Strategies Obliques

“Is creativity a lightning strike, or a slow burn?” I often wonder, standing here before Strategies Obliques. Strategies Obliques isn’t a place of grand facades or echoing halls. It’s a concept, a catalyst. It’s a deck of cards, conceived in the 1970s by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt. They called it “Oblique Strategies,” subtitled “Over One Hundred Worthwhile Dilemmas.” Each card holds a cryptic prompt, a nudge to the imagination. Imagine a musician stuck in a creative rut. Or a writer staring at a blank page. They draw a card. “Use an old idea,” it might suggest. Or, “What would your closest friend do?” Perhaps, “Try faking it!” These aren’t answers, but sparks. Strategies Obliques, through its deck of cards, aims to jolt you out of conventional thinking. It encourages lateral movement, sideways glances at your creative process. It’s a tool used by artists, musicians, writers, anyone seeking a fresh perspective. Brian Eno famously used the cards during his work with David Bowie on the Berlin Trilogy albums. The cards aren’t about finding the “right” answer. They’re about disrupting the expected, about embracing the unexpected. Strategies Obliques invites you to explore the oblique angles of your own creativity. So, the next time you’re facing a creative block, consider a sideways step. Consider Strategies Obliques. What unexpected path might it reveal?