Inspiration Project First Meeting Notes,  October 7, 01

Meeting Overview;

	Joan lead an activity where we wrote down and discussed what values are important to each of us.
	Edwin gave an overview of the Inspiration Project and read from James Joyce's,  The Artist as a Young Man. The selection told the story of the artist having an inspired dream and his process of turning this experience into a poem.
	We watched a short 'inspirational' video about IDEO, one of the top product design companies in the world. The video shows IDEO's product design process based on brainstorming,  focused chaos and collaborative teamwork. We looked at what techniques we could use that can be applied to exploring a human value like Inspiration. Stay focused, one conversation at a time, encourage wild ideas.
	Cathy led an activity where we created inkblots with water colors. We then discussed what images we saw in these inkblots.

(click on image)	What do you see in these images?
	eyes, dog, legs, a magic garden with a fountain in the middle, Buddha in the center surrounded by flames, phone, donut, face, ice cream, stars, snake, club
	2 dancers, dragon, fish, snail, bird beak, guy with a top hat, face, jelly fish, aquatic scene, foot, angels/superman,  Cover of the New Yorker magazine
	face, woman's body,
	tree that's also a book, tree of life - coming up out of spirals - life path, 2 sides - wild and s???clined, top view head of a dragon, undersea creature, butt cheek imprint, weird face - mask of a fly
	Orange bird, death mask, alligator, cat, snail, sea creature, fish, squid, dog, big bird, shark,

One question is; What does seeing images in an inkblot have to do with the feeling of inspiration?

It reminds me of laying back on the grass and looking up into the clouds and seeing images. I got a thrill out of seeing and sharing these insights with friends. In the same way I enjoyed looking at the inkblots and finding images within them. It amazes me how everyone sees something else. When they point out something they see, I see the image as well. One aspect of feeling inspiration is that an insight, vision, or image comes into my awareness and I'm excited by it. It seems that this activity touches on that experience. I wonder if it would be helpful to stimulate my imagination by looking at a different inkblot each day?  edwin

 

send your ideas

Another question is; How to turn this activity into an exhibit in our Inspiration Exhibition?

One idea would be to make copies of an inkblot and paste them on a large sheet of butcher or poster paper.  Attendees could then draw outlines of what they saw in the picture, as well as, write comments next to the inkblots on the paper.

 

send your ideas

Meeting Evaluations;  I'd like all sorts of art forms but am least interested in movement/dance I'm hoping we can encourage more people to join.