What she took:

Where she ran:

Everyone at the Take It & Run project showcase was invited to make a paper plane out of a stack of beautiful photographs of birds

Lines of sparkling thread shot accross the ceiling of the department of coffee and social affairs where the even took place

After throwing the planes around the venue for a bit, people hung them overhead for everyone to enjoy

Like I said, Emily has an eye for beautiful things and the technicolour planes hanging from shining thread were just that.

Also, I really like playing with planes.

Photos from Miles Langley

What he took:

Where he ran:

For me this song is now the original and the sketch is a pre-emptive cover version. I’ve been humming it for about 3 weeks almost constantly.

Special shout out to fellow Take It & Run contributor Rosie Cooper and the marvelous Miles Langley for making such a magical video.

What he took:

A word from the man himself:

Right now, millions of people are sitting at a desk, shopping for love. With each click of a profile, there is a glimmer of hope. “I want to fall in love with that person…”.  So without further ado, allow me to introduce The Soul Sampler: an ultra-compact, multi-touch audio love machine, giving you exclusive access to 15 real-life dating profiles. Not only that, it creates that atmosphere for love with a set of programmable beats, basslines, keys and effects for your remixing pleasure. 

I’m so very glad that Tom Chance made a video about Sam’s project because it really must be heard to be believed:

I love his look at the broad concept of looking for love and how he managed to make something hillarious but also somehow touching. I can’t even express to you how addictive the piece was to play which means he may well have found a new user interface for browsing dating websites.

This is what he took:

This is where he ran (along with partners in crime Ashley and Mat):

It really was quite a strange experience being probed about where the sketch came from – but a really interesting one as I dug around in my own head looking for the origins and meaning of this thought. I also love how Ashley (clearly the star of the show) manages to charm her way to some quite profound comments from London’s unsuspecting public.

See what Simon has to say about the project over here.

Have a look here for a taster of the great work. There will be over 30 contributions on the day from cross stitch to folk music, from sculpture to QR code.

What she took:

Where she ran:

I love the monotonous progress of the people through the snowy urban landscape. With this video, she seems to have made the poem more about people than snowflakes. Which is quite a challenging but interesting thought.

And why arent there more videos of haikus? Three cheers for Rosie Cooper.

This is what they took:

And this is where they ran:

I love its melancholy tinge and, when I listen to it, I feel that the sketch was crying out to be a song from the very start.

Collaboration is clearly in the band’s blood – they handmade 500 copies of their album This Is Yours with the help of neighbours, local businesses and freecyclers and then hung them around their local area for people to find. Ever generous, you can download it for free here. Which if I were you I would.

What she took:

Where she ran:

There comes a point in all one’s traveling where the whole world just becomes a blur. All the places you’ve been to melt into one. All you see wherever you look is that which is no longer there. Exploring the world is a wondrous and thrilling experience. But it’s not without sacrifice. I once had to leave a treasure behind. There were no options. Had I had more time… But I didn’t.

I really like how she has prioritised the bits of the map that matter most to her and not felt obliged to include the whole world. It makes me think of those old maps where there are dragons at the edges.

What he took:

Where he ran:

I love his iconic merging of the two subjects, the big bold colours/shapes, and the pure joy of canvas.

Here’s what he says:
I chose the sketched thought “There is no substitute for time. There is no substitute for wine” whilst experimenting with sobriety for 6 months. During this journey, I became acutely aware of how much more time one appears to have when not drinking: time I’d previously devoted to sleeping off last night’s excesses was suddenly available in abundance. Wine had, in fact, been substituted for time. As I pondered this observation, it occurred to me that the visual identity for time —an hour glass— bore more than a passing resemblance for a glass of wine.

Nice one.

What she took:

Where she ran:

I think the typography is what makes it so spectacular - how the text dictates the whole feel of the piece (rather than being just an annotation), and also the interplay of the abrupt stamped foreground with the smoother, more delicate, background pencil lines. And I love the anotomical heart too which for me does a really good job of bringing to life the brutality of it all. Thanks Sarah.

What he took:

Where he ran:

The dulcet colours are lovely, but mostly I just love the way everything is sort of bulging out of the frame. Oh – and the shift up in scale too - makes me think about our surprising capacity to bear more than we think we ever could. And, as he said in his email, we all feel a bit like this truck from time to time.

This time Tom Derret, a gentleman I had very much in mind when I started this whole thing.

What he took:

Where he ran:

Isn’t it terriffic?

This is actually getting to be quite overwhelming.

