The soft openness of a scrapbook
Continuing on a books tip, here’s an excellent recommendation if you’re in a creative fug or a chronic procrastinator.
Do Interesting: Notice. Collect. Share* (below) is a highly bookmarkable little companion that suggests unexpected approaches to unlocking creativity. It’s all about seemingly micro actions; paying attention, collecting and sharing.
Author Russell Davies interviewed me for it following a brief email exchange about his fab cool cafes blog. We discovered we had a similar dot-joining approach to creative thinking and he particularly liked the descriptions of my overstuffed scrapbooks.
Do Interesting is genius because you can passively consume it and let the advice seep into your subconscious, or you can actively follow the “Do” takeaways at the end of each page. Or a bit of both. (I just discovered some more scrapbooking intel from Russell here.)
I’m happy to note that I’m not alone in my scrapbook obsession. Sofia Coppola’s new book Archive (top and below) is an absorbing collation of her letters, photos, scripts, mood board inspo and other film-related ephemera that have informed her work and aesthetic. Looking back you can see how her dreamy, girlish (with a side of indie cool) worldview shaped the whole 2010s female gaze aesthetic.
And Vince Aletti’s book, The Drawer (below) is equally enthralling as a glimpse into someone’s visions of masculinity and male desire. The former Village Voice art critic has collected hundreds of tear sheets, newspaper clippings and other printed ephemera in a drawer since the 1970s. His compilation of some of them into this book is a joy to behold – it’s all about the graphic layers and personal-to-him juxtapositions, like visual poetry.
WORDS: Disneyrollergirl / Navaz Batliwalla
IMAGES: Sofia Coppola Archive; Do Interesting x 3; Sofia Coppola Archive; Vince Aletti x 3
NOTE: Most images are digitally enhanced. Some posts use affiliate links and PR samples. Please read my privacy and cookies policy here
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