When the idea for Mighty Ugly pounced on me while I was riding the bus a couple of weeks ago, I knew I wanted to explore it both online and in person. So I invited a dozen crafty friends over for an experiment last night, and I didn’t tell them what was up.
And I learned a lot over the course of the evening. I was surprised by how uncomfortable some people felt about the goal of making something ugly. I’d anticipated people would dive into the hilarity, and that there would be lots of laughter and silliness. There certainly was a good bit of laughter, but the overall tone of the evening was more serious than I’d thought it would be. Which is not a complaint! That’s why I wanted to do the experiment.
Almost everyone who came sells their crafts at fairs and online, which might be why the discomfort level was so high. When people focus much of their time and energy on making beautiful things that others will buy, it’s very foreign to flout every instinct they have.
I’d certainly like to do another experiment sometime soon, with people who don’t craft for a living.
I’ll share more photos and videos from the evening as I’m able to process them, and I hope some of the participants will share their own thoughts about the experiment. For now I’m most comfortable throwing up a video of myself with no editing. So here I am, talking about Wilbur:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-RlZHY1tbw
13 comments
skamama - April 8, 2010
Wonderful! I found the same thing with my girl scout troop. Most of them enjoy art in some form or fashion and when I asked them to do an exercise that required them to draw without looking at the paper, they were very stressed. I caught many of them trying to cheat.
Kim Werker - April 8, 2010
I think most people got over their stress, but there was lots of talk about
“being out of my comfort zone.” And there I was, thinking this would be
exactly the kind of thing that would *remove* stress!
Pingback: Tweets that mention Mighty Ugly » Blog Archive » Mighty Ugly Social Experiment -- Topsy.com
Michelle - April 8, 2010
I think ultimately it will be something that removes stress — in the same way a back massage can feel so painful at the time but then afterward you're all ahhhhhhhhhhh.
That's how I'm approaching it, anyway.
Mercedes - April 8, 2010
I think any new activity shakes some folks up a bit. There are some who roll with it, and some who balk at the “out of my comfort zone”. Those were the knitting students who always used to nervously (or sometimes crabbily) joke “I thought knitting was supposed to be relaxing…”. But most folks can get into it, after some discomfort. I'm so looking forward to this, after 20+ years of art and design and an ingrained design/aesthetic sense, this will be SO outside of instinct, and I LOVE it!
schinders - April 12, 2010
this is a great idea. i'm horrified at the thought of making something ugly. i'm taking a drawing class right now and wound up in tears tonight because my drawing didn't look good to me. argh. then i stopped,shook myself, and made an awesome ugly drawing of my sneaker. much better.
Kim Werker - April 12, 2010
I'm so glad you found some peace in ugly! Any interest in sharing that ugly
drawing of your sneaker, or your thoughts about why doing it made you feel
better?
schinders - April 12, 2010
sure. i'll throw it in the flickr pool.
it's not so bad, really. it's just that the class assignment was white on white composition, with shading – white cardboard boxes stacked with a white jug (of glue?) and a white vase. i was completely uninspired and frustrated. the lines weren't straight enough. the angles were off. yada yada yada.
drawing my sneaker, close up, at an angle, not getting all hung up on the exactness of it, freed me and made me grin. i love my sneaker drawing and can't wait to see what else i draw. yay!
Kim Werker - April 13, 2010
Yay is right!
I'll keep an eye on the Flickr pool. Thanks so much for sharing!
schinders - April 13, 2010
this is a great idea. i'm horrified at the thought of making something ugly. i'm taking a drawing class right now and wound up in tears tonight because my drawing didn't look good to me. argh. then i stopped,shook myself, and made an awesome ugly drawing of my sneaker. much better.
Kim Werker - April 13, 2010
I'm so glad you found some peace in ugly! Any interest in sharing that ugly
drawing of your sneaker, or your thoughts about why doing it made you feel
better?
schinders - April 13, 2010
sure. i'll throw it in the flickr pool.
it's not so bad, really. it's just that the class assignment was white on white composition, with shading – white cardboard boxes stacked with a white jug (of glue?) and a white vase. i was completely uninspired and frustrated. the lines weren't straight enough. the angles were off. yada yada yada.
drawing my sneaker, close up, at an angle, not getting all hung up on the exactness of it, freed me and made me grin. i love my sneaker drawing and can't wait to see what else i draw. yay!
Kim Werker - April 13, 2010
Yay is right!
I'll keep an eye on the Flickr pool. Thanks so much for sharing!