Designers offer potential then make decisions.

Design is a process of decision making.  Putting yourself in a position to make informed decisions is the designers skill. We do this by making offers that hold potential rather than resolution.  A design concept is not ready to share because it looks good it is ready because it holds the potential you seek.  Once the potential is made clear the decision making is direct. A decision is always measured against the best way to achieve that potential. The result is that the aesthetic or function shifts but the potential we seek does not. The intention remains the same.

Design, like most things, is alive and uncertain. The thing we want to achieve through design on the contrary can be very specific.

Ready...fire!...aim

Design works like this.  Ready...fire...aim.  It is not until we put work on the floor that a director can respond to a design. Firing on the day of shoot or on the deadline is too late. Great work requires rigorous critique before the designer can take aim. We need to take the shot early often before being given clear direction. Drawings, models are all tools to this end. The ideal is to stage the action in a real space and see how it plays.

Get Help

I have been thinking on the nature of help. Probably because I need help to make the work I want to make. When designing or making a film it takes a great deal of energy and enthusiasm from a number of people.  Putting together an exhibition of work takes a great deal of people. Art takes resource and that resource is people.

'Why we help?' is important to ask but often impossible to lock down. Sometimes we help for money, experience or exposure. Often we help because we can...more often though those who help make sacrifice to do so. Why so generous? what is the motivation?

This leads to a truth I have taken from working with wonderful people. Being professional is the by-product of their work it is not the work itself.  Their work is to be artists, good, generous creative artists. This means making work for the sake of the work without buying in to potential benefits that may not manifest. Being professional and fulfilling the needs of others is a result of this culture not the prerequisite. Fortunately another by-product is the work can lead to more and greater reward for all.

Last night Ben Affleck thanked those who helped him when, at the time, he couldn't repay them in any way. It is obvious he has connected with the generosity of others. It must have taken great courage to accept that help. He received it with humility and now all can celebrate in his success. It is great to see art growing this way.

So help more and receive help well whether it can be given or not. Ask for help and most importantly develop art that warrants the generosity.

Space for something else - A Learning Innovation

Toi Whakaari began with students back this week. A piece of work developed throughout last year was introduced by the staff. The staff had devised a day with no scheduled classes across every discipline. Open time and space. Room for independent practice. Space for something else. 

I think this is a wonderful innovation. As a result we will see staff and students bring more of their unique self to the work. Framing this space is the hard and generous work of the staff at Toi whakaari. The framework supports the student and teacher new to this type of learning. The aim is that the individual will generate purpose and as a result better work.

A list of principles for this day  was recorded by the staff in their last meeting together. I have published it here below.

I contributed the drawing... For me this action modelled some of these principles.

Build through difference

I haven't been blogging as frequently. I have been busy creating work with and for other artists. This leads me to an important question. Do I still have a voice when being lead by another? Do I retain my voice when I am the follower?

First it is important to identify that I value 'following' greatly. The person who leads shouldn't always be the strongest, fastest or best but rather the most appropriate to context.  By this I mean to say the leader should be the voice of greatest impact. Let me give an example. When arguing the need for better care for impoverished children in NZ would the message be better held by a politician or by a child?  The child of course would create the strongest impact. Context is everything when deciding who must lead.

In the context of my present work I am a follower. My task is to know what I hold as a follower in relation to the leader. When I meet with my director through a piece of work I am held to a vision. I achieve that vision but I also hold difference.  If I were to deliver only what was asked everyone would be happy. Great work though should make us more than happy. I also deliver what I want.  The director then gains choice, diversity, the unexpected, new ideas, inspiration, potential. He gets great work.

The leader has vision and lays down the challenge. The follower responds and builds off the leaders challenge. Together they build through difference. Either way each voice is important and needs to be heard.

Stop Competing

Being the best at what everyone else does is wonderful but it can only last so long. You can only commit the hours, the intensity, your body and mind for so long before someone can put in more. Basically you cannot remain the worlds fastest man forever. Eventually you get slow and someone else in the right place and time is faster.

Being the best at what 'you do' is different. When your work is unique, particular to you, it is no longer a matter of commitment of energy. Instead it is a commitment of self which is very different. Commitment of self is being self aware and acting on that awareness. Knowing your talents, your passion, your instincts and approach is key to bringing your uniqueness to work.

When this awareness of self is brought forward in relation to the needs of others then what you have is a unique product that cannot be surpassed by a competitor who exerts more energy. So stop Competing. By stepping aside from the wasteful energy consumption that competition brings you can focus on making your  work better and more focused on the clients that want it.

