The theme I chose was "I'm sorry I forgot you." Since picking it, my brain has been on the look out for different ideas surrounding the theme.
My sketchbook arrived last Friday. It has been sitting on my kitchen table since. It's practically been staring at me. Taunting me. A book full of blank pages. Who knew it would be so intimidating? I bought some pens, dug out a set of pencils and pulled out some powdered graphite. Yet the pages are still blank.
What is stopping me? Most likely my own judgments. I'm intimidated by the fact these pages are permanent. People will see these pages. I can't just rip it out and start over. There is a certain vulnerability in showing your process to the world in this way. You are exposing a side of yourself that wouldn't otherwise be public. But I think that is the point of the project. I know I'm completely intrigued when I get a glimpse at people's vulnerabilities. It's like a peak inside their world. A fly on the wall of their mind. So now it's my turn.
Tomorrow. I will start tomorrow. I promise.
A couple of weeks ago I did a workshop with 13 immigrant youth about sustainability. The first thing we did was a brainstorming exercise with 4 groups and no one would write anything down. The normal facilitator for the group pulled me aside after I saw someone pull out a piece of loose-leaf to create a draft and explained that they aren't used to just putting ideas out there for everyone to see. After putting on a Gordon Ramsay smile and saying "bollocks" I explained everyone that there's no wrong answer, that anything goes and that everyone's equal so no one can judge.
ReplyDeleteThey bought in and out came some of the most unique definitions of "sustainability" I'd ever seen in this kind of exercise and some very creative solutions that I'd never seen one of the corporate groups I'd work with devise.
I think that if you put down *something* and continue to put more down as time goes on, people will be able to get through the noise of the process and find those gems that really define your theme. Good luck!
I had the same problem when I got my sketchbook in the mail. I finally got started, but I had to take a deep breath first. I think I might do some pages on watercolor paper and just paste them inside. That might be less intimidating. We'll see! Best of luck to you getting over the blank page hurdle.
ReplyDeleteawesome that you got it! can't wait to see your creations :) i was too chicken sh*t to try it b/c of the permanency thing!
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