Tag Archives: cor noltee, design thinking, art, education, curiosity, creativity

Dezelfde andere

26 jun

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Gisteren schreef ik over de Moped van J.M. Arsath Ro’is. Het verhaal deed me denken aan de film Smoke met Harvey Keithel. Een winkeltje in New York is het verbindende verhaal element van de personages in de film. Een van de personages maakt jarenlang dezelfde foto van exact dezelfde plek. Dat zijn natuurlijk niet allemaal dezelfde foto. Alleen het standpunt is hetzelfde. En het tijdstip herinner ik me nu. Het resultaat is boeken vol met ‘dezelfde andere’ foto.

Ik houd van dat soort projecten. Helemaal als het resultaat niet meer zichtbaar is. Kunstwerken die uitgeprint worden voor een kijker en daarna in de papierversnipperaar gaan. Een van mijn favorieten is van een Chinese kunstenaar waarvan ik het werk in maart in Shanghai zag. Sorry dat ik slecht ben in het onthouden van namen, zeker Chinese.

Zijn  werk herinner ik me nog goed. Ik maakte er een foto van:

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Het zijn 30 stapeltje ‘servetten’. Het resultaat van 30 jaar met water op een servet schrijven. Het resultaat is niet meer te lezen. Prachtig!

Het doet me denken aan de periode van voor 26 januari 2013. De dag dat ik met dit blog begon. ik schreef toen in mijn ochtendschrift en verbrandde of verscheurde wat ik in de ochtend schreef. HardCOR loslaten was dat. Heel anders dan wat ik nu aan het doen ben. Want jij leest nu wat ik geschreven heb.

Voor mijn ochtendschrift  (uit het boek The Artist Way van Julia Cameron) mediteerde ik. Dat heb ik twee maanden geleden weer opgepakt. Mijn ideale ochtend zit inmiddels vol met rituelen.

Ze komen allemaal op hetzelfde neer maar zijn allemaal anders;

Los laten.

Daarbij denk ik aan een van de beste films die ik ken. Fight club van David Fincher met Brad Pitt, Edward Norton en Helena Bonham Carter. De film krijgt een 8,9 op IMDB (838.134 stemmen). Daar zit mijn 9 ook bij. De film is een emotionele testosteron achtbaan over kwaliteit in het leven. De boodschap die de film brengt is na tien minuten al duidelijk. De commercieel geworden wereld gaat naar de knoppen omdat niemand meer weet aan welke dingen waarde te hechten. De aan praatgroepen verslaafde Jack (Edward Norton) past precies in deze wereld maar voelt dat er iets ontbreekt. Bij het ontmoeten van zijn tegenpool Tyler (Brad Pitt), een man die zich bezig houdt met het maken van zeep uit menselijk vet, ontstaat Fight Club. ‘Fight Club’ is zeer origineel, erg verontrustend en prachtig in beeld gebracht. Een film die je twee keer gezien moet hebben. Want de tweede keer vond ik hem nog beter.

Stel je voor je zit met Tyler in de auto. Hij rijdt. Achterin zitten nog twee gasten. Het is donker, het regent en jullie rijden zo’n 100 km/u met tegemoet komend verkeer.

En dan laat Tyler het stuur los. De auto raakt de vangrail. Een vrachtwagen nadert.

Doe nu je ogen dicht, druk op play hieronder en Just Let Go.

JUST LET GO.

 

 

 

 

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Achteruitkijk

31 mei

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Gelukkig zijn is je goed en slecht kunnen voelen maar voelen dat het klopt in een context van groei. Het zijn zo ongeveer de woorden van Gretchen Rubin die 12 maanden aandacht schonk aan 12 zaken die zij belangrijk vond in haar leven en daar vervolgens een heel inspirerend boek over schreef; The Happiness Project.

Het boek is een van mijn inspiraties geweest om mijn eigen Happiness Project te beginnen. Op 26 januari 2013 besloot ik alles wat ik wist over Design Thinking, ik had gedaan met design Thinking, ik wilde met Design Thinking en vooral wat ik nog niet wist over Design Thinking, nog nooit gedaan had met Design Thinking en wat ik allemaal kon met Design Thinking en uit wilde proberen, te delen op dit blog.

