Imagining A to Z: H is for Hack the Music

H is for Hack the Music

To hack is to cut away; to clear.

Sometimes clearing away in order to experience what has been in front of you or alongside you, but nonetheless remained hidden, requires a bit of hacking. A bit of clearing. Oddly, clearing can also be achieved by being in a place that is full. It is inside a fullness that clarity is achieved.

There is a story Jonah Lehrer tells in Imagine about David Byrne and it reminded me of John Cage's understanding about traffic, music, and silence and how being full can lead to insight, inspiration.  I think it has something to do with triggering the right hemisphere.  Anyway, here's Lehrer writing about David Byrne:

While Byrne celebrates the pleasures of biking—“ The wind in your face, the exercise, the relaxation”— he bikes mostly for another reason: it lets him listen to the city. He describes cycling as a form of urban eavesdropping, a way to overhear the hum of the streets. “When you’re stuck in a car, it’s like you’re in a bubble,” Byrne says. “You can’t hear anything that’s happening outside. But when you’re on a bike, you can tap into the atmosphere. You can feel people doing their thing. It’s a kind of connection.” When I met Byrne outside his office loft in SoHo, on a cobblestone street filled with fancy clothing boutiques, he was carrying a muffin and a helmet; his shock of white hair was perfectly vertical. He led me inside, up three flights of stairs, and down a grim, industrial hallway. (The building used to be a sweatshop.) It was a warm day, and the windows of his studio were wide open— the sound of the street seeped in. “I like it a little noisy,” Byrne says. “It reminds me where I am.”

from David Byrne's Bicycle Diaries.

In this interview with John Cage, he helps us to uncover the relationship between traffic and silence.

John Cage. Écoute film from doralance on Vimeo.

Lehrer, Jonah (2012-03-19). Imagine: How Creativity Works (Kindle Locations 2431-2434). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Kindle Edition.

Note: In this series of post during the month of April, I am participating in the A to Z blogging challenge, with each day focusing on a letter.  In order to bring some cohesion to this process--releasing the imagination is the focus of each post.

Imagining A to Z: G is for Generate Lines of Flight

G is for Generate Lines of Flight

A line of flight is a line of possibility.

Wood and Brown (2005) write: "...lines of flight are discontinuities, disruptions, splits or fractures that intercede in and break through the tedium of lives and the uniformity of things, changing the nature and significance of familiar histories and given situations as they interact along the way (Deleuze 1993)" (p. 13).

Lines of flight offer us ways to become otherwise, to recast the familiar.

Lately I have been making images with my iPhone.  This is relatively new to me. For the most part, I have made images using a Nikon with an 18 to 200 mm lens.  The iPhone requires me to see differently.  It is more intimate, requiring me to be closer in proximity with the subject. 

Juxtaposing the way I see with each of these allows lines of flight to occur: the space that is revealed between each signals a space where something new might be created.

Work cited:

Working paper
Wood, M. and Brown, S. (2009) Lines of Flight: Everyday Resistance along England’s Backbone. Working Paper 46. University of York, The York Management School. http://www.york.ac.uk/management/research/workingPapers.htm

Note: In this series of post during the month of April, I am participating in the A to Z blogging challenge, with each day focusing on a letter.  In order to bring some cohesion to this process--releasing the imagination is the focus of each post.

Imagining A to Z: F is for Fail Better

F is for Fail Better

"Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better." - Samuel Beckett

Unshackle the imagination from the fear of failure.
Know that you will fail.

Failure is not an end,
it is a door opening.

Go through it and imagine.

Note: In this series of post during the month of April, I am participating in the A to Z blogging challenge, with each day focusing on a letter.  In order to bring some cohesion to this process--releasing the imagination is the focus of each post.

Imagining A to Z: E is for Engage

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E is For Engage (with Earth Friendly Books)

One way to engender an imaginative life is to read. Here's a list of earth friendly children's books to get you started. E is also for enjoy.

Appelhof, Mary. 2006. Worms Eat My Garbage: How to Set Up and Maintain a Worm Composting System. Illustrated by Mary F. Fenton. Kalamazoo, MI: Flower Press.

Asch, Frank. 2008. The Earth and I. New York: Sandpiper.

Baker, Jeannie. 2004. Home. New York: Greenwillow.

