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Hey LA…what tf is this?
summer 2023
I just know all the kids wearing sunglasses inside soho house can’t see a thing
The photographer and filmmaker Arno Rafael Minkkinen has a theory of creative originality:
The Helsinki Bus Station Theory.
If you want to do unique and meaningful work, if you want to find your unique creative voice or style—Minkkinen explains, here’s what you must understand
In the heart of the city of Helsinki, there is a bus station.
Before they branch off into different directions, every bus makes the same first few stops on the way out of the city.
Like these buses—an artist, early on, can't avoid taking a similar route as the artists who came before.
"Let's say...metaphorically speaking," Minkkinen says, "you have been working for three years making platinum studies of nudes."
"You take those three years of work on the nude to [a gallery], and the curator asks if you are familiar with the nudes of Irving Penn...[or] Bill Brandt."
Realizing that your style is derivative, Minkkinen says, “You hop off the bus, grab a cab, and head straight back to the bus station looking for another platform.”
Back at the station—metaphorically speaking—you set out again to develop a new style.
Then three years later, again, you take your work to an art gallery. Again, the curator says your work looks very similar to a more famous artist. So again, you decide to get off the bus, but this time, Minkkinen himself stops you and gives you some advice:
“Stay on the bus. Stay on the f*cking bus."
If you stay on the bus...
"Soon your differences will begin to appear with clarity and intelligence. Your originality will become visible. And even the works from those very first years of trepidation when everything you did seemed to have been done before [will] all have the stamp of your unique vision.
Why? Because you stayed on the bus.”
Takeaway 1:
The visual artist Wendy MacNaughton is often asked by artists who are just starting out, "How do I develop a unique style?"
She says,
"I always ask them, 'How did you develop your handwriting?' By writing. You just kept writing and writing and writing and writing, and eventually, you created a handwriting that nobody else's handwriting looks like."
Takeaway 2:
Every artist is the sum of their influences.
John Mayer, for instance, says he often tries to imitate the late Grateful Dead legendary lead guitarist Jerry Garcia.
When somebody once said they loved the unique way in which Mayer played one of his guitar solos, Mayer said:
“That’s just me trying [to play like Jerry] and not doing it well enough…which is a wonderful technique for being yourself.
Failing to sound exactly like the person you want to sound like is a wonderful way to sound like yourself.”
- - -
I once asked Ryan Holiday about how he developed his unique writing style. He credited his influences:
“The key is that no one has the same combination of influences. It feels like me because I’m the only person to combine my interests in my way.”
Follow @bpoppenheimer for more content like this!
![bpoppenheimer's tweet photo. The photographer and filmmaker Arno Rafael Minkkinen has a theory of creative originality:
The Helsinki Bus Station Theory.
If you want to do unique and meaningful work, if you want to find your unique creative voice or style—Minkkinen explains, here’s what you must understand
In the heart of the city of Helsinki, there is a bus station.
Before they branch off into different directions, every bus makes the same first few stops on the way out of the city.
Like these buses—an artist, early on, can't avoid taking a similar route as the artists who came before.
"Let's say...metaphorically speaking," Minkkinen says, "you have been working for three years making platinum studies of nudes."
"You take those three years of work on the nude to [a gallery], and the curator asks if you are familiar with the nudes of Irving Penn...[or] Bill Brandt."
Realizing that your style is derivative, Minkkinen says, “You hop off the bus, grab a cab, and head straight back to the bus station looking for another platform.”
Back at the station—metaphorically speaking—you set out again to develop a new style.
Then three years later, again, you take your work to an art gallery. Again, the curator says your work looks very similar to a more famous artist. So again, you decide to get off the bus, but this time, Minkkinen himself stops you and gives you some advice:
“Stay on the bus. Stay on the f*cking bus."
If you stay on the bus...
"Soon your differences will begin to appear with clarity and intelligence. Your originality will become visible. And even the works from those very first years of trepidation when everything you did seemed to have been done before [will] all have the stamp of your unique vision.
Why? Because you stayed on the bus.”
Takeaway 1:
The visual artist Wendy MacNaughton is often asked by artists who are just starting out, "How do I develop a unique style?"
She says,
"I always ask them, 'How did you develop your handwriting?' By writing. You just kept writing and writing and writing and writing, and eventually, you created a handwriting that nobody else's handwriting looks like."
Takeaway 2:
Every artist is the sum of their influences.
John Mayer, for instance, says he often tries to imitate the late Grateful Dead legendary lead guitarist Jerry Garcia.
When somebody once said they loved the unique way in which Mayer played one of his guitar solos, Mayer said:
“That’s just me trying [to play like Jerry] and not doing it well enough…which is a wonderful technique for being yourself.
Failing to sound exactly like the person you want to sound like is a wonderful way to sound like yourself.”
- - -
I once asked Ryan Holiday about how he developed his unique writing style. He credited his influences:
“The key is that no one has the same combination of influences. It feels like me because I’m the only person to combine my interests in my way.”
Follow @bpoppenheimer for more content like this!](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FxFUlUKX0AAvvv7.jpg)
@samythesaint Thank you! Glad you had a good time! ✨
First Basel ✔️ https://t.co/trJRCvsNya
Lobsters in the desert was a vibe. The soho desert house had some incredible food and the production they put into this event was impressive
🚨🚨Faltam 3 horas! 🚨🚨
Acesse o @Gotasapp e adicione o código: GIGANTEDACOLINA
Você poderá adquirir as figurinhas digitais oficiais do @VascodaGama incluindo a LENDÁRIA do Andrey Santos, convocado para a seleção Brasileira e vendido ao @ChelseaFC da Inglaterra!
17 hs!💧💧
Can’t believe I get paid to build pretty things just for *vibes*
Recent work, Soho Desert House
Oops missed a few from December.
Work lately
@brianne2k 2010, vintage IG
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