Project Renaissance home page | The Stream Index
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T H E S T R E A M
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Newsletter of Project Renaissance and Win Wenger
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August 2004 (Best viewed with
fixed-width font)
IN THIS ISSUE:
* Quote of the
Month
* Announcements
* Events/News
Items
* FEATURE ARTICLE:
"The Use
of the Descriptive Process in Art" by Curtis White
* Comments,
Feedback
George Copsey
- Use of Photoreading and Image-Streaming
Angus Donald
- A Bit of Fluff
* Question Quest -
Challenge #8
* Organizational
Notes
* Links
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QUOTE OF THE MONTH
"Nothing can dim the light that shines from
within." -- Maya Angelou
........................................................................
ANNOUNCEMENTS
~~~
WELCOME to all new members who have joined us this month.
We hope to
hear from you and to give you much food for thought. Back
issues are
available upon request. Just add the month to the subject
line:
mailto:thestream@winwenger.com?subject=BackIssues
Or see the online archives: http://www.winwenger.com/strmlist.htm
~~~
** LATEST NEWS **
LAST CHANCE TO REGISTER FOR PROJECT RENAISSANCE TRAINER
TRAINING - in
London UK this autumn - see further details below.
~~~
CO-AUTHORS WANTED:
Active and/or retired professionals in psychology,
economics, history,
biology, physics, sociology, chemistry, etc., to
co-author with me new
kinds of introductory texts (various age levels) and
methods-of-teaching
texts. These texts are to become part of an eventual
discovery
curriculum.
- Win Wenger, Ph.D. (
mailto:wwenger101@aol.com?subject=Texts )
~~~
ADMINISTRATOR NEEDED
We are sad to report that Tijl Koenderink, Project
Renaissance's Executive
Director, has had to resign for pressing personal and business
reasons. We
thank him for the great boost he gave to our organization
during his nearly
two years and are assured of his continuing support and
advice. Project
Renaissance is now seeking individuals with
administrative and managerial
skills and interests to step into some of the functions
of this position.
This initially volunteer position is planned to evolve
into a separate
compensation arrangement. Please contact Win Wenger if
you are willing and
able to help. Email Win at ( mailto:wwenger101@aol.com?subject=Applicant
).
........................................................................
EVENTS
~~~
CREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING WORKSHOP - Belfast, UK -
September 20-21, 2004
A 2-day creative problem-solving workshop is taking place
in Belfast,
Northern Ireland, in September 2004, led by Dr. Win
Wenger and Michelle
James. Please contact Cora Robinson for more information:
mailto:cora@createexpress.com
~~~
Win Wenger is delivering UNIQUE TRAINER TRAINING in
London, UK
Last chance to sign up for the first-ever Project
Renaissance Trainer
Training in London, UK.
Module 1: Sept.
27-29, 2004
Module 2:
February 28-March 1, 2005
Don't miss this exciting opportunity to learn directly
from the inventor
of the methodology. Special discounted rates are
available until August 31,
2004, so please contact Cora Robinson for further
information:
mailto:cora@createexpress.com
~~~
PROJECT RENAISSANCE DOUBLE FESTIVAL - November 12-14,
2004
13th Annual Conference on Creativity and Accelerated
Learning in the
Maryland/Washington, DC area
During this fun-filled weekend of colloquium-like dynamic
events, people
from around the world will again gather to discover and
explore creating
and learning. Over the last decade the Double Festivals
have celebrated
many breakthroughs in both creativity methods and
enhanced/accelerated
learning. This year we are looking more directly at the
learning side of
this equation. Our theme is the 'Theory and Practice of
Education'.
Living in a World Where We Can't Go Home Again...
Every second our world is changing, sometimes
perceptibly. It is as though
we are all in "the Kindergarten of the Future,"
except that change is
happening right now as you read this.
All of us are having to learn and adapt to conditions we
never encountered
before. For better or worse, we do so based on the
options in our available
repertoire of responses and appreciations. In effect, how
well we learn
determines how well we live.
Creativity, learning and problem-solving are critical
skills each of us
must develop in this world of inevitable change.
Fortunately, just over
twenty years ago, we at Project Renaissance realized that
learning and
creative problem-solving are over 90% the same thing.
Each of the hundreds
of methods for creatively and ingeniously solving
problems can be used as
distinct and powerful ways to improve learning.
From year to year, the Double Festival is always one of
the world's very
best small conferences, partly because of the unique
format developed by
Project Renaissance. You'll find high levels of
involvement and
understanding, learning AND creativity, richly
experienced by all our
various participants.
