cococreative

Photography as Democracy (or something like that.....)

 My cheap, point-and-shoot camera has served as a wonderful way to connect with others. No matter what language people speak in the countries that I live, they love see themselves in the digital screen after I photograph them. Many have never held a camera in their hand, so I let them take pictures of me so they can see how easy it is. One of my heroes is Zana Briski who started Kids with Cameras. She gives disposable cameras to street children in places like Calcutta so that they can take photos of their daily lives. The beauty and tragedy of these photos- many taken by children as young as seven years old- move audiences to tears. That’s what photography should be: the young and old, the rich and poor taking pictures and sharing them with others. 

 

Gone are the days of needing high-powered lenses and expensive equipment in order to take a good photo. These days, creating powerful images is a democratic, powerful (and often political) act that transcends language and brings us together as human beings.

photo by Kat Shamash copyright 2008. Inya Lake, Rangoon, Burma

Video Journalists in Burma: working together to get the news out

  The movie Burma VJ 

Risking jail and torture, a small group of brave video journalists kept the news flowing out of the closed country.

This film "offers a unique insight into high-risk journalism and dissidence in a police state, while at the same time providing a thorough documentation of the historical and dramatic days of September 2007, when the Buddhist monks started marching."

See the trailer here: Burma VJ

Citizens working together to create change

Remember those historical eras like "The Industrial Revolution" and "Age of Enlightenment" that showed up on the time lines we studied in history class? The "Social Networking Era" is now a major mark on on the global time line. This TED talk is a great overview on how technological applications are not only changing the political arena, but how we communicate and get our message out.

This TED talk by Clay Shirky shows how "Facebook, Twitter and TXTs help citizens in repressive regimes to report on real news, bypassing censors (however briefly). The end of top-down control of news is changing the nature of politics."

Creative Work for Social Change: Smuggling footage out of Burma

This is a video I compiled a little over a year ago after Cyclone Nargis, a category four storm, ripped through Burma. I survived that storm, but so many others did not. I was shocked to see destruction which left 140,000 dead or missing. Today, 2.4 million survivors still wonder how they will support their families, or how to find enough rice to eat. If you want to know how I got the raw footage for this video out of Burma during a time when bloggers were being put in jail for such acts, read on.

artists using tech to create shows: leapfrogging geographical barriers

  You've played it as a kid- the child's game of leaping over obstacles to advance to a final destination. Thanks to cyberspace and social networking sites like Facebook, artists are collaborating by using technology to create gallery shows even when separated by thousands of miles.

Heidi Steadman and I first met two years ago in a Split Rock Summer Arts workshop led by artist Julie Baugnet. During the five-day class we became fast friends and subsequently kept in touch via Facebook as I returned to my teaching position at an international school in Yangon, Myanmar.

Over 8,000 miles separated us, but via Facebook I was able to follow her work as she, (along with Stacey Zeigler, a seamstress), opened Lost Lake Design Studio in Little Falls, MN. Over the years, she followed my FB photo albums as I traveled across South East Asia snapping pictures.

"I want to do a show of your photos," Heidi wrote on my FB wall a few months ago. To make a long story short, we're planning a summer photography show "Portraits of the World" which opens in July. The amazing part of the whole experience is that we haven't seen each other face to face since we first met two years ago. If that's not a cool use of technology, I don't know what is.

image via blackforgeart

The Creative Bug

Image via "the gaping void: cartoons drawn on the back of business cards"

I don't know much about Austin-based Hugh MacLeod, but I'm fascinated that much of the content in his recently-published book came from doodling on the back of business cards in a Manhatten bar.

It reminds me of a certain time in the not-so-distant past when Heidi Steadman and I spent the night sketching in any bar that served Guinness.

Creative work happens anywhere

and everywhere....

image  by Hugh MacLeod at gapingvoid

Photographer + Designer + Musician = Cool Final Product

Snap a picture of a fallen leaf, post it at Flickr under the Creative Commons license. Another artist- a stranger to you- uses a modification of the image create an album cover. This is a simple, practical example of the remix culture and refers to one of my previous posts about this global phenomenon.

