Brian Eno Documentary

Last night Scott and I saw the amazing Eno documentary at the Roxie in SF. It plays through August 1st and if you are an Eno fan or interested in what deep creativity looks like, GO!

The documentary is not static -- the filmmakers wrote a program such that every showing of the film changes, with the exception of the beginning and the end. So no two film viewings are the same. "The film runs on a code-based decision tree that forks every so often in a new path, created for software named Brain One (an anagram for Brian Eno).” - NY Times

One scene showed a clip from recording sessions he did with David Bowie in the 1970s for "Heroes". In that scene, Bowie and Eno both pick cards from a deck Eno created together with another pioneering multi media artist, Peter Schmidt, with prompts to help you move through creative roadblocks. Eno's card was something like "Stay the Course" (not verbatim) and Bowie's was something like "Tear it all down". Eno mused how wild the music from that session was, with music composed on the spot, and Bowie creating lyrics as he sang.

Creativity, and life as a creative act is my deep fuel. So when we got home, Scott dug out his own Oblique Strategies cards from his media archive, and this morning, upon waking, I picked one. "Take a Break."

Hmm, I thought. I just woke up. What am I supposed to take a break from? I resisted the urge to pick another and sat with it. OK, maybe take a break from habit? Take a break and don’t play any mindless computer games before I get out of bed? Don’t check my social feeds first thing? Or stop taking myself too seriously? Really, the possibilities are endless. And I am grateful to the amazing Brian Eno for the reminder.