Things that inspired me in 2017
Here’s a short but real summary of what inspired me in 2017. Some of it inspired code, some of it inspired design, and a little bit inspired me to take a big, risky step in my career.
Video (and song): Kendrick Lamar — Element
Directed by Jonas Lindstroem and The Little Homies (Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free). Element features scenes inspired by the photographic work of Gordon Parks, a 20th century American photographer.
There’s something very specific about this that inspired me. In my opinion, the best artistic work comes from very particular circumstances and one of them is remixing. The remixing of Parks’ fantastic photos depicting American society and Lindstroem’s style of moving photographs is beautiful, mesmerizing, and mysterious. You see a bigger story behind the video and the lyrics.
Podcast: Mystery Show — Belt Buckle
Mystery Show is a now defunct podcast by Gimlet Media, hosted by Starlee Kine. It’s too bad they don’t make it anymore because this episode is, by far, the best podcast episode I’ve ever listened to.
Kine attempts, throughout this episode, to find the true owner of a belt buckle a friend of hers found by a sewer decades ago. Fantastic narration and an impressive demonstration that despite the passage of time, some things don’t change.
Philosophy: Paradox of tolerance
In an era of 30 second articles and fast consumption, it’s increasingly harder to find something that challenges your way of thinking. This is a great example.
The paradox of tolerance was described by Karl Popper in 1945. The paradox states that if a society is tolerant without limit, their ability to be tolerant will eventually be seized or destroyed by the intolerant. Popper came to the seemingly paradoxical conclusion that in order to maintain a tolerant society, the society must be intolerant of intolerance.
I consider myself a big supporter of free speech. I considered myself a big supporter of free speech no matter what. No matter the ideology. Even if the ideology promotes intolerance. In my previous opinion, we shouldn’t judge when thinking about free speech and let people be the judge.
The societal effects, as Popper explains, are far more complex. Historically, intolerant ideas limit freedom of speech, which turns freedom of speech into a paradox itself. Should we be intolerant with intolerance? I used to think not, but I now I think we should. Now, I think that intolerance should be manifested in the form of ignoring intolerant ideologies and groups of people and not giving them a platform; never in violence or physical harm.
Hobby: Film photography
I started with an analog lens for my digital mirrorless camera. I got a cheap Minolta MD Rokkor-X 50mm f1.7 lens, an adapter, and I was hooked. I love the feeling of a solid, 70s-80s lens, the build, the bokeh, and being able to admire it instantly in digital.
The beautiful thing of vintage lenses in mirrorless cameras is that you can shoot fantastic, cinematic video with them.
After playing with this for a while, I got a film camera from my dad. The Icarex 35 CS, built by Zeiss Ikon and Voigtlander. It’s still in the shop pending repair, but in the meantime I’ve been experimenting with an inexpensive but effective Minolta X-700.
It uses 35mm film and it’s fantastic. I recommend The Darkroom because you can send them your rolls via USPS with prepaid envelopes and they deal with the rest. Here are some photos I took at a trip to LA.
The beauty of film is that you can play with so many variables. There’s room for those who want deterministic, disciplined results, and for those like me who are chaotic improvisation messes.
Trend: New surrealism
The most effective way to spot new artistic and pop movements is by observing popular crowdsourced media (media where average people contribute, not established media companies). I’ve been inspired by a new surge of surrealism in social media, in the form of artistic expression and political commentary.
Memes themselves already have small touches of surrealism in them, but there is a new, well defined current of surrealism in social media, especially Instagram, that will define the boundaries of user-generated art in 2018.
A lot of it is unsettling and hard to watch, much like Dali’s film experiments with meat and decomposition, and almost all of it has some societal or political commentary. It’s rebellious and nonsensical and I love it.
Film: Moonlight
(Moonlight was released late 2016, but I didn’t watch until mid 2017).
2016 and 2017 have been great years for indie film and horrible, horrible years for commercial film. I’m done with Michael Bay, I’m done with the 25th installment of the Avengers and all of its variations, I’m done with every lazy (but successful) attempt at milking franchises. I’m done with CGI-driven shows and films trying to recreate the Star Trek success of The Next Generation. (A note from my heart: The Next Generation was a success because of the incredible writing talent and the cast — the episode “Darmok” is still considered one of the best TV episodes of any show in the 90s — not because of its low-budget effects)
Moonlight is the unfiltered, raw portrayal of the life of a young black man in Miami. It’s realistic, it breaks expectations, and it’s alive. It’s true storytelling.
Other movies I watched in 2017 that I liked and made me think: Manchester by the Sea, Ladybird, and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
Book: Leonardo da Vinci — Walter Isaacson
I have to confess: I haven’t finished it yet.
Isaacson has the unrivaled talent of telling you the story of someone else’s life as if you were living it yourself. His biographies are great and Leonardo’s is amazingly written, fact-checked, and gives you an in-depth analysis and interpretation of his life and personality. Very inspiring.
Career-changing inspiration: Do what you can’t
2017 has been a hard year. Hard. During my short professional life I’ve experienced ups and downs, but never the amount of work, effort, disappointment, uncertainty, anger, strength, tears, and anxiety I felt in 2017. It’s been a rocky year with a happy ending. The fulfillment of a life long dream and the realization that there’s no Han-Solo-Chewbacca-Medal-Giving-Rebel-Alliance-Ceremony when you fulfill it.
Do what you can’t is a video by Casey Neistat that showed up on my feed just when I needed it. It’s short, straight to the point, and I’ve played it 30 times. Per day. (On days I needed it).
The most important: love
My biggest inspiration in 2017 was my family and friends. They believed in me, and they supported me. They were there when it was tough and they were there when it was time to celebrate.
Now let’s celebrate.