Hanging on to your creations like a possessive toddler with his toy is old skool. In the creative world, sharing is the new hording.

Creative Commons: a great tool for co-creative work

   "It's worldwide movement, folks. A kinder, gentler way to share work. Check out Creative Commons.

Where "The Big C" says "Red Light! No Tres-passing! All rights reserved!",  Creative Commons says, "Green light. Come on in. Some rights reserved."

One of the best ways to learn how the creative commons phenomenon is growing, check out these entertaining and informative flash animations: "Get Creative" and   "Reticulum Rex". These files can be viewed via streaming video or downloaded as quicktime files.

Flickr's Creative Commons shows how symbols beside images give viewers instant knowledge of what type of image is available for use by other creators.

All artists should watch these videos, or at least take a look at the Creative Commons site to see how we're moving towards global collaboration to create artisitic works.

Co-Creative

"Co-creative" is a word I invented - an adjective that merges the words"collaborative" and "creation". Similar to what happens in synergy, co-creativity happens when creative people collaborate. The result is that their creations- be it theater, performance art, community art projects, or shared presentations- are better and more compelling than if each artist had worked independently. In other words: work alone and create great stuff. Work with others, and create mind-boggling, juicy, super-duper stuff.

Steel and Air and a Mottled Presence

 

"It is so much like a beach after all
Where you stand and think of going no further."

Reflections on a poem bolted to a steel bridge: a photo journey.

 

The Visual Journal: Exploring Urban Landscape

Over the years blogging had taken me away from my spiral, hardbound notebooks, my multi-colored pens, my propensity to glue things (like ticket stubs, favorite articles, and paraphernalia found on bar counters, restaurants floors, and airplane seat pockets) into my journal . So, when I saw the Split Rock Arts Program offering the course called “The Visual Journal: Exploring Urban Landscape" taught by artist by Julie Baugnet (an artist featured in Drawing from Life by Jennifer New), I caught the first plane to the Twin Cities. I wasn’t disappointed.

Brave, Fearless Drawing Machings

 What do a labor arbitrator, a radio personality, a teacher, an epidemiologist, a registered nurse, an education specialist, a bat expert, a physiology professor, and a defense lawyer for the Dept of Justice all have in common?

This past week, I found out. And, in the process, realized that much of that which unites us as human beings has little to do with our professions, and much to do with what we long to do after-hours.

 What do a labor arbitrator, a radio personality, a teacher, an epidemiologist, a registered nurse, an education specialist, a bat expert, a physiology professor, and a defense lawyer for the Dept of Justice all have in common?

This past week, I found out. And, in the process, realized that much of that which unites us as human beings has little to do with our professions, and much to do with what we long to do after-hours.

Frank Lloyd Wright and Phillip’s 66

We are so “Thelma and Louise”, so I will call her Thelma.

She drives a hot, silver-bullet of a car, an Audi TT, that makes you want to drive, drive, drive for days through the winding forest roads of northern Minnesota on a road trip into the unknown.

But, we had to stop to fill up at this gas station designed by the one-and-only Frank Lloyd Wright.

We are so “Thelma and Louise”, so I will call her Thelma.

She drives a hot, silver-bullet of a car, an Audi TT, that makes you want to drive, drive, drive for days through the winding forest roads of northern Minnesota on a road trip into the unknown.

But, we had to stop to fill up at this gas station designed by the one-and-only Frank Lloyd Wright.

Why Do People STILL Go To Museums?

"Art offers something else--depth, involvement, a new way of looking at the world that we live in, a fresh approach to what we take for granted, a chance to experience freedom of the imagination."
-Meredith Monk, composer, singer, director, choreographer

(image by René Magritte via artchive)

I regularly visit online museums all over the world. I take virtual tours of The Louvre.  (click here.)  The Metropolitan Museum of Art (click here) The Art Institute of Chicago. (click here.)

But the computer screen cannot replace the experience of visiting an art gallery or museum. Here’s why.