Meeting through the Work

I have started another collaboration. This with NZ director Toa Fraser. Toa is Director of Dean Spanley, No.2 and currently in post production on Gisele, a film of the NZ National Ballet production.

It is wonderful to meet such a talented artist through a piece of work, through ideas, concepts, imagery and a common passion for cinema.  Check out Toa's process and work on his site.

http://toafraser.com/

You Can't Please Everyone

With a huge amount of practise and skill a designer is able to create a client or directors vision.  Reaching this skill level though is only the beginning. The next step is to learn 'you can't please everyone'. Only then can you follow your instincts and create art and design that inspires.

Pleasing everyone has the opposite of the desired effect.  Being acceptable and meeting expectation results in work that is watered down and uninspiring.  The best approach is to exceed expectations, create great work!

This of course leaves room for someone to dislike your art. Some will interpret it as wrong. Designers and artist know there is always a small audience who will make no connection. What keeps us creating is to remember the work is not for them. The work is for the people it does connect with.

An Artist Works With The Clay They Have

This statement holds true for all art. Use what you have. If only pencil and paper, create. Paint, wood, stone,computer, performer, your own body...an artist uses what he/she has. The limitation or opportunity of what is available is the framework for creativity.

This practice does not end with the individual artist.  We are all creative and all artists.  If we consider  other artists working with 'the clay they have' we can see how our generosity is vital to their creation. When creating work consider what other artists need to continue the creativity from where you leave it. The question we can evaluate this work by... 'is my art giving others more or less clay to work with?'

An extract from 'Moon Story'

We watched the wind dislodge the top layers of paper from the precarious temporary sculpture of cans, newsprint, food wrappers and wastes piled to over flow on the rubbish bin right next to the closed-up Kebab Burger Soft Drink & Fries Van…

What will happen? I said.

We watched the papers skid and slide intermittently on the paving slabs, uncertain of their newfound freedom in space.

Not-Ahmed said; Art is a place that speaks vividly, that speaks language back to life, that re-animates ideas, turns them round, turns them over. Art is a place that breaks an old idea, breaks it open, makes a new one in it. Art is a tool for navigation, better than GPS. It’s a weapon also better than a petrol bomb.

Performance? I said.

I believe in that, he said. Performance creates a space in which different kinds of contact are possible, different kinds of conversations. It is a place to step out of, side step from the general tendency to commodified lust wrapped, crushed and hidden in panic and terror.

We sat a while longer.

Then Not-Ahmed made to go.

The moon was full. You could see and hear everything. The city lights, the distant traffic, the litter skidding and the moon on the water.^*

* An extract from Moon Story,

Tim Etchells, Sheffield, 2012

Etchell’s interdisciplinary practice shifts between performance, visual art and fiction. He has worked in a wide variety of contexts, notably as the leader of the world-renowned performance group Forced Entertainment.

                 http://www.arnolfini.org.uk/blog/2012/12/14/a-new-piece-of-critical-writing-from-tim-etchells/

New Work

2013 is bringing with it a whole load of new work. I am excited to be in the early stages of a concept design for Finnish Director Antti Jussi Annila. His films, Jade Warrior and Sauna, are visual feasts so it's a real joy to be involved.

I cannot share this art publicly. I'm sure though with this work feeding my creativity my use of this blog will shift as well. I wonder what work is to come...

Check out AJ Anilla's work here and find a copy of his last film Sauna at Aro Video. very cool stuff.
IMDB AJ Annila

The Art of Slow Information

The information age allows access to all information, all the time. Media is accessible everywhere, anytime. The media we absorb, mostly, is our choice.  Through these images we create an understanding of our world.

We are wonderfully able to absorb information quickly that now more than ever the art and design of the image is of vital significance. In the past the designed image, be it painting or film, carried meaning, metaphor and as I have discussed before held a place for imagination. Look for example at early German expressionist films such as 'The Cabinet of Dr Caligari' or the films celebrated in Scorsese's recent homage to this era 'Hugo'.  These images were immediately stunning and entertaining but the absorption of the ideas and meaning behind them were slow.  It might take someone days, weeks even years to comprehend their significance and depth.  The images created by our most revered painters have been celebrated for centuries. Celebrated not because the tell us something clearly. On the contrary these images guide us to form understanding and comprehension of our own.

