Oblique Strategies is a deck of 7 by 9 centimeters printed cards in a black container box, created by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt and first published in 1975. Each card offers an aphorismintended to help artists (particularly musicians) break creative blocks by encouraging lateral thinking.
In 1970 Peter Schmidt created "The Thoughts Behind the Thoughts",a box containing 55 sentences letterpress printed onto disused prints that accumulated in his studio, which is still in the possession of Eno. Eno, who had known Schmidt since the late 1960s, had been pursuing a similar project himself (which he had handwritten onto a number of bamboo cards and given the name 'Oblique Strategies' in 1974). There was a significant overlap between the two projects, and so, in late 1974, Schmidt and Eno combined them into a single pack of cards and offered them for general sale. After Schmidt died suddenly in early 1980, the card decks became rather rare and expensive. Sixteen years later software pioneer Peter Norton convinced Eno to let him create a fourth edition as Christmas gifts for his friends. With public interest Eno once again produced a new set of Oblique Strategies cards. The number and content of the cards vary somewhat from edition to edition.
Each card contains a phrase or cryptic remark which can be used to break a deadlock or dilemma situation. Some are specific to music composition; others are more general. Examples include:
- Use an old idea.
- State the problem in words as clearly as possible.
- Only one element of each kind.
- What would your closest friend do?
- What to increase? What to reduce?
- Are there sections? Consider transitions.
- Try faking it!
- Honour thy error as a hidden intention.
- Ask your body.
- Work at a different speed
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