28.03.2025 Beba Rizzaro
A brief introduction before we start.
It’s just two months into this new year and I’m already back to writing and creating images–“just for the joy” as my friend Miica would say. And it feels good. I’ve just started a new exciting job as a designer and I’ve been putting a lot of effort into adapting myself to new habits, and periods of time concentrating on one specific thing.
For multidisciplinary people like me it is a real challenge to handle only one thing in an hour–imagine eight! And even though I’ve been working as a creative for the past ten years, I’ve never worked for one business full-time. It is a job that requires me to be creatively awake. So while I was planning to write this column monthly, I have had to prioritize a new job, plus rest (do not forget to rest).
I am trying to respect my boundaries, reminding myself how committed I can get to jobs I love, giving the best of me but keeping some for myself. Previous experiences in the industry have taught me the power of not giving it my all. In the moments I have given so much to impress those around me, I found there was not enough of me left at the end of the day.
Cyclone Alfred made us live three días without light or water. To be honest, it helped me to connect to the basics, you know? I had nothing to do, couldn't go out, no phone, nothing better than to get myself to paint. In Covid, I turned to writing instead, and ended up performing a monologue about living in a one-room studio in the middle of Buenos Aires City. I had so much fun. The play was made by a team of eight people: Toti (producer), Fer (musician and sound), Isa (makeup and hair), Kuina (projections on a screen), La Negra (costume designer), Viole (voiceover of my conscious and producer), and me.
Anyway, this prompt is a good first approach to creativity. Experimentation is crucial–it’s like turning on the switch to Cr e a t i v i t y.
First prompt “Do not be afraid of Experimentation”
Technique: collage
Technique: collage
- Go to an op shop or tip. This can be near your place or you can make it a fun trip to do on a weekend.
- Select the magazines and books you like the most and take them with you.
- Make some space on the floor of your place to spread out the magazines and cut:
a) Words and/or phrases that catch your attention. Try not to overthink it, be intuitive. “I like it, I cut it”. Later, you’ll filter what you want to use and what you don’t, giving yourself a chance to reconsider.
b) The images you like the most, sometimes this means ripping out an entire page.
- Combine the images with the text, creating a second version of the original image, essentially a collage– but the difference with this exercise is that you will be creating a bigger image… let’s go to the next point to go deeper into what I mean.
- Make nine or twelve images following this collage prompt, doing so without judgement. Gather words and images and start putting them together and next to each other, with the idea of creating a bigger composition. Let’s say for example you have a complex image, you can place it next to a simple one, making it more visually balanced.
This exercise is meant to be useful for understanding something about the core of personal taste. As we scroll or watch, we learn to identify what holds the highest level of importance compared to the rest.
Once you finish, the idea is to ask yourself why. Put your creations side by side and ask yourself:
Is there any element that repeats?
What’s the theme of this series of images?
If you had to put a name to this series, what would it be?
- 0.6 If possible, arrange the nine or twelve images in a grid. Decide which one goes next to which. Step back, look at it again, get closer, change anything that feels necessary.
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07. Frame it.
If anyone creates a work and would like to show it to someone and talk about, it please send it over, I would be happy to watch.
I hope this first approach makes you discover something about yourself.