"I think that what humans are interested in is seeing things that humans make." - Brian Eno[I like this, because that's how I always felt personally.]
Brian Eno's 77 Million Paintings
(official site)
"[Eno] first created 77 Million Paintings to bring art to the increasing number of flat panel TV's and monitors that often sit darkened and underutilized."
I had the same thought after I got the HD TV. It makes such a beautiful picture when it's on, it is just begging for a nice use of it.
A slowly evolving painting like it seems Eno has made.
Or just a changing sequence of high-rez versions of paintings or photos.
Or perhaps simply a long, looping video, a walk through a nice landscape, or filmed from a fixed viewpoint over a busy square in Paris or New York, or... the possibilities are endless.
(Can anybody figure out how to contact Eno?)
... I have ordered the DVD from enoshop UK... their confirmation e-mail states: "Please allow 28 days for delivery of physical products."
Twenty-eight days!?? What century are they operating in?
If I really like how this plays, and if it does it high rez, maybe I'll get a Mac Mini to put under my HD TV. I'm sure I'll find other uses for it too. For example playing iTunes, it has excellent "generative art" of its own, which I rarely use because I use my computer all the time.
TTL injected:
"his book A Year With Swollen Appendices: The Diary of Brian Eno.
By the way, in that book he mentions an interesting tool he created called Oblique Strategies (actually a deck of special cards). After reading the book I wanted to buy a set but couldn't find any source. I now note that it's available from the above mentioned shop.
One of the strategies (a card in the deck) I have actually used many times already: If you make a mistake, ask yourself "Was it really an accident?"
I need to place an order with the shop so I can start playing with a full deck. ;-)"
I saw those cards many years ago on television in an interview with David Bowie. Bowie has a set, and the Danish presenter has one, which he pulled out. They are for an artist to use whenever he is stuck. He pulls out a random card, which then has a suggestion.
Introduction
Online version
Mac widget version
... I've looked over a selection of the cards (online), and frankly I think I could write a better set.
8 comments:
Eolake challenged: "Can anybody figure out how to contact Eno?"
Perhaps through www.enoshop.co.uk. It has the same address as Opal, his company.
Looks promising. How did you find that site?
Eolake inquired: "How did you find that site?"
I forgot already, but I think I searched for "Brian Eno"+"Opal". I knew about Opal from reading his book A Year With Swollen Appendices: The Diary of Brian Eno.
By the way, in that book he mentions an interesting tool he created called Oblique Strategies (actually a deck of special cards). After reading the book I wanted to buy a set but couldn't find any source. I now note that it's available from the above mentioned shop.
One of the strategies (a card in the deck) I have actually used many times already: If you make a mistake, ask yourself "Was it really an accident?"
I need to place an order with the shop so I can start playing with a full deck. ;-)
"Please allow 28 days for delivery of physical products."
That's nothing. Some of my US magazine subscription applications were confirmed like "please allow 6 to 8 weeks for delivery of first copy".
"... I've looked over a selection of the cards (online), and frankly I think I could write a better set."
Some have. I'm not sure I could write a better set. Anyway, these kinds of tools are more magical when they exist. ;-)
When attempting to use a self-written set there is a risk of not letting go of the writing process -- i.e. never ending up declaring the tool completed and earnestly starting to use it. It seems Eno and Schmidt themselves have revised the set with each edition.
Also, it is not necessarily a question of better. The way I see it the idea is to interrupt your pattern of thought by a surprising angle. It is more difficult to surprise yourself with your own ideas.
I ordered a deck. In his reply Eno says I need to please (myself and) allow 28 days for delivery of physical products.
Just received my deck of Oblique Strategies. Delivery took two days (from U.K. to Finland). How disappointing. I was looking forward to waiting for the maximum of 28 days Eno wrote about. :-)
As a physical product it is of mediocre quality. For example, no professional graphic designer would have printed the backs of the cards black in this paper stock (having the dye gradually leave dark residue on the white front sides of the cards).
But the dilemmas are thought provoking. And the idea of having them as a deck of cards to thumb through and randomly draw from in the midst of a session seems to work well.
Here are a couple ...
• Give the game away
• Do we need holes?
• Would anybody want it?
• Do nothing for as long as possible
• Ask your body
Some of the cards have the name of the contributor on the lower right corner. For example on the card "Faced with a choice do both" it says "(given by Diter Rot)".
Great, thanks for info.
Fast delivery there. I rarely have anything take only two days between UK and Denmark.
"Faced with a choice do both"
Ice cream or cookies? Aah, why choose? ;-)
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