one but you can possibly really know the answer to that, and you might not even know. But you will, eventually. By taking time out from an obligation (a formal class meeting this week) I am asking you to do what is best for you with the time you would have spent sitting at a desk. But actually I am asking you to evaluate your priorities. What is the thing that gives you the most satisfaction? That is an evaluation. When is it OK to pull this technique from your arsenal of creativity tools and use it? That is an evaluation. What would be the repercussions to using this tool at any given time? That is an evaluation. How important or useful is this exercise to you? That is an evaluation... See how it works?
And here’s the real kicker… You can take charge of your own life and your own class this week. And if you can do that for this week, what will next week be like? Could this be a little like tossing a rock into a smooth pond??? Might you remember this much longer than if we met and talked about the idea of being free instead of living that idea???
Now is happening, the future doesn’t exist now, and the past is over now. So what will you do now? Is doing actually doing?
I am tired now. Goodbye.
While we did not meet in one location at one time (as every traditional class in the world usually does, with the exception of a field trip, which is still usually taken together) are you really sure we are not having class this week?
What is a class, anyway? Isn't it a place where you go to learn things in a guided way? Who says it has to all be together physically or chronologically? What does that make a distance education course? I propose that assignments like this are sometimes more important than traditional ones. There. I said it. Doing "nothing" is as important, sometimes, as learning Maya, or inorganic chemistry. It is also a way to learn. But our society does not place value on learning "nothing." To those who do not understand my motives with this course, an exercise like this week's "class meeting" is frivolous and a waste of time that could be used to actually educate you about something "important." You, and I, have been reared in this society that only values work and logic (but really money and status - oops, sorry again.) Therefore, when faced with a class like yesterday, your natural assumption is that we just did not have class. But that is precisely why you are in this class in the first place. Well, that, and the fact that it is an easy class where you don't have to actually do anything to pass. (Do you still believe that, if you did on the first day? If so, then I have failed you...) Open your eyes, but really more importantly, open your mind! I firmly believe we did have class this week, just not in the way you were expecting. I have shaken your solid idea of what a class is, or at least that is what I am trying to do...
Just because we are not sitting at little desks inside the same 4 walls does not mean we are not having class this week. Could it be that this is a new way of seeing the concept of a class meeting? What if I am giving you the freedom to be your own teacher, mentor, guide, task master, instructor (insert your own word here...) while still laying out a carefully crafted plan for you to follow? Do the blogs not count as class discussions, assuming you write them and the other class participants read them? You can even comment on one another’s' entries... Hmmm, there is a teacher, there are participants, there is a plan of study, and there is discussion and an open exchange of ideas... Sounds like a class to me. But this is a class you can have anywhere, anytime, forever and ever, if you want to open your mind to this idea... (Pass the Kool-Aid, would you?)
This is a course designed to change the way you view the world around you, and this is just one of the exercises I have created to guide you on your personal journey toward a more creative way of seeing your world (or, mwahaha, living your life!) Apparently my goal is world domination, one student at a time! But only if I get the cool lab coat and those shiny metal sticks that conduct electric pulses to the ceiling while my half finished creature lies prone on the table... Oops, sorry. Drifted again. (See? Isn't this just like class - I can't stay on one thought in my blog, either!)
What if you (being me) show the students (being you) that there is actually value (greatly undervalued value) in giving yourself the gift of time so that by following your own true interests you can possibly bubble up a well of creative thought/ideas from that contented pool in the center of your mind. or at the very least, allowing for sanctioned "play" (oh, that dirty, dirty word) allows you to relax enough to get rid of a little stress, thereby stalling that headache, heart attack, ulcer (insert your own malady) a little longer.
I have been a creative professional long enough to know (at least for me) that good ideas only really come when I stop trying so hard to make them happen. Spontaneity is my friend! And so is daydreaming, or just relaxing. I sometimes get my best ideas when I am in the shower and not thinking about anything other than if I already washed there yet and where has this soap been...? (Sorry, TMI...)
In today's world we are never taught to look after ourselves, unless it is in the form of prepackaged allotments of time purchased from your favorite supplier (therapist, personal trainer, yoga instructor, doctor - none of them work for free - we have to pay for what they offer... hey wait a minute, you paid to take this class... I feel so dirty... see shower comment above...) But the skill I am giving you with this exercise is the idea that you can take time out to do your favorite thing occasionally and the world will not necessarily end. And (here's the real power of this tool) if you can do this spontaneously and steal a little "me" (meaning "you") time when you find yourself just overwhelmed with things the illicit quality of that time makes it even more meaningful. Therefore I forced you to cut class this week - sort of...
We have a finite amount of time in this world, so why shouldn't you be in charge of some of it? If you work 8 hours a day, sleep 8 hours a day, and live your entire life in the other 8 hours of each 24 within a day, then you are only living 1/3 of your life... And that 1/3 is chock full of driving, bills, taxes, doctor's visits, cleaning the toilet, cooking dinner, attending awkward social events, plunging the toilet, school, working some overtime to pay for the new toilet you need because you just shouldn't eat some things, attending funerals, etc. But if you can find ways to reclaim a little of that time for doing what others would call "nothing" then you might be a little happier and in a better place to do everything you have to do. It has to do with mental health as much as it does creativity.