Een jaar lang zette ik de wekker om 6.00 uur, drukte een keer op snooze, zette een bak koffie, stak een kaarsje aan, schreef en publiceerde voor 7.00

Sommige van mijn lezers waren dat zo gewend dat ik een keer een bericht kreeg van een trouwe lezer waar de post bleef…..om 7.18

Ik kon met recht zeggen dat mijn blog de gedisciplineerde, vasthoudende verbeelding van mijn nieuwsgierigheid naar Design Thinking was. Na dat jaar printte ik alle verhalen uit en verbrandde ze samen met een aantal trouwe lezers in een kerk in Dordrecht. Het afsluiten van een jaar lang experiment voelde als een nieuw begin. Het telefoonnummer van de kerk was overigens 078 6 140167. 078 voor Dordrecht. Vervolgens beginnen alle nummers in Dordrecht met een 6 en 140167 is mijn geboortedatum. Mooier dan dat wordt het natuurlijk niet.

Inmiddels ben ik bijna 1.300 verhalen verder, heb in de tussentijd mijn master kunsteducatie gehaald en geef dit jaar op 4 continenten workshops en lezingen over Design Thinking. Ik kan met gepaste trots zeggen dat mijn rebranding campagne van Cor Noltee van Creatief naar Design Thinker geslaagd is. Maar toch voel ik me de laatste tijd onrustig en probeerde ik verschillende nieuwe formats om mezelf aan het schrijven te houden. Zo schreef ik een aantal weken in het Engels en maakte ik weken lang verbindingen in de kunstwereld. Niets hield ik vol. De regels die ik mezelf oplegde, zoals ik dat in het eerste jaar had gedaan, werkte niet. Ik kon de motivatie niet opbrengen om elke dag te schrijven en het toppunt was dat ik schreef om maar te publiceren.

Afgelopen weekend had ik het er met mijn vader over. Mijn pa is als jong ventje geïnspireerd door een Verkade uitgave over vetplanten en cactussen en  heeft vervolgens zijn hele leven gewijd aan het kweken, schrijven, fotograferen en delen van zijn kennis over cactussen en vetplanten. Ik heb een enorm respect voor hem. Wat een passie en toewijding. Tot op de dag van vandaag is hij nieuwsgierig naar wat er allemaal nog te ontdekken of in kaart te brengen is in de wereld van vetplanten en cactussen. Zo was hij laatst nog 10 dagen met drie mannen op ontdekking in Namaqualand, niet al te ver van zijn woonplaats Montagu in Zuid Afrika.

Ik denk dat ik een beetje van zijn focus en toewijding heb mogen proeven tijdens mijn eerste jaar bloggen en tijdens mijn ontwerponderzoek voor mijn master kunsteducatie. Maar na een jaar bloggen en 2 jaar studeren volgde zoals gezegd meerdere pogingen en mislukkingen om die focus vast te houden. En om in Rubin’s woorden te vervolgen, er klopte iets niet. Ik voelde me vaker slecht dan goed en had niet het gevoel dat ik groeide. Dus trok ik 8 mei de stekker eruit. De afgelopen 3 en half jaar had ik nog niet zo lang niet geschreven. Soms is het goed om even terug te kijken en te reflecteren zei mijn pa.

Dat is soms lastig voor iemand die vooruit wil.

Maar vooruit.

Vanaf vandaag weer elke dag.

 

 

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Everything is connected Part 16

28 okt

Via the subway in Oakland, THERE, I rose from the water in Rotterdam HIER.

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I connected artwork and artists via stairs and fire and the latest work  HIER DAAR connects two parts of Rotterdam. Crossing the water. I remember the first time I saw the work. I was on a Thursday night and I was standing on the South side of Rotterdam near the SS Rotterdam enjoying the great view over the water.

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That’s when I first saw the neon letters HIER (HERE) on the ventilation building of the Maastunnel.

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Seeing the neon word HIER made me think ‘What do you mean HIER? I’m not there I’m here.’ The word HIER on the ventilation building made me aware of where I was and made me look for the other ventilation building. Within seconds I found the other venitilation building with the word DAAR (THERE). I moved from one side of the river to the other in milliseconds and I mentally drew a line on the water where the bike tunnel would be.fietstunnel_maastunnel

Traveling with the speed of neon light I was on the other side of Rotterdam.

Want to join me going underwater?

Arriving on the other side of the river Maas I was just 5 minutes away from Museum Boijmans van Beuningen where I saw an exhibition of Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson (1967, Copenhagen). Notion motion was developed specially for Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen and was donated to the museum in 2005 by H+F Patronage, founded by the writer and collector, Han Nefkens. Over the past fifteen years Eliasson has built up an impressive body of work consisting of rainbows, sunsets, waterfalls, aromatic walls, mist, beams of light and periscopes. At the exhibition this notion of motion was realized by Eliasson’s fascination for motion and the elements, in this case water.