"Art offers something else--depth, involvement, a new way of looking at the world that we live in, a fresh approach to what we take for granted, a chance to experience freedom of the imagination."
-Meredith Monk, composer, singer, director, choreographer

(image by René Magritte via artchive)

I regularly visit online museums all over the world. I take virtual tours of The Louvre.  (click here.)  The Metropolitan Museum of Art (click here) The Art Institute of Chicago. (click here.)

But the computer screen cannot replace the experience of visiting an art gallery or museum. Here’s why.

The Creative Coach: a jumpstart to your creative life

  Creating art in any form requires showing up regularly at the dance floor, the easel, the musical instrument, the page. If we wait until inspiration strikes or an enlightening visit from our Muse, we’ll never finish our creative work.

Sometimes, we need friends and coaches to make sure that this happens.

Enter Alexa Mergen.

(photo by Kat, daily schedule by Alexa Mergen)

To help me reach my physical exercise or artistic goals, I’ve usually needed the structure of a class, a hired trainer, or the accountability of a friend. What happens when you need a coach to help you complete a written piece for publication? Enter Alexa Mergen, creative coach, who is helping one of my friends finish her novel.

May 10-17 is in-house bootcamp where this gentle-but-tough coach will help keep her client focused on her goals via inspiration and colorful crayons to remind her of her commitment to write. As Nathalie Goldberg writes in "Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within" (a great creative tool for all writers, for sure, and one that I use in my own writing classes), “show up at the page.” Sometimes, we need friends and coaches to make sure that this happens.

Are there any of you out there who have benefited from a coach of any sort? I'd love to hear your stories.

  Creating art in any form requires showing up regularly at the dance floor, the easel, the musical instrument, the page. If we wait until inspiration strikes or an enlightening visit from our Muse, we’ll never finish our creative work.

Sometimes, we need friends and coaches to make sure that this happens.

Enter Alexa Mergen.

(photo by Kat, daily schedule by Alexa Mergen)

To help me reach my physical exercise or artistic goals, I’ve usually needed the structure of a class, a hired trainer, or the accountability of a friend. What happens when you need a coach to help you complete a written piece for publication? Enter Alexa Mergen, creative coach, who is helping one of my friends finish her novel.

May 10-17 is in-house bootcamp where this gentle-but-tough coach will help keep her client focused on her goals via inspiration and colorful crayons to remind her of her commitment to write. As Nathalie Goldberg writes in "Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within" (a great creative tool for all writers, for sure, and one that I use in my own writing classes), “show up at the page.” Sometimes, we need friends and coaches to make sure that this happens.

Are there any of you out there who have benefited from a coach of any sort? I'd love to hear your stories.

Feeding the Creative Soul

The garden. After school. A glass of chilled white wine. Kate, fresh in from Hanoi, has just arrived, her guitar slung around her shoulder. Behind me, in my artist's studio, all sorts of pastels, and oil paints, and paint brushes sit waiting for next week's art class. Creativity seems to flourishing these days here in this city. Kate and I sing the songs she learned in India: Shiva, Oom, Boom, Krishna, Ram, and then she teaches me some new rhythms on my new drum that I bought in Bangkok. (Dum Dum, tak, tak, Dum tak, tak, tak.)

Last night, in my echoing basement, a group of women gathered for our first-of-six art lessons by Catherine Ventura. She taught us about the weight of paper, the binding agents for pigments, the best brushes to buy, and how to make books. I learned terms like "tooth" for paper, "soluble agents" for paints, and "pigeon-hole method" for binding the pages of a self-made book.

As I worked with water soluble pastels, water colors with names like "crimson lake" and "bentley blue", a chocolate 66B Derwent pastel, graphitone, and charcoal dust, I looked around me: tables of women, playing in color, and water, and the dust of pastels and charcoal. Buddha Bar music played on my ipod speakers. Each of us were in our own world, our own creative space. I had to wonder to myself,

"Where is this all going? What happens when a group of people is intentional about nurturing the creative spirit?"

Watch out, world. We are "powerful beyond measure." And something as strong as the tide of the Andaman  filled me from head to toe. This is my dream: to learn from other artists and to share my home as a creative space with others. Something magnificent will come from this. I just know it.

