Art

I've mentioned Craig Mod and his books and walking before and over the last couple days have been enjoying his two lengthy conversations with Tim Ferris. Craig is an American who’s been living in Japan for ages, writing and publishing — creating his own books to his own high standards, and living a life dedicated to his art.

When he goes on his lengthy walks (1000s of kilometres so far), he walks for 8 hours a day, stopping to talk to locals, have lunch, take photos, and understand where he is and where he’s going, and then he writes 4 hours per day. He’ll do this every day for his weeks- / month-long journeys. He does this by paring down his device use with Freedom and understanding Sister Corita’s 7th rule: The only rule is work. (I’m putting words in his mouth here.)

You can find the podcast in the usual places by searching for the Tim Ferris Show and then looking for Craig Mod, or you can stream them via YouTube:

Part One

Part Two

We all know the game of telephone where a message is whispered from one person to another until it comes out changed at the other end.

TELEPHONE is the same, but done with art, each artist's work inspiring the next. Sculpture to photograph to poem to music...

This particular game has been played twice before and a new one is starting right now. Check the TELEPHONE site for instructions and sign up to participate.

Aishy, a creative director and photographer, wanders the Tokyo streets at night looking for perfect shots.

More on Aishy's site.

Terrific 20 min Artbound documentary on Sister Corita Kent, The Pop Art Nun, who came up with the above rules and created the poster they're displayed on:

A few more examples of Sister Corita's work can be found at the Casual Optimist, which is where I found the video.

From the article at MIT Press Reader:

Emily Dickinson used envelopes and seals to turn letters into poetry, layering hidden messages and playful forms.

Among the extraordinary literary output of Emily Dickinson are her “envelope poems,” short bursts of verse recorded on fragments of envelopes much like the ones we still use today. 

I've just watched this 4-part Netflix series, Adolescence, and it is extraordinary in every way. Writing and acting, yes, but technically, it's a marvel: each episode is a real-time hour shot in a single-take. For those who've seen it and wondered how it was possible, this making-of should shed some light:

I highly recommend the show. It does remarkable job of handling complex topical subjects and is among the best television I've ever seen.

Steve Messam is a British environmental artist renowned for his large-scale, site-specific installations that transform and reimagine everyday environments.

More on Steve's website.

50 Watts is still going strong after almost 20 years. It describes itself accurately as "a growing archive of weird and wonderful visual ephemera from around the world."

I was once somewhat obsessed with Orange Grove Tool Sheds and Utility Boxes of Oliva, Spain. I photographed thousands over the course of just a few months.

Joe Eszterhas, the screenwriter of Basic Instinct, Flashdance, Betrayed, Music Box, and many others, once said that all his screenplays discuss the same thing. If you've seen these films, you'll know that they're quite different from one another, so it's a rather curious comment. Then he said, and I'm paraphrasing, "But I wasn't aware of it. It was someone else who pointed it out to me, the theme that I return to over and over again: Can you really know the one you love?" Indeed, that is what all those films are about.

I once heard author and Nobel Prize winner Patrick Modiano say that he writes the same book over and over again and that he likes to think of himself as a photographer with one subject. Before exploring them again, he just moves the camera to see them from another angle.

I like when artists do this. When they repeat themselves without being repetitive. It seems to me that this is what Seth Armstrong is doing with his urban landscapes:

Wonderful stuff. More on Armstrong's site.