Bang, Molly & Penny Chisholm. 2009. Living Sunlight: How Plants Bring The Earth to Life. New York: Blue Sky Press.

Bang, Molly. 1997. Common Ground: The Water, Earth andAir We Share. New York: Blue Sky Press.

Berger, Melvin. 1994. Oil Spill. Illustrated by Paul Mirocha. New York: HarperCollins.

Bial, Raymond. 2000. A Handful of Dirt. New York: Walker & Company.

Bouler, Olivia. 2011. Olivia’s Birds: Saving the Gulf. Sterling.

Bruchac, Joseph. 2009. Rachel Carson: Preserving a Sense of Wonder. Illustrated by Thomas Locker. Fulcrum.

Burns, Loree Griffin. 2010. Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam, and the Science of Ocean Motion. New York: Sandpiper.

Catchpool, Michael. 2012. The Cloud Spinner. Illustrated by Alison Jay. New York: Knopf.

The Cloud Spinner

Cherry, Lynne & Gary Braasch. 2010. How We Know What We Know about Our Changing Climate: Scientists and Kids Explore Global Warming. Nevada City, CA: Dawn Publications.

Cherry, Lynne. 2004. The Sea, The Storm, and the Mangrove Tangle. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

Cherry, Lynne. 2002. A River Ran Wild: An Environmental History. New York: Sandpiper.

Cherry, Lynne. 2000. The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest. New York: Sandpiper.

Chin, Jason. 2009. Redwoods. New York: Flashpoint.

from Energy Island: How One Community Harnessed the Wind and Changed their World.

Drummond, Allan. 2011. Energy Island: How One Community Harnessed the Wind and Changed their World. New York: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux.

Foreman, Michael. 2004. One World. Andersen Press.

French, Vivian. 2010. Yucky Worms. Illustrated by Jessica Ahlberg. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press.

Galbraith, Kathryn. 2010. Arbor Day Square. Illustrated by Cyd Moore. Atlanta, GA: Peachtree.

Gibbons, Gail. 1996. Recycle! A Handbook for Kids. New York: Little, Brown.

Glaser, Linda. 2002. Our Big Home. Illustrated by Elisa Kleven. Minneapolis MN: Millbrook.

Hall, Julie. 2007. A Hot Planet Needs Cool Kids: Understanding Climate Change and What You Can Do About It. Illustrated by Sarah Lane. Green Goat Books.

Hooper, Meredith. 2008. Drop in My Drink. London: Frances Lincoln Books.

Jenkins, Martin. 2011. Can We Save the Tiger? Illustrated by Vicki White. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press.

Koontz, Robin. 2007. Composting: Nature’s Recyclers. Illustrated by Matthew Harrad. Picture Window Books.

Kooser, Ted. 2012. House Held Up by Trees. Illustrated by Jon Klassen. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick.

Kooser, Ted. 2010. Bag in the Wind. Illustrated by Barry Root. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick.

Kowalski, Gary. 2009. Earth Day: An Alphabet Book. Illustrated by Rocco Baviera. Skinner House.

Kamkwamba, William. 2012. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. Illustrated by  Elizabeth Zunon. New York: Dial.

Lasky, Kathryn. 2008. John Muir: America’s First Environmentalist. Illustrated by Stan Fellows. Cambridge. MA: Candlewick Press.

Lloyd, Jennifer. 2007. Looking for Loons. Illustrated by Kristi Anne Wakelin. Vancouver, BC: Simply Read Books.

Locker, Thomas. 2010. John Muir: America’s Naturalist. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Press.

McDonnell, Patrick. 2011. Me…Jane. New York: Little, Brown.

Müller, Jörg. 1982. The Sea People. New York: Schocken Books.

Nivola, Claire A. 2012. Life in the Ocean: The Story of Oceanographer Sylvia Earle. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

Okimoto, Jean Davies. 2007. Winston of Churchill: One Bear’s Battle Against Global Warming. Sasquatch Books.

Parr, Todd. 2010. The Earth Book. New York: Little, Brown.

Peet, Bill. 1981. Wump World. New York: Sandpiper.

Portman, Michelle Eva. 2002. Compost, By Gosh! Kalamazoo, MI: Flower Press.

Preus, Margi. 2011. Celebritrees: Historic and Famous Trees of the World. Illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon. New York: Henry Holt.

