The Internet Archive is a nonprofit digital database of text, music, film, and even software whose stated mission is to provide “Universal Access to All Knowledge”. Within its vast catalogue are works with expired copyrights from the public domain, and collections from partners like university presses and the Smithsonian Institution, as well as works from the community. With summer upon us and local public libraries shuttered, I thought it was a good time to peruse the archive and compile a summer reading list. In no particular order, here are five great resources for artists and makers that I’ve found: 5. Encyclopedia of Basic Craft Techniques From 1973, this is a compendium of crafts in a multitude of media, with descriptions on where to begin a practice of one’s own. This book is part of the National Emergency Library, a response to the recent closure of public libraries around the world resulting from COVID-19. For a limited time, the waitlist to borrow any book hosted by the Internet Archive — including many major library systems and university presses — has been removed. 4. The Vignelli Canon “If you can design one thing, you can design everything.” This quote from the Italian Modernist designer Massimo Vignelli — the creator of the iconic New York City Subway Map — says it all. In this approachable ebook, Vignelli introduces his design principles, process, and notable work, and provides snippets of autobiography. 3. Jacobean crewel work and traditional designs The intricate vines and floral forms printed here in full color are attractive enough on their own to make this a worthwhile read. For the ambitious needleworker, the highly detailed plates and technical descriptions provide an outline for reproducing the embroideries shown, though as the book admits in the epilogue, this is not for beginners. 2. Tubbs Wood Type Specimen Catalog Bold examples of classic wood type are presented in this catalog from the 1880s, ranging from pragmatic to extravagant, commonplace to esoteric. For graphic designers, this is an interesting record of the ways in which taste in typography has changed — and remained the same — in the nearly 150 years since its publication. 1. The Art and Technology of Electronic Textiles In this lecture from the Microsoft Research collection, Maggie Orth, PhD, the founder of International Fashion Machines, Inc., gives an overview of her work in bridging technology and fashion and its underpinning design philosophy. Wearable tech has come a long way in the intervening years, but it’s fascinating to see her early experiments in the field, including conductive Velcro and her capstone work, Electric Plaid. Bonus: The Oregon Trail Deluxe, 1992 Yes, it’s true! While not a productive resource, it’s important to schedule downtime in a work-from-home environment, right? The classic grade school adventure game is hosted here along with thousands of classic arcade and computer games with in-browser emulation. There’s much more educational information presented in this title than I was interested in 20 years ago, making the experience both nostalgic and fresh. The threat of snakebites and river crossings are still very real. The list could truly go on and on. While its database search can seem prohibitively complex, the real magic of the Internet Archive is in the discovery: digging through the digital stacks, one never knows what will be uncovered. So go explore! Stay curious, and stay busy. Happy reading! - Chad Brown, Center for Creativity Assistant. Find Chad's work on Instagram.
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We build, we do object work, we get outta comfort zones, we follow our fear. Yet, as an improvisor that appreciates quiet reflection and an occasional hiatus while embracing the craft, I have found that doing scenes alone and upping my object-work game while stuck solo in my house is starting to make it apparent that lack of stage time is inspiring weird new habits: conversations with inanimate objects (and the birds, squirrels, bunnies, and deer outside my windows) got old within a day. As I look longingly at photos of my previous house teams and our performances, I miss the laughter lighting up our faces, our confidence, our interactivity, our group mind, and some of our favorite warm-ups. Being isolated and Zooming can never be a substitute for the energy and excitement of playing Hot Spot or Beastie Boyz, Electric Company, or 5 Things, and ramping each other up to see who on the team will get ‘the get’ for the night’s show. After reading a BBC article about Shakespeare writing King Lear while hunkered down during the Plague, I have begun to feel like there is no telling where quarantine could channel your energies. But also: hey, let’s not pressure ourselves to produce another King Lear during lockdown. I overbought bananas (they aren’t social distancing) to bring a little joy and creativity to my kitchen space. I soon started to see a couple parallels between us improvisors and the much-loved banana bunch. (Stay with me.)
