Oblique Strategies

An interesting project in Brian Eno’s work is “Oblique Strategies,” a collaboration with composer Peter Schmick in the mid-1970s, in which each set of 115 white cards has a sentence or phrase written on it, and when you hit a wall in your creative process The idea is that when you hit a wall in your creative process, you can draw a card from a set of well-cut cards to get an idea or inspiration away from old thoughts. What is Ambient Pioneer Brian Eno’s creative strategy “Oblique Strategies”? - GIGAZINE

https://www.makoism.com/p/oblique-strategies-99e9bd223650?s=r

The goal of the cards (per Brian Eno) is “not final, as new ideas will present themselves, and others will become self-evident”; personally I find it best used to “trust” the card even if it is unclear. Let it drive you down a different path that wasn’t initially evident. (DeepL) The goal of the cards is (according to Brian Eno) “not to be final, but to present new ideas or make other things self-evident”. Personally, I believe the best use of the cards is to “believe” them, even if they are unclear. The cards will show you another way that wasn’t obvious at first. “honor thy error as a hidden intention” “only a part, not the whole” “lost in useless territory” “idiot glee” “take a break” “I respect your error as a hidden intention.” “Only some, not the whole.” “Lost in the area of futility.” “I’m going to make a fool of myself.” “I’m going to take a break.”

[Wikipedia https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/ブライアン%E3%83%BBイーノ#.E3.82.AA.E3.83.96.E3.83.AA.E3.83.BC.E3.82.AF.E3.83.BB.E3.82.B9.E3.83.88 .e3.83.a9.e3.83.86.e3.82.b8.e3.83.bc.e3.82.ba]

• State the problem in words as clearly as possible.
• What would your closest friend do? （What would your closest friend do?)
• What should we increase? What to increase? （What to increase?)
• Honour thy error as a hidden intention. (Honour thy error as a hidden intention.)

https://github.com/ceejbot/oblique-strategies/blob/master/index.js https://monoskop.org/images/8/8c/Eno_Brian_Schmidt_Peter_Oblique_Strategies.pdf

I roughly ran it through DeepL

• The one that says, “Take a break, take a break.

• Do it in small units, that is.

• Musical

• A system that makes you throw it away to get out of fixation.

• Some of them don’t translate well to DeepL

• ‘(Organic) machinery’,

  • (Organic) Machinery

• ‘A line has two sides’,

  • ‘A line has two sides’.

• ‘A very small object Its center’,

  • ‘a very small object, its center’.

• ‘Abandon desire’,

  • ‘Abandoning Desire’.

• ‘Abandon normal instructions’,

  • ‘Abandon normal instructions’.

• ‘Abandon normal instruments’,

  • ‘Discard normal instruments’.

• ‘Accept advice’,

  • ‘I accept your advice’.

• ‘Accretion’,

  • ‘Descending’.

• ‘Adding on’,

  • add to

• ‘Allow an easement (an easement is the abandonment of a stricture)’,

  • ‘Grant easement (easement is a waiver of strictness)‘.

• ‘Always first steps’,

  • ‘Always take the first step’.

• ‘Always give yourself credit for having more than personality (given by Arto Lindsay)’,

  • ‘Always allow yourself to have more than personality (given by Alt Lindsay)’

• ‘Are there sections? Consider transitions’,

  • ‘Is There a Section? Considering Transitions’.
  • Interesting, if there are separated sections, there are transitions between those sections.

• ‘Ask people to work against their better judgement’,

  • Asking people to work against their own decency’.

• ‘Ask your body’,

  • Listen to your body”.

• ‘Assemble some of the elements in a group and treat the group’,

  • ‘Assemble some of the elements of the group and handle the group’.

• ‘Balance the consistency principle with the inconsistency principle’,

  • ‘Balancing the principle of consistency with the principle of contradiction’.

• ‘Be dirty’,

  • Be ‘dirty’.

• ‘Be extravagant’,

  • Be extravagant”.

• ‘Be less critical’,

  • Be non-judgmental.

• ‘Breathe more deeply’,

• ‘Bridges\n—build\n—burn’,

• ‘Cascades’,

  • ‘Cascades’.

• ‘Change ambiguities to specifics’,

  • ‘Change ambiguities to specifics’.

• ‘Change instrument roles’,

  • ‘Change instrument roles’.

• ‘Change nothing and continue with immaculate consistency’,

  • Change nothing and continue with immaculate consistency’.

• ‘Change specifics to ambiguities’,

  • ‘Change specifics to ambiguities’, ‘Change ambiguities to specifics’,.

• ‘Children\n—speaking\n—singing’,

  • Children, talking, singing

• ‘Cluster analysis’,

  • ‘Cluster Analysis’.

• ‘Consider different fading systems’,

  • ‘Consider different fading systems’, ‘Consider different fading systems’

• ‘Consider transitions’,

• ‘Consult other sources\n—promising\n—unpromising’,

  • Consult other sources, ‘Promising, Unpromising’,.