Today our media is literal, factual or information in the form of symbol. This information is easy to digest and understand quickly.  It is necessary to communicate this way to access the technology that has become integral to our society. This form of design is the realm of the communicator not the artist. The role of the artist is to work in 'the art of slow information'. Slow information comes in the form of metaphor and poetry. This form of art is less prevalent in our film and media today and it shouldn't be. Audiences are hungry for films that we return to time after time in our imaginations rather than forget as soon as we leave the multiplex.  

The Gift

Art is not an Argument. Art is a Conversation

The 20th century was one of movements. Impressionism, cubism, dadaist to surrealist, abstraction through to modernism and post modernism.  In our modern context it is far too easy to see these movements as arguments.  Each movement trying to top the other, to win the argument, to be superior. It might appear that each movement aimed to see the world in the 'truest' way.  The concept that art is an argument is a misconception that is totally unsustainable and counter productive to making work.

Art is not an argument. Art is a conversation.  To produce more of the art we need artists must build a better relationship toward 'conversation'.

Conversation means building a discussion without knowing where it might lead. In a conversation one contributes only what is necessary to generate the next response. This is how art works. What we produce is in reference to what has come before and it is expressed to allow what might come next. This approach allows for complexity to grow far beyond the ability of the individual. These great movements were the result of great conversation.

In an argument each person knows exactly where they want it to lead - with them being right. This approach results in artists who are closed, defensive and ultimately creating work which lacks depth and soul.

The irony of the conversation is that by removing the pressure to be right it creates the freedom of expression necessary for great work.

Summer Sketchbook P.4

The Woods.

'Earthquakes' - Costume sketches 2.

Film Industry and Education alignment p.2

There are a large number of film schools in NZ. Their focus is on short intensive ‘real life’ skills working alongside part time tutors who are active film practitioners.  This model allows for wonderful practical experience. There is no better way to learn than alongside artists in their work.

The issue though is the large number of graduates seeking work are finding extremely high competition for very few roles in NZ. The student is trained for existing industry positions. Once ever position is filled what is left for the other graduates? Nothing? Nothing except the opportunity to create new work and new industry.

Greater attention then can be directed to giving students the skills to create the positions that don’t exist. The ability to create work, to create industry is a far more vital skill than being able to work within the existing one.

It might be easy enough to guide students in this direction but to give greatest value the students should model off practitioners. Currently they model of artists who make for an industry. Who is there to model off on how to create industry yet to exist?

This a territory that can be best filled by full time academic staff. Research by academic staff should give focus toward new ways of working. Exploring new territory, which is not dominated already by existing industry. The students do not need to be part of creating this work but rather be exposed to the staff member’s practice of it. It is the practice of exploration that is of value here not just the findings of the research.

Potential areas of research are numerous. Narrative and storytelling models based upon NZ Maori oral history could offer a wealth of innovations for NZ film practice. Exploration of how to devise for film is much safer within an academic institution.  Studios use viral campaigning heavily but very little information exists on effective ways to distribute and market films in the digital market place outside of existing distributors. Where is film knowledge not being applied that it could offer greater benefit? The filmed live performance of the Met Opera is a hugely successful exercise in taking film into once forbidden territory. What live performance in NZ could be better utilized through film?

The wealth and depth of talent in the film industry is driving the technology of storytelling. Who though is driving how we will tell stories in the future? Across what formats? What stories will be relevant to us? This high-risk exploration of film is best undertaken in the safety of an institution. The hope of course is that this work becomes of greater value and can lead to new financial markets.  In any case there is huge benefit to the student working alongside such exploration in that they might themselves make the breakthrough necessary to create new work in NZ. 

Film Industry and Education alignment p.1

Is the NZ film industry, NZ film education and research aligned to create the best work possible? To discuss this I will identify the film and TV landscape in NZ, the education landscape as well as the areas of research and innovation across both.  There will be a bit to write so I will split my thoughts over the next few days. I begin with the Film landscape before moving on to Education, Research and opportunities of future work and innovation.

THE NZ FILM AND TELEVISION LANDSCAPE

The industry is currently strong in a number of areas and of course weak in others. Weekly low budget television drama which run for 5 plus seasons are strong. Think Go Girls, Nothing Trivial or Outrageous Fortune as examples. Any series running for less than 5 seasons in NZ is unlikely to return a profit. The result being little room for NZ made high concept television. High concepts are costly and high risk for audience attention. If they fail to be picked up beyond a second or third season they cannot recoup their costs.   Our market isn't big enough to risk making HBO quality TV. High concept TV does exist though from American producers for the American cable networks in the form of 'Spartacus' or the likes of 'Legends of the Seeker'. A series called 'Noir' looked to be produced here last year.