Look, I'm reaching to make connections -- just like we do in improv. We “A” to the “C” so we can stay ahead of the audience, going from beat to beat while creating magic on stage. While nothing takes away my longing to be with fellow comedians, I’m encouraged by some of my endless comedic heroes and many improv method books, as well as the plethora of improv blogs which offer me interesting insights into the craft while we are all on an unanticipated hiatus from the stage, our teams, our classes, our coaches, and our usual theatre communities. I'm gonna circle back to bananas now, because while the above is all real and true, I have recently been embracing a lot of butter and inactivity, and have found renewed luster and enthusiasm for one of my favorite desserts with far less unhealthy repercussions than ingredients that I can’t pronounce and would likely last beyond an apocalypse. I figure the least I can do is share a fun recipe I’ve discovered recently, so I give you... One-Ingredient Ice Cream ...made from, you guessed it: BANANAS! (I find the use of all-caps and bold italic helps from time to time to express my enthusiasm in this virtual realm when Zoom audio/video settings cannot handle my loudness and expression.)
At the point that the frozen banana pieces become the texture of fluffy soft serve, you have a decision to make: leave this concoction at fundamentally one ingredient, or add some fun, fantastic mix-ins: cookie butter, aka “Speculoos,” peanut butter, chocolate chips, chocolate syrup, Oreo pieces, or any manner of wild thing you find in the back of your pantry, you artistic mad scientist! (Be sure to practice a hearty mad scientist laugh as you blend: it really paints the scene.)
Seriously, I can’t wait to see you all back on your mainstage when this has concluded. In the meantime, I wish you awesome object-work practice at home, delicious and philosophical banana ice cream creations, and I commend any and all efforts toward nurturing your inner improvisor and artist: I’ve got your back. - Casey Klos, Year of Creativity Program Manager. Find her work on Instagram. I’ve been using my time stuck indoors to experiment with creating my own materials — a result of having excess time to learn new processes, coupled with a lack of foresight and failure to stock up before the closure of non-essential businesses. I’ve made tempera paint with eggs, inks with cabbage and tea, and today my own recycled paper with a jury-rigged mold and deckle. And none of them have come out as expected. Aside from trying to keep extraneous online shopping to a minimum, I am confronted with the question of what it means to spend hours of frustration to create products far below the quality standards of commercially-manufactured goods. The process is the point! I can pretty much guarantee there isn’t another sheet of paper out there exactly like this one, wrinkled and textured by the dish towels I pressed it in overnight. Nor is there an ink that has depth and character in the same way that this one does. Opening up all the variables to the maker allows for their influence to come in at every stage of the process, so even though my ink smells somewhat swampy and the paper is lumpy and inconsistent, each resulting material contains a small piece of my history: where I found the materials, the recipes I followed, the mistakes I made along the way. It feels like it’s truly mine. The scrap paper used to protect my table from spills becomes a record of the adventure. And putting the philosophy aside, there is of course the pure fun of Science! Exploring and understanding how things are made and how they work is itself a creative act. Seeing red cabbage come out of a boiling pot of water a radiant cobalt blue is an uncommon joy greater than anything I experienced in high school chemistry. Now is not the time to worry about perfection. The situation we’re living in is exceedingly imperfect. But I have found that when the focus shifts away from a predetermined result and onto the excitement of kitchen chemistry and an improvised process, within all the haphazard messiness lies a wealth of creativity. - Chad Brown, Center for Creativity Assistant. Find Chad's work on Instagram. I’ve heard it many times. I’m sure you have, too.
