Andy Goldsworthy, Nature, and Time

About three years ago, when I was finishing up my art degree, I took a sculpture class with Kyle Dillehay (who is definitely a very cool professor). He introduced our class to the work of Andy Goldsworthy, a truly intriguing artist.

Goldsworthy's work doesn't follow the usual course of things. He works with found natural materials, creating ephemeral works which are nevertheless breathtaking. They can be as small as a single stone, covered with petals, or a massive cairn constructed of stone. Some last only minutes; others withstand years of exposure to the elements.

I'm not entirely sure why his work so appeals to me. I love being outside, so I'm sure that's part of it. I just love God's creation; it reminds me of just how awesome He is, how far beyond us, and how blessed I am that He loves me. For me, the creative use of God's creation is truly inspiring, in a way nothing else can ever be.

The simplicity of the design is also appealing. Many of his pieces employ very basic techniques, such as stringing together leaves, sculpting sand, or stacking stones. It makes the work seem so approachable, inspiring an "I can do that!" response. I'm inspired to go outside and play, just to see what I can come up with.

But despite the simple forms, Andy Goldsworthy is a true master of design. "Simple" can mean many things; simplicity of form is not the same as "easy!" The example here uses only colored leaves, arranged in that most basic of forms, a circle. When there is so little to work with, real mastery of the principles of art is essential to create something so stunning.

For book lovers: Read. Code. Find. Love.

Ever asked yourself, "What should I read next?" Well, so have the people at StoryCode. And this interesting little site goes far beyond the usual model to help you answer that burning question.

Yes, I know there are tons of places with user ratings for books and even user reviews. But a simple one to five rating is often pretty useless. Do I really care how many people who are totally unlike me dislike a book? No! I want to know what other people with similar tastes like! Yes, Amazon and others have "what other users like you like" feature, but it's not reliable enough.

User reviews can be more valueable, since they give more of the bigger picture. I especially love the eloquent, well-thought-out gems such as, "this book sucks, dont by it" or "this book is the best buy it now!" But really, are the six paragraph diatribes much better? It can take forever to get to the useful ones; you know, the ones that actually evaluate the book and provide you with the information necessary to make an informed decision.

So why is StoryCode better? StoryCode doesn't simply ask for a rating. Instead, the user answers a series of questions about the book, covering General Information, Genre, Characters, Plot, Plot Type, Morality ("How much does it deliver a moral message?"), Story Resolution, Setting, and Atmosphere. Typical questions are "How much is the story driven by the plot or the characters?"The last two sections are more about you : Recommendations and Demographics. (Before you stress over the demographics, it only asks age range and gender!)

StoryCode then looks at your "codes" for the book and compares your book to all the books in the database. Each book has an average value assigned to each question, which is then compared to your book. And up pops a list of similar books, complete with the average rating, a readibility rating, and the recommended minimum age!

Obviously the usefulness of StoryCode is limited by the number of codes for each title in the database. That's why you should go code some stories now!

Design help for the non-designer

It's horrible to say it, but so much of the desktop publishing I see makes me cringe! I should be easier on the non-designer forced to take on a job for which they were never trained, but it's an instinctive reaction. (After the initial cringe, though, I remember I would do at least as bad if I tried to do their jobs!)

But there is help! At Borders the other day, I spotted a great book for desktop pubishers: The Non-Designer's Design Book, by Robin Williams. (No, not THAT Robin williams; this one.)

The content is great. It reduces the principles of design to their very basics, making it approachable for someone who just does this stuff because they must. But the principles are sound, so the results are good. True, it won't turn you into a world-renowned designer, but it will make your Publisher and Word documents more professional-looking, easier to read, and more effective. (Wow, I type "Publisher" and "Word" with only the barest cringe...)

If you find yourself having to create stuff all the time, but you're never really happy with the results, head on over to Amazon and click "Look Inside." Theres' some good, useful stuff there.