We continue to generate low budget films through the NZ Film Commission rarely exceeding 10million in budget.  Louis Sutherland and Mark Albiston's film 'Shopping' is a recent successful example and has been invited to screen at Sundance in 2013. There has been a noticeable trend in the low budget territory since 'Whale Rider' to make coming of age stories.  It should be noted that NZ's first international successful film, Vincent Ward's 'Vigil', has placed the coming of age story as central to NZ's film making identity. This genre should be continually revisited as a way of national self reflection not though at the expense of all other forms of film.

Medium budget films above 10 million are likely to be American produced, American stories filmed in and around Auckland.

Large Budget films are strong out of Wellington with the likes of Peter Jackson and James Cameron leading the way. The recent films from these two men and those planned in the future follow a growing trend of large budget Hollywood films that follow a Myth, or Hero journey narrative. This form of narrative has a proven success that gives a level of security to the large investment these men and their films attract.  It is in this territory of large budget filmmaking that the greatest contribution to innovation of film technology is happening. Digital film, 3D, digital effects, surround sound and higher frame rates are all being pushed into new territory by Jackson and Cameron to the benefit of filmmakers globally.

Where we in NZ are currently weak is character driven drama and genre films.  A member of the Film Commission recently termed this territory 'Heightened Genre'. This term aims to describe genre films of art house quality.  It is a territory that in the past we have been strong at but in recent times less film makers have been venturing.

In the past we have had success with Sci fi - Vincent Wards 'The Navigator - A Medieval Odyssey', Geoff Murphy's 'A quiet Earth' and Roger Donaldson's 'Seeping Dogs'. Horror was represented with Peter Jackson's 'Braindead'  & 'Frighteners' and Gaylene Preston's 'Mr Wrong'. Character Drama's such as Lee Tamahori's 'Once were Warrior's' or Roger Donaldson's 'Smash Palace' or Jane Campion's Period Dramas 'An Angel at my Table' or 'The Piano'. Suspense Drama such as Peter Jackson's 'Heavenly Creatures' was a pinnacle of NZ film Making.

In the past 10 years though there has been a noticeable absence of films like these. A recent film of note to buck that trend and tackle this wide open territory is Mike Wallis' 'Good For Nothing'. Worth mention is also Toa Fraser's 'Dean Spanley' which stepped outside the norm to bring together wonderful character studies in the exploration of the nature of the soul in Edwardian England. I suspect we will see a bold return to this territory from NZ film makers very soon.

In a following blog I will discuss the film education landscape also. I hope that by discussing industry, education and research of film in relation to each other we can identify how each can better align itself to the other.   Where one territory in this Field of work is lacking potentially the other can strengthen. The hope is greater work across the board.

Happy Holidays

This is my last blog for December. From tomorrow I'm taking a month off with the family.  Thanks to everyone who has been following my musings and work. I really appreciate your time, the feedback and the work that has grown from it.  I'm looking forward to sharing more next year. Hope you all have a great Christmas. Lots of love.

Brendan

Balance vs Harmony

Mind and Flow are integral to creativity.  There is a time for thinking through the idea - conceptualising and planning. Then there is time for doing the idea - being in the flow of the work.

Take my costume sketches of the past two days as example. I begin by reading the play. Then the mind works hard and fast visualising ideas. I draw quickly. Loosely I capture those ideas as best I can. The mind exhausts quickly. It's not particularly sustainable for long periods of time.  I give it 20min to an hour then I'm done.  For the next few hours I rest the mind and get into flow. For 5 hours I work on those rough doodles. I don't tire. I focus on details, line quality, texture, shade.  Of course I'm making decisions constantly but these are unconscious rather than conscious. Less mind more doing.

The process cycles continually through my practise, weekly daily and down to the moment.

I have often heard artists suggest the importance of balance.  Balance isn't quite the right word here. Balance suggests an equality of proportion.  Equal proportion of mind and work can not be balanced. They're not meant to be.  I prefer to use the word 'Harmony' rather than balance.  It is important for an artist to have a harmony within their practise. Not a balance. Harmony means giving things their appropriate space within the composition of the whole.

This extends to all our work and lifestyle.  By always trying to achieve work/life balance we are actually fighting ourselves. We are creating unnecessary resistance. It is far better to pursue a work/life 'harmony'.

