Oblique Strategies (subtitled Over One Hundred Worthwhile Dilemmas) is a card-based method for promoting creativity jointly created by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt, first published in 1975. Physically, it takes the form of a deck of 7-by-9-centimetre (2.8 in × 3.5 in) printed cards in a black box.[1][2][3] Each card offers a challenging constraint intended to help artists (particularly musicians) break creative blocks by encouraging lateral thinking.
Oblique Strategies (subtitled Over One Hundred Worthwhile Dilemmas) is a deck of 7x9 cm printed cards in a black container box. Created by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt and first published in 1975.Each card offers an aphorism intended to help artists (parti.
Origin and history[edit]
In 1970, Peter Schmidt created 'The Thoughts Behind the Thoughts',[4] a box containing 55 sentences letterpress printed onto disused prints that accumulated in his studio, which is still in Eno's possession. Eno, who had known Schmidt since the late 1960s, had been pursuing a similar project himself, which he had handwritten onto a number of bamboo cards and given the name 'Oblique Strategies' in 1974. There was a significant overlap between the two projects, and so, in late 1974, Schmidt and Eno combined them into a single pack of cards and offered them for general sale. The set went through three limited edition printings before Schmidt suddenly died in early 1980, after which the card decks became rather rare and expensive. Sixteen years later software pioneer Peter Norton convinced Eno to let him create a fourth edition as Christmas gifts for his friends (not for sale, although they occasionally come up at auction). Eno's decision to revisit the cards and his collaboration with Norton in revising them is described in detail in his 1996 book A Year with Swollen Appendices. With public interest in the cards undiminished, in 2001 Eno once again produced a new set of Oblique Strategies cards. The number and content of the cards vary according to the edition. In May 2013 a limited edition of 500 boxes, in burgundy rather than black, was issued.
The story of Oblique Strategies, along with the content of all the cards, exhaustive history and commentary, is documented in a website widely acknowledged as the authoritative source and put together by musician and educator Gregory Alan Taylor.[5]
The text of Schmidt's 'The Thoughts Behind the Thoughts' was published by Mindmade Books in 2012.
Design and use[edit]
Each card contains a gnomic suggestion, aphorism or remark which can be used to break a deadlock or dilemma situation. A few are specific to music composition; others are more general. For example:
- Use an old idea.
- State the problem in words as clearly as possible.
- Only one element of each kind.
- What would your closest friend do?
- What to increase? What to reduce?
- Are there sections? Consider transitions.
- Try faking it!
- Honour thy error as a hidden intention.
- Ask your body.
- Work at a different speed.
- Gardening not Architecture.
From the introduction to the 2001 edition:
These cards evolved from separate observations of the principles underlying what we were doing. Sometimes they were recognised in retrospect (intellect catching up with intuition), sometimes they were identified as they were happening, sometimes they were formulated.
They can be used as a pack, or by drawing a single card from the shuffled pack when a dilemma occurs in a working situation. In this case the card is trusted even if its appropriateness is quite unclear...
Cultural impact[edit]
References to Oblique Strategies exist in popular culture, notably in the film Slacker,[6] in which a character offers passers-by cards from a deck. Strategies mentioned include 'Honor thy error as a hidden intention', 'Look closely at the most embarrassing details and amplify', 'Not building a wall; making a brick', 'Repetition is a form of change', and one which came to be seen as a summary of the film's ethos (though it was not part of the official set of Oblique Strategies), 'Withdrawing in disgust is not the same thing as apathy.' This line was quoted in the 1994 song 'What's the Frequency, Kenneth?' by R.E.M., who also mentioned Oblique Strategies in their 1998 song 'Diminished' from the album Up. The Oblique Strategies are also referenced in comic 1018, 'Oblique Angles',[7] of popular web comic Questionable Content.
Other musicians inspired by Oblique Strategies include the British band Coldplay, said to have used the cards when recording their 2008 Brian Eno-produced album Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends and French band Phoenix, who used the cards when recording their 2009 album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.[8] German musician/composer Blixa Bargeld has a similar navigation system, called Dave. In response to their song 'Brian Eno', from their album Congratulations, MGMT has said they had a deck of Oblique Strategies in the studio, but they 'don't know if [they] used them correctly.'
