Sinnae Choi

Facebook Made Me Stand in the Corner, Echoing Michael Druks’ Prophetic Artwork

Facebook’s strange punishment when I inadvertently published an “offensive” image on their platform mirrored the artwork Michael Druks made 45 years ago.

Hand as Note Pad, Art Material, Tool, “Thundering Channel”

The other day at Artists and Craftsman, we noticed the cashier’s ever-ready note pad —his hand — and were reminded of the many ways we’ve used our hands. We mentioned this to Sinnae Choi, Improvised Life’s brilliant aide-de-camp, and she wrote some seriously powerful words about just what hands can do, and be.

Rare Woods Salvaged from Shipping Pallets, Transformed

Artist, designer, craftsman, longtime friend Jamison Sellers solves a bit of the ethical wood-sourcing dilemma by delving into the world of shipping pallets. He explores these familiar, reclaimed objects on a much finer scale than most by collecting bits and pieces of coveted woods (and even again recycling his own shop scraps from past projects) to create ornamental patterning inspired…

Personal Celebration: Vivid Colors for Hair, Face, Body (DIY)

During dark winter, I recommend using hits of brilliant color across bare skin and hair to brighten things up a bit, especially for holiday parties. I suppose you could call these beauty tips, but they’re also all about breaking the rules and trying out the unexpected. Unlike what maddening women’s magazines might tell you, there is…

Common Compulsions Healed & Transformed

I am a big proponent of facing your past vices and wrongdoings, weaknesses and mental illnesses, and using them as propellants to move forward. Here are some embroidery threads that I spent months collecting, obsessing over, and re-arranging in boxes until I finally lost interest and stowed them away in storage for several years. They…

Art Retreats as Career-Shift Catalyst

“A vacation for my soul,” “summer camp for adults,” “paradise,” “the one time a year I get to make anything“—these are all common phrases heard at summer arts workshops around the country. For many without home studios or careers in the arts, these short-term art retreats (way up in the mountains or shrouded by woods and river) are…

Artful Pubic Wigs!

We check into Improvised Life part-time support staff and contributor Sinnae Choi’s website periodically to see what the multi-talented artist is up to. We were amazed at the LOL beauty of the human hair merkins she collaborated on… And learned that a merkin is by definition a pubic wig. Who knew? and… Why not?!! Writes Choi…

Tiny Pink Cupcake ATM is Brilliant Lateral Thinking

This little pink ATM in NYC is restocked with yummy cupcakes every night offering 24/7 access to cupcakes. We love the application of the essential idea of an “ATM” to something completely unexpected: cupcakes instead of cash. Why not?

Sculptural, Dimensional Textiles—for Couture or DIY

We love designer Zita Merényi’s Provo-CUT collection of seared-and-soldered neoprene garments. Forgoing traditional draping and stitching, these pieces are instead constructed panel-by-panel, pleated together, and heat-joined into dimensional, puffy, future-ish jackets and cloaks punctuated by thick, raw seams and unlikely openings. The gist: synthetic fabics melt, so heat, not thread can be used to join the seams.

Freeform Architecture LEGO Kit in Monochrome White (+ D-I-Y Alternative)

Having long been enamored of building blocks both miniature and life-sized for their cool modularity and open invitation to improvise, I find this jumbo building kit from LEGO is the perfect thing for adults to play/plan/build with. Whether to envision a real-life project in small scale or simply get out of your own head for a minute, these…

Designers’ Wish List Dreams Become Prototyped Reality

For many of us, there’s often a disconnect between our ideas and doodles and seeing a project through to its completion. While generating wish list items that exist only in our wildest dreams is a satisfying exercise on its own, a handful of artists and designers were lucky enough to bridge that gap and have…

“Do What You Love” Every Day in Small Doses…

Recently, Sally showed me Gordon Marino’s NY Times article, “A Life Beyond ‘Do What You Love”. The gist: the oft-repeated 21st century American mantra of following your true passions — instead of dull but reliable career paths — is misguided. There’s a hint of naïve entitlement to making “Do What You Love” the be-all-end-all answer to the workday blues, just…

Shin Yahiro’s Tsunami Images

Japanese-born photographer Shin Yahiro superimposes images of the 2011 tsunami disaster over photos of the subsequent recovery and rebuild in the Tōhoku region. The images have a curious effect in our view of disasters.