Make an appointment with yourself
10 things worth sharing + last chance to save
Here are 10 things I thought were worth sharing this week:
“Artists are people who are profoundly compelled to make their creative work and when they are distanced from their practice, their life quality suffers.” I loved chatting with art coach Beth Pickens about death, deadlines, and making your art no matter what. (I got so many positive responses from this that I took the paywall down so everyone can watch.)
A beautiful new book on my shelf: Ordinary Things Will Be Signs for Us, a collection of photography by Corita Kent. (I’ve also been flipping through scans of old Immaculate Heart College Irregular Bulletins that Corita worked on.)
“In my defense, it was never my intent to write about it. I did not have time. No one asked me to. And several people strongly cautioned against it…” An excerpt of Naomi Klein’s Doppelganger, a book she wrote about being perpetually mistaken for conspiracy theorist Naomi Wolf.
Bill McKibben on where to live in an age of climate change. (Voltaire: “One must cultivate one’s own garden.”)
“I think you just have to play it by ear. And pray for rain.” Lessons from a James Baldwin interview in the amazing Studs Terkel radio archive.
Comics: A guided tour through cartoonist Daniel Clowes’ mind and library in promotion of his forthcoming book, Monica. (It’s not for everybody, but I think Clowes’ The Complete Eightball is one of the greatest comic collections ever.)
“If I knew where songs came from I would go there more often.” The documentary Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song does a pretty good job of capturing Cohen’s career of “horniness and holiness” through the lens of his most-covered song. (I’ve had “Tower of Song” stuck in my head all week: “I was born like this / I had no choice…”)
“Everyone I know has a big ‘but.’” I somehow had never seen Pee Wee’s Big Adventure — it’s a movie about Texas and bicycles!! I also watched David Byrne’s True Stories for the first time — another movie about Texas, though sadly not about bicycles. (Even though the director is a big bike rider!) See if you can pick up the Criterion edition for the special features, which include a featurette about title designer Tibor Kalman and the Ross Brothers’ No Time To Look Back, a homage to the fictional town where the movie is set. (They previously collaborated with Byrne on Contemporary Color and have a new movie coming called Gasoline Rainbow.)
RIP musician Brian McBride, one half of the influential ambient duo Stars of the Lid.
“We each have an appointment with ourselves, though most of us never show up for it.” Your assignment his week: Make an appointment with yourself. (And keep it.)
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xoxo,
Austin
PS. If you need some back-to-school inspiration, try my books!
I've been contemplating this a lot recently. In Spring, I got a new studio space (my first one) as I felt limited in my small Berlin flat. At first, it was all fun and games. I loved going to the studio; everything was new - I started painting/ceramics and installations this year. But In the past couple of weeks, I realised once things settle, we need to be more intentional in setting time for ourselves to show up and allow our creativity to unfold. It's not enough to be creative all day in our heads; but things need also to progress and action. So, instead of allowing my mood to control when I go to the studio, I sat down yesterday and planned the days; I can pop into my studio even if it's for an hour. I have another corporate job, but there is still plenty of time to do my creative work if I make these appointments myself. It requires more planning and intentionality.
“If I show up to the page, I show up to myself.”
Definitely going in my quote book.