In the Midnight Library

A 5 minute tour of my brain

2011-09-27T13:35:00.000-07:00

This is a typical 5 minutes in my head ...

... First of all I saw this tweet in my stream
... I misread the phrase "PARCOURS/PROJECTION" in that tweet as "parkour" and started thinking about whether it would be possible to do an art projection onto some parkour practitioners
... and that got me thinking how brilliant it would be to motion track parkour practitioners and then visualise their trails ... this seems particularly apt as they are called "traceurs" in French (meaning 'trace' or 'trail')
... and then I started imagining what it would be like if we could attach a GPS tracking device to every Olympics athlete and then record and display the trails they make while they're competing
... and then I went back to concentrating on my day job.

To quote the song lyrics of Joseph Arthur: "I'm exhausted by my imagination."

The Poetry and Story Adoption Agency

2011-09-26T13:48:00.000-07:00

So you know how I have all these untold stories and fragments of poetry constantly swirling around me ... and you know I'm not very good at getting round to writing them down ... well I've had an idea... I'm going to invite people to adopt my nascent poems and stories by giving me money on a Pay What You Want basis. In return I'll commit to writing down and finishing the poem or story and I'll also:
- send you a typewritten (yes, as in 'typed by my fair hand on a manual typewriter') copy of the finished poem/story (including copies of any illustrations).
- dedicate the poem/story to you and credit you with being responsible for bringing it into the world if I ever publish it in a book or similar.
- early adopters will also get sent one of the handwritten original drafts. Subsequent adopters will get a later handwritten draft or a facsimile copy depending on what's available.

Does that sound like an appealing idea? I feel like I'm perilously close to channelling the spirit of Derek Trotter as I try to turn my creative doings into something that will pay the bills but I like the idea of making money as part of the process rather than making things and then trying to flog the end product ... Does that make sense? Hello, is this on? < taps microphone > ;-)

Idea 4: 'Buy it Now' prices for art

2010-03-14T13:25:00.000-07:00

So while I was happily doodling away on the back of an envelope this afternoon an idea struck me ... what if I offered my art at a lower 'Buy it Now' price while it's a work in progress and then set a higher price once it's finished?

The buyer benefits by getting to pay a lower price and I benefit by having an incentive to finish the drawing ... Great idea? Rubbish idea? Let's find out ...

If you want to buy the piece I was working on when I had this brainwave (pictured below) then you can reserve it now for £5 ... once it's finished I'll post it on http://www.folksy.com for £10 ... postage is included and I'll throw in a couple of little surprises to sweeten the deal.

My thoughts on unwritten stories

2010-02-20T03:30:00.000-08:00

Pavillions of the Heart
Originally uploaded by creating in the dark

Shame is a terrible and heavy burden to carry but it can also be a comforting blanket of safety in these turbulent times of everyday living - I never go anywhere without at least one suitcase full of shame at all times. One of these cases is a vintage vanity case, it's navy blue and has a parcel label tied to the handle. There are two words on the label, in the wonky font you get from using an old manual typewriter: "Unwritten Stories". Most of the stories in this case have been with me for 10 years or more. My aim this year is to let some of those stories out of the case and into other people's souls. To that end I'll be depositing them in the library as "Reference Only" items. You'll be able to read the story fragments here but will be discouraged from taking the ideas for yourself - my ego is currently too fragile to bear the pain of seeing these stories made real by someone else. For some of the stories I will be looking for collaborators in the form of childrens illustrators but the main thing will be to garner your support to give me the courage to write the whole story and set them free into the world.

Idea 2: Daily Marmite Art

2009-10-17T08:01:00.000-07:00

I have marmite on toast for breakfast nearly every day. The squeezy marmite bottle means that I can create a temporary piece of consumeable art ... I keep thinking that it would be cool to do a project where I take a photo of the marmite art I make every day. The only problem is a) the light in our kitchen is terrible for taking photos b) our kitchen is always embarrassingly untidy c) I only think of taking a photo once I've already squeezed the marmite onto the toast - by the time I've run off to get my camera the marmite design has gone all blurred around the edges and wishy washy. I still think this could be a cool project so watch this space :-)

Idea 1: The Creeping Shadow Clock

2009-10-11T12:27:00.000-07:00

Not long after we moved into our current house I noticed that on sunny afternoons the streetlight across the road casts a shadow on the house opposite:

And as the afternoon goes on the shadow slowly inches across the house, which I captured in this note in my sketchbook in 2007.

This morning I was thinking about how great it would be if I could turn this idea into a clock which would show the time between about 1pm and 5pm by moving the silhouette of a streetlamp across the front of a house.

Grab a torch and visit my Midnight Library

2009-10-11T11:57:00.000-07:00

The Midnight Library is a place for me to share all the crazy (and not so crazy) ideas that would probably never see the light of day otherwise. Please feel free to take any of these ideas and make them your own but in the spirit of the lending library please return the ideas at some point so I can see what you've done :-)

Opening hours:
Midnight - Daybreak; Open every night of the year.

Lending limits:
Adults and children alike can take as many ideas from the library as they can carry.

Other rules:
Visitors are encouraged to bring their midnight feasts to the library. The head librarian is particularly fond of banana bread and marshmallows.
There is a licensed bar on site at the library, please pick up a coaster from the front desk and report any spillages to the head librarian.
There is no electricity at the Midnight Library. We supply tealights, torches and firefly-filled jars to help you find your way in the dark.