The Art of the Schnipp-Schnapp
How do you make music with a radiator? How do you turn a blender into a bird?
Storytelling -and creativity in general- often involves holding two ideas at once. Or turning one thing into another, so that one thing becomes two.
Here's one of my favorite examples! The Tomi Ungerer "Schnipp Schnapp" collage.
Radiator as accordion.
In the Schnipp-Schnapp collage, he finds an object that looks like another object, and draws the remaining story.
Irons as birds of prey
And we can do it too. We grab a magazine. We look around, find something familiar, but look at it with new eyes, trying to see something surprising about it.
Bundt cake as train tunnel.
But if we are lucky, or want to go the extra mile, we see there more than just mashing two things together (irons and birds, radiator and accordion), we can start a conversation. We can be witty.
The radiator gives warmth, and it makes us happy, and this singer is so so happy.
These irons are very heavy and dangerous. They aren't just any bird, they are carnivores looming over prey beneath them.
The cake and trains both delight this child.
And this egg beater below, isn't just an outboard motor, but the engine that drives this chef through the sea.
Egg beater as boat engine.
And tragically, this one might make us think of the sad dogs and monkeys who went to space for us.
Sing and record! This simplest creative act is so so fun. Go make one!
Sing your heart out!
See more on our Pinterest page here. Thanks for reading!