I’m constantly seeing posts or hearing people say, “You have all the free time in the world now. This is the time to do the things you always wanted, create something, learn a new language, practice an instrument….” It may seem like this is a dream for creative folks, having an unprecedented amount of time to practice your skill. If that’s true for you, great! Please continue to make the world a more beautiful place with your creations. But what if it’s not? A few days ago, I saw a post on social media that really caught my attention. “If you don’t use this time to do what you’ve always wanted to do, it wasn’t time you lacked, it was discipline.” That did not sit well with me. What those people might not understand is the strain this pandemic puts on individuals’ mental health, mine included. I am the first to admit that I haven’t used this time to be extremely creative. I haven’t created enough artwork to line my hallways so they look like an art museum, or practiced enough songs and monologues to transform my house into a theater. However, I did find that intentionally carving out some time to dedicate to one of my creative passions was quite rewarding. Why then wasn’t I doing more of it? Simple: the added pandemic anxiety was consuming all of my thoughts. I didn’t have extra mental space to dedicate to anything else, no matter how much I enjoyed it. Once I realized that, I came up with a solution that helped me tremendously. Maybe it will do the same for you. My solution was meditation. I needed a way to process the extra thoughts that were occupying my mind so I could clear space for my creative side to shine. Taking any amount of time to dedicate to meditation, whether five minutes or half an hour, can work wonders for your mental health. You may wonder what kind of meditation to do. That’s a tougher question to answer. Meditation is a deeply personal practice; what works for me might not work for you. I encourage you to experiment until you find one that works for you. There are tons of resources online, from YouTube videos (see below for some of my favorites) to apps like Calm and Headspace, that can lead you through a guided meditation. My favorite meditation is a self-guided one. I’ll walk you through it. Lay on the floor, the couch, a bed: it doesn’t really matter. Just make sure that you are comfortable and supported. Start at the crown of you head, and imagine a golden light shining on it. Release any tension you’re holding there. Trust that whatever you are lying on is going to support you, and give all of your thoughts and tension away to it. Move the light down to your face and jaw, and do the same thing there. Continue doing this the entire way down your body until you reach your toes. Breathe deeply while doing this. Once you have finished, stay there for a little bit to relax or practice a mantra. That’s it! I find that once I have done this, my body and mind are cleared of tension and excess negative thoughts. Being in that relaxed state helps me to get more in touch with my creative side. It can be challenging to find the time to dedicate to meditation when you are already overwhelmed, but if you can find even a few minutes, I encourage you to try it and see if it helps your creative juices to flow as well! In the end, remember that no matter what you are doing right now, it is enough, and you are enough. Carve out time to do things you enjoy, and continue to make the world a more beautiful place. Some recommended YouTube meditations:
- Sarah Cooper, Center for Creativity Multimedia & Marketing Intern. Sarah is a marketing major/theatre arts minor who is passionate about music and performance and is especially interested in musical theater. She also enjoys exploring life through various art forms. The first stage of creating a piece of art is, hands down, the most chaotic and anxiety-inducing part of the artistic process.
I can’t speak for other artists, but nothing is more frustrating in my opinion than that feeling of sitting at the easel, almost bursting with excitement to create, unable to will your pencil to draw even a single line. I’ve felt it on many occasions, usually (and ironically) following a piece that I seemingly knew start-to-finish exactly how I wanted it to look. It’s truly intimidating having the infinite possibilities of a canvas staring back at you, but it’s not the intimidation of that infinity that often stills my hand. It’s the fear of something much more terrifying, a fear that even with a solid decade of experience behind me still creeps up every now and again to block my creative stream: the fear of messing up. “Messing up” can come in many forms. Maybe the anatomy in my sketch will be off, and I won’t notice it until it’s too late, or maybe the idea I contemplated won’t make sense once it's on the canvas. Perhaps I don’t yet have the requisite skill to take the image from my mind and replicate it in real life. Or, the worst case scenario: I’ll dedicate multiple weeks to a project that becomes increasingly loathsome the more I work on it. You’ll note, as I sometimes fail to, that none of these outcomes are possible without starting, but neither are any of the (more realistic) good outcomes. It’s easy to forget how often a messy start leads to a beautiful finish while in the depths of your own insecurities, how just allowing the process to unfold naturally opens up interesting paths and creates something unexpectedly perfect in its own way. Every so-called mess I’ve encountered to this point has been an opportunity to build, learn, and evolve. No artist ever grows without getting a little paint outside the lines; in fact, we’re lucky enough to be tasked by the world to dive into what exists outside of perfection. So, if the process if