In the images from The Art of Collage and Assemblage on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, it was the ordinariness of many of the materials used that we found both moving and inspiring…
Read MoreStephen Nachmanovitch’s ‘The Art of IS’ Decodes Improvising As a Way of Life
YoYo Ma described The Art of IS as “a philosophical meditation on living, living fully, living in the present.” We find it full of surprising ideas that are also incredibly helpful.
Read MoreReading Poetry is Deeply Grounding Amidst the Crazy Shit that Life Brings
During the extended upheaval in my life recently, reading a poem each morning kept me grounded and refreshed by throwing whammies into my linear thinking about harsh realities..
Read MoreTiny Word Bombs That Take the Top of Your Head Off
We’ve collected some two-or-three-word clusters from our readings that “take the top of our head off”, Emily Dickinson’s definition of a good poem.
Read MoreIrving Penn’s Lesson in Setting Boundaries
When I worked with legendary photographer Irving Penn years ago, he gave me a tangible lesson in setting boundaries to maintain the flow of his work.
Read MorePat Steir’s Artful Collaboration with Chance and Gravity
This 2-minute film is a lovely entree into artist Pat Steir’s beautiful work and very unique process, which is all about giving up control.
Read MoreHow to Fight a Mall-Like Internet!
When long-time blogger Tina Bray described the looming probability of a mall-like internet, it hit home HARD. There’s a simple, inexpensive way to stem the tide….
Read MoreBreakfast with Merce Cunningham
I was delighted to discover that watching a Merce Cunningham dance first thing in the morning had a similar effect on my brain and mood as reading poetry, resonating throughout the day in unexpected ways.
Read MoreQuick, Fun, Minimalist Improvised Gift Wrap Solutions
How often have you found yourself late for a birthday party and casting around for a way to wrap your gift? We find ourselves in that position so often, we’ve begun to keep a photo archive of hasty, curiously chic gift wrapping solutions, sometimes made with only a few elements, like the startlingly-sensual beauty from artist David Carrino, below…
Read MoreHoliday Wrapping Paper: Found, Made, Bought
One of our favorite times in the holidays is wrapping gifts, usually done last-minute before flying out to a party, with whatever is on hand. We have some closet space dedicated to found papers, ribbons, fat hunks of rope and interesting colored twines, a vast variety of colored tapes, salvaged boxes as well as Dollar Store shopping…
Read Moreold suitcase transformations: settee, cabinet, storage, more
Our friend Fast Forward sent us an email recently alerting us to Homedit’s 40 Creative ways of re-using old suitcases. Wrote Fast: Unfortunately there are not ’40 ways’ but some of them are ‘nice’ We like the settee iteration, above, and the especially cool storage possibilities,
Read Morebruce mau’s incomplete manifesto for growth
Anne Johnson alerted us to the extraordinary ‘Incomplete Manifesto for Growth that legendary designer and visionary Bruce Mau wrote in 1998: 43 powerful principles and practices. We’ve bolded our favorites: Allow events to change you. You have to be willing to grow. Growth is different from something that happens to you. You produce it. You…
Read Morefast forward’s mind-shifting finds
We like to stop in at our friend Fast Forward‘s Facebook occasionally to see what the eagle-eyed avant-garde sound artist has found in his travels. We can always count on an expanding view of things…
Read MoreSister Corita Kent’s Enduring Rules for Making + Her Art
When we were first planning ‘the improvised life’, we were inspired by this now-famous set of rules by Sister Corita Kent, artist and renown educator. They speak directly to the process of creating…ANYTHING. Here are our favorite essential rules: Find a place you trust and then try trusting it for a while. Consider everything as…
Read More‘Solo, Piano — N.Y.C.’ a gem of improvised moments
(Video link here.) This tiny gem of a film comprised a curious and moving Op-Ed in a recent New York Times by filmmaker Anthony Sherin. The story of how Sherin came to make it, as well as the story documented in the film are pure improvisation: responding to the moment, not knowing what the endpoint would…
Read Morediy valentine card + life philosophy from fluxus
We’ve been admiring this Valentine for years. It’s by Fluxus, a collaborative whose philosophy resonates with our own: Erase the boundary between Art and Life… Fluxus is an attitude. It is not a movement or a style. Fluxus is intermedia. Fluxus creators like to see what happens when different media intersect. They use found and…
Read More‘there are still so many helpers’…(for newtown)
Charlotte, Daniel, Olivia, Josephine, Ana, Dylan, Madeline, Catherine, Chase, Jesse, James, Grace, Emilie, Jack, Noah, Caroline, Jessica, Benjamin, Avielle, Allison… When President Obama said those names aloud today during his moving speech at Newtown, our hearts broke, again. We found ourselves comforted by the words-gone-viral of kindly old Fred Rogers —Mr. Rogers — advocate and true friend of children for eons. It is our experience that there are…
Read Morecheck out: fast forward’s ‘not better just different’
The amazing avant-garde musician Fast Forward has joinged forces with his friend Elaine Sokolof to create a charming and illuminating Facebook page “Not Better Just Different”. (It’s public, so you don’t have to be a member of Facebook . Fast wrote us that they started the page just to “try something out and see what…
Read Moreimogen heap sings salt into cosmic design
(Video link here.) On the heels of Sally’s how-to-make-herb-salt-video on The Splendid Table this weekend, we thought this piece by British ‘ecclectic, eccentric and innovative musician’ Imogen Heap would make a nice combo-platter. Heap “sings” salt into a beautiful and very controlled, rather cosmic-looking pattern. Actually, singing might not be the right word – we actually…
Read Mored-i-y music: trees, almonds and other found instruments + ‘the beat goes on’
(Video link here.) Dig this video made by composer Diego Stocco in conjunction with Burt’s Bees. Stocco creates a great beat, simply by shaking tree branches, flicking orange peels, banging on coconuts, mashing his hands through cooked rice, and sifting his hands through almonds – all amplified. Even the buzz of bees make an appearance. Just…
Read More