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2 weeks ago | 
henrikkarlsson.xyz | Henrik Karlsson
There are certain works—paintings, films, books, gardens—that have an effect on me that I can most simply describe by saying: in their presence, I remember that I am a human being. In this series, I write about these works. See also, part 1 about Herzog’s Into the Abyss,part 2 about Shostakovitch “String Quartet no 8”, and part 3 about Tomas Tranströmers Baltics. “Freedom is a heavy load, a great and strange burden for the spirit to undertake. It is not easy.
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2 months ago | 
henrikkarlsson.xyz | Henrik Karlsson
Untitled, Olaf Rude, 1938I talked to a friend who wants to start a blog, and she pulled a few thoughts from me:What’s odd about you is what’s interesting. Work hard, and you can write like everyone else in your genre—but the result will never be as rich as the texture of your own personality. So don’t think too much about how it’s supposed to be done, what others are doing, or what the conventions demand. Just try to amuse yourself. Your contradictions are an asset.
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Dec 2, 2024 | 
henrikkarlsson.xyz | Henrik Karlsson
A few days ago, I resigned from my job at the art gallery to write Escaping Flatland full time. One day I hope to be a good enough writer to put words to how thankful I am to the many people who have helped me reach this point. For now, let me just say that I feel the weight of your care, and I will do my best to honor it.
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Sep 10, 2024 | 
henrikkarlsson.xyz | Henrik Karlsson
This is the second part of an essay series that began with “Everything that turned out well in my life followed the same design process.” It can be read on its own. In the previous essay, I linked to an excerpt from Ryan Singer’s video lecture about Christopher Alexander, form-context-fit, and unfolding. Now, Ryan has been so kind as to upload the whole lecture. I highly recommend it.
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Aug 6, 2024 | 
henrikkarlsson.xyz | Henrik Karlsson
Giacometti’s studioHuman nature is not a machine to be built after a model, and set to do exactly the work prescribed for it, but a tree, which requires to grow and develop itself on all sides, according to the tendency of the inward forces which make it a living thing. —John Stuart MillIf I look at things that have turned out well in my life (my marriage, some of my essays, my current career) the “design process” has been the same in each case.
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Jul 31, 2024 | 
mollywizenberg.substack.com | Molly Wizenberg |Henrik Karlsson
There’s one spot open in my August 25-30 writing workshop at Zapata Ranch, in Mosca, Colorado. It had been sold out, but there was a cancellation this week! This will be my third and final year of teaching at the Zapata — after the ranch’s 2024 season, the Nature Conservancy, which owns the property, is converting it to other uses — so if you’ve wanted to write and ride with me there, now’s your chance.
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Jul 24, 2024 | 
open.substack.com | Henrik Karlsson
Attersee, Gustav Klimt, 1900The feeling when you jump from a high place and fall through warm air and then hit the water. The way the bubbles explode white around you as you shoot into the dark. The light tickling as the bubbles rush across your skin. Just the pure physical joy of thrashing your arms around in water. To fill the kid’s buckets and throw it at the sun—the way the water falls apart into drops, and then into mist, the way a rainbow appears for a second and is gone.
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Jul 6, 2024 | 
henrikkarlsson.xyz | Henrik Karlsson
The reason I've spent so long establishing this rather obvious point [that writing helps you refine your thinking] is that it leads to another that many people will find shocking. If writing down your ideas always makes them more precise and more complete, then no one who hasn't written about a topic has fully formed ideas about it. And someone who never writes has no fully formed ideas about anything nontrivial.
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Jun 24, 2024 | 
henrikkarlsson.xyz | Henrik Karlsson
This essay is the first of a series. Here is part 2, part 3, and part 4. Once you see the boundaries of your environment, they are no longer the boundaries of your environment. Marshall McLuhanThe inside of a womb looks as it did 70,000 years ago, but the world outside has changed. In July 2021, when our daughter was born, the night sky didn’t light up with stars; it was lit up by the warm afterglow of sodium street lamps. Green-clad women carried the baby away, pumping oxygen into her mouth.
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May 15, 2024 | 
henrikkarlsson.xyz | Henrik Karlsson
CY TWOMBLY’S STUDIO IN ROME, 1966A hobby of mine is to answer random questions that people email me, and I figured I should publish some of the answers here so I don’t have to repeat myself. If you have a question, you can use this Google form and I’ll publish an answer from time to time. Here’s one. A reader asked me how I go about finding interesting things to write about.
