I went out last night to see friends off on an epic trip round the world (they only return next July, lucky swines!). Another friend who was there found a picture frame in the toilet and insisted we all get our photos taken with it. In the toilet.
The other blokes who were using the toilet for more traditional purposes weren’t too happy about this invasion of their privacy but still, it was a lot of fun, and a bunch of very cool photos resulted (mine being one of the weaker examples but I didn’t want to incriminate everyone else by putting them up online!).
Below are some other photos I took recently, also highly random. One was of a man and his dog who were crossing the bay near where I live on what seemed to be a plank of wood. How bizarre… the others are of the wife and I with some of the cool “Jungle City” animals that are visiting Edinburgh at the moment to raise awareness about endangered species.
Maybe none of this is art that will last through the generations (ha!), but it is a nice reminder that you can find inspiration everywhere if you look hard enough. A lot of us get bogged down in big projects so it’s nice to take a few minutes and just take a photo or write a poem or do something that doesn’t take massive amounts of planning and organisation to complete.
And even though that is in fact an Orangutan above, here’s a nice quote from The Guerilla Art Kit by Keri Smith:
As an individual you can directly impact your environment on a regular basis. You can affect someone’s day or even change the world (one interaction at a time) just by presenting someone with something different than what they might expect. Like a random act of kindness, guerilla art has the potential to create a ripple effect.
What random acts of creativity have you done recently? Let me know in the comments!
Buy The Guerilla Art Kit by Keri Smith on Amazon.co.uk
Clear-Minded Creative 
8 replies on “Random Acts of Creativity”
Great photos Milo – you seem suspicious of the orangutan. I can definitely see the one with you and the frame as your profile photo!
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Thanks Vishnu! Yes there was something distinctly fishy about that particular ape 😉
Oh and good idea, it’s about time I updated my Facebook profile
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Great post, really makes me realise that I should carry my camera round more often, even if here isn’t necessarily a great deal to photograph round here. Having said that, I do wish I’d started taking pictures of all the shopping trolleys I see scattered around Macclesfield. You find them in such different situations and set ups that it’s hard not to ascribe some personality to the situations. The pictures would be so easy to give captions to, but I feel like I’ve missed so many good ones now that it’s not worth starting.
With all the work on my new blog, I didn’t think I’d be able to offer anything in response, but in an idle moment at work the other day I propped a biscuit on the rim of my mug, took a picture of it on my phone and sent it to a couple of people, with the text, “The biscuit stood looking over the edge, deciding whether or not to dunk…”
This simple act generated two replies with ideas – one from a friend who suggested taking pictures of biscuits in random situations, like a more civilised, gentlemanly version of ‘planking’; and a second one from my brother, who makes video games for a living, and said I’d given him inspiration for a new iphone game! I hope you’ll agree that’s all fairly random!
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Hi Paul. Indeed, I think it was the photographer Chase Jarvis who said “the best camera is the one you have with you” or something similar. Despite having bought an expensive DSLR I only use it when I’m planning on taking photos but these were all taken with my iPhone. The Instagram app is great for adding nice effects as with the man and his dog photo. Maybe this would persuade you to get a smartphone? 😉
I love the dunking biscuit example and how it inspired further creativity – brilliant. And there is definitely something haunting about abandoned shopping trolleys, not really sure why though!
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Hi MIlo, I always enjoy getting your newsletter and seeing what you’ve been up to. Speaking of random acts of creativity, have you seen the mysterious paper sculptures that have been turning up all over Scotland. I tried to put the link in, but it wouldn’t let me.
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Thanks Kim, it’s always great to hear from you too! Those are amazing aren’t they! I should have included them in this post. I haven’t seen them in the flesh yet but will have to seek them out.
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I like the ‘man and his dog sailing on the plank photo’. If I had a dog and a plank I would try that too. 10/10 to whoever they are for adversity training!
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Cheers Chris. The dog looked surprisingly calm about the whole thing!
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