Hummingbird Dance

Creating an art work
This video was created by video recording myself dancing in a dance studio on my laptop, and then splicing together a variety of ‘takes’ to create a final “motion picture”. In the editing room, using MovieMaker, I played with transitions, speed, timing and perspective. The main themes, for me, were about playfulness and the witness. The process of creating this work followed closely many basic principles of expressive arts therapy, including low-skill/high-sensitivity, following the emergent, de-centering, the witness, increasing range of play, extending the process through intermodal transfers, and harvesting. I feel that this process, particularly exploring visual effects, helped me to see myself from the outside, as I would witness a hummingbird dance. I had a terrible fear of watching myself dance on film, and so playing with the video footage in the editing process allowed me to re-source my sense of aesthetics and playfulness and to breathe into my fears with a renewed sense of life and energy. And so this video is my witness, and it is me witnessing myself. And now you are witnessing it with me.

Many thanks.

photograph by Roy Dunn
via: http://quickblink.com/advanced-hummingbird-photography-with-high-speed-flash/

Aug(De)mented Reality

 

 

 

by Hombre McSteez

 

🙂 ENJOY!

The Practice of the Imagination

David Whyte
“A Good Minute”

60 seconds of wisdom from poet and philosopher David Whyte.

The Power of Empathy

Short video all about empathy, animating the words and wisdom of Brene Brown.

NeuroKnitting

The project is a perfect example for art and science collaboration.

“We have plotted brainwave activity into a knitted pattern. Using a wearable, non-invasive EEG headset, we recorded users’ affective states while listening to Bach’s “Goldberg Variations”, concretely the aria and its first seven variations. The audio was about 10 minutes long and we downsampled each second of the signal coming from the 14 channels of the EEG device. Three main features were measured: relaxation, excitement, and cognitive load. After recording, those features were converted into a knitting pattern. Hence, every stitch of a pattern corresponds to a unique brain state stimulated by the act of listening. It means the user’s affective response to music is captured every second and memorised in the knitted garment pattern.”

Visit their website @ http://www.knitic.com/neuro/

John Cleese on Creativity

This brilliant lecture about creativity has many parallels with the ideas that inform expressive arts therapy, and art therapy.

Forever Young

Song by Bob Dylan, Illustrated by Paul Rogers

From youtube:

Bob Dylans first book for kids Forever Young available everywhere September 23, 2008! Since it first appeared on the 1974 album Planet Waves, “Forever Young” has been one of Bob Dylan’s most beloved songs. Its an anthem to youth, to doing the right thing, to cherishing the spirit of being young. And like so many of Dylans songs, it still moves people today. Re-imagined by award-winning illustrator Paul Rogers, the lyrics tell the story of a young boy who travels through his life, as well as Dylans many influences, living in the footsteps of the man who gave the world the greatest gift he had: his music. Forever Young is published by ginee seo books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing.”

Reuben Margolin: Sculpting waves in wood and time

http://www.ted.com Reuben Margolin is a kinetic sculptor, crafting beautiful pieces that move in the pattern of raindrops falling and waves combining. Take nine minutes and be mesmerized by his meditative art — inspired in equal parts by math and nature.

Just How Small is an Atom?

Just how small are atoms? And what’s inside them? The answers turn out to be astounding, even for those who think they know. This fast-paced animation uses spectacular metaphors (imagine a blueberry the size of a football stadium!) to give a visceral sense of the building blocks that make our world.

Lesson by Jonathan Bergmann (http://flippedlearning.org/), animation by Cognitive Media (http://www.cognitivemedia.co.uk/).

Oh daylight rise! Atoms are dancing,
Souls, lost in ecstasy, are dancing. 
I'll whisper in your ear where the 
dance will take you. 
All atoms in the air, in the desert, 
They are all like madmen, each atom, 
happy or miserable, 
Is Passionate for the sun of which 
nothing can be said. 

Rumi

Fiona Apple Live

This is just so good.

“Caught a Long Wind” by Feist

favourite part is…”litle chickadee, doodleee doo doo”