Of course, this all relates to our lessons about repercussions of actions. You need to be responsible with this tool of blowing off stuff occasionally to do something you want to do. If you do it too often or if you ditch the wrong thing (like work, or an important meeting) it may have an adverse effect on your wellbeing. The real point of this is that I am asking you to look at what is important to you. No one but you can possibly really know the answer to that, and you might not even know. But you will, eventually. By taking time out from an obligation (a formal class meeting this week) I am asking you to do what is best for you with the time you would have spent sitting at a desk. But actually I am asking you to evaluate your priorities. What is the thing that gives you the most satisfaction? That is an evaluation. When is it OK to pull this technique from your arsenal of creativity tools and use it? That is an evaluation. What would be the repercussions to using this tool at any given time? That is an evaluation. How important or useful is this exercise to you? That is an evaluation... See how it works?
And here’s the real kicker… You can take charge of your own life and your own class this week. And if you can do that for this week, what will next week be like? Could this be a little like tossing a rock into a smooth pond??? Might you remember this much longer than if we met and talked about the idea of being free instead of living that idea???
Now is happening, the future doesn’t exist now, and the past is over now. So what will you do now? Is doing actually doing?
I am tired now. Goodbye.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Paper or plastic?
Here is a great article from the Utne Reader about this question.
http://www.utne.com/Environment/Paper-or-Plastic-or-Neither.aspx
http://www.utne.com/Environment/Paper-or-Plastic-or-Neither.aspx
Friday, February 6, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
The Sideways Commandments
Some suggested steps to finding personal paths to creativity
(not in any particular order and based on previous sections of this class - we may or may not do the things listed below, but even if we don't you can)
or
The Sideways Commandments
• Take an everyday object and try to do something unusual or surprising with it (the egg)
• Give yourself over to random chance and use what you encounter as a starting point or a direction for creative experimentation (bible dipping)
• Grapple with a huge abstract concept and explore it from different angles (time)
• Ask questions (what if)
• Try to answer a question you did not ask (what if redux)
• Explore how you encounter and interact with the world (senses)
• Work with other people to generate ideas (brainstorming)
• Look to other areas of inquiry outside of your normal realm of experience (what the bleep)
• If you agree or disagree with something, ask yourself why (what the bleep)
• Give yourself some time and freedom to be yourself (bliss)
• Examine what it is that excites or inspires you (inspiration)
• Research someone or something and see what you can incorporate from that into your own work (research project)
• Solve a problem in a different way (red light mental exercise and taking a break in our chairs)
• Explore your motivation and understanding of concepts and ideas (questioning your inspiration)
• Ignore your first idea and try multiple approaches (roadblocks)
• Be willing to compromise (roadblocks)
• Stop just thinking about things or coming up with ideas and go do something. (final project)
• Don’t be afraid to play (take the rest of class and do something fun)
• Share your ideas/successes/failures/musings (blog)
• Exchange ideas (discussions)
• Listen to yourself
• Listen to others
• Explore what is important to you (what moves you)
• Judge ideas by your own measure
• Experience as much as you can
• Question rules
• Humor is not frivolous
• Stop expecting inspiration to come from outside yourself
• Stop expecting someone else to give you all the answers
• Stop being afraid to fail
• Don’t be lazy (too often)
• Give up preconceived notions of how to learn
• Do what works for you
• Don’t disregard creative exploration as unimportant or something you will do “if you find the time”
• Make the time to practice creative thinking
• Set your own goals
• Try to attain
• If someone laughs at you or disregards your idea then smile along with them but keep to your own goals
• Try again
• Build on your successes
• Cherish your failures
• Learn from everything
• Know your motives
• Become friends with your inner (or outward) 5-year-old
• Wonder and wander
• Don’t be too cynical
• If you are cynical don’t be too bitter
• Be proud of your ideas
• Not all ideas or projects are very creative
• Sometimes mediocre is OK
• But don’t settle for mediocre very often
• If you find yourself doing something the same way more than a few times try doing it a different way next time
• Even if you are finished with a project are you sure the project is finished with you
(not in any particular order and based on previous sections of this class - we may or may not do the things listed below, but even if we don't you can)
or
The Sideways Commandments
• Take an everyday object and try to do something unusual or surprising with it (the egg)
• Give yourself over to random chance and use what you encounter as a starting point or a direction for creative experimentation (bible dipping)
• Grapple with a huge abstract concept and explore it from different angles (time)
• Ask questions (what if)
• Try to answer a question you did not ask (what if redux)
• Explore how you encounter and interact with the world (senses)
• Work with other people to generate ideas (brainstorming)
• Look to other areas of inquiry outside of your normal realm of experience (what the bleep)
• If you agree or disagree with something, ask yourself why (what the bleep)
• Give yourself some time and freedom to be yourself (bliss)
• Examine what it is that excites or inspires you (inspiration)
• Research someone or something and see what you can incorporate from that into your own work (research project)
