Weeknote 16/2024
“Space travel nowadays was an escape from the problems of Earth. That is, one took off for the stars in the hope that the worst would happen and be done with in one’s absence. And indeed I couldn’t deny that more than once I had peered anxiously out the porthole – especially when returning from a long voyage – to see whether or not our planet resembled a burnt potato.”
- Stanislaw Lem, The Futurological Congress
Verbs
Writing: Slow Learning
Having spent a few years out of formal teaching, and now quite a bit of time designing, developing, and delivering workshops and other kinds of learning experiences, I was thinking about some of the characteristic differences between formal teaching and other kinds of learning. In particular, I have been thinking about what sorts of things can only happen when you spend time with the same group of students, week in and week out, for a year or two, or even more. My thinking is that knowledge can be passed on in pretty short bursts, and skills can be passed on with just a bit more time, but learning to be something - an artist, a mathematician, a chef, a philosopher - well, that takes time. There’s no workshop imaginable that can do that for you, it needs slow learning.
This isn’t to say one form of learning is better than any other, but that they each have their own limitations as well as their own strengths. What I do think is problematic is the erosion of slow learning in society. Education is increasingly compartmentalized, atomized, and delivered on-demand, to an impatient audience seeking to absorb all of the gains with none of the pains.
There’s a lot more to think about here but this was a first foray into that area. As ever, I think of everything in my blog in the spirit of Montaigne and his Essays, literally ‘attempts’ in the original French (essayer). Attempts at thinking, exploring, and understanding - rather than robust answers or solutions.
Watching: Wicked Little Letters
There’s been more misses than hits in our watching this week but the one standout was Wicked Little Letters (2023). It’s no ground-breaking work of auteurship, but it’s beautifully shot, tightly written, vibrantly acted, and a huge amount of fun. Jessie Buckley and Olivia Colman are clearly having an incredible time together and propel the film along with huge comedic energy. That it’s based (to a reasonable degree) on a true story is another dimension that really helps the absurdity of it all find some grounding as otherwise it might all feel a little too ridiculous. Knowing that the sonorously potty-mouthed missives, featuring such delicious lines as “you big fucking onion” and “you foxy-arsed rabbit-fucker” were all genuine lines lifted from the poison-pen letters really lets the film sparkle.
Reading: The Work of Art: How Something Comes from Nothing, Adam Moss
I came across Adam Moss, and his new book, through this article on Vulture. In the article, Moss talks with 3 very different artists about how they go from nothing to something - from a scribble, a sketch, a hummed tune, a lyric - through to a finished work, whatever that might be. I am really interested in the processes that people use to do what they do, whether that’s artists, in this case, or writers, academics, actors, chefs, or anyone. I’ve now got my hands on a digital copy of Moss’ book but I think it’ll be one that I will also get a hard copy of as it’s such a beautiful thing with so many absorbing photos and images. There are 40 artists featured and each of them focuses on the story of a specific work and they really get down into the nuts and bolts of it all. There are some very impressive names involved, too; Jared Kushner, Sofia Coppola, Stephen Sondheim, but I’ve enjoyed the entries for artists I knew nothing about just as much as those luminaries. Andre Gide said, “Art is a collaboration between God and the artist, and the less the artist does, the better.” I think that this book is showing that, actually, it’s all in the artist’s hands.
Inspiring: I Finished a Sketchbook in 24 Hours, Gawx
What is so inspiring about this video from the blisteringly creative Mexican YouTuber Gawx is, in part, just how inventive, accomplished, and creative he is. This one video is less than 6 minutes long and seems to pack more filmmaking prowess in those seconds than multi-million dollar movies achieve. What helped to fully and irreparably blow my mind, though, was his chat with Jack Conte where he explains how just the first minute of the video was made. To hear his combination of attention-focused, labour-heavy, dedication to craft coupled with his improvisational filming techniques (tripods on skateboards? Dad and brother as body doubles?) is humbling and breathtaking in equal measure. And all that is just the first minute of one video and there’s so much more.
Words
Well, that gorgeous spring sunshine we’ve been basking in for a few weeks decided enough was enough and in the space of 24 hours we went from 30C to 5C, hammering rain, and snow up in the hills. The week has slowly inched back to something resembling a burgeoning spring but we’re not in the clear just yet.
I’ve been finishing up my preparation for the workshop I am running in Riga, Latvia, next weekend and just have some last details to finalise before I travel next week. As is always the case with this kind of workshop, a lot of what happens will depend on participants, circumstances, and the flow of things once we get going. What I try and do is pin down a number of ‘bits’ - normally the length of a session or a half session -that we can do and then choose from those as the workshop unfolds. Sort of laying the track in front of us as the train chugs along.
This practice of overpreparing and under-structuring is one I learned from my work with Newschool in Oslo and it’s been a central feature of how I design ever since. I was very pleased when I saw a photo from the classroom of Lynda Barry (see last week’s weeknote for more) which showed her having a big stack of cards each of which had on them a class activity - and Lynda curates a selection before the class, and as it takes place, and crafts the lesson from those.
There have also been secret, top-level, very interesting meetings taking place this week. I hate to talk about anything before it’s confirmed, locked down, and absolutely, definitely, 100%, happening, but however things turn out it’s been good to talk to people doing interesting things in interesting places and to explore the ways in which my skills and experience might be a desirable addition to all of that.
Next week is looking to be a busy one with both Anja’s birthday and my trip out to Latvia. I’m praying to the Gods of travel that I won’t have a repeat of the nightmare journey I had on my last work trip and I’m looking forward to spending a few focused days with other teachers and educators.
- Mitch.