blink

I just finished the book blink by Malcolm Gladwell, who I think is just brilliant. It was definitely an eye-opening book about the way we use our intuition to make snap judgements-- when it works and when it doesn't. How do experts know when something is real or a forgery in the first second that they see art? How does a tennis coach know when a server is going to fault before he finishes his serve? Why did four policemen shoot an innocent man in a matter of seconds? Can you really hide emotions or does your face tell all, and can we be better at reading that? Can your decisions be primed by someone else without your knowledge? Is too much information causing bad decisions?

I wish I could tell you every one of the stories in this book, but then I'd be writing the book, wouldn't I? ;) One thing that I can definitely apply to my own life is whether or not I should put my picture on my blog... do people make assumptions just on the way I look, my age, my gender? Obviously I'm female... I think my art reflects that very clearly. Do I feel my chronological age? No. At least I don't think so based on what I assume someone my age usually feels like, but really I don't know. Or maybe when I was in my early twenties, I assumed wrong about this age. In a "blink" when people see me or even my art, they make a split decision about me... that makes the decision about what to include when I'm forming a portfolio very, very important. Would the illustrations be marketable, likeable, accessable to the general viewership? Is it unique enough or too strange? Will someone stop and really look or just glance and move on? An Art Director knows this in a blink of an eye. I have to think like an art director, a publisher, a reader, and still please myself too... or what's the fun in doing it in the first place?

My favorite story was about how auditions for the orchestra have changed over the years, mainly due to one little change... the screen. They have musicians audition behind a screen so that every other possible distraction is minimized from hearing the actual music being played. We make so many assumptions based on gender or ethnicity or size or age, that we miss brilliance in some of the most obvious instances. Hopefully there's a little brilliance in my art now and then... and I don't want it to be missed! If you need an intriguing book to curl up with as the weather chills, this is a good one!