Arty Hat

10/03/2024

For a very long while, I had been feeling deeply demotivated creatively. It was a heavy underlying question along the lines of "What's it all for?" What is the honest offering of art?

I read this poem today, which talked about entering and exiting History. It stirred something in me. The phenomenological idea of 'epoche' (which I had many a scrape and squabble with as an anxious Postgrad) came back from the depths of memory to haunt me.
Something about being able to remove yourself from cemented readings of things. Methods of re-examination.

Some distilled version I'm fidgeting with now says something along the lines of: make space for a makeshift playground amidst the turmoil. Don't play to escape. Play to process, to dissect, to reflect, to refute, and reimagine. If possible, situate your playground where the pain lives. And leave the gate open. Keep that space far from precious. Make your plays far from momentous.

Just make sure to refuse the idea that it's all been said and done and spoken for.

03/06/2023

29/05/2023

X marks the spot. But what does the spot mark? It could range from 0 to *. Go for a wander and find out! 🐈‍⬛

18/05/2023

Insert “the superorganism known as” before any city’s name and let the thought sink in. You are in the belly of a very strange whale. How long have you been here and how did you come in? Did you even get to be properly introduced? Where’s the city’s hand to shake? Any game of anatomy might be surprising here: an ever-expanding number of hearts, vestigial limbs, unequally distributed lungs. Whatever they may be, ours will be small gestures on a very large scale. Metaphors have agency. The city always escapes city planning, an organism in its own right.

Ask: At how many scales does the city operate? And how many sexes? How many tongues does it speak? See: Is the city a dragon? Some fabulous beast?

(Noam Assayag, Activating Cities)

Image

09/12/2020

Life can be complicated so Arty Hat has been hibernating for a while, but new and exciting things are coming up in the next while!! Stay tuned to find out!! 🪂

12/11/2020

Έβρισκα πάντα πολύ ενδιαφέρον το γεγονός ότι ο Σουρεαλισμός αναδύθηκε μέσα σε εξαιρετικά ταραγμένες συνθήκες. Δεν ήταν παιδί μιας ήσυχης εποχής, δεν προέκυψε στα πλαίσια της ευημερίας και της σιγουριάς αλλά της αποσταθεροποίησης και του φόβου.

Δεν αποτελούσε ωστόσο μια κίνηση διαφυγής η υπαναχώρησης σε ότι αφορά την πραγματικοτητα. Αντίθετα η λέξη Σουρεαλισμός δηλώνει την υπέρβαση, το να επιδιώξεις να προεκτείνεις και να 'ψηλώσεις' την πραγματικότητα και το πραγματικό, που το περιεχόμενο και το βίωμα του αν το αφήσεις απείραχτο η αν το ενστερνιστείς απόλυτα και νομοτελειακά μετατρέπεται σε όχληση και έρημο.

Θυμάμαι παράλληλα και τη λέξη querencia που σημαίνει "τον φανταστικό η πραγματικο τόπο από τον οποίο αντλείς δύναμη, και οπου μπορείς να είσαι με ασφάλεια και ειλικρίνεια ο εαυτός σου". Αυτός ο τόπος είναι το έδαφος που μοιραζόμαστε με τους άλλους. Οι διάλογοι που ανοίγουμε όταν δημιουργούμε, μοιραζόμαστε ιστορίες και παίζουμε με τους άλλους σε ένα πλαίσιο που αφήνει χώρο στην περιέργεια και το παράξενο.

Αυτές τις μέρες που επικρατεί το στένεμα και ο φοβος, η πραγματική απειλή και η ακόμη πιο τρομερή σκιά της, μπορούμε να προσπαθήσουμε να μετατρέπουμε την α-πορια σε περιέργεια. Δε θα μας λύσει όλα τα προβλήματα. Αλλά θα μας βοηθήσει να πορευτούμε προς τις λύσεις με περισσότερο θάρρος και περισσότερη ζωντάνια.

02/10/2020

I only found out recently that Quino not only thought but lived outside the box, abandoning school at 16 in order to pursue his career as a cartoonist. It's always striking and really heartwarming and encouraging when you come across that rare case of pure genius. Not because of their skill or their drive but because of the fact that what they have to offer goes beyond what is formal and known, it suggests ease, joy and honesty. You could call it freedom, even if it comes with consequences.

19/09/2020

A lovely and very accessible talk by a highly accomplished actor that touches on some really important topics regarding creativity and attention (both giving and seeking it).

Attention in the digital age is a very conflicted subject and often a skill and ability that we need to try harder to cultivate and defend. Especially in creative pursuits attention of both variants can be complex to sustain and navigate.

Attention makes the world glow brighter.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt has gotten more than his fair share of attention from his acting career. But as social media exploded over the past decade, he got addic...