April 28 Dan Zen Expo Exhibit
Words
Dedicated to RoseAnne Prevec - word lover
Words are symbols for objects and ideas and as such are paramount in all the Exhibits. Word-play and creation interest Dan Zen perhaps due to heredity but also to help understand creativity and communicate ideas. Let us see how someone with a name of ZEN departs from ZEN with his love for symbols.
Social Media (2016) ▲ These days, much of our writing is done in social media settings. Before that, there was chat and e-mail. Before that was letters and diaries. Above are three recent posts from Social Media - Zen is dabbling daily with wordplay. For example, caption contests (thanks, Wayne!) are a lot of fun and let Zen stretch his surreal writing. Further below in the exhibit we show the Hand Stories example from the dawn of the Internet in 1996. Zen loves puns and averages about three a day - his first father, Ben, averages six an hour and that is a gracious assessment. Finally, a eulogy for David Bowie - as an example when time and care are taken.
Hand Story (1996) ▲ An early custom forum set up a site called George JR and hosted by Dan Zen. Here are Zen's entries:
- Then the etch-a-sketch eraser ate the elbow
- Zee magnet eez so strong eet attracts zee Olive pits from zee Olive!
- Ouch, Zagbot! What is this thing gripping on to my leg?
- I went to the sale but all I could find was a stick puppet of Mickey Mouse's ugly cousin, Freda Mouse.
- Here you go Mildred. I picked up 3 sevens on my last draw and finally won you Tony's wife's Lasagna crimper you've been ogling for 10 years.
- Gulliver's got the telephone pole again!
- The Mexican jumping beans in Pedro's pocket jumped so high that they yanked Pedro's arm right off as he was about to use the sombrero forming tool.
- Michelangelo's first whirly-bird - before clamping down the feathers.
- The wind ocarina attracted the nymphs in the misty tulip field.
Teaching Word Cloud (2014) ▲ A word cloud made from teaching comments found in Dan Zen's Teaching Reviews and Ratings post made with Wordle.net.
Creativity Word Cloud (2014) ▲ A word cloud made from stories from the Dan Zen Museum and summarized as Museum Reviews.
Meadowlark Poems (1994) ▲ Intended to be bad poetry, you never know. Some end without the expected rhyme - he is a poet and does not realize it. Very tipsy on Champagne - certainly a fantastic time out at Candy and Jerry's farm for a seasonal art party. Press photos for full screen.
Poems for Children (1987) ▲ The last page of a small book of poems for children. The Zen Foundation will have to contact Craig and Emma for the rest of the content ;-).
Surreal Writing (1989) ▲ An example of early Dan Zen writing. Zen was into a medieval style crossed with Monty Python and a dash of psychedelia. The vibe of the times was also apparent in Zen's song writing, some of which is featured in the next section and more to come in a Song Writing Exhibit.
Logos (1996-2016) ▲ Dan Zen must pick the name of each app he builds. Some of these are made up, some are twisted a little but a lot of thought sure went into them. They can be seen in the LOGOS EXHIBIT
Dan Zen Song Lyrics (1988-1990) ▲ Songs from the psychedelic times of the Chessmen. More lyrics perhaps in an upcoming exhibit. A few of these songs can be found in the Dan Zen Music Exhibit.
TEDx Hamilton Talk (2014) ▲ "Hello. Welcome to TEDx Hamilton in a city where we are experiencing a cultural revolution! I am inventor, Dan Zen, and this is Rolli. While others are walking their dogs, I am walking my robot. [parks Rolli] An art collector from Toronto offered me $500 for Rolli. But she was drunk… so I didn't sell it to her. Ya… she couldn't operate the bank machine! Sigh.." FULL TRANSCRIPT TALKS EXHIBIT
Hierarchy, Organization, Flexibility, Relevance (2012) ▲ Four diagrams taken from the Creativity Framework. Words have their place in the hierarchy of language. Meaning comes from combinations with relevance. Dan Zen has thought extensively on how words can help creativity. He highly recommends an hour or two's study of the CREATIVITY FRAMEWORK
Dan Zen Sketches (2010) ▲ Dan Zen does a lot of work with words in his dozens of sketch books. You can get an idea of what this is like from the Sketches Exhibits
SKETCHES 1 SKETCHES 2
Memes (1980-2016) ▲ Creation of words and unique placements of words is a regular Dan Zen past-time. Zen also is analytical with respect to words people are using. He often notes trends such as: "perfect", "absolutely", "-right?", "ok", etc. that suddenly become way overused. Here are some phrases - only a fraction of the list - that Dan Zen has created on purpose or accidentally:
- Remember, the early worm gets eaten by the bird!
- Feel the forces of groovity!
- My sweater is Tealquoise
- Disappeared into a puff of thin smoke
- Unfortunate luck
- There is a time for laughing and a time for not laughing and this is not one of them
- I haven't the foggiest clue
- Scared the living pants off me!
- I haven't seen you since the last time I saw you!
MEMES EXHIBIT
My Word (1989) ▲ Three examples of the My Word game where for any given phrase, you have to make a story that ends in a statement that sounds like the given phrase. These were done live within a five-ten minute thinking period.
Surreal Charades (1992) ▲ Dan Zen makes a lot of word games. You can see the Indoor Games Exhibit for games like Hopposits, where you try and make opposites to words that do not have opposites. One of his favourites is Surreal Charades:
-
Tintin lofted the bugle over the Oscar Meyer Weiner truck
- Sandy was the tilted tiled floor of the Sheik's tenth temple
- Squire, your upstair's privy is occupied by the Duchess of Windsor's reclusive Uncle's Butler's daughter's badminton team's trophy
- Lurk, the butler, brought Fig Newtons to the space console
- The buried trunk held a Ming mandarin; two Egyptian enchantments; three Byzantine beads; four Middle-earth marmalade eggs; and five numb, neutered, Neptunian noodle makers
INDOOR GAMES
Figmentalisticanarianismists (1991) ▲ Poster by the fantastic Gaven Dianda. This show was a combination of posters, music, art, performance, and party!
Yoga Tales (2015) ▲ In the spirit of the Figmentalisticanarianismists, Dan Zen has introduced a character in Yoga Tales: Doctor Dangalablitzcommonweatherskindorfhausen! The Doctor has a different long name every time he is referred to and apparently, that is the correct way to address him. Zen has also created a whole host of crazy names for Mystery Characters - see the STORYTELLING EXHIBIT
Beryea (2002-2016) ▲ Diagram by Madeline Zen. Dan Zen's daughter Madeline and Dan Zen have been working on a language and culture of Berye. There is a blog at https://beryea.com and a full sketchbook of ideas. Madeline has been entering words with a tool that she programmed with Zen. VISIT BERYEA
Dandelion (1988-2008) ▲ The name of Dan Zen's cat, Dandelion, is a triple pun - sought after and achieved by Azimov's Wendell Urth. Dan, of course is in the name. Dent de lion - for tooth of lion. And the physical fact that Dandelion shed hair that would blow in the wind like dandelion seeds. Dandelion lived for twenty years - quite remarkable and she makes a fitting end to the Dan Zen Words Exhibit. Ciao for now, brown cow.