Category: creativity
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point of entry
The other day, I had a conversation about what it’s like to live in Los Angeles. The man I was talking to said he thought LA was too big. “I haven’t spent much time there, but I wouldn’t even know where to begin,” he said. “If I was going to…
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where we come from
In her episode of Abstract: The Art of Design, Es Devlin makes the claim that, “the systems and influences of one’s childhood are inescapable.” While peering down on a model of her hometown, she says, “My work is as much a reaction against this as it is continuing to perpetuate…
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why editing is important
A few years ago, I was working on a film set. I started a conversation with one of the camera operators, who claimed that editing is one of the most useful skills a person can possess. The editor is responsible for putting the whole film together. As this camera operator…
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what to keep, what to leave out
I’ve been a Bon Iver fan for over ten years now. Justin Vernon’s work as a musician and artist is unparalleled, from the emotive experience of For Emma, Forever Ago to his collaborations with Kanye West and Taylor Swift. One of my favorite things I’ve seen Vernon do is perform…
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the gift of self
One of the biggest mistakes I’ve made is doing my creative work for other people–trying to get produced, to impress, to prove something. Art shouldn’t be personal, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it for yourself. One of the secrets no one ever tells you: we don’t ever get…
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nothing personal
I’ve been writing a lot recently. It’s going better than usual and here’s why: I’m not being precious. I don’t throw a parade when I’m happy with the work and I don’t fall on my sword when I’m not. I show up each morning and tell a story–sometimes it’s good…
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the infinite playlist project
In my last semester of high school, I decided to make a mixtape commemorate each of the four previous years. The result was one of my favorite projects I’ve completed, a soundtrack to a few of the defining moments in my life. “The times you lived through, the people you…
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succeed on your own terms
Every so often, in a half-hearted attempt to engage in a conversation, my parents will ask me about “selling out”: “Did [insert name of a band here] sell out when they released this song or this album?” My definition of selling out had changed quite a bit over the years,…
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drawing as seeing
I went to the museum yesterday. Instead of using my phone to photograph the things that struck me, I took out my notebook and tried to draw them. It allowed me to really focus on what I was seeing, to absorb every detail. Have an afternoon to kill? Go to…
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swimming upstream
I’m currently reading Alan Jacobs’ Breaking Bread with the Dead. It’s a tough read, but absolutely worthwhile. In one passage, he advocates for “reading upstream,” which is to say looking to those who influenced your influences: I took a couple of classes in medieval literature but I came to adore…
joshua chamberlain 