going to be -- and is supposed to be -- messy, we might as well get started and see where it goes. - Jasmine Green, Center for Creativity Assistant. Find Jasmine's work here or follow her on Instagram. Amidst hypnotic scrolling on Etsy (inevitable for most artists), I discover and immediately admire the poetic possibilities of taking boring cutlery and turning it into fun ways to proverbially play with your food (utensils). There I am, swiping through spoons upon forks upon knives with expressions slightly reminiscent of Alice in Wonderlandwhen she finds the bottle commanding “Eat Me/Drink Me,” or of Marie Antoinette’s eloquent boast “Let them eat cake” stamped on a pie server. What fun to take something otherwise practical yet boring and turn it into something whimsical by simply impressing silverware with bits of vernacular…I am quickly quite smitten with the idea of trying this for myself. It wasn’t until winter break that some key tools for this trade came to me on the receiving end of my family’s Secret Santa. Now that I find myself starry-eyed in my dining room-turned-art studio, basking in the realm of possibilities, I realize I am about to embark on an adventure: I have never worked with metal before. Fancy folks make jewelry, and sure, I’ve heard stooooories about working with metal, but I have never tried it. These weird times we are in, while keeping us enclosed, also call for us to crawl out of our shell and try new things. So, I figure, now is the time. Let’s do this. Perhaps this fire within to spring clean and create is all part of being cooped up in my domicile. I’m truly missing my local thrift store being open for treasure hunting, so it’s time to treasure hunt at home. I am embarrassed to say it took a world pandemic for me to clean out my silverware drawer, but lo and behold…I have more than enough flatware to stamp and smash for the sake of art: Disclaimer: I have never done anything with the medium of metal. Usually I sketch with charcoal and chalk or scrapbook special things for my penpals around the globe when I am not cooking something in my kitchen or growing something in my garden. What follows with metal could be a total disaster or downright amazing. We shall see! So here are the tools: After my first hammer and smash with a butter knife on my bench block, I decide there simply must be an easier way to do this whole process: the butter knife is lopsided and sliding all over my bench block, making for a potentially dangerous scenario of knuckle whacking. I’m not deterred as I should be, likely due to sheer excitement, and a knuckle whack does occur. (I have no photo of this: it is an embarrassing moment even though I am all alone. It’s at this point that I decide to watch a quick how-to video. Thank you, Beaducation, for this lovely quick how-to video. Okay, masking tape. Brilliant! My new set up includes masking down the butter knife on my bench block. This is much more stable, and produces significantly better results: Reflecting on my usage of flatware, this is an excellent experiment, and I am happy with the results because they are not perfect, and that makes them special. My disappointment is in the ferocity of my whacking. It clearly isn’t determined enough to produce a deeper stamping and therefore represent my butter love. I conclude that I would like to further experiment with softer and/or thinner metals in the future for stamping. So as to leave my mini-art studio feeling encouraged, I pull out a cute set of measuring spoons that have been successfully stamped by someone (or a machine) that has clearly done this before, and decide to add a signature heart stamp modification to it for fun. The end result: A fun trick I like a lot that I pick up in this process is to color in the stamped letters and symbols with a permanent marker and rub the excess off with a magic eraser or steel wool pad to create a darkness in the lettering that makes visibility much more prominent.
Something that I found to be similar in this artform to all “art” is the beauty of process. We try a thing, and modify another, and potentially change it all up, and have another go at it. Finding out what works and what doesn’t is different for everyone, and that is the art of it all: the process of discovery. And the exciting part: there is so much to discover! Let’s all keep discovering. - Casey Klos, Year of Creativity Program Manager. Find her work on Instagram. I think back on my naive past self from just a few months ago, who bemoaned having no time to commit to the half-dozen projects strewn about his workshop; after accounting for the daily commute, work day, meal prep, and compulsory socializing, there seemed hardly a daily half-hour to spend working on anything creative. I wish he knew what I know now: that working from home is perhaps even harder. Despite regaining the time previously spent commuting and having a flexible schedule, there’s something creating a mental block to productivity: clutter. Every project is out on the work surface, begging for attention and exacerbating an ongoing case of option paralysis. A simple technique exists to combat clutter: knolling. Craftspeople and creatives have used this method for decades, probably long before it obtained its popular moniker and was coopted by lifehackers worldwide (including this writer). The artist Tom Sachs, who named the technique and popularized its usage in his studio manual Ten Bullets, was introduced the idea by Andrew Kromelow, a custodian at Frank Gehry’s furniture studio, where Sachs worked at the time. During his shift, Kromelow would arrange his tools in a sharply-geometric layout reminiscent of the angular modernist furniture that was being fabricated for the Knoll company. Sachs later incorporated the idea in his own studio, coining the maxim “Always Be Knolling” as guidance for his studio assistants. Sachs’ rules for knolling are as follows:
A cursory internet search yields color-coordinated photos of “knolled” objects with no relation to one another: tastefully-beige steaming-coffee-and-notebook photos from social media, and photos of common machines and vehicles laid out in a geometric exploded view. Artfully arranging objects, whether adhering strictly to Sachs’ outline or not, can be a creative act in itself. I am, however, interested in its use as an act not done in service of a goal or glory, but one done as meditation, to clear a path for other creative acts. The technique is useful from a practical standpoint and, when employed strictly, certainly has the potential to introduce structure into a dismantled work-from-home life. For this reason, it’s exactly the place I needed to start. After a quick gathering-up of unused items left out days ago — scraps of fabric, books, charging cables — I set about straightening the items I knew would be needed soon. The pen and pencil lined up pleasingly with my notebook; the scissors created a void in the grid filled perfectly by a tape measure; an old book of electronics project ideas sat close-at-hand, while a tiny bluetooth speaker and phone occupied the furthest position from my chair. Beyond the pragmatic tools, I placed nearby some personal items to spark joy and inspiration: a birthday card from my grandparents (with the annual two-dollar bill they sent) and a miniature architect’s pocket scale acquired on a tour of the Frank Lloyd Wright Studio in Chicago. The whole affair took no more than ten minutes, and don’t all these items look sharp, waiting quietly at attention to be deployed? More than this, there seems to be an energy in my workspace now, which before was stifled by the meaningless clutter. I think there truly is something to this process of knolling; one creative act, no matter how trivial, begets another, and another. In this time of stay-at-home orders, I find it crucial to create and maintain a sense of purpose and progress, and a little physical and mental housekeeping goes a long way towards maintaining that momentum.
That pocket scale on my desk is inscribed with a quote: “Architecture is the frame of life.” Whatever your methodology, may you develop a frame for your own practice, and do good work. - Chad Brown, Center for Creativity Assistant. You can find Chad's work on Instagram here. Hello Pitt Community! I am wondering how all of you are doing? Lots to adjust to and learn in this time of the 2020 pandemic. At first, I thought of all the things I can catch up on. Then it became clear that this will be a bit of a long haul so I carved out a space for work in my home like most of you. This time at home is challenging but I’m going to see if some creative work helps. But of course, I have a staff.... This is why I moved to an upstairs workspace. These two are not ready for Zoom meetings! During our first few staff meetings on Zoom I had to keep my finger on the mute icon to head off any cries for attention. No more! The weeks come in waves:
But before the podcast starts up, I am going to create something here at home! If you have been to C4C’s Workshop you’ve seen the Re-Create Wall, which was on my wish list when the Workshop was first being developed. I love seeing people reuse and create. I’ve been creating strange sculptures and jewelry from what someone might say was trash for several years. Here are some things I made from trash at the Workshop! Horn Player is made out of electronic parts, champagne cork tops, and scrap metal. Bowie Earrings are made out of bottle caps, scrap magazine, and some not-trash earring stuff. You Are is made of an old trophy base, coffee can top liner, electronic bits, feathers, empty inserts for whipped cream, and a discarded musical insert. When you pull her necklace, she sings! Snow Lion is made of an old trophy base, broken toy, plastic bag yarn, and reused tissue paper. Now I’m at home without the Workshop’s wall, though, so I have been scrounging around my house for things to recreate. That got a little overwhelming: too much stuff in my house! I had to get outside for some relief. That’s when I found my inspiration: dirt and rocks! I am going to try my hand at Land Art! I’m no Robert Smithson but that’s okay. You can try this, too.
Ta-daaaa! So, I’m happy with this. I spent time outside. My mind was able to wiggle around in different ways with shape, color, and design. And next week I can make it something new! Hope you’re finding new ways to explore.
- Nancy Kirkwood, Center for Creativity Assistant After spending the last two anxiety-provoking weeks soothing myself with bread and chocolate, I took a deep breath and considered vegetables. Fresh vegetables. Since it has been a long time since I popped into the grocery, though, my house held slim pickings when it came to greens. Still, I remembered having some sweet potatoes, that comforting bridge between "fresh vegetable" and "bread." I found the potatoes on a dark pantry shelf, pulled them out — and held a garden in my hands. What’s on your own "dark pantry shelf"? Each of us is unexpectedly creative, but sometimes we forget that, sucked into a world of to-do lists, Zoom meetings, and news about the pandemic. The Center for Creativity wants to encourage you to connect with your creative self and others in the coming weeks. Join us as we host a series of online opportunities. No judgment. No expectations. Maybe you’ll reach for a sweet potato, too, and find something growing there. - Kit Ayars, Director of Strategy & Partnership, Center for Creativity |
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