• ‘Convert a melodic element into a rhythmic element’,

• ‘Courage!’,

• ‘Cut a vital connection’,

• ‘Decorate, decorate’,

• ‘Define an area as `safe’ and use it as an anchor’,

  • Define an area as `safe’ and use it as an anchor

• ‘Destroy\n-nothing\n-the most important thing’,

• ‘Discard an axiom’,

  • ‘Discard an axiom’.

• ‘Disciplined self-indulgence’,

  • ‘Disciplined self-indulgence’.

• ‘Destroy﹑the most important thing’,

• ‘Disconnect from desire’,

  • ‘Disconnect from desire’.

• ‘Discover the recipes you are using and abandon them’,

  • Discovering and Discarding a Recipe You’re Using,” and “Discarding a Recipe.

• ‘Display your talent’,

  • ‘Showing off your talents’.

• ‘Distort time’,

  • ‘Distorting Time’.

• ‘Do nothing for as long as possible’,

  • Nothing for as long as possible’.

• ‘Do something boring’,

  • Doing the Boring Thing’.

• ‘Do the last thing first’,

  • ‘Do the last thing first’.

• ‘Do the washing up’,

  • ‘washing up’.

• ‘Do the words need changing?’,

• ‘Do we need holes?’,

• ‘Don’t avoid what is easy’,

• ‘Don’t be frightened of cliches’,

• ‘Don’t break the silence’,

• ‘Don’t stress one thing more than another’,

• ‘Dont be afraid of things because they’re easy to do’,

• ‘Dont be frightened to display your talents’,

  • Dont be frightened to display your talents’.

• ‘Go outside. close the door’.

• ‘Go slowly all the way round the outside’,

• Go to an extreme, come part way back” (Go to an extreme, come part way back)

• Respect thy mistakes as hidden intentions’.

• ‘What would others do’.

• What would you do?”

• ‘What is wrong is humanly possible’.

• ‘Stupid rapture(?)‘.

• Imagining the work as a set of disconnected events’.

• In total darkness, or in a very large room, very quietly’.

• ‘Infinitesimal gradations’.

• ‘Emphasize differences’,

• ‘Emphasize repetitions’,

• ‘Emphasize the flaws’,

  • ‘Emphasize the flaws’.

• ‘Faced with a choice, do both (given by Dieter Rot)’,

  • ‘When faced with a choice, do both (given by Dieter Lott)‘.

• ‘Feed the recording back out of the medium’,

  • Feedback on the Recording from the Medium”.

• ‘Fill every beat with something’,

  • Fill every beat with something’.

• ‘Find a safe part and use it as an anchor’,

  • Find a safe part and use it as an anchor”.

• ‘Get your neck massaged’,

  • Getting a neck massage”.

• ‘Ghost echoes’,

  • Ghost Echo”.

• ‘Give the game away’,

  • ‘Give the game away’.

• ‘Give way to your worst impulse’,

  • ‘Give way to your worst impulses’.

• ‘Go outside. Shut the door.’,

• ‘Go slowly all the way round the outside’,

• ‘Go to an extreme, come part way back’,

• ‘Honor thy mistake as a hidden intention’,

• ‘How would someone else do it?’,

• ‘How would you have done it?’,

• ‘Humanize something free of error’,

• ‘Idiot glee (?)’,

• ‘Imagine the piece as a set of disconnected events’,

• ‘In total darkness, or in a very large room, very quietly’,

• ‘Infinitesimal gradations’,

• ‘Intentions\n—nobility of\n—humility of\n—credibility of’,

• ‘Into the impossible’,

• ‘Is it finished?’,

• ‘Is something missing?’,

• ‘Is the information correct?’,

• ‘Is the style right?’,

• ‘Is there something missing’,

  • ‘Is there anything missing?’

• ‘It is quite possible (after all)’,

  • (After all) there is plenty of potential’.

• ‘It is simply a matter of work’,

  • It’s simply a matter of work.’

• ‘Just carry on’,

  • Just keep going,” he said.

• ‘Left channel, right channel, center channel’,

  • ‘left channel, right channel, center channel’.

• ‘Listen to the quiet voice’,

  • ‘Listen to the quiet voice’.

• ‘Look at the order in which you do things’,

  • ‘Look at the order in which things are done.’

• ‘Look closely at the most embarrassing details & amplify them’,

  • Look closely & amplify the most embarrassing details’.

• ‘Lost in useless territory’,

  • Straying into the Realm of Futility’.

• ‘Lowest common denominator’,

  • ‘Least common multiple’.

• ‘Magnify the most difficult details’,

  • Magnifying the Most Difficult Details”.

• ‘Make a blank valuable by putting it in an exquisite frame’,

  • Making the Blank Worthwhile by Putting it in an Exquisite Frame’.

• ‘Make a sudden, destructive unpredictable action; incorporate’,

  • ‘To act in a sudden, disruptive, unpredictable manner; to incorporate’.

• ‘Make an exhaustive list of everything you might do & do the last thing on the list’,

  • ‘Make a comprehensive list of all the things you might do & do the last thing on the list’,.

• ‘Make it more sensual’,

• ‘Make what’s perfect more human’,

• ‘Mechanicalize something idiosyncratic’,

  • ‘Mechanize the peculiar’.

