Summer Season Opens at MOCA

MOCA Cleveland opens their summer season with 3 widely diverse exhibitions:

OPEN: New Designs for Public Space and Expanding the Circle / Uptown Launch Pad explores innovative architecture and planning for the 21st century, including the ideas for MOCA's expansion and the newly branded Uptown District in University Circle. I'd already seen OPEN at the National Building Museum, when it was there a couple of years ago. Although I am big fan of reinventing contemporary public space, the exhibition reads like a textbook slapped up on a wall. If you have the patience and time, it's really a worthwhile exhibition though.

Olga Ziemska: Mirror Matter promises a feast for the eyes. Her installation combines little pieces to create large intallations that echo one another while trying to make what is unseen seen in an inter-connected world. Truly a treat!

Anthony Caro: Wending Back is another installation by the Cleveland Museum of Art, as a way to keep their presence in the community, while construction on their building continues.

• The official opening is Friday, June 1 from 7-10 pm. Preceding the opening is a panel discussion on public space at 5:30 pm.

Pop-Shop Gallery

Last weekend, I went to a fun gallery event in Lakewood. The Pop-Shop celebrated their two-year anniversary - a big event for a Cleveland-area gallery. It was my first time there, so I was pleasantly surprised by the turn out. People in Cleveland really do like art, after all.

While there, I met Phoebe Marie, a collage artist. Her work was featured in the show and is delightfully whimsical.

• Check out more of her work here and let me know what you think.
  

Do You Love Design?

I would suspect that most people don't even notice the many design elements that surround them on a daily basis. Training your eye to look at design is an easy way to enhance your creativity. Now, more than ever, we are exposed to more choices in our lives.

Think about it the next time you are out shopping. Try to figure out what draws you into specific stores and what makes you buy. It's probably the design.

• Check out design*sponge for more examples of contemporary design.

Top This TV Challenge

Are you noticing a trend here? Companies encouraging and even promoting creative expression. First, there was the Wheat Thins contest honoring women artists, and now Heinz is promoting an interactive contest inspired by their ketchup.

The Top This TV challenge by Heinz is another fun contest to exercise your creativity. Create a commercial for the famous ketchup and get paid $57,000. Commercials will appear on YouTube then the finalists will be voted on by you.

• Check out contest rules here.

More on Ten Zen Seconds

How can people learn more about Ten Zen Seconds?

EM: The book is the best resource. You can get it at Amazon. Or you can ask for it at your local bookstore. The Ten Zen Seconds website is also an excellent resource: in addition to the slide show that I mentioned, there is a bulletin board where folks can chat, audio interviews that I’ve done discussing the Ten Zen Second techniques, and more. It’s also quite a gorgeous site, so you may want to visit it just for the aesthetic experience! I would also recommend that folks check out my main site,http://www.ericmaisel.com,/ especially if they’re interested in creativity coaching or the artist’s life.

What else are you up to?

EM: Plenty! I have a new book out called Creativity for Life, which is roughly my fifteenth book in the creativity field and which people seem to like a lot. I also have a third new book out, in addition to Ten Zen Seconds and Creativity for Life, called Everyday You, which is a beautiful coffee table book about maintaining daily mindfulness. I’m working on two books for 2008, one called A Writer’s Space and a second called Creative Recovery, about using your innate creativity to help in recovering from addiction. And I’m keep up with the many other things I do: my monthly column for ArtCalendar Magazine, my regular segment for Art of the Song Creativity Radio, the trainings that I offer in creativity coaching, and my work with individual clients. I am happily busy! But my main focus for the year is on getting the word out about Ten Zen Seconds, because I really believe that it’s something special.

• Eric, thanks for taking the time to chat!