Rand, Gloria. 1994. Prince William. Illustrated by Ted Rand. New York: Henry Holt.

Schaefer, Lola M. 2004. Arrowhawk. Illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska. New York: Henry Holt.

Seuss, Dr. 1971. The Lorax. New York: Random House.

Siddals, Mary McKenna. 2010.  Compost Stew. Illustrated by Ashley Wolff. San Francisco, CA: Tricycle Press.

Steiner, Jörg. 2007. The Bear Who Wanted to Be a Bear. Illustrated by Jörg Müller. Alhambra, CA: Heryin Books.

Straus, Rochelle. 2007. One Well: The Story of Water on Earth. Illustrated by Rosemary Woods. Kids Can Press.

Straus, Rochelle. 2004. Tree of Life: Incredible Biodiversity on Earth. Illustrated by Margot Thomason. Tonawanda, NY: Kids Can Press.

Thornhill, Jan. 2007. This Is My Planet: The Kids’ Guide to Global Warming. Berkeley, CA:Maple Tree Press.

Van Allsburg, Chris. 2011. Just a Dream (reprint). New York: Sandpiper.

Wadsworth, Ginger 2009. Camping with the President. Illustrated by Karen Dugan. Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mills Press.

Weller, Duncan. 2007. The Boy from the Sun. Vancouver, BC: Simply Read Books.

Wiesner, David. 2006. Flotsam.  New York: Clarion.

Winter, Jeanette. 2011. The Watcher: Jane Goodall’s Life with the Chimps. New York: Schwarz & Wade.

Winter, Jeanette. 2008. Wangari’s Trees: A True Story from Africa. Orlando, FL: Harcourt.

Winter, Jonah. 2010. Here Comes the Garbage Barge. Illustrated by Red Nose Studio. New York: Schwarz & Wade.

Wong, Janet S. 2007. The Dumpster Diver. Illustrated by David Roberts. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick.

Yezerski, Thomas F. 2011. Meadowlands: A Wetlands Survival Story. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

Yolen, Jane. 1995. Letting Swift River Go. Illustrated by Barbara Cooney. New York: Little, Brown.

          Note: In this series of post during the month of April, I am participating in the A to Z blogging challenge, with each day focusing on a letter.  In order to bring some cohesion to this process--releasing the imagination is the focus of each post.

Imagining A to Z: D is for Daydream

Circa 1967 (M.A. Reilly, 2009)

D is for Daydream.

 

Enuf sd .

Note: In this series of post during the month of April, I am participating in the A to Z blogging challenge, with each day focusing on a letter.  In order to bring some cohesion to this process--releasing the imagination is the focus of each post.

Imagining A to Z: C is for Compose Walking Poems

C is for Compose Walking Poems

What you Need:

1. Yourself.
2. A recorder and cameras that can be found on a smartphone.
3. The app, Videolicious (You can see a demo movie I made at the bottom of the blog).
4. A walk.

Method

1. Take yourself out for the day with your smart phone in hand.
2. Deeply notice as you walk. 
3. Make images of what catches your eye, your ear. Be spontaneous. Playful.
4. Take a moment to notice what you have captured on your phone and think about how these disparate images and noticings might come together.
5. Make a 30-second poem that you videotape yourself reading based on your wandering. I use the Videolicious app for this.
6. Asssemble all of it using Videolicious or another app of your choice (Animoto, etc.)
7. Upload and share.

A bit of inspiration from Rainer Maria Rilke:

A Walk

My eyes already touch the sunny hill.
going far ahead of the road I have begun.
So we are grasped by what we cannot grasp;
it has inner light, even from a distance-

and charges us, even if we do not reach it,
into something else, which, hardly sensing it,
we already are; a gesture waves us on
answering our own wave...
but what we feel is the wind in our faces.


Translated by Robert Bly

Note: In this series of post during the month of April, I am participating in the A to Z blogging challenge, with each day focusing on a letter.  In order to bring some cohesion to this process--releasing the imagination is the focus of each post.

Imagining A to Z: B is for Build

B is for Build.

Go ahead, do it. 

Build something. 

 

   

Note: In this series of post during the month of April, I am participating in the A to Z blogging challenge, with each day focusing on a letter.  In order to bring some cohesion to this process--releasing the imagination is the focus of each post.