• ‘Move towards the unimportant’,

• ‘Mute and continue’,

  • ‘Mute and continue’.

• ‘Not building a wall but making a brick’,

  • ‘Not building a wall but making a brick’.

• ‘Once the search has begun, something will be found’,

  • ‘When the search begins, something will be found’.

• ‘Only a part, not the whole’,

  • Not the whole, just a part’.

• ‘Only one element of each kind’,

  • Only one element of each species”.

• ‘Overtly resist change’,

• ‘Pae White’s non-blank graphic metacard’,

• ‘Put in earplugs’,

• ‘Question the heroic’,

• ‘Reevaluation (a warm feeling)’,

  • Revaluation (warm feelings)“.

• ‘Remember those quiet evenings’,

  • ‘Remember those quiet evenings’.

• ‘Remove a restriction’,

  • ‘Remove restrictions’.

• ‘Remove ambiguities and convert to specifics’,

  • ‘Remove ambiguity and convert to specifics’.

• ‘Remove specifics and convert to ambiguities’,

  • ‘Remove specifics and convert to ambiguity’.

• ‘Repetition is a form of change’,

  • Repetition is a form of change’.

• ‘Retrace your steps’,

• ‘Reverse’,

  • ‘Reverse’.

• ‘Short circuit (example; a man eating peas with the idea that they will improve his virility shovels them straight into his lap)’,

  • Thinking short (e.g.; a man who believes that eating beans will make him more energetic will scramble straight to his knees)‘.

• ‘Simple subtraction’,

  • ‘Simple subtraction’.

• ‘Simply a matter of work’,

  • Simply a matter of work’.

• ‘Slow preparation, fast execution’,

  • Preparation is slow, execution is quick.

• ‘Spectrum analysis’,

  • ‘Spectrum Analysis’.

• ‘State the problem as clearly as possible’,

  • State the problem as clearly as possible’.

• ‘Take a break’,

  • ‘Take a break’.

• ‘Take away the elements in order of apparent non-importance’,

  • ‘Taking the apparently unimportant elements in order of importance.

• ‘Take away the important parts’,

  • ‘Take away the important parts’.

• ‘Tape your mouth (given by Ritva Saarikko)’,

  • Tape over the mouth (given by Litva Saarikko)“.

• ‘Principle of Contradiction’.

  • ‘The inconsistency principle’,

• The most important thing is the most easily forgotten.”

  • ‘The most important thing is the thing most easily forgotten’,

• The tape becomes music”.

  • ‘The tape is now the music’,

• ‘Think\n—inside the work\n—outside the work’,

• ‘Think of the radio’,

  • Think Radio”.

• ‘Tidy up’,

• ‘Towards the insignificant’,

• ‘Trust in the you of now’,

• ‘Try faking it (from Stewart Brand)’,

• ‘Turn it upside down’,

  • ‘Turn upside down’.

• ‘Twist the spine’,

  • ‘Twist the spine’.

• ‘Use ‘unqualified’ people’,

• ‘Use an old idea’,

  • Use an old idea’, ‘Use an old idea’, ‘Use an old idea’

• ‘Use an unacceptable color’,

  • Use an unacceptable color’.

• ‘Use cliches’,

  • Use cliches’.

• ‘Use fewer notes’,

  • Use fewer notes’.

• Use ‘unqualified’ people’,

• ‘Use filters’,

  • Use filters’.

• ‘Use something nearby as a model’,

  • ‘Follow the example of what is nearby’.

• ‘Use your own ideas’,

  • Use your own ideas’.

• ‘Voice your suspicions’,

  • ‘Voice your doubts’.

• ‘Water’,

  • Use ‘water’.

• ‘What are the sections sections of? Imagine a caterpillar moving’,

  • ‘What is a cross-sectional view of? Imagine a caterpillar in motion’.

• ‘What are you really thinking about just now?’,

  • What are we really thinking about now?’

• ‘What context would look right?’,

  • What context would look right’.

• ‘What is the reality of the situation?’,

  • ‘What is the reality?

• ‘What is the simplest solution?’,

  • What is the simplest solution?’

• ‘What mistakes did you make last time?’,

  • ‘What mistakes did you make last time?

• ‘What to increase? What to reduce? What to maintain?’,

  • ‘What to increase? What to reduce? What to maintain’.

• ‘What would your closest friend do?’,

• ‘What wouldn’t you do?’,

• ‘When is it for?’,

• ‘Where is the edge?’,

• ‘Which parts can be grouped?’,

• ‘Work at a different speed’,

• ‘Would anyone want it?

• ‘You are an engineer’,

  • ‘You are an engineer’.

• ‘You can only make one dot at a time’,

• ‘You don’t have to be ashamed of using your own ideas’,

  • There is no need to be ashamed of using your ideas.”

• ‘blank white card’,

relevance - tarot

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This page is auto-translated from [/nishio/Oblique Strategies](https://scrapbox.io/nishio/Oblique Strategies) using DeepL. If you looks something interesting but the auto-translated English is not good enough to understand it, feel free to let me know at @nishio_en. I’m very happy to spread my thought to non-Japanese readers.