They were most famously used by Eno during the recording of David Bowie's Berlin triptych of albums (Low, 'Heroes', Lodger). Stories suggest they were used during the recording of instrumentals on 'Heroes' such as 'Sense of Doubt' and were used more extensively on Lodger ('Fantastic Voyage', 'Boys Keep Swinging', 'Red Money'). They were used again on Bowie's 1995 album Outside, which Eno was involved with as a writer, producer and musician. Carlos Alomar, who worked with Eno and Bowie on all these albums, was a fan of using the cards, later saying 'at the Center for Performing Arts at the Stevens Institute of Technology, where I teach, on the wall are Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies cards. And when my students get a mental block, I immediately direct them to that wall.'[9]
Editions and variations[edit]
Edition | Year | No. Cards | Edition of | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Original | 1975 | 113 | 500 | Individually numbered, and signed by Eno and Schmidt[10] |
Second | 1978 | 128 | 1,000 | Available through Eno's record label at the time, Opal Records[11][12] |
Third | 1979 | 123 | 1,000 | Advertised for sale in the EG Newsletter[13] and elsewhere[14] |
French | 1979 | 128 | unknown | Alain D'Hooghe translator; produced in association with an exhibition 'More Than Nothing' by Schmidt & Eno[15] at the Paul Ide Gallery in Brussels, February 1980[16] |
Japanese | n.a. | n.a. | n.a. | A rumoured edition. No conclusive evidence has surfaced as to its existence[17] |
Fourth | 1996 | 100 | 4,000 | Produced by the Peter Norton family (with the blessing of Brian Eno) as Christmas gifts for his friends and colleagues (i.e. not for commercial sale).[18] Unlike other editions, the cards feature translations into the five other most common languages (Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, Spanish, Russian and Arabic),[19] include artwork (by Pae White) on the cards, and come in a molded white plastic container.[20] A handful of the cards are by new contributors (Arto Lindsay, Ritva Saarikko, Dieter Rot, and Stewart Brand). |
Fifth | 2001 | 103 + 2 informational | unlimited | Currently on sale[21] |
Sixth | 2013 | 106 + 2 informational | 500 | A limited edition in a burgundy case[22] |
Hypertext version | 1995 | unknown | n.a. | By Cetacean Enterprises[23] for Mac software[24] |
iPhone version (currently unavailable) | 2013 | unknown | n.a. | Includes all five versions of Oblique Strategies[25] |
Processing (programming language) version | 2010 | 110 | n.a. | Open-source plugin by David Wicks[26] for the Processing creative coding environment. |
Android version | 2018 | unknown | n.a. | Reproduces the 1975 cards typography and design[27] |
Alexa Skill | 2018 | 208 | n.a. | Available as an Amazon Alexa News Feed updated hourly. |
![Oblique strategies cards eno Oblique strategies cards eno](/uploads/1/2/5/8/125884256/530334199.jpg)
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See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^'Brian Eno's Oblique Strategies – the Ultimate Music Production Tool'. Productionadvice.co.uk. 2009-04-29. Retrieved 2013-09-20.
- ^Sasha Frere-Jones (July 7, 2014). 'Ambient Genius – The working life of Brian Eno'. The New Yorker. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
- ^'h2g2 – Oblique Strategies'. BBC. Retrieved 2013-03-14.
- ^Emr, John (2010-03-09). 'Peter Schmidt Web: 'The Thoughts Behind the Thoughts''. Peterschmidtweb.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2013-09-20.
- ^'A Primer On Oblique Strategizing'. Rtqe.net. Retrieved 2013-09-20.
- ^'Slacker's Oblique Strategy'. The Criterion Collection. Retrieved 2013-09-20.
- ^'Oblique Angles'. Questionable Content.
- ^'Phoenix (interview with Thomas Mars)'. Ear Farm.
- ^'Carlos Alomar's Golden Years with David Bowie (Interview)'. Rock Cellar Magazine. 11 February 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
- ^'The Oblique Strategies Web Site'. Rtqe.net. Retrieved 2013-09-20.
- ^'Oblique Strategies'. Gruntose. Archived from the original on 2013-09-21. Retrieved 2014-09-29.
- ^'Edition 2 (1978)'. Rtqe.net. Retrieved 2013-09-20.
- ^personal collection
- ^'Edition 3 (1979)'. Rtqe.net. Retrieved 2013-09-20.
- ^'Brian Eno Is More Dark Than Shark'. Moredarkthanshark.org. Retrieved 2013-09-20.
- ^'Consulting Other Sources'. Rtqe.net. Retrieved 2013-09-20.
- ^'Consulting Other Sources'. Rtqe.net. Retrieved 2013-09-20.
- ^'Edition 4 (1996)'. Rtqe.net. Retrieved 2013-09-20.
- ^'A New Edition Appears (in a limited way)'. Rtqe.net. Retrieved 2013-09-20.
- ^'Some Cards From Edition 4'. Rtqe.net. Retrieved 2013-09-20.
- ^'Eno Shop Oblique Strategies'. www.enoshop.co.uk.
