Thirty Days: June 2006

With the ability to do anything, too often the result is that one does nothing. Thirty Days is a practical work-around to the problem of option paralysis.

Tasks expand to fill the time allotted to them, and this is true of the tasks of every-day life. For too many of us minor necessities expand to fill the hours of the day at the expense of creative endeavours.

Creativity, however, often responds well to a little external pressure. More precisely, the pressure of a deadline “encourages” decisions to be made which in turn allow creativity to flow unimpeded.

Thirty Days turns on the pressure with thirty daily deadlines. Each deadline forces the artist to choose a subject, an approach and a tool and create something by the end of the day.

By establishing deadlines, even artificial ones, the act of creation is given a higher priority in the hierarchy of everyday activities. Re-prioritizing daily tasks is often difficult at first, but becomes easier over the Thirty Days. The aim is to get something made by the end of the day. It may not be your best work, but it will give you experience with re-organizing your life to make creating art a priority. Something may be squeezed out to make room, maybe for the better.

Some people will not understand the need for this kind of project. To those who can and do create every day, we tip our hat and wish you well. We desire to be more like you and this is one way we are trying to get there. Others will recognize in this their own frustrations and see Thirty Days as an opportunity to work around them. If you have ever wanted to make changes we encourage you to try Thirty Days. You may end up with thirty new pieces from which to expand, or even enough for a show. At the very least it will have you organizing your time in order to create. Whatever the cost of making art every day may be, you will know it by the end of the Thirty Days.

How it works:

You create something before the end of the day every day for thirty days.

When it starts:

June 01, 2006

What you could do:

  • Complete thirty software tutorials.
  • Record thirty pieces of music in various genres.
  • Photograph subjects that have always intimidated you.
  • Write thirty poems from a new point of view.
  • Draw thirty versions of the same object.
  • Write thirty short stories.
  • Sculpt thirty maquettes.
  • Copy thirty pen drawings from the Masters.
  • Animate thirty walk-cycles.
  • Develop abandoned ideas from old sketchbooks.
  • etc.

    Sharing your work:

    There are many free hosting services out there. For images try using http://www.imageshack.us/. Or, start a blog: http://www.blogger.com/start.

    Please go to the Input page at the end of every day (or whenever your work is done) and enter a link that goes directly to the image.

    For people sending image links, the link should look something like this from Blogger:
    http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/524/3080/1600/LittleOldLady01s.0.jpg

    or this from ImageShack:
    http://img131.imageshack.us/img131/9328/buffalosamurai013oc.jpg

    To get your direct image link from your blog:

    1. Create a new Post
    2. Use the Add Image button to add your image to the post
    3. Add text to the Post if you want
    4. Publish the Post
    5. Click on View Blog
    6. Click on the image to open it in a separate window*
    7. Copy the direct link from the URL/Address bar at the top of your browser (make sure you get it all)
    8. Paste that link into the form on the Input page of the Thirty Days site

    *Windows users can right-click the image and select Copy Shortcut

    Go here to see an example:
    http://ikedabarry.blogspot.com/

    When we will have the next one:

    This is the one that matters now.