Welcome to Essai, an experimental inspiration engine created by Shayne Gipe. Contained here is a virtual collection of hand-picked artifacts; an internet-age cabinet of curiosities. Items displayed traverse disciplines, and discriminate against neither time nor place, exploring art, literature, events, exhibitions, ephemera and all manner of creative endeavor and intellectual pursuit. The theme, which changes each month, is at once a frame that captures pieces of a common narrative; a canvas primed for its depiction; and a lens, through which the continuity of that story can be seen in life as we live it.
The goal: to furnish fuel for creative fire, in hopes that the sparks of imagination remain forever ignited.
Essai is a departure from a search-engine approach to the world of information, looking instead toward methods of making meaning that can be uniquely identified through human understanding. By connecting subtler threads, broader horizons can be built, and serendipity can once again assume a role in how we think, making way for curiosity-guided exploration. Ideas here may seem esoteric, yet there is no escaping that our farthest-flung thoughts about who we are determine how we connect to the world around us.
Along this journey, think of these bits of collected inspiration as stars. Essai aspires to scour the skies for the brightest among them to create stunning portraits of today’s culture, stringing them together by their common story in uncommon ways. From stars, constellations.
WHAT'S IN A NAME?
In 1580, French writer, philosopher and humanist Michel de Montaigne published a massive volume of a literary model that was far ahead of its time. His writings probed deeply into a wide range of topics, most notably the multiplicity of human nature. These Essais (literally translated as "attempts" or "trials") were the first forays into such introspective written consideration; they gave birth to the modern genre of the essay.
Essai Project is a renewed attempt to lend fresh meaning to such exploration.
A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR:
Essai ascribes due diligence to crediting and linking all of its found content to its rightful owner. Consideration and respect is carefully given to the context in which all such content is presented here. However, should you feel your creative license is infringed upon, please contact the editor to have any articles promptly removed from this site. Or, feel appreciated and admired, as you indeed are. Thanks.