The Art of Is is a book by Stephen Nachmanovitch. The subtitle is “Improvising as a Way of Life”.
Notes
- There’s a whole chapter about “Listening”, which notes at the start that listening is the only thing required for improvisation… although listening is defined broadly here, encompassing all the senses.
- In theatre, an “offer” is any words or actions made by one of the performers, who ideally will accept and respond to the offer. The book suggests that we can also try to see aspects of our daily lives as offer.
- The book talks about a particular type of attention: objective in the sense of being balanced and clear, without losing empathy. There’s also a recommendation to think of works of art – and other experiences and things – as interesting, rather than evaluating or ranking.
Reflections
We often think of improvisation as happening in a particular context: on a stage in a theatre, between the start and end of a musical piece. This book invites us transport the principles of improvisation into other aspects of our lives. In the chapter on “Listening”, conversation is described as an art form.
I think adopting this way of thinking would lead to subtle shifts in our interactions and experiences… but perhaps this would still be powerful?
Category: Notes and Reflections