© Kirby Ferguson (via YouTube)
Our creativity comes from without, not from within. We are not self made, we are dependent on one another. Admitting this to ourselves isn’t an embrace of mediocrity and derivativeness —it’s a liberation from our misconceptions, and it’s an incentive to not expect so much from ourselves, and to simply begin.
As creatives, we are usually driven to chase what we think of as purely original ideas. While I was studying design, a video series called Everything is a Remix was making the rounds, offering another –presumably much healthier– perspective on novelty and inspiration.
A decade later, Kirby Ferguson is apparently redoing the series for 2021 and I recommend every creative to watch it —but especially those who are still in training.
My lostness comes from the sense that our cultural collections are not wholly our own anymore. In the era of algorithmic feeds, it’s as if the bookshelves have started changing shape on their own in real time, shuffling some material to the front and downplaying the rest like a sleight-of-hand magician trying to make you pick a specific card — even as they let you believe it’s your own choice. And this lack of agency is undermining our connections to the culture that we love.
Even though I definitely don’t consider The digital death of collecting being something I myself might be affected anytime soon –I collect LPs, books and magazines, polaroids and probably even too much other physical stuff, I do fear Kyle Chayka’s observations might hold true for the general public —especially for the generations yet to discover the broad field of culture.
Another interesting essay adding to the sentiment that made me publish on this blog again in the first place.
kylechayka.substack.com/p/essay-the-digital-death-of-collecting
Beauty can be coaxed out of ugliness. Wabi-sabi is ambivalent about separating beauty from non-beauty or ugliness. The condition of coming to terms with what you consider ugly. Wabi-sabi suggests that beauty is a dynamic event between you and something else. Beauty can spontaneously occur at any moment given the proper circumstances, context, or point of view. Beauty is thus an altered state of consciousness, an extraordinary moment of poetry and grace.
© Yuki Kawae (via YouTube)
Because we all need less noise.
I could watch this all day: Meditative video by Yuki Kawae exploring different patterns in his minimal Zen garden. Tempted to use the practical tips from his website to build my own little Zen garden now.
Kunzite – VISUALS
»Ride on the rays of the farthest sun«
About a decade ago I came across the electronic rock from Ratatat for the first time because of their features on one of my favourite albums, Kid Cudi’s masterpiece ‘Man on the Moon: The End of Day’. The recognizable sound the Brooklyn-based duo was contributing to the tracks ‘Alive’ and ‘Pursuit of Happiness‘ –probably one of my favourite songs of all time– lead me to listen to their music quite extensively back then, first and foremost to the extremly catchy tunes of their earlier released album ‘Classics’.
Just recently –six years after the last vital signs of Ratatat– said album (which nowadays is available on YouTube in its entirety) popped into my head again while listening to ‘VISUALS’, the just-released second longplayer by a band called Kunzite. Only after doing my habitual research on the music project unkown to me hitherto, I discovered my association is not by chance;
The 2018 formed duo is a collaboration between the musicians Agustin White and Mike Stroud, the latter being the guitarist of –you guessed it– Ratatat, for which he plays a variety of instruments. I guess a lot of the infectious groove on ‘VISUALS’ caused by synthesizers, pipe organs and lap steel guitars is to a great extent attributed to him, at least it undoubtedly sounds a hell lot like his other music project.
In fact the whole record sounds like Ratatat got inspired by the island vibes of Hawaii –where White and Stroud recorded large parts of the longplayer, decided to dial back the weirdness just a tiny bit and, most notably, add hypnotic pop vocals to their repertoire.
The result is a psychedelic joyride and probably one of my favourite albums of 2021 so far. I can’t wait for ‘VISUALS’ to drop on vinyl later this year (November), until then I have to be careful not to listen to it repeatedly ad nauseam in its digital form —especially since it oozes summer fun and therefore matches the current late summer sun way better than the dark winter months ahead.
There’s rumored to be an exclusive track with the grande Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry on the physical record, though, so I’m going to put it on as soon as I get my hands on it, no matter how often I’ll have played it already till then.
© KUNZITE (via YouTube)
© KUNZITE (via YouTube)
The weekly series ‘Kurzschluss‘ (short circuit) by Franco-German TV network ‘ARTE’ offers short films a unusual platform for the medium in the main program of linear television. Yesterday’s episode paid tribute to its broadcasting date, focusing on shorts influenced by “9/ 11 and its aftermath” as well as the Charlie Hebdo shooting of 2015 in France.
One of the three selected stories was the incredibly tense and absolutely superbly produced un état d’urgence | state of emergency. The short kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish and still echoes through my mind a day later.
A movie about a society in fear. It is the story of two soldiers in the everyday life of Paris guarding an official building. […] The lines between normality and real danger disappear.
Current mood [image taken somewhere in France on January 2nd, 2020 with my Olympus Pen-F]
© RJ Bruni / Inmist Media House (via Vimeo)
A story about a ceramic artist, Cathy Terepocki, and her journey to find purpose within her work. When most artists are seeking to further put themselves at the forefront of their work Cathy made a conscious decision to actually remove her personal touch.
I always enjoy watching craftsmanship, especially if it’s captured with such a pleasing –and extremly well-suited– granular and tactile aesthetic like in this beautiful short called Shared Earth.
Es fehlt ein Verb für die Tätigkeit, die im Halb-Zustand zwischen Programmierung und Gestaltung stattfindet. Es ist beständiges Tasten auf der Suche nach einem angemessenen Gefühl für ein bestimmtes Interface, nach der korrekten Balance aus Physik und Assoziation. Teils ist es Konstruieren, teils räumliches Entwerfen, teils händisches Formen des Materials. In dieser Tätigkeit geht es langsam voran, aber Konstruktion, Gestaltung und inhaltlicher Ausdruck entwickeln sich zugleich, die falsche Trennung der Disziplinen außer acht lassend.
Nature Track is a podcast that opens a window on the beautiful sounds of the Australian wilderness. […] Each unique track is carefully recorded on location in a different part of Australia by the ABC’s nature specialist Ann Jones.
The beautiful podcast Nature Track by ABC Radio collects different sounds from Australian nature (so no music or humans), which reminds me a lot of ‘Sanctuaries of Silence’ and the amazing work of Gordon Hempton I’ve mentioned before.
The radio station furthermore has another podcast –among many others– called ‘Off Track’, which combines equally soothing sounds of nature with fascinating stories of environmental science recorded in the outdoors.
Both series are great alternatives for the very handy background noise app noisli, that I’ve been using occasionally for some time now.
© Sam H. Buchanan (via Vimeo)
By far and away the silliest thing I’ve ever made, felt appropriate to make something silly this year [the short was filmed in 2020].
Loving this absurd short: Every Sport a Bowling Ball.
© Vladyslav Hreben / Max Shpak / Roman Kravchenko
© Vladyslav Hreben / Max Shpak / Roman Kravchenko
© Vladyslav Hreben / Max Shpak / Roman Kravchenko
© Vladyslav Hreben / Max Shpak / Roman Kravchenko
A few years ago, I was lucky enough to watch a wonderful film Her directed and written by Spike Jonze. The amazing atmosphere and colors inspired me to depict the apartment of the main character in 3d format.
As mentioned before I’m a huge fan of the movie ‘Her’ myself –not least because of the wonderful set design by K.K. Barrett, so naturally, I like those atmospheric images of Theodore’s apartment recreated with 3D a whole lot. Definitely something I would want to put up on the walls of my studio if they’d make some high-quality prints from the renders.
At times of change, the learners are the ones who will inherit the world, while the knowers will be beautifully prepared for a world which no longer exists.