Here I was sitting on the floor watching a sponge sucking up water and being pulled up and fall down creating a spectacular ripple water landscape.

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Everything is connected Part 14

24 okt

Last weekend I connected David Bowie with Andy Warhol and Warhol with John Wilcock. And the nice thing about this connection  game is that I now really don’t have a clou how to connect John Wilcock. I can not connect via the tips I got from reader Volkert:

or Daniel:

Sorry guys but I have to connect via John Wilcock. Here it goes.

You can find the original interview here. Here my William Boroughs cut up version.

In January 2011 Tyler Malone interviewed Wilcock on the occasion of the release of his 1971  The Autobiography and Sex Life of Andy Warhol.  John Wilcock is not what you would call a household name, and yet, he has had a measurable impact on art, journalism and culture-at-large over the last century. Like I mentioned yesterday he co-founded Interview with Andy Warhol and he has written for countless print and online publications: Frommer’s, The Daily Mirror, The Daily Mail, The East Village Other, The Huffington Post, The New York Times, The Ojai Orange, etc. So why, one feels inclined to ask, is he relatively unknown?  The answer seems simple: Wilcock has called himself “the world’s worst businessman.” This self-description makes sense because listening to him one hears the voice of a writer and a traveler and an enthusiast, not at all the voice of a businessman. In an age when it seems like everyone is all about business—art as a business, fashion as a business, everything as a business—it is refreshing to hear someone self-identify as “the world’s worst businessman.” It seems less like he has failed as a businessman and more like he has refused to become one.

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Later in the interview Tyler Malone compares the title The Autobiography and Sex Life of Andy Warhol with Gertrude Stein’s The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas. How it plays with the concept of autobiography. This comparison can take me back to the beginning of the 20th century. You could call Gertrude Stein ‘The world’s best business woman of the art world.’ She and her brother Leo accumulated the works of art that formed a collection that became renowned for its prescience and historical importance.

Or Gertrude can take me to Oakland. She wrote about Oakland in her 1937 book Everybody’s Autobiography: “There is no there there,” Stein wrote on learning that the neighborhood where she lived as a child had been torn down to make way for an industrial park. The quote is sometimes misconstrued to refer to Oakland as a whole.[115][116]

Modern-day Oakland has turned the quote on its head, with a statue downtown titled “There.” The “There” sculpture is a colorful sculpture in City Center plaza. Created by sculptor Roselyn Mazzilli, it’s a tribute to Gertrude Stein and a reference to the oft-misinterpreted “There is no there there.” It was installed in 1988, and now it can be said there is definitely a “There” there.

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In 2005 a sculpture called HERETHERE was installed by the City of Berkeley on the Berkeley-Oakland border at Martin Luther King Jr. Way. The sculpture consists of eight-foot-tall letters spelling “HERE” and “THERE” in front of the BARTtracks as they descend from their elevated section in Oakland to the subway through Berkeley.[117]herethere

 

 

 

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Everything is connected Part 13

23 okt

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Andy Warhol and British journalist John Wilcock founded magazine Interview  late 1969. The magazine, nicknamed “The Crystal Ball of Pop,” features intimate conversations between some of the world’s biggest celebrities, artists, musicians, and creative thinkers. Interviews were usually unedited or edited in the eccentric fashion of Warhol’s books and The Philosophy of Andy Warhol: From A to B and Back Again. The book is an assemblage of self-consciously ironic “quotable quotes” about love, beauty, fame, work, sex, time, death, economics, success, and art, among other topics. Warhol promoted the book in September 1975 on a nine-city U.S. book tour, followed by stops in France, England and Italy where the Prince of Pop met the Pope.

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In the early days, complimentary copies of Interview were often given away to the “in-crowd”; this was the start of the magazine’s circulation. Toward the end of his life, as Warhol withdrew from everyday oversight of his magazine. Warhol continued to act as ambassador for the magazine, distributing issues in the street to passersby and creating ad hoc signing events on the streets of Manhattan.

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During his five-year association with Andy Warhol, Wilcock audiotaped the enigmatic artist’s closest associates, asking them to “explain” him, publishing the results in 1971 as The Autobiography and Sex Life of Andy Warhol.

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This $5 biography became a rare book offered for sale on Amazon at prices up to $2,101,99. 

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A revised edition of the book was released in 2010. Now for sale on Amazon for just $ 18,61.

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A cheap copy of the original.

Andy loves cheap copies of originals.

