this blog remains open– it belongs to all who made it. feel free to come back anytime and to post now and then if you find something you want to share.
thoughts that are worth thinking... (thank you polly)
Art happens between you and something—a subject, an idea, a technique—and both you and that something need to be free to move. Many fiction writers, for instance, discover early that making detailed plot outlines is an exercise in futility; as actual writing progresses characters increasingly take on a life of their own, sometimes to the surprise of the writer.
What’s really needed is nothing more than a broad sense of what you are looking for, some strategy for how to find it, and an overriding willingness to embrace mistakes and surprises along the way. Perseverence.
Fears about yourself prevent you from doing your best work, while fears about your reception by others prevent you from doing your own work.
You have exactly what you need to produce your best work.
Expect fertile periods, dry spells, false starts, breakaway bursts, successive significant changes of direction, medium and subject matter. ( sounds like a marriage or relationship )
doodle.
maybe you should have a section in the book devoted to absolute failures. how great would that be? how does failure = success? how do you define failure? i believe, one door closed, means another is about to open.
You have nothing to lose, and nothing to fear. Enjoy your self. Engage in a process of being alive and experiencing the world in new ways, look for the amusing connections that only you make, ask yourself questions that only you would be interested in. Embrace your uniqueness, your story, your oddness, your fears. This is one of the most valuable things to realize.
Think of the possibility of leaving a loose thread, an unresolved issue that you can explore in your next piece—a cliffhanger. Don't worry about closure.
a story:
The ceramics teacher announced on day one the class would be divided into two groups. All those on the left side would be graded soley on the quantity of the work they produced. All those on the right solely on its quality. His procedure was simple; on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the “quantity” group: fifty pounds of pots rated an “A”, forty pounds, a “B” and so on. Those being graded on “quality” however, needed to produce only one pot—albeit a perfect one—to get an “A”. Well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged, the works of the highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that while the “quantity”group was busily churning out piles of work—and learning from mistakes— the “quality”group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay. If you think good work is somehow synonymous with perfect work, you are headed for big trouble.
so, i see, i should have assigned experiences by weight. 50 pounds of visual/verbal fodder—anything, everything related directly or indirectly to being a student, designer, the unique person you are, your interests, fears, successes, techniques you love, words, clippings...imagine what you could do with that. i suggest you get out your scales and start weighing. (don't forget to document it.)
most of this came from the book titled "Art&Fear" observations on the perils and rewards of artmaking.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Posted by Heather Clark...thank you!
The Virtues of Failure
This is written by Donald M. Murray, Pulitzer Prize winner, and is excerpted from The Boston Globe, date unknown:
The virtues of failure are many, but the most important are:
• Failure allows escape. I spent a night trying to figure out how to escape a hated job on Time magazine. The next morning I was fired. Problem solved.
• Failure stimulates creativity. We are problem solving animals, and each failure teaches us what doesn't work so we can move toward what does. A failed glue led to Post-it notes.
• Failure encourages risk taking. After you have failed a few times, you learn the world doesn't care, that, in fact, the world was not even watching. It becomes natural—and exciting—to take risks.
• Failure helps you discover that what you have lost may not have been what you wanted to keep.
• Failure erases the scorn you once felt for others who failed. In its place comes empathy, compassion, even respect.
• Failure motivates.
When Murray was asked what he taught as a professor, he usually answered, “Failure. What we cannot do reveals what we can do.”
This is written by Donald M. Murray, Pulitzer Prize winner, and is excerpted from The Boston Globe, date unknown:
The virtues of failure are many, but the most important are:
• Failure allows escape. I spent a night trying to figure out how to escape a hated job on Time magazine. The next morning I was fired. Problem solved.
• Failure stimulates creativity. We are problem solving animals, and each failure teaches us what doesn't work so we can move toward what does. A failed glue led to Post-it notes.
• Failure encourages risk taking. After you have failed a few times, you learn the world doesn't care, that, in fact, the world was not even watching. It becomes natural—and exciting—to take risks.
• Failure helps you discover that what you have lost may not have been what you wanted to keep.
• Failure erases the scorn you once felt for others who failed. In its place comes empathy, compassion, even respect.
• Failure motivates.
When Murray was asked what he taught as a professor, he usually answered, “Failure. What we cannot do reveals what we can do.”
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Mapping the Cultural Buzz: How Cool Is That?
Research, presented in late March at the annual meeting of the Association of American Geographers, locates hot spots based on the frequency and draw of cultural happenings: film and television screenings, concerts, fashion shows, gallery and theater openings.
from the NYT...
Research, presented in late March at the annual meeting of the Association of American Geographers, locates hot spots based on the frequency and draw of cultural happenings: film and television screenings, concerts, fashion shows, gallery and theater openings.
from the NYT...
Monday, April 6, 2009
warts and all: a good working title (by Polly)
after the conversation today i'm sure you can all add something to this list. please join me in compiling the biggest possible “hairball clog” list. lets think of all the ways we can kill our ability to create freely...
i’m not a designer—i’m a phony
i have nothing worth saying
i’m not sure what i’m doing
other people are better than I am
i’m only a design student (senior)
my students are so much more talented than me
no one likes my work
i’m no good.
but, it's not supposed to be that way
thoughts that are worth thinking...