Highest-quality presenters are drawn to this conference
because, as with
the original Socratics and Stoics, high-quality feedback
from a quality
audience helps them further develop their own perceptions
and
understandings, in the fields which most galvanize them
and are most
vital to them.
To experience directly for yourself some of the
additional reasons and
benefits, please click
http://www.winwenger.com/upcoming.htm#df . There
you'll find more information about our special format and
about this
year's topic, and you can register conveniently
online. We're looking
forward to some wonderful growth together and some great
experiences
together!
- Win Wenger
~~~
IAL CONFERENCE CALL SERIES
The International Alliance for Learning will host a
series of conference
calls with leaders in the field of Accelerated Learning,
Accelerative
Learning and other areas of human development - leading
up to the 2005
IAL International Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, January
13-16, 2005.
Further information is available from Chuck Bubar:
mailto:CBubar@aol.com
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Feature Article:
THE
USE OF THE DESCRIPTIVE PROCESS IN ART
by Curtis White
The descriptive process I am referring to here is a lot
like Image-
Streaming in reverse. The purpose of the descriptive
process is to
enable the artist to better put his ideas into words -
where the artist
describes, in very sensory-rich or analytically
accurate/precise ways,
the differences between various illustrations.
Using description, the artist is:
* Better able to communicate his thoughts to himself and
to others
* Able to increase his observational skills
* Enabled to *perhaps* gain the ability to have more
control over
imaging via
verbal description
For example, if you look at your hands and then look at a
set of well-
illustrated hands, the tendency is to think, "those
hands look good/real,
etc." If you
look at a bone and then at an illustrated bone, the tendency
will be to think, "the illustrated bone IS the
bone." Of course, it's
not!!! There are many differences.
The basic tendency is to think this is "good",
"right" - or "bad",
"wrong". The idea then with this is to gain a
far greater flexibility in
understanding illustration.
For example, you might take a photograph of a hand and a
very good ink
drawing of a hand, and then use this descriptive process
(preferably of
the exact same angle/depiction, though not necessary).
You would describe each using a sensory-rich process, and
then you'd
describe what is similar and what is different. And then you would
describe one of them so that someone who doesn't know
what a hand is,
or could even see that, could theoretically make a
drawing that would
resemble it. Then you would describe a plausible way the
artist worked
based on what you see.
The idea is just to get as many thoughts going
as possible.
The thing is, when you start it you might think,
"this illustration
looks very close to this drawing," and there won't
be many differences;
BUT when you start describing, then you will find there
are just too
Many differences to list.
It works best with similar forms or things
That both look "good" and "right".
So, if you use this, the hope is that when you see a
painting of a
head by Hals and a photograph of a head in a fashion
magazine, then you
will be able to observe a lot, and hopefully then you
will be able to
recreate whatever effect, style, etc., you want. You will also be able
to observe more variations in your own work compared to
other works. So
part of it is in understanding styles and in merely
increasing
observational skills.
The other part is thinking about complex systems
of parts (like the human body) and reducing that into a
type of
analytical language where someone could construct a model
to match the
model that you described.
The intent in this case is to understand the
interrelationships of
these forms and parts so that the artist's drawings will
take on more
believability, and he will be able to think about his
subject more
realistically. (If an artist is able to understand that
the body is made
up of joints and parts that must work together, then he
is more likely
to depict the body accurately than if he thinks just of
shape.)
If an artist understands that muscles are like cords, and
that muscles
contract when the fingers are pulled, then he can
artistically work
with anatomy. The
literal understanding of anatomy is good, but I think
this "artistic" understanding is far more
valuable.
A lot of artists are struggling and working blind. This
is the best way
I describe the difference: If you don't realize how useful visualization
is in art then you are working blind, and when you do
realize it, then
you are able to see.
-- Curtis White
------------------------------------
To send feedback privately to the author, email Curtis
White at:
light65536@netzero.com
To send your comments about this article to The Stream,
write to:
mailto:thestream@winwenger.com?subject=Art
To post your feedback or promote a discussion of this
topic:
http://bbs.cartserver.com/bbs/b/7733/#PostMessage
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COMMENTS and FEEDBACK
~~~
APPLICATION OF PHOTOREADING AND IMAGE-STREAMING
- George Copsey (
mailto:george@curiositycoach.com )
I've had an idea for an interesting application of
PhotoReading and
Image-Streaming and would like to know the list's
experience with it.
Format:
1. Photoread a
book that you haven't consciously read at all -
preferably about a subject you know very little about.
Don't activate
the material.
2. Wait for 24
hours after PhotoReading, if you like, or however long
you usually do (if you do at all - I often activate
immediately after
Photoreading and have found this to be VERY helpful for
comprehension).
