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1-What made me really think? And why?

I hate to be a cliche arts-y philosophy-y person but what does that question mean? I am constantly thinking, for something to make me think it need only exist. I would find it rather more interesting to find something that didn’t make me think. What REALLY made me think? Nothing stands out, no moment or speech volunteers to help me answer. The talks entertained me, kept my attention then lost it for a bit, caught me smiling then frowning and so on but I would not qualify any of them as thought-provoking. I did not linger on the speaker’s words, wondering at their wisdom. In that capacity I’m afraid I cannot give a satisfactory answer to the question.

However, the talks did invite some cerebral activity of some kind. Rather than pondering on the new notions and ideas, the information being shared, I found myself thinking of ways I had applied and observed these things myself. Awfully self-centered, I know.

For example, when Tim Brown spoke of role playing and illustrating ideas through objects in order to better teach, communicate and understand I thought of my approach to teaching children. I have two young girls in my care who are currently going through a phase of asking many questions. It is my strict rule to always answer them as best I can. The questions vary greatly but to give a few examples here are some of the most memorable ones:

“How was the universe created?”

“Why do some birds have funky feathers and others don’t?”

”What’s BLM?”

And so there I was at 8 in the morning walking down to school having to explain the Big Bang, natural evolution and systematic racism. To do this I used anything I could get my hands on to make sure whatever I said was understood while keeping the child’s attention; waving my hands and arms around to mimic stardust and black holes, using metaphors and amusing examples and so on. To put it briefly, I played around.

Another way in which I reacted was to wholly and completely agree with the beautiful Meklit Hadero and drown in her words. I could go into detail about how I feel about music and the sounds of life but why would I when someone has already done it so well, with such sincere passion and musicality.

Did “the unexpected beauty of everyday sounds” reveal anything new to me? No. But I did take something away from it, a very strong desire to meet and become friends.

2-Which one comment will I still remember next year? Why?

”it is possible that the human auditory system actually evolved to hear music because it is so much more complex than it needs to be for language alone”

I will spread this word like gospel. The thought of this being true feels so deeply validating and simply beautiful. In a world filled with so much despair at the human condition, to think us animals evolved to hear music, to enjoy it and write it and share it and love it, feels strangely hopeful.

3- Which one of these talks would I tell a friend to watch? Why?

I am able to answer very truthfully since i have sent the links to a friend since watching the talks and before writing this. I sent her two; the first was Paula Scher’s tale of various projects and their particularities over her career and the second of course is the one I have already spoken very fondly of, “ the unexpected beauty of everyday sounds”.

To explain why I sent the second link I will simply direct you to my previous answers (spreading the word), as for the first one…

I found Paula Scher’s tale of past projects and misbehaviours very inspiring. Her unpretentious-ness in the way she speaks and explains her thought process made me listen that bit more closely to what she was saying. Because she wasn’t always confident or because things didn’t go her way sometimes, what i got from her talk was a true respect for her work and her career as well as a “I can do it” feeling that is really rather pleasant and that I wanted to share with my friend.

4-How could these talks influence my approach to work?

“Creativity as a small act of misbehaving”. I have many bad habits in life in general but specifically when it comes to art. I am always, most of the time without quite realising it, held back by notions of what is “good”. Now this may not seem like a problem at first glance, after all wanting to make something good is a rather positive thing no? Well, yes but not if you remember that art is subjective. What is “good art”? In my opinion there is no such thing, the notion of good and bad itself is ridiculous but I will spare you my opinion on that. There is art I like, art I don’t like, art that lots of people like, art that lots of people know, art that you like…etc. But there is no GOOD art. So what am I thinking of when I want to make something good? I am thinking of what good means to the other person, of what’s expected of me, of what they will like.

Paula Scher does not concern herself with such things, she was given a box to draw a map in and she ended dup drawing it all over the walls and then the whole building, she was asked to do one thing but instead figured out a way of covering up that very thing, because she didn’t like it.

I am a work in progress, and I will be making good use of what I have learned from the wise misbehaving Paula Scher to experiment, do what i want, think outside the box and not worry so much about making something good or what’s expected of me. Right in time for my foundation course too!

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