Art happens between you and something—a subject, an idea, a technique—and both you and that something need to be free to move. Many fiction writers, for instance, discover early that making detailed plot outlines is an exercise in futility; as actual writing progresses characters increasingly take on a life of their own, sometimes to the surprise of the writer.
What’s really needed is nothing more than a broad sense of what you are looking for, some strategy for how to find it, and an overriding willingness to embrace mistakes and surprises along the way. Perseverence.
Fears about yourself prevent you from doing your best work, while fears about your reception by others prevent you from doing your own work.
You have exactly what you need to produce your best work.
Expect fertile periods, dry spells, false starts, breakaway bursts, successive significant changes of direction, medium and subject matter. ( sounds like a marriage or relationship )
doodle.
maybe you should have a section in the book devoted to absolute failures. how great would that be? how does failure = success? how do you define failure? i believe, one door closed, means another is about to open.
You have nothing to lose, and nothing to fear. Enjoy your self. Engage in a process of being alive and experiencing the world in new ways, look for the amusing connections that only you make, ask yourself questions that only you would be interested in. Embrace your uniqueness, your story, your oddness, your fears. This is one of the most valuable things to realize.
Think of the possibility of leaving a loose thread, an unresolved issue that you can explore in your next piece—a cliffhanger. Don't worry about closure.
a story:
The ceramics teacher announced on day one the class would be divided into two groups. All those on the left side would be graded soley on the quantity of the work they produced. All those on the right solely on its quality. His procedure was simple; on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the “quantity” group: fifty pounds of pots rated an “A”, forty pounds, a “B” and so on. Those being graded on “quality” however, needed to produce only one pot—albeit a perfect one—to get an “A”. Well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged, the works of the highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that while the “quantity”group was busily churning out piles of work—and learning from mistakes— the “quality”group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay. If you think good work is somehow synonymous with perfect work, you are headed for big trouble.
so, i see, i should have assigned experiences by weight. 50 pounds of visual/verbal fodder—anything, everything related directly or indirectly to being a student, designer, the unique person you are, your interests, fears, successes, techniques you love, words, clippings...imagine what you could do with that. i suggest you get out your scales and start weighing. (don't forget to document it.)
most of this came from the book titled "Art&Fear" observations on the perils and rewards of artmaking.
i’m not a designer—i’m a phony
i have nothing worth saying
i’m not sure what i’m doing
other people are better than I am
i’m only a design student (senior)
my students are so much more talented than me
no one likes my work
i’m no good.
but, it's not supposed to be that way
thoughts that are worth thinking...
Art happens between you and something—a subject, an idea, a technique—and both you and that something need to be free to move. Many fiction writers, for instance, discover early that making detailed plot outlines is an exercise in futility; as actual writing progresses characters increasingly take on a life of their own, sometimes to the surprise of the writer.
What’s really needed is nothing more than a broad sense of what you are looking for, some strategy for how to find it, and an overriding willingness to embrace mistakes and surprises along the way. Perseverence.
Fears about yourself prevent you from doing your best work, while fears about your reception by others prevent you from doing your own work.
You have exactly what you need to produce your best work.
Expect fertile periods, dry spells, false starts, breakaway bursts, successive significant changes of direction, medium and subject matter. ( sounds like a marriage or relationship )
doodle.
maybe you should have a section in the book devoted to absolute failures. how great would that be? how does failure = success? how do you define failure? i believe, one door closed, means another is about to open.
You have nothing to lose, and nothing to fear. Enjoy your self. Engage in a process of being alive and experiencing the world in new ways, look for the amusing connections that only you make, ask yourself questions that only you would be interested in. Embrace your uniqueness, your story, your oddness, your fears. This is one of the most valuable things to realize.
Think of the possibility of leaving a loose thread, an unresolved issue that you can explore in your next piece—a cliffhanger. Don't worry about closure.
a story:
The ceramics teacher announced on day one the class would be divided into two groups. All those on the left side would be graded soley on the quantity of the work they produced. All those on the right solely on its quality. His procedure was simple; on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scales and weigh the work of the “quantity” group: fifty pounds of pots rated an “A”, forty pounds, a “B” and so on. Those being graded on “quality” however, needed to produce only one pot—albeit a perfect one—to get an “A”. Well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged, the works of the highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that while the “quantity”group was busily churning out piles of work—and learning from mistakes— the “quality”group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay. If you think good work is somehow synonymous with perfect work, you are headed for big trouble.
so, i see, i should have assigned experiences by weight. 50 pounds of visual/verbal fodder—anything, everything related directly or indirectly to being a student, designer, the unique person you are, your interests, fears, successes, techniques you love, words, clippings...imagine what you could do with that. i suggest you get out your scales and start weighing. (don't forget to document it.)
most of this came from the book titled "Art&Fear" observations on the perils and rewards of artmaking.
Monday, March 23, 2009
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