Ambition

Ambition and ego are almost inseparable from youth. With time we grow beyond a 'me' focus, become empathetic to others and put self second. As ego fades what becomes the place of ambition?

Ambition for an artist is often a distraction. Artists work best when they are in the 'flow'. Flow is when the 'act of the task' offers all the fulfilment the artist needs. Fulfilment doesn't exist in achievement or recognition later down the track. Flow is where artists make the richest creations.

What of ambition then? What is its place? Ambition is not connected to the work of the moment. It is connected to the future. It is connected to foreseeing where work will lead. For this reason ambition is important to identify and use wisely. It is naive to discard it simply as ego and render it useless.

I recently heard of 'Tohunga' or 'master practitioner' described as someone who recognises signs and events to track what future outcome lays ahead. This person is skilled in leading others along this path without explicitly giving away the path. Giving away the path would of course render the journey pointless for the student.

Connecting dots toward a future uses all the same skills we learn from youthful 'ambition'.  It is certainly a skill we have come to expect of the ambitious stock trader or entrepreneur. A master artist then is not one who is without ambition. Quite the contrary. The master artist is one who has conquered ambition.  A master artist can work in the moment, be in the flow, without distraction of the future.  In conjunction with this the master can use ambition as his tool.  This tool allows the master to see where things will lead. This tool will also lead others in their journey toward becoming a master themselves.

Recognise ambition for its worth.

'Earthquakes in London'

Toi Whakaari is producing 'Earthquakes in London' in 2013.   Oliver Morse will lead the production design and I will work alongside designing costumes.  Kaarin Macaulay will head costume construction. Jonathan Hendry will direct and lead this great team.

I had a first read of the play today.  It's a great play! Relevant and ambitious.

My background though is in spacial design. Costume is something new.  What am I doing leading a costume department?

The relation of costume to performer, set and story is new territory.  Exploring form, character, movement, colour, textiles and texture as a way in to story is not. I have drawn on these tools many times before. There's no better way to enhance the depth of my knowledge than to try these same tools in an unfamiliar field.

I have not changed, what I bring does not change but the task I bring myself to has. This shift of skill to foreign role is a great way to innovate.

Artists often specialise. Specialising is dangerous. Artists need to be feed by information but also by problems. The more diverse the problem the better for innovation.  By being open to learning and shifting our skills into new areas we can come at problems in ways others might not. What better way for everyone to learn? What better way to create exciting, innovative work that audiences haven't seen before?

Response is creation, not judgement.

Response is creation not judgement. Or at least it should be.

The strongest response we gift as artists is to create something. A recent example. When I shared a piece of work with another artist they didn't respond with, 'I like it' or 'I don't like'. Their response wasn't one of judgement. They responded by describing a world they imagined. It was neither criticism or praise. Their response was to create. What followed in me was a wonderful burst of ideas. Because of their gift I immediately moved into making more work.  Would I have had the same reaction had they said, 'It's good, I like it'?

The response of creativity is the gift everyone can give, not just artists. In the practice of responding with creation we grow stronger bonds and better work.

'Liking' something on facebook or in person is of course a wonderful encouragement. So is a panel of judges selecting those with talent. This is a great thing. It has it's place. Judgment alone though doesn't take work or relationship forward.  To create better work we need judgement with a little room for creative response.

Hank The Wrestling Shark

If you get the chance check out Gerry's website and buy this great book and CD for the little one or the family this christmas. He's making wonderful work :). Finn Jade and I had a great ol' dance along to this!  Awesome to see local artist making great work!

http://www.hanktheshark.com/

Only half the story

Blogging is a wonderful tool for sharing, connecting and developing thoughts on craft and practise but it is only half of the story.  The other half is making work that inherently holds your methodology and process but stands alone as art.

Sketchbooks and tests are wonderful steps in the practise of doing. They lead toward an end product. The thing with them though is they are safe. This is important to identify...There must be an end product! A film, a book, a print, an exhibition, a performance. 

A product is the greatest gift of all for an audience. That audience take ownership of it. Share it. Creativity grows.  That is our goal. 

An end product is also the greatest gift for the artist. It focus's the artist to bring all their skill and practice together. It forces the artist to move past any walls of anxiety, expectation or ambition because they have to let the art stand alone and the artist has to stand alone.  This is the most generous gift of all. The gift of self. This is when we truly grow.

