ideas from artists Archives

Improvising: on the Edge

In the 16th century, an Italian artist named Cesare Vecellio began to use the long “fourth” outside edge of books as a canvas on which to make small paintings… a reminder of possibilities hiding in plain sight…

Enzo Mari’s ‘Ecolo’ Transforms Plastic Bottles into Sculptural Vases

In the 1970s, legendary furniture designer Enzo Mari pioneered the idea of “autoprogettazione”, roughly translated, “self design”, projects that he hoped would empower people to create with their own hands. With “ecolo” he applied the idea to plastic bottles…

Essentials for Voters from Patti Smith, Jenny Holzer, Sojourner Truth…

We’ve been seeing a lot of very cool VOTE images from artists peppering the instagrams of arts galleries and museums. Here’s a trove along with essential resources for planning your vote.

Life Lessons from 100 Days of Seeing Color in the Garden (Lorene Edwards Forkner)

After a particularly rough period of her life, artist and gardener Lorene Edwards Forkner embarked on an unusual daily practice, that quietly taught her some very big lessons.

Kintsugi Repair as Metaphor

Artist ciriacaerre made a video of repairing a smashed vase using kintsugi, the Japanese art that celebrates the scars and breaks. She, and other artist, eloquently describe its greater meaning…

How Much Of Care is Patience? and Other Questions (Chloe Bass)

Compelling signs have appeared in St. Nicholas Park in Harlem, part of the exhibition “Wayfinding” by conceptual artist Chloe Bass. Each asks a powerful question to carry into the week…

Buckminster Fuller’s Question for Finding Your Life’s Mission

In the course of our random reading, we love coming upon surprising questions that we can mull during the week to see what answers, information or mindshifts emerge. Our current favorite is from a story about Buckminster Fuller…

Yoko Ono’s Instruction For Navigating Our Changed Lives

In advance of reopening after months of coronavirus lockdown, the Metropolitan Museum of Art posted words by Yoko Ono on its facade. She created them in response to Covid-19 as an essential instruction.

A Young Poet’s Fierce Wisdom on Navigating Darkness

Indigo Girls’ Amy Ray and Emily Saliers put their finger on what makes poet/rapper Kae Tempest so unique: “…their willingness to love humanity through the darkness makes me hopeful”. That comes through powerfully in these two spoken word pieces and this short powerful interview. Words to live by.

I had a flashback of something that never existed

Louise Bourgeois

Kaffe Fassett on the Healing Power of Color

Color artist Kaffe Fassett likens color to oxygen, “…like breathing”. In this short video, he describes how he relies on color for healing, something it seems, we can all do:

Giant Twisting Balloons Inspire Furniture and Your Own Big Ideas

Designer Seung Jin Yang’s whimsical furniture appears to be made of the kind of twistable balloons used to entertain kids. OMG, we thought, could we make furniture out of balloons?

Isamu Noguchi on Reality as a Sculptural Experience

At the Noguchi Museum’s instagram, we saw a quote from Isamu Noguchi that changed our view of sculpture AND reality. It accompanied photographs of blind art students who toured the Museum with the sculptor in 1987. Their transformative effect surprised us.

Phyllida Barlow’s Fearless Embrace of Chance

One of the best things to come out of the months of Covid-19 lockdown has been extraordinary films from art galleries and museums. One of the best of is about the English sculptor Phyllia Barlow. It provides an illuminating counterpoint to the many life questions that the virus has thrown into relief.