THE FOUNDATION
This should be relatively obvious, but what you feed your mind determines the type of thoughts you create. If all you watch are memes, then that will eventually become the level of work you produce. The best way to avoid this is to expose yourself to a variety of media that you can draw on without the need of devil’s broccoli or waiting for inspiration to find you. In other words, building a mental image bank.
The great thing is that we can decide for ourselves what those building blocks should be! The trick is to to build your foundation without solely focusing on your current interest as there can be no growth without change. However, with algorithms feeding us a stream of similar content, finding something new has become more challenging.
So, where do we start and how do we choose?
That, my friend, is a question only you can answer. The only hint I can give you is to look at where you are compared to where you want to be. To make things easier, I shall be sharing the (current) foundation I chose, as well as some of the media I turned to as a speculative fantasy writer who creates artbooks.
Feel free to use these as as entry to a rabbit hole of weird information.
SOUND. PHILOSOPHY. GENRE BLENDING. RELIGION.
ANATOMY. MIMICRY. CULTURES. PERSPECTIVE.
PERSPECTIVE. CULTURAL INSIGHTS. MEDIA SOURCES
Youtube channel
POINT OF VIEW. NARRATION
Podcast interviewing inanimate objects and food
DAMI LEE
Youtube channel focused on architecture. Inspiration for fantasy structures.
CURIOUS ARCHIVE: SPECULATIVE BIOLOGY
Youtube channel
BIOMIMICRY
Because is the ultimate inspiration
DERU 1979
This album puts me in a daze every time. Slightly discomfort, but it’s the daze that often births ideas.
ANATOMY (BOOKS)
Forget art. If you can understand the anatomy of the human body, then you can alter it or come up with beings of your own, whose existence is plausible.
SALT FISH BROTHER 线鱼哥
Blending of styles. Philosophy. (limited on Youtube. Bilibili is better)
KARMIC RETRIBUTION, DESTINY & HINDUISM
FRACTALS
Connection. Hidden Communication. Collective Identity. Science of Nature.
CODEX SERAPHINIANUS
Species Manipulation. Blending of Forms. Visual Presentation.
Tientsin Mystic (The one who translated the title is an idiot– it’s River God 河神)
Metaphysical Spaces. Shamanism. Narrative through Landscape. Sorcery.
ALAN MOORE
Narrative Voice. Language as Magic. Beauty of Horror.
HELL’S PARADISE
Blending of Religions. Evil with a cause. Visual Communication.
Not the biggest fan, but it’s a great source of inspiration for society building.
GRIFFIN & SABINE BY NICK BANTOCK
Artistic ways of showing a letter correspondence.
BIOELECTRICAL SOUNDSCAPES
Effects of electronic waves on the psyche. Representation of Energy Flow
As a cinephile, I could not add films to this list without going over the email limit. If you found these recommendations interesting and would like to see film inspiration, then let me know by leaving a message on Substack.
