Creativity

Art / Creativity

Joshua Spodek: big in China

I'm big in China! I can't tell what the video or text says, but Sinovision.net covered my opening. Here's a video of me and my work. Totally cool to watch, assuming they are saying cool things about me. Here's a write up. Here's a web translation of the write-up. If anyone can make better sense of it, please let me know: Static in the move - Joshua Spodek expansion diorama display 18 Flushing Author: Bin Zou time :2011 -06-16 17:50:07 Click: 78 [medium and small] [Zou Bin, China Press correspondent in New York reported on June 16] "Static in the move - Joshua Spodek expansion diorama" personal art exhibition will be held on the 18th day in Flushing, New Moon Art Gallery formally meet with…

0 Comments
June 20, 2011
Art / Creativity

Solo gallery show first images and video

Here are a couple videos of my solo gallery show "Motion in Stillness" at the Crossing Art gallery in Queens. Yesterday was the opening. These videos are from before the opening. Better quality video will go up soon. Some people at the opening had some serious cameras. From before the press preview, here is a quick tour of the show. As always with my medium, only seeing it in person does it justice. Still, it's something. Some of the pieces were still under construction (the ones showing the animations in the back) and the camera is the low quality one in my phone. Another recording, slightly better, I'd say, is here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwbPjVO_wQY From Friday, after the press preview and before the opening, my sister, father,…

1 Comment
June 19, 2011
Finishing touches
Joshua Spodek's solo opening at Crossing Art Gallery in Queens
Art / Creativity

Finishing touches

Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away. -- Antoine de Saint-Exupery I've been working day and night on the finishing touches for the show, mainly simplifying things, inspired by the space and the quality of the work by Jennifer, Sunny, and Kyung Yung (sp?), who work at Crossing Art. You'd think the sad irony would be that the more your work, the less chance of people recognizing it. But you don't have to worry about that. Most importantly, enjoying the work makes it its own reward. Secondarily, people who you want to recognize the work required for simplicity will. They've done it too. Others will simply enjoy the simplicity and you can…

0 Comments
June 18, 2011
Early reviews of the show from a four year old
Art / Creativity

Early reviews of the show from a four year old

Anyone knows making it big in the art world means challenging people's views of art and making complicated, ponderous pieces. It can't be accessible to children. I guess I can't to anything right. I explore and draw out wonder, curiosity, amazement, and fascination -- the emotions of scientists. And children. My four-year-old niece came to the gallery today to see the installation in progress. She came with my sister (her mother) and my father. Here are a few pictures of her. She loved running past the display and telling my sister where to walk her around when being carried. Tomorrow I expect people to move around a lot too and to watch each other moving. It's fun. You'll smile. Don't tell people in the art…

1 Comment
June 17, 2011
Your new plans for Saturday
Joshua Spodek's solo opening at Crossing Art Gallery in Queens
Art / Creativity

Your new plans for Saturday

Cancel your plans for Saturday afternoon, June 18, 3-6pm, this is better -- my first solo show in years, at the beautiful Crossing Art Gallery: Joshua Spodek: Motion in Stillness If you haven't seen my work, now is your chance to see some mind-blowing and amazing art. Like no other medium, there is no substitute for the wonder of seeing it in person. (EDIT: more posts on the show: images and video of the show, reviews, closing event with Leaders in Software and Art, more videos) Critics hail it as both retro, recalling Eadweard Muybridge and Étienne-Jules Marey, and radically new, pushing limits on laser-cut machining and digital image processing; showing both its commercial and subway-based roots as well as  my science and nature background…

3 Comments
June 13, 2011
Art / Creativity

Linear zoetropes in Amsterdam

By chance I found a video of a display made by a Dutch art student last summer who contacted me to help make a lenticular linear zoetrope. Her name is Kyra Martens and she was incredibly resourceful and a terrific problem solver in creating the piece. She was able to bring together the Amsterdam Zoo (for whom she made the display), the Dutch equivalent of Macy's (in whose window she installed the display), a media company, and me to create a display as a final project for an art class. The video below shows the display she made with random members of the public viewing it with the usual wonderment people have viewing it the first time. Congratulations Kyra!

0 Comments
June 11, 2011
Freedombox logo designs
Freedombox logo
Art / Creativity / Freedom / Models / Visualization

Freedombox logo designs

More Freedombox logo ideas, in collaboration with John Emerson. Click on them for larger versions. If you don't know about Freedombox, I recommend learning about (and supporting) it, unless you like third parties like corporations and governments having access to your personal life.

4 Comments
June 8, 2011
My next solo gallery show at Crossing Art Gallery
Joshua Spodek's solo opening at Crossing Art Gallery in Queens
Art / Creativity

My next solo gallery show at Crossing Art Gallery

Ladies and gentlemen, my first solo gallery show in over five years will have its opening event Saturday, June 18. You're invited! I will be showing new works I've been working on and have been excited to show. Publicly showing your work is what an artist lives for. That said, until people see the new stuff, you never know how it will go over, so there's the usual anxiety and excitement. The logistics: Joshua Spodek at the Crossing Art Gallery June 18 - July 17, 2011 Artist talk: Saturday, June 18, 3-4pm Opening reception: Saturday, June 18, 4-6pm Press preview: Thursday, June 16, 2pm Address: 136 - 17 39th Avenue, Ground Floor, Flushing, New York 11354 Directions: 7 Train to Flushing Main Street, walk one…

0 Comments
June 7, 2011
I have low standards the first time
Choosing/Decision-Making / Creativity / Leadership / My Favorite Posts / Nonjudgment

I have low standards the first time

This post on doing things you love even if you're not good at it prompted discussion -- or at least people asking me about doing things that feel scary or are hard. For most people, the challenges are internal. Most people aren't risking health and safety doing something like climbing Everest -- they're thinking of trying out for that senior position, singing karaoke, going to a gym for the first time, or asking that guy or girl out. Their risking losing social standing -- aka embarrassing themselves. Why people don't try new things Their biggest fears are based on beliefs of imagined futures. People don't predict the future effectively, all the more when projecting fearfully, so they tend to project worst case scenarios. Even if…

0 Comments
May 29, 2011
Art / Creativity / Education

Parsons student linear zoetrope videos

Here are videos of the final non-digital linear zoetropes made by the students in Parsons Submedia collaboration studio in the spring of 2011. The students are superstars. The students' next step will be the display in Union Square, so stay tuned. I took all the videos with my low quality camera phone. More videos are at the course blog. First the grand tour of all the zoetropes in the Arts, Media, and Technology department -- i.e., the tenth floor. https://joshuaspodek.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/grand_tour_tenth_floor_zoetropes.avi The linear zoetropes downstairs facing Fifth Avenue and 13th Street at night. https://joshuaspodek.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/5th_and_13th_night.avi The linear zoetropes downstairs facing Fifth Avenue and 13th Street during the daytime. https://joshuaspodek.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/5th_and_13th_day.avi linear zoetropes that were downstairs back upstairs.   Group 1's linear zoetrope -- the Unicorn.   Group 2's…

0 Comments
May 27, 2011
Art / Blog / Creativity

Another friend wins writing award

Alex Kudera's first novel won an Independent Publishers Book Awards award -- the IPPY Gold Medal for Best Fiction. I wrote about him and his book, Fight For Your Long Day, a couple months ago. He's planning to give a reading in New York this summer. Who knows how fast his star will rise? Congratulations Alex!

1 Comment
May 24, 2011
New images and videos of the Parsons Displays
Final Fifth Avenue and 13th Street Parsons Student Linear Zoetropes
Art / Creativity / Education

New images and videos of the Parsons Displays

Here are some videos and images of the displays the Parsons students put up in the corner of 5th Avenue and 13th Street. As usual, my camera is not great and my recording ability is worse. Cameras don't capture the medium. The final product also doesn't capture the challenge and work that went into creating the displays. Also, please see the course blog for lots of other images and videos of projects they did along the way.

0 Comments
May 5, 2011
Art / Creativity

Update #2 on the Parsons Union Square display

Here is an update to the Parsons Union Square kickstarter project. Update #2: Video of the Fifth Avenue display Here is a video (just from my camera phone, sorry not great quality) of one of the displays in Parsons' window facing Fifth Avenue and 13th Street. As mentioned in the last update, this display is a big, genuine art piece, although still in preparation for the Union Square piece, which will be bigger and digital. Still, this one is pretty cool. The animation is a whimsical one of one of the students in the course, although everyone contributed to designing, building, and installing the display, as well as creating the animation in it. Many people walking by stop and look at it. Please check it…

0 Comments
April 28, 2011
Update #1 on the Union Square display
Fifth Avenue display being installed
Art / Creativity / Education

Update #1 on the Union Square display

Here is an update to the Parsons Union Square kickstarter project. Update #1: Prototype displays go up in Parsons windows, 5th Avenue and 13th Street The class has been preparing prototype linear zoetropes to be placed in the windows of Parsons' building at 5th Avenue and 13th Street, facing the street. We shouldn't call them prototypes because they are full art pieces everyone in the class participated in creating, hosted by a great institution, on display for the public to see. But they are preparation for the Union Square display, which will be bigger and digital. Below are some pictures of the students completing and installing these linear zoetropes. If you are near Manhattan, please come see them. By this point, most of the difficult…

0 Comments
April 26, 2011
Art / Blog / Creativity / Education

Tonight’s talk’s map

Here's the mindmap for tonight's Fred talk. Slightly evolved from my last one. Not everything made it into the presentation. Drag it around and click around. To navigate use arrow keys or click white space and drag to move the map click the '+' or '-' icon at the top to resize the map click the "fit" icon at the top (to the right of the '-') to fit the visible part of the mindmap in the space available click nodes  in the mindmap to show or hide nodes beneath them -- dragging, resizing, or re-fitting as necessary afterward [freemind height='500px' width='600px']/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/creativity_map_110423.mm[/freemind]

0 Comments
April 23, 2011
Art / Blog / Creativity

Working on art

When you feel like a superhero it's hard not to indulge in sharing why you feel so great. Solving technical problems makes you feel like a genius when you get it. I've had two days straight of amazing progress. One thing after another fell into place. It all took a lot of research, trial and error, moving step-by-step, not biting off too much at a time. Most of that was software and deliveries coming in. For those who know, the software I'm working on was getting the Western Digital media players for the Union Square digital linear zoetrope display to work remotely, which requires getting into the hacker community for the product. For anyone who doesn't know, working with hacker communities means searching all over…

0 Comments
April 22, 2011
See me speak on creativity!
Fred Invitation for Saturday. Come!
Blog / Creativity / Education / Events

See me speak on creativity!

See my Fred talk this Saturday, April 23, 7:30pm at 136 Lawrence Street, Brooklyn. From my previous post about the talk (before it was rescheduled to this Saturday): Fred talks are do-it-yourself Ted talks with the slogan "Your friends' ideas worth spreading." Who says you need some huge conference for thousands of people that costs lots of money? You probably learned more from your grandmother than most of your teachers, let alone famous people you don't know. Let's do it ourselves! Sharing locally can do things pristine, beautifully-produced things can't. Who isn't a fan of do-it-yourself community building? A big part of why I'm doing it is that the people behind it give me the feeling they may make Fred talks huge. Maybe huger than…

0 Comments
April 20, 2011
Blog / Creativity / Entrepreneurship / Leadership

Perfection in leadership and how to improve

Leadership does not require perfection -- far from it. Effective leaders don't have to be strong in many leadership skills at all. Effective leadership emerges more from knowing your strengths and weaknesses than on having many strengths. Speed and strength are valuable to any position in football, but a quarterback doesn't need strength like a lineman. And a lineman doesn't need to be as fast as a running back. A quarterback trying to be as strong as a lineman is wasting his time and hurting his team. Using Columbia Business School's breakdown of leadership skills into the six categories, for example, Decision making Negotiation and conflict resolution Perceiving others Influence and persuasion Motivation Groups and teams Most people will be stronger in some and weaker…

0 Comments
April 16, 2011
Art / Creativity

Great opening lines to books

I like memorable opening lines to books. Good ones can be poetry, or a whole book into themselves. Sometimes they set the tone for the book. Others are simply memorable for their simplicity. Some of my favorite (some from memory so please correct errors): "Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendia was to remember that distant day when his father took him to discover ice." - One Hundred Years of Solitude "It was inevitable. The scent of bitter almonds always reminded Dr. Juvenal Urbino of the fate of unrequited love." - Love in the Time of Cholera "Call me Ishmael." - Moby Dick "Light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin. My soul. The tip of the tongue…

3 Comments
April 13, 2011
Awareness / Blog / Creativity / Freedom / Tips

When polarizing helps

Here's another lesson from my stylist friend besides how fast even significant personal change can be, possibly obvious to people more stylish than me. He told me a major goal of how you dress is to polarize. At first polarizing sounded counterproductive. Polarizing in a discussion breaks down communication. Why would I want to polarize? Why would I want to repel people? He explained further. Many people dress to fit in, meaning they don't polarize. If you have a job where you have to fit in, dress to fit in when you're there. But if you dress to fit in you don't say anything about yourself. Dressing to polarize repels some people but attracts others. If you dress to express yourself authentically and genuinely the…

0 Comments
April 8, 2011
Art / Creativity / Education / Entrepreneurship

My next big beautiful public art piece! (please contribute!)

My next big beautiful public art piece will be with my Parsons class in Union Square. You can help make New York more beautiful, give people something to enjoy in their busy days, help students learn and build experience. Visit the project's Kickstarter page and donate! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/492851406/big-beautiful-public-art-by-parsons-class-in-union About this project: We are 18 young talented art students and 2 professors in a class together at Parsons The New School of Design's Art, Media, and Technology (AMT) program. We are raising money to build a big beautiful interactive public art installation in New York City's Union Square. Our goal is to create a dramatic new interactive digital motion-picture display unlike any the world has seen, entertaining and engaging to all New Yorkers for free, in the…

0 Comments
April 2, 2011
Art / Awareness / Blog / Creativity / Fitness / Freedom / Tips

A master speaks on creative expression

Martha Graham, one of the great artists of the twentieth century -- Picasso-level stature and influence in her field -- entered my life late, in my 30s, when recording Julliard dancers for my art at Lincoln Center. They were perfect people to learn from, dancers actively learning her, describing a "Martha Graham revolution" I'd never heard of before. I'd feel bad about learning about her so late, but since then I've met plenty of people who haven't heard of her either. I understand she allowed few recordings of herself and her work. Her voice-over in the only one I've seen captures some elusive yet essential points about creativity, expression, discipline, repetition, and freedom. When I heard these quotes the first time they resonated like only…

0 Comments
March 31, 2011

End of content

No more pages to load

Newer Posts
Older Posts