Building on work

Jamie and I got together yesterday to make work.  A few months ago I took one of my sketchbook drawings into photoshop and rendered it up. The next step was to take the composition into a live action format.  Jamie got into town this week so we thought we'd have a crack at it.  

Here are the results.  Watch the minute long video here.

https://vimeo.com/54883233.

The next step in the work is to find a place to project a looped track into a public space. Can't wait to see how scale and place effect the reading of the work.  Lots of fun :).  

It was great to take a drawing into a collaborative work like this. Working with another I became all the more aware that jumping into something without knowing where it was leading is scary. Good scary. We had to figure things out on the spot. What are we doing and why?  We didn't have a plan and sometimes thats okay.

Sonik Boom & Piers Gilbertson

Piers Gilbertson of 'Sonik Boom' led the sound capture and design for 'Night Storm' as well as performed, recorded and mixed the music.  A massive piece of work!  He is beginning work on a new website. I've just written him a short testimonial for it and wanted to share it here. His current site is below and I'll keep you posted for the newer, shinier version :).  Sonik Boom is Australian based but I for one would love to see Piers making more work back here in NZ.

"When directing a film or producing an artwork I always look for connection.  I relate to story and character through what I see. Working on set with Piers I noticed his was a different approach. Piers wasn't looking for story he was listening for it. When most were distracted by the business of a film set Piers remained focused on the subtleties. The sound of water, birds, a car door opening or bicycle peddling all became characters and voices in their own right. Piers energy was of someone discovering a sound if not a whole world for the first time. When an individual brings so much value to their craft it is infectious for the whole." 

"The sound scape of the film was an enormous challenge. The film was not following any obvious narrative structure. We entered this film as artists and poets. We would not know the film until we had it. Piers and Micheal approached this work courageously. Their design was not held in any preconceptions of the story but rather became a response to performance, movement, composition, rhythm and the shift from interior/internal to exterior space. As a director I wouldn't want to work in any other way. Their understanding of the film grew with the sound scape they created and in turn the sound took on depth. The intelligence and exploration they brought to this process was integral to forming the powerful, unsettling and lonely mood of the film."

"I am ever grateful to the contribution of Piers and Micheal to this film and look forward to making more work together soon."

http://www.sonikboom.net/

Summer Sketchbook P.3

Practise vs. Sharing

Sharing the insight or pratise of others is wonderful. We model off the way others work, write and live. Quoting someone though is not practise it is sharing. Making your own work and formulating your own thoughts (even if they align with another's) is practise.

The effect of writing a blog as a practise is that each day is a new step. I build on the last. I test my thinking with an audience then allow, if not welcome, the next step. 

When I share artwork or writing of another who inspires me this is generous. It helps people see what feeds my process. The sharing act does not move me forward though. The work of formulating my own words and images is the practise that moves me forward. It is through experiencing the work that it becomes practise.

Sharing is important to craft, practise is too. Knowing the difference between the two and the gains of each is integral to an artists development.

Serendipity and the NZ Herald

Serendipity happens all the time. How often do we allow it to happen though?

The day I started this blog the marketing manager at Toi Whakaari approached me to be the subject of an article/advert for Toi Whakaari in the NZ Herald. My natural instinct is to shy away from such a thing. That very day though I stated my aim as building connection and growing creativity. Here was an opportunity to do this very thing. When serendipity happens. Let it.

The result is below. Does the article sum up me and my work perfectly. Not at all. Does it bring my work as a creative and teacher to a larger audience? Yes and with it the  potential for growth of connection and creativity.

The student I am working with in the image is recent graduate Josh Foley. Watch out for his work in the future!

Art is my Path, Film is a Vehicle

The life journey is often described as a mountain. We climb it. There are many paths. Some are easy others are hard. Iyengar says his path is yoga. I imagine each of us has a unique and different path. Sometimes our path isn't easy to identify. It is important though that we do or we might find ourselves getting off track.

I have always described filmmaking as my vehicle. In reflection I realise how apt that is. I love the ride of filmmaking. Sometimes like an 18 wheeler truck it's slow to get started but once it's going...well it's hard to slow down. So many artists come for the ride too. Its a fantastic way up the mountain!

Sometimes though it's good to get out and walk, to take it a bit slower, to put my feet back on the ground. It is wonderful to start a new sketch book this week. It reconnects me to my journey. I like to think of art and design as my path. Sometimes, like with my sketch book, I walk. Other times, like with a set design or with directing a film, I take a vehicle.

Summer Sketchbook p.2