thinking /making brain storm

Slow and Me

When I work in my studio or at my desk at home I am constantly worried about not doing enough.  What is enough?  Yet, when I am away from my working stations I cannot stop thinking about my work, and frequently when I am at my desk I find myself in the same position.  I will be working on one thing but quite possibly thinking about another.  Where does this lead?  It means I have a small panic every time I don't have my notebook and pen to hand, it also means I often question my focus.  However it also means I process my thoughts, often repeatedly over much time and during different occasions/experiences.  This in itself is interesting as I wonder what effect the different surroundings I find myself in have on the repetitive thought processes I go through.

Am I rubbing my belly while patting my head?
The question remains - what is enough?

 

In terms of how I understand Slow and in how it affects me  and my practice I find that without this constant thought and regurgitation/rethinking of ideas I stumble.  If I don't think through something enough I don't find it easy to do/make - and I don't necessary mean physically, I need some kind of spiritual comprehension of what I want from my making/doing to be able to produce anything of any merit (be that merit as felt by me or others).

Letter Writing

Personal letter writing is a somewhat nostalgic activity.  Does this matter?

Is it wasteful or experiential, or both?

Paper waste energy and transport waste vs the experience and anticipation of receiving a letter from a loved one - which one matters more?

Is receiving a handwritten letter a Slow experience?

Can an email have the same impact?  Better or worse?

Do emails have less choices? (paper type, pen/pencil, envelopes etc vs font style, size etc)

Thought flux

Thinking about how thoughts ebb and flow, how other peoples words and ideas can trigger ones own (or not!).

Re-visiting thoughts and conversations can help clarify and  give direction to ones work and thought patterns.

Thinking as more than valid, thinking as vital to continuing developing practise.

Collaborative Consumption

As consumers we are encouraged to think singularly, selfishly.  Consumption is designed to be all about the 'me', and only about the 'us' in comparative terms - who has the latest thing, what is everyone wearing compared to me etc.  It has a sense of community  - we are all 'on trend' together - but also inspires a drive to be ahead - more up to date than the next person.

 

Collaborative consumption has a different take on all this; systems like bike hires, car pooling.

This has some very interesting ideas and a good video on it   http://www.adaptivepath.com/blog/2010/06/29/designing-to-encourage-collaborative-consumption/

Helen Carnac; maker and curator; Time, Lines and Processes

Helen Carnac spoke at the Chelsea lecture theatre last week.  She posed a series of questions and statements that, in her thinking about Slow and craft, had occurred to her.  She stressed that she didn't necessarily have answers to them but riffed somewhat on what they meant to her.  These are the notions that I took from it:
-End products as resting points in process or ideas process
                (This particularly appeals to me as part of my Slow thinking)

- Importance of generating ideas through collaboration and conversation
- Objects: why do we have them, collect them?  Who has them now, who had them before?
- [In her own practice] Mark-making and drawing, scratching away surfaces to find what is below
- Using walking as a form of interaction to create conversation in order to find a common ground or language between makers
- [For her] Slow means looking at one, all or some of the following:  Quality, provenance, lasting value, valuing craft skills
- Possible key words, possible sequence:  Reveal, reflect, engage, participate, evolve.
- Using these words and ideas to interrogate oneself, asking what you are doing and why
- Tempo as an important consideration for oneself and ones work
- Networks and webs.  What do we think of unlikely connections in craft, Slow and thinking?


Then her 'questions'


- "We cannot afford cheap things" - What is cheap?  What if we cannot afford expensive things?
- How do we encounter things locally and globally?  Why do we go elsewhere to do it when everything can be perceived as so accessible online now.
- What is authentic?
- Is there really a sustainable luxury?
- Can we understand what it was to live in another time?  How do we understand it today?  False nostalgia? Fake memories? Imitation communities?

Slow

Slow means many things. The context that I mainly use it in is as a philosophy which allows one the time, particularly as a designer, to think thoroughly about ones work, about choices that we make regarding materials and processes, and the end results that we aim for. Slow sits on the same philosophical shelf of thought as many other sustainable design theories.

Slow is not necessarily slow in a time sense (items or processes do not need to be long-winded or time consuming) but is more about allowing oneself time, or simply not rushing.

Museum Of Childhood, Bethnal Green

Picture of a picture from the Museum of Childhood, love the necklace/shawl.

Ballet Russes

Yesterday I went for a brief trip round the Russian ballet at the V&A, very inspiring.  So many beautiful colours and patterns.