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Everything is connected Part 12

22 okt

The artist Paul Robertson curated the periodic table of David Bowie and Andy Warhol is one of the table’s noble gasses.Schermafbeelding 2016-10-22 om 09.43.06.png

And did you know that David played Andy Warhol in Basquiat?

“Basquiat is a 1996 American biographical drama film directed by Julian Schnabel and written by Lech J. Majewski and John Bowe based on the life of American postmodernist/neo expressionist artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. Basquiat, born in Brooklyn, used his graffiti roots as a foundation to create collage-style paintings on canvas.

Comparing Bowie’s portrayal of Warhol to others who’ve portrayed Warhol prior, Paul Morrissey (who directed many films that Warhol produced) said “Bowie was the best by far. You come away from Basquiat thinking Andy was comical and amusing, not a pretentious, phony piece of shit, which is how others show him.” He also noted that “Bowie at least knew Andy. They went to the same parties.” Bowie was able to borrow Warhol’s actual wig, glasses and jacket from the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh for the film. Writer Bob Colacello, who edited Warhol’s Interview magazine in the 70’s and early 80’s, said “[Crispin] Glover walked the most like [the real] Andy, [Jared] Harris talked the most like Andy, and Bowie looked the most like Andy. When I first saw Bowie on the set, it was like Andy had been resurrected.”[14]“

Here are the real Warhol and Basquiat.

In the above clip at 3.27 minute the voice over says:

“A rebel looking for the security of an understanding surrogate father.”

Rebel rebel. Bowie is all of us.

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Everything is connected Part 11

22 okt

Why rebel David Bowie will never “sink into oblivion”?

Because David Bowie is ‘inside’ many contemporary artists. Like he himself was influenced and inspired by many others. On David Bowie’s exhibition this was shown in the Periodic Table of David Bowie:


<p><a href=”https://vimeo.com/108833256″>The Periodic Table of David Bowie, a clip from &quot;David Bowie is&quot;</a> from <a href=”https://vimeo.com/thevillagevoice”>Village Voice</a> on <a href=”https://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a&gt;.</p>

The artist Paul Robertson curated the periodic table of what David Bowie is, listing great influences to him and who was influenced by him which is intended to be added to as new influences emerge, just like the original periodic table.

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Everything is connected Part 9

19 okt

Yesterday fire connected New York based artists Cai Guo-Qiang and Stefan Sagmeister.

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Today fire spreads to the White House with a painting that used to hang here:

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The subtitle is in Dutch and says “This is not the American flag”.

I have cut out the painting and uploaded it in Google Images. The artwork is called ‘Fate of the rebel flag’ by Wm. Bauly and as President Frank Underwood from House of Cards says it’s “the rebel flag sinking into oblivion”.

fate_of_the_rebel_flagSoon the fire will be distinguished. This fire will not spread.

Curious about the work the president put back?

It’s the Hand of Fate.

 

 

 

 

 

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Everything is connected Part 8

18 okt

Yesterday we ended up in China with a giant firework stairway to heaven. According to Tate Modern ‘Ways of Looking’ I could connect the work via the ‘Personal Approach – what do I bring?’ It says: All responses to works of art are conditioned by our different personal and social experiences. These cannot be ignored and should be our starting point when thinking about an artwork.

If I try to connect the work with myself and I ask myself ‘What does the work remind me of?’ one answer would be my ‘Supersafe and Cheap Fireworks Package’. But this would not fit the concept. Why not? Because I never sold the idea and I don’t think it’s art. So it’s not Part 8 but I’ll share it anyway.

Sometimes you do crazy things when you’re young. Especially if you’re keen on an idea that you think might well sell very well. Every two years I went to IAAPA, the International Fair for theme parks. Halls packed with the very latest in roller coasters, carousels, game boxes, fairground rides and so. Every year I came back with a box of leaflets and one year I brought fireworks glasses.

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No to protect my eyes. No. They were so-called spectrum glasses. If you put them on and looked at lights in the dark, you saw beautiful colors around the lights. Really amazing. Yes you have to see yourself to be excited. I get it.fireworkglasseseffect

You have to know I have nothing personal with fireworks, so I came up with the following, super safe and cheap fireworks package:

– 1 fireworks glasses

– 1 sparkler

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– Packed in an air bubble envelope

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The idea worked as follows. On New Years Eve you go outside, light your sparkler, put on the firework glasses and start dancing on the air bubble envelope. The air bubble envelope might not make as much noise as the strikers of your neighbor but with your fireworks glasses looking at your burning sparkler is nothing less than spectacular. And they were safe and far less painful to your wallet.

This was a blast. Yes I knew for sure. We had only just to sell it.