The garden. After school. A glass of chilled white wine. Kate, fresh in from Hanoi, has just arrived, her guitar slung around her shoulder. Behind me, in my artist's studio, all sorts of pastels, and oil paints, and paint brushes sit waiting for next week's art class. Creativity seems to flourishing these days here in this city. Kate and I sing the songs she learned in India: Shiva, Oom, Boom, Krishna, Ram, and then she teaches me some new rhythms on my new drum that I bought in Bangkok. (Dum Dum, tak, tak, Dum tak, tak, tak.)

Experiments in Reflective Surfaces

 

"Darth Vader Helmet Reflection" by Kat

Devon, England, 2005

Click to enlarge this funky photograph.

In my first posting of this New Year, I thought I'd share a few of my experiments on reflective surfaces. Though a few of my photographer friends who are purists beg to disagree, digital photography and the zoom lense and are, IMHO, the best inventions since sliced bread.

"Darth Vader Helmet Reflection" by Kat

Devon, England, 2005

Click to enlarge this funky photograph.

In my first posting of this New Year, I thought I'd share a few of my experiments on reflective surfaces. Though a few of my photographer friends who are purists beg to disagree, digital photography and the zoom lense and are, IMHO, the best inventions since sliced bread.

Timed Poetry: Poems Composed in Two Minutes

"Though dim: a light.
Hope breeds in backwaters"

photo_by_kat

I’ve been experimenting in 2-minute poems: poems that I compose in two minutes. Yes, I even time myself.

This is one I wrote while cruising the waters of Inle Lake in Burma (otherwise known as Myanmar) with my aunt and uncle. I took this picture from our boat. During dry season, the waters recede to reveal the Buddhas within each pagoda.

The Buddhas Below

Waters deep
Underneath
Buddhas, biomes, brothels,
In dark places
Though dim: a light.
Hope breeds in backwaters
Blessing-to-come:
Unbridled birth

(from " 2-minute poem B" by kat)

"Though dim: a light.
Hope breeds in backwaters"

photo_by_kat

I’ve been experimenting in 2-minute poems: poems that I compose in two minutes. Yes, I even time myself.

This is one I wrote while cruising the waters of Inle Lake in Burma (otherwise known as Myanmar) with my aunt and uncle. I took this picture from our boat. During dry season, the waters recede to reveal the Buddhas within each pagoda.

The Buddhas Below

Waters deep
Underneath
Buddhas, biomes, brothels,
In dark places
Though dim: a light.
Hope breeds in backwaters
Blessing-to-come:
Unbridled birth

(from " 2-minute poem B" by kat)

Cultivating the Artistic Life

“To be simple means to make a choice about what’s important and to let go of all the rest. When we are able to do this, our vision expands, our heads clear and we can better see the details of our lives in all their incredible wonder and beauty.” via Jeff, p. 154 from  The Zen of Creativity: Cultivating Your Artistic Life by John Daido Loori

“Letting go of all the rest” is an on-going, spiritual practice for me.

Distraction is so very seductive. The key is, I suppose, a healthy balance between dancing wildly at bohemian costume parties and staying home on a full-moon night to write when the entire kingdom is at the ball.

Then, from Tish G., another great reminder that calms my chameleon heart:

“Inside my heart, there's this little Buddha very serene, who always reminds me that it's all just zen. Life is all just zen. And the world falls away....everything matters and nothing matters. It is what it is, in this moment, and that is all. That is how you learn to move between the worlds.”

(image via Fabrizio Fiorenzano, FR Creations)

out with the (m)old

 

I will grow

feathers

and

fangs,

and

paint

my dreams.
I will play

with monsters

rather than fight them.

I will

invite the snake

in

for tea.

I will feed the Cyclopes.

I’m heading to the jungle where the

wild things are.

 

 

I will grow

feathers

and

fangs,

and

paint

my dreams.
I will play

with monsters

rather than fight them.

I will

invite the snake

in

for tea.

I will feed the Cyclopes.

I’m heading to the jungle where the

wild things are.