Creativity Catalyst for March

What is this?
This is a prompt to inspire creative work. Use it for writing, visual art, dance, music, any creative endeavor. It is also a great way to discover new artists and creators and to just enjoy the arts. I invite you to explore this idea - there are many directions it could go!

This month's theme: Boundaries (and Spaces)
A line is a boundary, an edge
A shape contains a space.
How do these play out in your visual art, your inner/outer life, out in society and the world? 

​ Ways to explore on your own
Here are some great ways to get ideas rolling

1. Mark making and line - explore abstractly, no meaning, just enjoy line and the shapes and spaces it defines on the plane (see video below!)
2. ​Free write - just start writing about what the prompt means to you. Write for 10 minutes. Write from your senses, your memories, your emotions, what you observe in society or the world.
3. Find synonyms or alternate wording
4. Find images - do an image search using words from your writing, the prompt, or maybe even use it to create art in Midjourney. You can find examples in nature, in titles for artwork
5. Find music - search for songs with the all or part of the prompt in the title or in the lyrics
6. Act or dance it - experiment with gesture and movements, explore the space, its edges​

​And then what?
What comes next depends on your creative process. You might come up with an idea for an artwork you want to make, or you can use the prompt as creative calisthenics and let whatever you find and discover descend into your subconscious where it might come back up intuitively in a later work.

Share what you make or discover!
Facebook groups
Shift Expressive Arts (private group)
Women Artists to Know (public group)

​Inspiration!

Art
​Arles Del Rio Nearness
Art21 Episode "Boundaries"

Other artists whose work address boundaries and social spaces
Nick Cave Soundsuits
Natalia Anciso - immigration and borders
Lee Godie - houseless artist
Do Ho Suh - immigration and identity

Fiction - Dark Neighborhood by Vanessa Onwuemezi . The first story is so strange and dark. I heard about it on the podcast Weird Studies episode 145 
"This strangest of strange stories is set in a vast encampment of destitute yet hopeful people whose lives consist entirely of waiting for their turn to step through the iron gates of the Beyond"
​
Dance/Movement/Somatic 
Dance performance: https://www.lbbonline.com/news/the-artery-breaks-boundaries-with-ultra-modern-single-take-dance-video
Somatic Exercise for Healthy Boundaries https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pufe446RbV0

Music
Songs about borders walls https://www.song-bar.com/song-blog/2016/6/29/playlists-songs-about-borders-barriers-walls-fences