Hey š
Happy New Year!
I hope you managed to take some time to disconnect over the holiday period.
This year I decided to take a little bit of an extended break. Which meant I could take some time to do all the āØgood thingsāØ. Which for me means running, reading, creating and generally letting my mind wander a bit.
One day I was mulling over the idea of inspiration, connection and hope.
More specifically, where inspiration comes from and what it can lead to.
Chunky topics which I wonāt pretend to do justice to in one newsletter.
However, it did spark some thoughts for this monthās edition.
Letās dive in
āI pull my titles from many different sources. Song lyrics, TV and movie dialog, and the comment section on YouTube are a few places my titles come from. I sometimes have the title first and it will help dictate the paintingā - David Leggett via Maake Magazine
The subject of where artists get their inspiration has long been part of cultural conversation.
As Picasso allegedly said āgood artists copy, great artists stealā.Ā
Where Basquiat collected inspiration from magazines, comic books, street signs and jazz music. Others such as Ed Ruscha pull from cultural symbols such as advertising ā commenting on it in their work.Ā
David Leggett creates powerful satirical drawings and paintings. They span everything from hip hop to history to gender, pop culture and racial divide. Gaining insight from YouTube comments, movies and song lyrics he is also said to listen to stand-up comedians as he works.
So, what can we learn?
Iām a great believer that what you learn outside the office can be as important as what you learn inside the office.Ā
Meaning, it can help to break away from the process and go rogue.Ā
For example, when doing desk research sometimes the most off-beat sources ā such as YouTube comments, subreddits, niche magazines and meme accounts ā can give us a huge amount of insight into the wants, needs and culture of our audience.
We can also learn from simply observing the way others work.
Comedians can show us how to uncover insights. Teachers can show us how to break down complex ideas in digestible ways. Artists can show us how to ask better questions. And Philosophers can help us better understand ourselves and others.Ā
But perhaps the greatest breakthroughs come when we pool our knowledge and work together. Now, as we face a cacophony of economic, social and climate challenges, this is even more important.
As Hans Ulrich Obrist recently said in Index Magazine:
āIf you want to address all of the really big challenges of our times, we can only do that if we go beyond our fear of pooling knowledge. For that reason, itās always been part of my work to bring art together with other disciplines. So bring art together with scienceā¦with musicā¦ with literature. For me, curating is not only the making of exhibitions but also creating these junctions between fieldsā
A timely reminder, and one which brings hope and opportunity for the new year.
Keep inspiration, connections and collaborators vast and close. In that progress can lie.
Until next time š,
Harriet