- ^'Oblique Strategies Limited Numbered Edition'. Enoshop.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-09-20.
- ^'ObliqueWare review'. music.hyperreal.org.
- ^'ObliqueWare review'. Music.hyperreal.org. Retrieved 2013-09-20.
- ^https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-oblique-strategies/id638528266?mt=8
- ^'sansumbrella/Processing-ObliqueStrategies'. GitHub.
- ^'Oblique Strategies – Apps on Google Play'. play.google.com.
External links[edit]
- Brian Eno explains Oblique Strategies on Jarvis Cocker's BBC6 Radio show, November 8, 2010
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oblique_Strategies&oldid=932310281'
Oblique Strategies (subtitled Over One Hundred Worthwhile Dilemmas) is a deck of 7×9 cm printed cards in a black container box. Created by Brian Eno and. Oblique strategies: Over one hundred worthwhile dilemmas [Brian Eno] on *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Fifth edition “Stop thinking about art works as objects, and start thinking about them as triggers for experiences,” ambient music pioneer Brian Eno wrote in.
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Fiction Free Audio Books: You hear a voice singing a single note over a drumbeat and you think And when my students get a mental block, I immediately hrian them to that wall. WordPress Hashcash needs javascript to work, but your browser has javascript disabled.
The number and content of the cards vary according to the edition. The power of the synchronicity was enough to convince them to make the messages available to other artists. Try getting your heads around these: Individually numbered, and signed by Eno and Schmidt [10].
Show 25 25 50 All.
The Oblique Strategies Web Site
Loading comments… Trouble loading? Corbis Waking up this morning with a strange hangover I’d had nothing to drink the previous eveningI decided that I needed to be jolted into full conciousness.
To support Open Culture’s continued operation, please consider making a donation. This page was last edited on 1 Octoberat Who better to administer that jolt than pop’s most original thinker, Professor Brian Eno?
Oblique Strategies is most associated with bands Eno famously produced during his mid to lates creative highpoint, including Talking HeadsBerlin trilogy-era Bowie and Devo. Here’s an online Javascript version of the cards.
Oblique Strategies
Back then, writes Dangerous Minds’ Martin Schneiderthe concept for Eno and Schmidt’s “set of cards with elliptical imperatives designed to spark in the user creative connections unobtainable through regular modes of work” emerged as a form of “radical intervention with roots in Eastern philosophy. Your comment will be queued in Akismet! The blurb accompanying the edition says: Each card contains a gnomic suggestion or remark which can be used to break a deadlock or dilemma situation. Leave a Reply Name required Email required Message.
By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Five facts and things The blurb accompanying the edition says: But it seems that the very first set of Oblique Strategies, featured in Schneider’s post, is unavailable at any price. Threads collapsed expanded unthreaded. Other musicians inspired by Oblique Strategies include the British band Coldplaysaid to have used the ob,ique when recording their Brian Eno -produced album Viva la Vida or Death and Obliqque His Friends and French band Phoenixwho used the cards when recording their album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.
David Byrne thinks that “Brian’s cards are funny and sometimes useful”, but the rest of Talking Heads resented Eno’s input. He also happens to be the co-creator along with artist Peter Schmidt of Oblique Strategiesa set of cards first he first published in Roxy Music For Your Pleasure. They were used again on Bowie’s album Outsidewhich Eno was involved with as a writer, producer and musician. Sometimes they were recognised in retrospect intellect catching up with intuitionsometimes they brain identified as they were happening, sometimes they were formulated.
Oblique Strategies: life solutions by Brian Eno
Stories suggest they were used during the recording of instrumentals on “Heroes” such as ” Sense of Doubt ” and were used more extensively on Lodger ” Fantastic Voyage “, ” Boys Keep Swinging “, “Red Money”. Brian was trying to add beauty to our music. Music for Airports Music for Films Ambient 4: No New York Q: By Cetacean Enterprises [23] for Mac software [24]. They can be used as a pack, or by drawing a single card from the shuffled pack when a dilemma occurs in a working situation.
Are We Not Men? The set went through three limited edition printings before Schmidt suddenly died in earlyafter which the card decks became rather rare and expensive. Depends who you ask.
Written in Eno’s own hand, sometimes cursive and sometimes block, on cards with a wooden-looking texture and without the rounded corners that characterize the commercial version, these first Oblique Strategies include “Don’t be frightened to display your talents,” “If a thing can be said, it can be said simply,” and “Do we need holes? For a bdian, a small cult of Eno followers started up their own internet-based Acute Strategies system, where anyone could submit their own strategies, providing they followed lots of geeky rules about avoiding jargon and inside jokes and urging a familiarity with the I Ching and other oracular sources.