Kinetic Sculpture Race 2009

This past weekend, we continued in our annual tradition of hanging out with Baltimore's wackiest at the Kinetic Sculpture Race, sponsored by the American Visionary Art Museum. This friendly spectacle of "anything goes" invites every one of us to be a kid again. Want to wear a giant banana on your head? GO FOR IT! Been waiting for the perfect excuse to tie-dye your old prom dress and pair it with combat boots? HERE'S YOUR CHANCE. Itching to climb that tree in the park? JOIN THE CLUB. Want to choreograph a crazy dance with your friends, like you did for the high school talent show? BRING IT ON!

In general, we adults observe standard conventions against wearing tie-dyed prom dresses with combat boots in public, it's true. There are boundaries which generally preclude grown-ups from climbing trees in public parks, yes. These standards and conventions help us to take on responsibilities and maintain some level of productivity.

On the other hand, so do laughter, spontaneity, and tapping into that part of the brain that can think in terms of giant pink poodles with pearls.

Of course, one does not have to attend the Kinetics Race or climb a tree to gain that creative turbo boost. A daily dose of childlike genius can be accessed in relatively mainstream ways -- by challenging conventions privately and doing some mental tree-climbing, if you will. Little things, like doodling or belly-laughing, are good examples, as are cartwheels (if they don't kill you). Clicking on this random word generator and writing to an unexpected prompt for even five minutes can get a banana fixed squarely on your head, so you can think better for the rest of the day.

The Kinetic Sculpture Race reminds us that we don't have to be so serious all of the time -- that if we are sometimes tempted by a good mud puddle, or a bright orange pair of pants, we are not alone. Maybe it's not such an outrage to climb trees in public; maybe the outrage is that we ever stopped doing so.

Many thanks to my tree-climbin', puddle-stompin' big sis, Shelley, who introduced me to the Kinetic Sculpture Race, and who provided me with these awesome shots. She blogs here.