• Solve a problem in a different way (red light mental exercise and taking a break in our chairs)
• Explore your motivation and understanding of concepts and ideas (questioning your inspiration)
• Ignore your first idea and try multiple approaches (roadblocks)
• Be willing to compromise (roadblocks)
• Stop just thinking about things or coming up with ideas and go do something. (final project)
• Don’t be afraid to play (take the rest of class and do something fun)
• Share your ideas/successes/failures/musings (blog)
• Exchange ideas (discussions)
• Listen to yourself
• Listen to others
• Explore what is important to you (what moves you)
• Judge ideas by your own measure
• Experience as much as you can
• Question rules
• Humor is not frivolous
• Stop expecting inspiration to come from outside yourself
• Stop expecting someone else to give you all the answers
• Stop being afraid to fail
• Don’t be lazy (too often)
• Give up preconceived notions of how to learn
• Do what works for you
• Don’t disregard creative exploration as unimportant or something you will do “if you find the time”
• Make the time to practice creative thinking
• Set your own goals
• Try to attain
• If someone laughs at you or disregards your idea then smile along with them but keep to your own goals
• Try again
• Build on your successes
• Cherish your failures
• Learn from everything
• Know your motives
• Become friends with your inner (or outward) 5-year-old
• Wonder and wander
• Don’t be too cynical
• If you are cynical don’t be too bitter
• Be proud of your ideas
• Not all ideas or projects are very creative
• Sometimes mediocre is OK
• But don’t settle for mediocre very often
• If you find yourself doing something the same way more than a few times try doing it a different way next time
• Even if you are finished with a project are you sure the project is finished with you
Monday, February 2, 2009
The nose on your face
During the course of a normal day how many times do you find yourself making a decision? Do you ever weigh two (or more) options before making a choice?
For example, if your car gets stuck in the snow (true story, BTW) how do you solve that problem? What do think of immediately? Does thinking about the problem make it any better? At what point to you act? More importantly, what do you DO? How do you decide to do one thing over another? What if the first thing you do does not work? If the first idea does not work don't you then go through a list of possible solutions? What if none of them work?
Be conscious of your daily thoughts and I think you will be surprised how common this thought process is.
Enter the "50 "What if...?" exercise.
So why is it so hard (pointless, silly, boring, dumb, easy, blow-off, insert your own thought here) to have a formal exercise where you ask 50 "What if...?" questions? Don't you already do it all the time? But do you ever think about doing it on a daily basis?
Isn't it odd to see something you already do in a new light?
Often tools to help unblock our creative minds are right in front of us - we only need to see them and use them in a different way.
Did you struggle with the exercise? Why?
Could the problem with the "What if...?" exercise be that this it is unfocused and the questions you ask are random or just stream-of-conscious? It is fun (for some of us,) but does it really help you do anything????
Did you find it easier, and more meaningful, to point the "What if...?" question at your classmates' egg projects?
Did a question posed to you by someone else about your egg help you see the project any differently? Does it still feel so dumb? (yes and/or no answers are completely fine - there is no right answer to these...)
So how can harnessing this innate sense of inquiry and problem solving help you be more creative with new media projects?
For example, if your car gets stuck in the snow (true story, BTW) how do you solve that problem? What do think of immediately? Does thinking about the problem make it any better? At what point to you act? More importantly, what do you DO? How do you decide to do one thing over another? What if the first thing you do does not work? If the first idea does not work don't you then go through a list of possible solutions? What if none of them work?
Be conscious of your daily thoughts and I think you will be surprised how common this thought process is.
Enter the "50 "What if...?" exercise.
So why is it so hard (pointless, silly, boring, dumb, easy, blow-off, insert your own thought here) to have a formal exercise where you ask 50 "What if...?" questions? Don't you already do it all the time? But do you ever think about doing it on a daily basis?
Isn't it odd to see something you already do in a new light?
Often tools to help unblock our creative minds are right in front of us - we only need to see them and use them in a different way.
Did you struggle with the exercise? Why?
Could the problem with the "What if...?" exercise be that this it is unfocused and the questions you ask are random or just stream-of-conscious? It is fun (for some of us,) but does it really help you do anything????
Did you find it easier, and more meaningful, to point the "What if...?" question at your classmates' egg projects?
Did a question posed to you by someone else about your egg help you see the project any differently? Does it still feel so dumb? (yes and/or no answers are completely fine - there is no right answer to these...)
So how can harnessing this innate sense of inquiry and problem solving help you be more creative with new media projects?
Creat... Innovat... Inqui...
What are the different ways you can finish those words?
What does each one REALLY mean?
Why would I ask that?
What does each one REALLY mean?
Why would I ask that?
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Pottery stuff
Here is the raw info I sent to a regional art website (at their request) about my pottery. I hope you enjoy it and I am interested to see what they do with it. http://www.spyroterra.com/pottery/morning-glory.html
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