We had to make appointments. Make sure that potential clients were able to experience it. My partner in crime Ron Vergeer wrote a great letter to 14 insurance companies and telecom companies. Ron had made them so curious that we scored 10 appointments.

This was a blast. Yes I knew for sure. We had only just to sell it.

We had been years in the latest technology. Radio controlled cars, chroma key virtual reality systems, Japanese sticker machines etc. Could a pair of paper glasses be our breakthrough?

This was a blast. Yes I knew for sure. We had only just to sell it.

And how to sell it? Simple. It is an idea for New Years Eve so with New Years Eve. With fireworks, champagne and  dutch donuts. In April we drove across the Netherlands with a big dish with, by Ron’s mother baked, dutch donuts, a few bottles of  Jip and Janneke champagne, champagne glasses, sparklers and of course the fireworks glasses. We sat at the table with the communication bosses of some of the largest advertisers in the Netherlands. (Yes even with Nationale Nederlanden Daniel)

After a short intro, I turned of the lights. Ron pulled the dish packed with dutch donuts from the plastic bag, put them on the table and sprinkled them with powdered sugar. I put on their fireworks glasses. Ron wrapped the foil from the bottle. I lit the sparklers and began to count.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ……

With each count their mouths opened wider and wider. Quite easy to put a donut in.

Plop. The champagne flowed. The sparklers burned. The donuts tasted fantastic … .in april.

This was a blast. Yes I knew for sure. We had only just to sell it.

In 2000 a deadly firework exploded in a fireworks depot in a residential area in Enschede in the Netherlands. With one Bang it was done with our Blast. There was no brand in the Netherlands who wanted something to do with fireworks. Not even with the “safest fireworks package in the world” like I tried to explain.

The Failed Firework Glasses Project  is what New York based Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang Stairway reminds me of . But it’s not art. So part 8 is another connection. His name is Stefan Sagmeister. And he also sometimes says things by setting things on fire. The following stills are from his great TED talk and part of quote from his diary:

Fire is what connects Cai Guo-Qiang and Stefan Sagmeister. Fire as fuel for personal development.

 

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Everything is connected Part 7

17 okt

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The connection with the object ‘Stairs’ by the mysterious 17th century artist Hercules Segers, narrated by John Malkovich, projected on a 9 meter wide stairs, is easy. I had the connection in the back of my mind but made room for Daniel’s fantastic tip about Hercules Segers. The original idea was to connect Bruce Nauman’s ‘Untitled’ with the work of New York based Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang. He found a unique way to express his love to his grandmother: a gigantic staircase in the air.

VID: Dream Of Ladder To The Heavens Now Reality

Pic shows: The firework display fullfiled by a Chinese artist in the shape of a ladder that extends up into the sky. A well-known Chinese artist and pyrotechnic enthusiast this week fulfilled his decades-old dream of creating a firework display in the shape of a ladder that extends up into the sky. Cai Guo-Qiang, a native Quanzhou City of south-east China’s Fujian Province, put on display the art piece known as the “Sky Ladder” in his Chinese hometown. Having grown up as a child in the coastal city just across the Straits from Taiwan, Cai became accustomed to hearing explosions as Mainland artillery batteries traded fire with Nationalist batteries on the other side. It left him with a fascination of explosions and although his latest project lasted only 80 seconds it took weeks of hard work to realise and years of planning. The 57-year-old’s “Sky Ladder” is a 500 metre-high structure made from wires laced with fireworks, which was hoisted into the sky by a large weather balloon. Guoqiang’s team of hundreds of experts spent countless hours planning the project, but for the artist himself, “Sky Ladder” has been a 21-year-long dream. Guoqiang’s first attempt at his “Sky Ladder” came in 1994, when he launched a similar balloon into the sky. However, strong winds twice felled his balloon, causing him to ultimately suspend the project. When Shanghai hosted the APEC summit in 2001, Guoqiang planned to launch the “Sky Ladder” once more, but his plans fell through once more after the events of September 11 restricted access to the skies. This week, Guoqiang dedicated the successful launch of his “Sky Ladder” fireworks to his grandmother, a very important individual in his life who recently celebrated her 100th birthday. Guoqiang says his grandmother was and always will be the first collector of his art, constantly keeping his drawings since the age of two. (ends)

The stunning photograph shows the 1,650ft ladder, which was made with fireworks, stretch right up into the sky in Quanzhou, south-eastern China. The artist who is originally from the city of Quanzhou.

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You can see the documentary ‘Sky Ladder’ on Netflix and the trailer here:

 

 

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