essential creativity
This website – which matches up simple, but strange, household objects of seemingly lost eras with a writer – seems a lot like a creative writing class assignment. But it gets to the heart of what creativity is, for a lot of people – an assignment with a good inspiration; small, life moments described. Putting one thing with another and watching the chemicals react in the test tube.
Get into it here.
This is just a fun thing to do while you’re thinking of other stuff:
Many have gathered to make art in the form, and spirit, of collaboration. Little of it transcends. Originally, the Louvre was a place for a sort of artists’ collective, during the French Revolution. But collectives borne of necessity have a distinct advantage over graffiti artists getting together to do a mural for Nike. Maybe this kind of thing has been done before, but I haven’t seen it. A UK Website here proposes that an interaction on the site results in instant action/reaction at a real art studio. Like much art that relies on technology, rather than a more viscous material, it feels a bit cybercold underneath it all, but from what I’m seeing, the art that’s getting made at the studio itself is secondary to the possibilities that this opens up. Remember Christy Brown, of “My Left Foot” fame? Putting that into context with today’s technology offers some very encouraging possibilities. Beyond that, the gap bridged by technology has never seemed to reach into the world of fine art. All of the sudden, the Internet is a real tool for expression and the spreading of paint, clay, pencil lead and many other things. It is well time that our exponential growth in technology lead to something more artistic, human, tactile and expressive. I’m into it.
One of my new daily check-in spots, Hipster Runoff, is worth bookmarking. Strangely, I’ve been listening to his show on Blog Radio on XM and catching his updates on his sites WITHOUT KNOWING IT WAS THE SAME GUY. WHAT’S WRONG WITH ME???? This is why you should not do things that ruin your brain, like drink from the cat bowl and eat only microwaved potatoes in college (always always always poke holes in it first, with a fork).
On the radio he is recognizable for his monotone voice and not-so-provocative questions, that turn out to be more provocative than you first give them credit for. It’s a style of talking that is one part plain-stupid truth, one part snarkasm and one part keenly observant ponderings of indie culture. He clearly knows his way around the music scene, but to me, it’s all about the cult of him. Sitting at the brink of popularity – a fine mess for a guy who admits he only likes bands that aren’t popular, because pop music themes are too universal. Watching him watch himself walk that tightrope is immensely interesting, even if it’s delivered in the least interesting kind of way.
Deadpan is the new exciting.
I don’t know what I’m doing. Am I looking at it? Buying from it? Learning from it? Being inspired by it? Knowing what day it is by it? I am helpless before it but somehow better because of it. It is Uniqlo.
I guess I just love me up some of the GIFs. Something I didn’t anticipate; becoming wistfully reminiscent of a technology from adulthood. I get my swoony love of 8-bit graphics and the sound of a Casio keyboard, but it’s harder to reconcile feeling all gushy over something that I used for work.
Perhaps it’s a representation of how far I/we’ve come since getting into Web design, back in the mid 90’s. Sort of like looking back on your first car, not nearly as advanced as your current car, but still a mark of distance, growth.
But moreso, I just like the creativity one experiences when leaning into a limited medium. All media is limited, in some respect. Certainly 8-bit graphics were. But even a canvas has an edge. Finding creativity within the constraints of technology are no different than within the constraints of clay. And the results no less effective. At least not to me.
Some of it, also, is knowing where something like this might show up: as a personal icon in a comment section, or simply sitting in the corner of a web page somewhere. Animated GIFs are like virtual graffiti tags – it’s as much where you place it as the mark itself. The technology and format of it is specific to the Web, and therefore it is as inextricably tied to it, as paint is to canvas or music was to vinyl (sigh).
Continue reading ‘A Moment in Time: An Homage to the Animated GIF.’
Weird, right? John Wayne is an icon, but so is that little picture of a house up in your browser navigation. Big, small. But in both cases, a symbol of something. But a person can spend an entire life trying to become an icon, noticed by everyone, whereas a graphic icon must often get created in the virtual world and is doing its job when it goes relatively unnoticed. Today we honor the small icon with this gorgeous set of graphic symbols (purchasable right here) ready to go for iPhone application developers. They may be small, but to me, this is still a symbol of something great.
You know how the intro shot of any movie in New York starts with a helicopter’s view from above the city? I love that. It feels grand. Now you can start off your own day with the same kind of drama. Just set your laptop to this site: http://www.pixelcase.com.au/vr/2009/newyork/ and then when you wake up, turn over and take a look. You’ll feel like you’re starring in your very own movie. Which of course you are. Make sure to go into full screen mode (lower right) and click on the various “tours” (lower left). Then just let ‘er fly.