We’ve been getting an increasing number of emails from readers their shipping pallet improvisations, as they push they realm of pallet invention. A recent favorite: this swell, stylish staircase by Natasha Figueroa and her husband Dan Husted who live in an up-and-coping gallery district in Copenhagen, Denmark. We have a private gallery/studio located in Kødbyen,…
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(Video link here.) After we posted the anxiety-producing riff on Banksys “No stopping”, we found this great post called Slowing Down by Leo Widrich. It’s worth reading Widrich’s process of slowing down. Here’s an excerpt the essential, powerful technique he learned from Paulo Coelho in his book The Pilgrimage; it’s called The Speed Exercise: It is very simple.…
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We recently stumbled on Serbian artist ABVH‘s GIFs that animate famous outdoor artworks by Banksy. This one makes us incredibly ANXIOUS (a powerful emotion); the GIF animation turns up the volume on Banksy’s original message. It made us think about what we REALLY need reminding of: to stop, slow down. What would be…
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We’ve browsed endless catalogues that feature chic, expensive house numbers. We’ve always preferred the ones Isabel Rower devised out of washi tape. Then we saw THIS wonderful graphic house number done in ordinary paint. It could be any size and color(s) you want. The trick would be in finding or making a template that makes…
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Dargelos posted this cool doorway while on their trip through Germany. It made us think how wonderful it would be to see public street signs that inspired creativity rather than just “Walk/Don’tWalk” etc. The “How to Work Better” wall sign we posted a while back is a great example. via dargelos Related posts: improvisation is…
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(Video link here.) As an artist in residence at MIT, Trevor Paglen worked with materials scientists to develop an ultra-archival disc of images, capable of lasting in space for billions of years. He meant this disc to contain a “cultural mark”, that would portray our world long after it might have disappeared altogether. He interviewed scientists, artists,…
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We’ve long been fans of Aakash Nihalani‘s geometric tape illusions and wonder how we might apply the idea to our Laboratory. Could we make simple 3-D looking illusions out of tape on our ceiling to make it look higher, or on a wall to make it look like there is another room…? (Much of the…
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Curiously, this man in a bacon costume inspires us. He epitomizes the out-of-the-box, sometimes silly, sometimes outrageous, sometimes-even-embarassing creative thinking that we love so much. We could view this man as a fool or brilliant, and realize sometimes they are the same thing. via Retronaut Related posts: why not half a mustache?xwhat helps you see things…
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Just as we were thinking we couldn’t write another thing – didn’t have a clear thought in our head – Maria Robledo sent us this photo of the crazy-beautiful flower she was balancing on her knee as she and floral designer Lindsey Taylor were driving home from a photo shoot. Somehow, it seemed like a…
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This lovely brick floor spotted at Style Files reminded us of the floor Alexander Calder installed in the huge windowed studio he added on to his Connecticut farmhouse. It was made of the most ordinary of materials – sans mortar or cement.
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Having installed quite a few mirrors into ‘the improvised life’s’ new laboratory, we’ve witnessed first-hand how quickly they show fingerprints and smudges, along with a streaky glare acquired a week or so after being cleaned. We’ve also been experiencing how much “shows” on or white high gloss doors and walls – and they don’t come…
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A favorite poem by Japanese poet Shiki, from one of our favorite morning reads Zen Art for Meditation, accompanied by an image by the great photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto. Can you see the blue?…
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We always have our eyes for ideas we could use at home, office, spaces we need to support us and lift our spirits. The right color can do that. Since we’re not being entirely comfortable picking colors on our own, we look to ways other people have done it for inspiration and guidance. First we…
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As we’ve mentioned, ‘the improvised life’s laboratory is something of an homage to plywood. We’ve used it for many things, from window sills to cabinets to floors. We love the stuff, and are constantly hatching plots in our head for furniture, housewares, endless inventions. So we are smitten with carpenter and author Philip Schmidt new book PlyDesign which…
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This stop-action video tracking 5 years of one man’s appearance makes us wonder how much how we look, and what our style is, affects our experience and identity…And the many choices we can make about our appearance.
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We’re going about our day today, very aware of that day…
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When we saw this image from Natural Style Outdoor Spaces on Style Files, we immediately thought: shipping pallets would make a perfect base. You’d hardly have to desconstruct them. Just clean them up (stack if desired) and place slip-covered foam cushions on them (here’s a how-to), for chic lounging pallets that would work inside or…
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(Video link here.) Richard Whitehead’s come-from-behind whirlwind completely defies the words ‘disabled”. The race is breathtaking, and a big reminder of just what’s possible if you set your mind to it, and work and practice, and are willing to not have things be be perfect, until suddenly they become just that. “I am living proof,…
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We’re loving How to Be an Explorer of the World: Portable Life Museum, illustrator Keri Smith’s 59 ideas for how to creatively “shift” and wake your mind by engaging with your surroundings in new and interesting ways. As Brain Pickings noted recently: “…they’re potent training for what Buddhism would call “living from presence” and inhabiting your life more fully.”…
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We really love these minimalist, painterly outlined nails, done with two layers of polish. Easy, stylish and surprising! Check out the simple d-i-y technique (though it’s pretty self-evident) over at Love Esthetics.
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