Should forcing a black student to have their legs and feet bound and crawl under classroom desks be part of a lesson plan? Apparently that's what Rockland County middle school teacher Eileen Bernstein did last month to simulate what it was like on a slave ship. However, one student (whose family descended from slaves) who didn't volunteer but had to demonstrate anyway was extremely distraught. According to the Daily News, Bernstein apologized to the girl and her mother, but said she had done the demonstration before. A superintendent added, "We don't want to discourage creativity. But this obviously went wrong...
Have you ever met a Lego enthusiast? They can be a lot of fun to talk to and will open up a whole world (or perhaps ‘culture’ is a better word) for you around the little colorful bricks that many of us stop playing with as kids. Many Lego lovers are also keen photographers who love to document their work, fun, humor and creativity. Here’s just a quick sample of some of the hundreds of thousands of Lego Photos on Flickr. Image by kennymatic Image by regolare Image by Balakov Image by Balakov Image by Dunechaser Image by Balakov Image...
It'd be difficult to overstate how excited we were to hear Scott Robertson talk about his work live an in person...though a little apprehensive given that the presentation was entitled "Creativity and Narrative Imagery," and much of the audience wasn't all that familiar with his work. Not to worry; he blew everyone away, despite hardly referencing the incredible digital concept paintings for which he is so justly famous. Instead, he took the audience on an hour and a half trip through the cognitive process that he uses to generate concepts like this alien noggin...out of a crumpled paper bag....
For the past couple of weeks Justin has been drawing a different "Lunchbot" on his wife and son's lunch sacks each day. He warns: "This is what happens to underemployed dads/husbands who mostly work from home. Clever creativity or cautionary tale?" Justin is now officially this blog's dad. Thanks, Dad. The Saga of the Lunchbots [Disposable Drawings (Wordpress.com)]...
Dorothea Brande was an American writer and editor, well known for her books Wake Up and Live and Becoming a Writer (a useful resource for writers, by the way). In Wake Up and Live, she suggests twelve mental exercises to make your mind keener and more flexible. These exercises are meant to pull you out of your usual habits and to put you in situations that will demand resourcefulness and creative problem-solving. Brande argues that only by testing and stretching yourself can you develop mental strength. Even apart from the goals of creativity and mental flexibility, Brande's exercises make sense...
Always wanted to play in a symphony? Here's your chance - without even leaving your living room. YouTube has just announced the "world's first collaborative online orchestra" - the YouTube Symphony Orchestra - a one-of-a-kind experiment that provides individual musicians with an opportunity to collaborate with other musicians all over the world. But that's not all. If you play well enough, show some creativity, and exude passion, you may find yourself seated in the famed Carnegie Hall, performing live with other YouTube musicians. Sponsor The contest is open to all musicians over age 14, regardless of instrument or skill. But...
The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life (Free 1st Chapter) As long as I’ve outed myself as an obsessive fan of Twyla Tharp’s The Creative Habit, it seems sensible to point you to this free excerpt of the book, which includes the full text of the book’s first chapter. While it doesn’t capture the clear-eyed usefulness of the book nearly as satisfyingly as each subsequent chapter does, it will give you a feel for why this book’s different from your garden-variety aspirational artist porn — this woman does not believe in “natural genius,” and she damned well...
Last August, I saw the impact of Twitter's velocity first-hand with a fundraising experiment. I was able to raise $2,500 in 90 minutes at Gnomedex. I wondered whether or not those results would be replicable? Right before Thanksgiving, the TweetsGiving effort helped Epic Change raise over $10,000 in 48 hours to build a classroom in Tanzania. As Lucy Bernholz notes, this might be one more example of fundraising on Twitter is less marginal and moving to the middle.Lucy points to some implications for organizations to consider: Video, blogging, twitter, online payments, viral marketing, instant thank yous, etc as the minimal...
Lazerian is a creative practice that began in 2006, set up by Liam Hopkins. Based in an ex- hat factory in Manchester, the practice is focused on the creation of functional objects through playful investigation of materials and processes. Light Modulator is an example of Lazerian's creativity....
