Listen To Take Your Time
Here is the audio version of Take Your Time #13. Enjoy!
Illustration
This issue’s illustration is inspired by two Warbling White Eyes in a permission tree I saw one afternoon in Tokyo. (And it’s actually more of a small painting I did with Fluid Artist Acrylics, which I recommend if you’re into painting with acrylics. The colors are highly pigmented and mix beautifully.) We had spent the morning in Aoyama and while wandering through the smaller streets on our way to Shibuya, I stopped to admire two of these cute little green birds in an almost completely bare persimmon tree. The bright hues of their chartreuse and olive feathers and the pumpkin-colored persimmons stood out against leafless trees and concrete buildings behind them.
Inspiration
One of my favorite things I did while I was in Tokyo over the holidays was visit the Museum of Contemporary Art, where I saw the exhibition MOT Annual 2023: Synergies, or between creation and generation. I think seeing contemporary art in this kind of setting or in a gallery is a great way to get to know a place. The exhibition presents roughly 50 works by 11 artists that “examine the relationship between the theme of “creation” through the imagination and handiwork of artists, and the “generation” that automatically comes into being, in a kind of reflection on the state of NFTs, artificial intelligence, artificial life, and life science, which have been a talking point in society in recent years.”
My favorite piece in the exhibition was The Square Makes It Through by Masaya Ishikawa, Hiroshi Sugihara, Hiroaki Nakaji, Campbell Argenzio, and Shohei Takei. Three boxes of various sizes continuously rearranged themselves in order to fit into the gaps or cutouts of these walls that slide across the top of the table like a type of conveyor belt. Here’s a video showing how this piece works. Not long after I started watching, I found myself silently cheering on and wishing each of the boxes would make it through each time a different wall or panel came up. Oftentimes, the boxes would rearrange in such a way that the largest box would shield the two smaller boxes as the barrier passed through. From what I noticed, the boxes often stayed near each other. It’s funny how quickly we as humans assign meaning or a narrative, but it made me think of the largest box as a caretaker looking out for the other two boxes. There was, however, this very dramatic moment where the smallest box couldn’t get into the right position to fit into the slot in the coming wall and was swiftly and very quietly pushed off the table. One of the attendants nearby rushed over and spoke quickly and quietly into the walkie-talkie and then went back to their post. I actually gasped when the smallest box became separated from the other two. The piece is about the invisible rules that surround us. Maybe it’s referring to gravity or other laws of nature that we can’t see but we feel, or perhaps it’s more about the constantly shifting rules and norms in society that restrict each and every one of us and what happens when you don’t abide by them.
The other piece I loved was “Sentai” (Power Rangers) by So Kanno+Akihiro Kato+Takemi Watanuki. It consisted of a series of videos where the main characters are different types of cleaning robots, like Roombas. In the videos, you see the journey of each of the cleaning robots and where they came from. The cleaning robots were discarded into the trash, donated to a thrift shop and one just decided to leave its home in search of adventure. They all find each other, they travel together in a pack, they get jobs and take care of each other. It made me think of the floor cleaning robot that I used to have that didn’t really work that well (it kept bumping into things) and mystified my dogs. The cleaning robots couldn’t speak or express themselves in any way, but it still broke my heart a little when two of them got separated as they attempted to escape from the thrift store they lived in. (They do get reunited eventually!)
Ideas
100 tiny changes to transform your life: from the one-minute rule to pyjama yoga I liked this list because, over the years, I’ve realized grandiose, sometimes extreme New Year’s Resolutions simply do not work for me. At the same time, I firmly believe that every day is a new day to be who you want to be and do what you want to do; it doesn’t have to be a new year to decide to do anything new. Anyway, what has worked for me is small changes I can actually implement and follow through with. I’m more focused and intent on small changes in behavior that I can do every day. I liked this list a lot because it comes from all kinds of people, and as the headline denotes, these are tiny changes that can make a big difference. As I was reading through it, I realized I already do some of these, and what struck me was two things: I should acknowledge these small things I do, and I felt more connected to other people. These stood out to me as changes I want to do or continue doing: rescuing trapped bees, brushing my teeth on one foot, writing in the morning, no longer saying yes when my gut says no, and walking outdoors every day. What about you?
The Work You Do, the Person You Are I have read and re-read this essay more times than I can count. As an artist with a day job, I have to remind myself my day job is not who I am. It’s important and there are stakes, but like Ms. Morrison says, “You are not the work you do; you are the person you are.” I think reading this, especially at the beginning of a new year, has helped me affirm who I am, my values, and what I really care about and reminds me that I will always be me, no matter what I do to make a living.
‘All of Us Strangers’ Review: A Soul Longing for the Impossible It’s early into 2024, but I’m going to go ahead and say that All of Us Strangers is my favorite movie I’ve seen this year. I saw it twice, first with a best friend and second time with my husband Michael, and both times, I was absolutely crushed emotionally and my face mask was damped with my tears. I ordered the book it is based on, Strangers by Taichi Yamada. The best way to see this movie, as the review says, is to “just feel your way through, letting it roll over you” and try and turn off the logical, analytical side of you that’s trying to make sense of everything happening. It’s one of the most original pieces of art about grief and the concept of the self that I’ve ever experienced. It brought up a lot for me; it made me deeply sad about people I loved who are gone and how I wish I had talked to them more, and it made me think about how we all are surrounded by ghosts. I’m pretty much only interested in films that will crush me emotionally. Go see it and then let’s please talk about it!
Ending Quote
The issue’s ending quote comes from none other than my favorite cartoon dog.
Learn from yesterday. Live for today. Look to tomorrow. Rest this afternoon.
-Charles Schulz, Classic Peanuts, November 1978.
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