I finally saw EAMES: The Architect and The Painter at the weekend. One of the many things that grabbed my attention watching it was a clip of mesmerizing short film called Tops made by the Eames studio in 1969. In the film, all manner of spinning tops and toys are wound and released. It is beautiful and hypnotic (thanks partially at least to the score by Elmer Bernstein). But there is also a moment about halfway through when a thumb tack is spun across an architectural drawing. It is a wonderfully understated metaphor for the creative process and it changes the whole tone of what you are watching. Lovely.
Here Tops in its entirety: