complexity

Manifestos. An invaluable resource.

“The best day of my life as an artist was when I was 26 years old,” he said, “and I finally succeeded in making the kind of drawing that I had wanted to make since I was a little kid. It was a drawing I called Barnyard Trouble, and it did exactly what I wanted it to do. It was the prototype of all the kinds of drawings I’ve done since. That drawing gave me a level of pleasure and satisfaction and hope that I’ve never experienced since to that degree. It was the first time I was ever completely besotted with my own work and the possibilities of it. It was like I created my own drug. It just filled me with bliss. My eyes would wander from element to element and sparks would go off and I’d see associations and relationship, my mind would go rocketing down all these different corridors. It was so fantastic. I have achieved that kind of thing since but never with that initial kind of loss of virginity feeling.”
- jim woodring

A terrific Flickr set of eastern European matchbook covers of the 1960s. Some very sweet design here.

Since I’m not making anything today, enjoy some Strandbeesten.

While working at my day job, I listen to 75% talk/25% music on the headphones. During the day I usually just have WNYC on, but lately I’ve been subscribing to more and more podcasts. A recent treasure trove is this lecture series from the Long Now Foundation. Will Wright & Brian Eno’s talk on the overlap between generative art and generative game design is a gem.

Also, don’t miss the beautiful prototype of the 10,000 Year Clock by Danny Hillis when you’re there.