What she took:

Where she ran:

The piece is 64 x 17 cms – the main body is made of an ancient wooden beam and the centre core is resin. It’s times like this when I wish you could blog real objects, not just photos.

On that point: I’m working on a plan that will bring the whole of the Take It & Run project to the people of London in full physical glory.

What she took:

Where she ran:

I’ve long had an uneasy relationship with the word artist anyway - in my experience it’s a term that is more problematic than useful – so i’m very glad she didn’t let it stop her getting involved.

What she took:

Where she ran:

Beautiful: a wonderful concept executed wonderfully. I find the birds fantastic in their musical silhouette with a surreal sense of half-aliveness.

I was also incredibly struck by one of the lines from Ann’s email that, for me, excavated the original words:
“I find that sometimes when we desire something it ends up consuming us and all we see in life around us is that desire”

I often take quite a verbal/conceptual approach to my art, whilst Lara’s work springs out of a wonderful sense of intuition and craft. It’s quite fitting then that the sketch she decided to run with was one that I couldn’t find any words for:

Where she ran:

“This is the photograph after a performance done by an art student here in Lebanon. The performance was about innocence and involved her toppling glass vases off of pedestals.”

I like that there is a broom. A broom is very precious when you are clearing up smashed things.

What she took:

Where she ran:

I think the colour and figure combine to create a wonderful emotional pitch. As for the metaphore of quilting, I couldn’t put it better than she does: “Traditionally, quilting used recycled fabrics, often from old clothing and sometimes as a personal tribute. The patchwork quilt here corresponds poetically with the snapshot memento: a collection of all the ‘good bits’ to remember.“

I have to say, I’m loving where everyone is running with this little project. Quite breathtaking to see my work made better.

This time, she took this:

She ran with it and ended up with two versions for two cultures: black to symbolise mourning in the West, white for mourning in the Far East.

I think the simplicity of it is beautiful.

If, like me and Irene, you love that colours can symbolise different things in different cultures, check out this. It is ace.

What she took:

Where she ran:

The trafficlight is a beautifully clean metaphore. And I really like how it bring out the sense of inevitibility that was burried in the original. I mean – honestly now – it’s almost always worth a go – right?

(UPDATE: her second entry is here)

What he took:

Where he ran:

I absolutely love it. It has a gravity way beyond the original – for me the tension between the vivid colour and the expression really takes the idea and runs with it.

What he took:

Where he ran:

Talking to Dad about this, it’s clear what a tremendous amount of thought he put into it. The sketch became a Welcome sign becasue the words spoke to him of the value of being satisfied with where you are at (your home), and the sense of fluidity accross the piece from the watering can down to the trees expresses the spiritual dimension to growth. Thanks Dad.

If you want to join the illustruous list of participents or follow the progress then head over to http://takeitandrun.wordpress.com where it all happens

The team so far: Becky Claydon, Ben Michelmore, Bruno Davey, David Watkins, Emily Dent, Greg Owen, Gretchen Jacobsen, Harriet Swanton, James Watkins, Josh Peters, Lara Salmon, Lize Theron, Pete Sandbach, Richard Watkins, Rosa Maroney, Sarah Silverstein, Sarah Wilson, Shireen Dew, Thomas Derrett, Thea Bowden, Will Spring and Zoe Barker.

What she took:

Where she ran:

I hugely enjoy all the textures and materials Lisa used – who new coffee stains could be so beautifull? And I also find that the circles move my mind beyond autumn. Three cheers for Lisa.

Have a look what she says about it all over at http://lisasarsfield.blogspot.com/2010/03/take-it-and-run.html

Does anyone else get a bit freaked out by this video? Or by the idea that they came back? Does anyone else remember doing the New Kids dance when driving? Oh, that was just my friend Renee?! (Or is everyone else too sheepish to admit it?!)

New Kids on the Block, Summertime

In case you can’t remember the New Kids dance, then here you go, here’s a refresher below, or you can also click on this link, for a different song by them:

New Kids on the Block, Hang Tough

(By the way, I can see you dancing through your computer screen!)

Ok, to resurrect myself and this blog from being completely laughable, I did want to mention a book I am reading to help me develop some of the mental endurance that Lis doesn’t seem to have any problems with, at all: Running Within: A Guide to Mastering the Body-Mind-Spirit Connection for Ultimate Training and Racing. So far, it seems pretty good, I’ll write more of a review when I finish it. I saw that someone had listed it in one of their Take it and Run Thursday posts for the Runner’s Lounge.