The pre-fun-a-day brainstorming has begun in full force. With so few parameters and with so many days of art to produce, it’s understandable to fill a little overwhelmed. “What should I make?” is echoing in all of our heads. It’s ok. Really, it is. Let’s all just calm down and look at some other creative folks to get the gears turning:
This project, posted by author Mary Robinette Kowal, is gaining publicity around the internet. She writes,
I have a simple challenge for you.
- In the month of February, mail at least one item through the post every day it runs. Write a postcard, a letter, send a picture, or a cutting from a newspaper, or a fabric swatch.
- Write back to everyone who writes to you. This can count as one of your mailed items.
Now, this project sounds fantastic and we should all take part(who doesn’t love mail?!). But let’s also consider letter-writing for your F-A-D project. As in, a letter to your past self every day (“please, please stop crimping your hair – you look insane”). Benjamin Franklin used pseudonyms and false personas to author letters. You can too – write fake letters and be more ________ than you’re allowed to be in real life.
Franklin wrote mocking letters from “Caelia Shortface and Martha Careful” to get even with his former employer Samuel Keimer for stealing some of Franklin’s publishing ideas. The letters were printed in the American Weekly Mercury, a newspaper published by Keimer’s competitor Andrew Bradford.
If you want to cut straight to it, I recommend you browse through the photo galleries from past Fun-A-Day shows.
And, finally, keep an eye on the ArtClash website. They have a real-time list of participants’ ideas from all over the country. Here are some of my personal favorites. You should really head over there and check it out for yourself. Then, add your own!
Happy f-a-d-brainstorming! Please feel free to holler if you have any questions or concerns.