■𝟷: Wrangle the muse, Kukerland, and This week's contradiction

“There is a muse, but he’s not going to come fluttering down into your writing room and scatter creative fairy-dust all over your typewriter or computer. He lives in the ground. He’s a basement kind of guy.”

— Stephen King

Games to wrangle the muse

First day of photography class, the teacher asked us to group up. “Write twenty uses for a broom,” he said. “You have two minutes.”

My group struggled, to be honest. Clean a chimney, fan yourself, row a boat… Twenty is hard. I think we just about managed fifteen when he called time.

Then the teacher said “Curl up the paper and throw it away.” Okay? What was the point then? “Round two. Twenty new ones. Go.”

We scrambled for a bit, but you know what? Round two was better. Ideas came more easily. They were also more fun. Stilts, minute dial on the Big Ben, witch Uber, low-tech TV-remote. And we passed twenty with time to spare.

I never forgot that lesson. (Thanks, Ken.)

Creativity starts slow. To get to the good ideas, you have to persist through the bad ones. I have a few games that I use to get there, and I’d like to share them with you.

1. Unusual uses

   Pick an object. Set a timer for two minutes and write down as many uses for it as you can. Look over the list, set a new timer, and do it again. Some suggestions: A sock, a mouse trap, a shopping cart.

2. Impossibilities

   Write down as many impossibilities as you can in two minutes. Throw away the list and redo. Anything will do. To reel in a whale on a homemade rod, to hug a mountain (like properly), for you not to read this.

3. Consequences

   Based on one of the impossibilities from the previous game, write a chain of consequences that stem from it. It is impossible to hug a mountain (like properly,) so mountains feel lonely, so they become shy, so they stay put and don’t take care of themselves, so forests grow on them…

4. Easy, but

   In two minutes, write a list of easy tasks. Then do a second pass where you modify them to become hard.

   Cutting an onion with slippery hands.

   Saying “I love you” to Hitler.

   Making a smoothie in space.

5. Solutions

   Continue the previous game, and find solutions.

   Cutting an onion with slippery hands wearing gloves.

   Saying “I love you” to Hitler in a sketch comedy show.

   Making a smoothie in space, going through a black hole. Everything will be smoothified.

Inspiration

This wonderful photo series titled Kukerland. It documents a costume tradition in Bulgaria.

Pro tutorial

This is the most under-subscribed Blender channel I know.

Christopher has the most solid knowledge of Blender’s inner workings among everyone I know. I particularly like his modeling videos, but he does a lot about rendering too.

This week’s contradiction

Lots of advice in art is very black-and-white. This way is THE WAY. And I kind of want to fight that. Here’s an interesting dichotomy:

Be understated and bold.

It’s not a contradiction.

It’s the clever idea that doesn’t have to be explained because it speaks for itself.

It’s the artwork that rewards you if you look closely and see the details.

It has a strong perspective, but it’s nuanced.

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P.S. Did the title show up correctly in your email? I wrote ■𝟷, feeling clever, but it’s not very clever if you can’t see it. I’d love a few emails or comments to tell me it works.