What so you WANT to do today?
I’m asking this every morning, and it’s been life-enhancing.
I'm self-employed, so I have a lot of freedom.
I just don't use it.
I haven’t quite ditched my to-do list, but I look less often.
The surprise? I’m also getting more done.
Art has many rooms. Creativity many paths.
Like Sinead O'Connor, Emin is a creative who has no edit button, who shows it all and bares her soul.
It can be hard to look at sometimes. Too much.
But OMG at its best it's magnificent.
Looking forward to seeing Emin's show at Tate Modern tomorrow..
Short film: The Enshittificator
Feel like every service you pay for is getting worse? Four minutes of truth and joy from the Norwegian Consumer Council.
vimeo.com/1168468796
Director: Wes Anderson
Inspired by his archives at the Design Museum, we’re watching his films in order. We’re up to his 2012 film Moonrise Kingdom now, and already planning to home-screen Wim Wenders' entire output next.
Sunday celebration
Three things I’ve found interesting or inspiring this week:
Book: Art Work
Artist/photographer Sally Mann is perceptive, funny, and very, very wise. Packed with cringe-worthy anecdotes, letters, diary entries, images, her book is a great guidebook to the creative life.
We all do this sometimes. We’re human, after all. But if it’s becoming a chronic habit and stopping you doing the things you want to do, here are some books that helped me.
Don’t just read them. Act on them. Do the exercises. And find what works for you.
Composer Terry Riley has always been open to the possibilities that come with not knowing.
There's only one way to open the door to new ideas.
Make something, no matter how bad.
Begin, no matter what resistance and fear you're feeling.
Not knowing what you're doing is how the magic happens.
Comedy: Paul Foot
A 20-minute set as part of a mixed bill in an over-heated venue where no one knows how to use the PA system and the host leaves before the show ends. It wasn't promising, but Foot somehow turned it into comedy gold.
Film: Sirat
A father takes his young son to a rave in the Moroccan desert, searching for his older daughter. A crusty Heart Of Darkness, it's an extraordinary, visceral experience.See it in a cinema so you can fully appreciate the sound design.You might not enjoy it. But you’ll never forget it.
Sunday celebration
Three things I’ve found interesting or inspiring this week:
Documentary: Eno
Gary Hustwit’s generative film is different each time it is shown. And Brian Eno is interesting enough , his career wide enough, to sustain this. A fascinating insight into a creative, curious mind.
Every time I read To The Lighthouse, I identify with a different character. But none of them are remotely like me, or anyone I know.
I'm the same. I always thought it was because the books I read growing up were often about men, and rarely featured anyone working-class. But perhaps it's that books feel like trying on someone else for size, seeing the world through their eyes.
Do you dread a deadline? Do you leave it till the very last minute? Or do you rebel against it, your inner toddler shouting, “I don’t want to, you can’t make me!”
If so, I wrote this for you. (And for me..)
I've yet to read Guy Harrison's SF novels, but this quote from his Agents Of Change makes me want to.
Perfection is over-rated in humans. In creative work, perfectionism the biggest obstacle to making work that it real, beautiful, necessary – and putting it out there, for others to enjoy.
Film: Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die
Sometimes all you want from a cinema trip is to be entertained. On a wet Friday night, this did the job: a videogame of a film from Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski in which a motely crew have to save the world from an AI apocalypse.
Podcast: Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin
The prolific music producer has no need to prove he is clever. His short, simple interview questions instead lead these conversations into something quite profound. So far, I’ve enjoyed Ed Ruscha and Nick Cave, but there are many more I want to listen to.
Sunday celebration
Three things I’ve found interesting or inspiring this week:
Book: Eight Million Ways To HappinessMixing of memoir, travelogue and self-help manual, Hiroko Yoda explains Japan’s unique mix-and-match approach to spirituality in a way that is accessible, practical and interesting.
’ve been a self-employed writer and coach for more than 30 years. Here are 15 things I wish I’d known when I started.
I’ve made all of the mistakes – so that you don’t have to!
What brings you alive most?
And how could you do more of that, this week?
Art: Turner and Constable, Tate Britain
The show was so crowded on a wet Monday morning that it was hard to see the paintings. But worth a trip for Turner’s astonishing sketchbooks alone.
Novel: The Names
Trapped in an abusive marriage, Cora is about to register the birth of her second child. Three possible names, three different outcomes for her life, and that of her two children. We get to see all three unfold over the next 35 years. I read it in one sitting.
Sunday celebration
Three things I’ve found interesting or inspiring this week:
Exhibition: The Wes Anderson Archives
Currently at the Design Museum in London, this show includes sketches, costumes, puppets from the animated films, models and props. If you love his films, it’s magical.
"Could you also just...."
Every freelancer dreads this phrase, as it usually means a client who wants you to do more work, without being paid more.
How do you deal with this kind of scope creep? I have some ideas...
Clients keep telling me that they can't focus on their creative work with all that is happening in the world right now.
I always reply that the whole point of art is to respond to what is happening around us.
We need your art. Now, more than ever.
Creativity is itself an act of defiance.
Art: Crossing Into Darkness
Mixed show at the Carl Freedman gallery in Margate curated by Tracy Emin (below): Munch, Goya, Louise Bourgeois, Anselm Kiefer, and more. If you’re there today, also catch the excellent Lost Margate show at the Pie Factory.
Book: What It Is
Part memoir, part instruction manual, cartoonist Lynda Barry examines the mystery of creative process and offers some very effective exercises to start you writing, drawing and making.
Sunday celebration
Three things I’ve found interesting or inspiring this week:
Film: Paterson
This gentle, quiet but life-enhancing 2016 Jim Jarmusch film simply follows the daily life of a New Jersey poet (Adam Driver) who earns his living as a bus driver.
He was never scared of a fight. I reckon he'd be turning over tables, throwing chairs and storming the stage.
First snowdrops in the churchyard today.
Catkins already on the trees.
These grey, damp, dank days will end.
Spring is coming!
This is so beautiful. I can't think of a better example of the fact that art isn't a luxury. It's a human impulse and need, and always has been.