3. Using Win's
Instant Replay technique, listed on pages 84
and 85 of The Einstein Factor, Image-Stream the
experience of
Photoreading the book and, once in the experience fully,
begin opening
yourself up to more abstract insights (pt #5 of Instant
Replay format).
In other words, use the Instant Replay format as an
activation method.
4. Once
"done", consider how this experience differs from other
activation techniques you've used.
I look forward to your feedback on this...
-- George Copsey (mailto:george@curiositycoach.com)
~~~
A BIT OF FLUFF... Angus Donald (
mailto:adonald@sherway.co.uk )
August is sometimes known as the silly season, so here's
a Quick Fix
for those like me who find it difficult to make
decisions.
First a story:
This morning I woke up to find that I was in the
fortunate position of having 30 shirts all ironed and
ready for the
wearing - varying colours, hues and shades, some with
stripes and some
plain - making it an agony of indecision of which to
choose and worse -
what to wear with it before departing for work. So here's
a solution I
fell upon earlier today:
Go to the wardrobe where they hang - or drawer if they
are folded - and
allow your eye to light upon one - the first that
attracts your
attention. Choose the one that does attract your
attention or you feel
drawn towards, and without questioning it take that one
out. Now
visualize (imagine) yourself wearing that shirt with
whichever suit /
tie combination that comes to mind - and there you have
it. No more
agonizing over colours contrasting or worrying what looks
alluring or
makes me look too fat!
Our unconscious processes have already been at work
making the right
choices for us - if only we would allow them the space in
which to work.
All too often the "editor" or, as I sometimes
like to think of it, the
over-zealous stage prompt is ready with the next line
whilst we are
building up the dramatic tension with an appropriate
pause.
So try it out, the next time you have a decision to make
- be it what
to wear or what to eat or where to go. Go with your
intuition, let your
creativity free - that may not be all that you free up!
- Angus Donald ( mailto:adonald@sherway.co.uk )
------------------------------------------------------------------~~~~~~
To send your comments to The Stream for possible
publication here, write
to: mailto:thestream@winwenger.com?subject=Comments
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QUESTION QUEST - Real-world solutions to real-world
problems
You may use any means for deriving either questions or
answers - any of
the creative problem-solving techniques described in the
Project
Renaissance website, or other techniques you may know, or
even
consulting experts in relevant fields.
Question Quest is being coordinated by Project
Renaissance as a public
service and as an exploration into practical applications
of creativity.
Please see http://www.winwenger.com/question.htm for a
full list of
questions now open to work on. This month's selected
question:
..................................................................
Question No. 8
In these perilous times, and with the fate of the world
placed into the
hands of the head of state of the arguably most powerful
nation on earth,
what questions should we Americans be asking as we
consider our election
choices - both of ourselves and of our politicians?
Submitted by Kate Jones ( mailto:kate@gamepuzzles.com )
..................................................................
Email your questions and recommended solutions to: Question Quest
(mailto:thestream@winwenger.com?subject=Quest). Please
include a note as
to what problem-solving methods, if any, you used in
arriving at your
answers. Prizes will be awarded for the successful
solutions upon
implementation. Let's make a real difference in the
world. New questions
will be posted here and on the website as they are
selected.
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ORGANIZATIONAL NOTES
~~~
TOPICAL INTEREST GROUPS:
Our membership is large and diverse, and many of you have
expressed an
interest in communicating with other members who share
your topic of
concern or research interest. If you'd like us to share
your email
address with other interested members, and to supply
theirs to you,
please email your name, email address and subject/topic
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mailto:thestream@winwenger.com?subject=InterestGroups
Your communications will be private. If you'd like to
take a topic
public, just post your discussions on Project
Renaissance's board:
http://bbs.cartserver.com/bbs/b/7733/#PostMessage
~~~
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~~~
SUBSCRIBER OR MEMBER?
If you currently only subscribe to The Stream, you can
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Membership in Project Renaissance entitles members to
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benefits. If you're not yet a member, please register
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http://www.winwenger.com/regmem.htm
or from link on the homepage, http://www.winwenger.com .
~~~
DUPLICATE MAILING?
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The Stream,
please let us know by replying to:
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~~~
HOW YOU CAN PARTICIPATE...
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visit our homepage at http://www.winwenger.com and
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Discussion Board link. To post a message right now, click here:
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* The long-established, popular Image-Streaming egroup is
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* Submit articles, comments or questions for possible
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mailto:thestream@winwenger.com?subject=TotheEditor
........................................................................
LINKS
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