Category: Creativity

I happened to be at the National Gallery of Australia yesterday when I noticed this statue in the main hall and was immediately struck by the concept.

The statue is set in a continuous cycle of melting and recasting representing life and impending death and possible resurrection.

It is made of wax and was burned like a candle, inside the gallery, for six months.

It is made by a Swiss artist Urs Fischer who uses wax a lot as material. Fischer has been described by the arts and culture magazine Vault as “internationally celebrated” and one of the most significant contemporary artists working today. He has been displaying his work all over the world since the mid-1990s.

National Gallery of Australia acquired this statue for one million dollars and it has been on display since mid-March 2019. It had been ignited every day till mid-August. Its head had fallen off as one piece and lay on the platform. Miraculously, the arm carrying the smartphone has escaped the flame.

Mostly the works of art are made to be permanent. Sometimes they are ephemeral. But this, new acquisition of the gallery both. Its debris will be sent to Zurich to be re-casted from its mold and installed again in the gallery and the process of burning and melting will start again.

What made me stand there in amazement is the shift in the art in the 21st-century. It is not static, it is alive and always changing, reflecting the world in which we live.

The statue is the depiction of the lauded Italian art curator Francesco Bonami, a friend of Urs Urs Fischer who is sanding on top of an open refrigerator stacked with fruit and vegetables all made of wax. The figure is holding a mobile phone, in a pose so typical of our era.

You can watch the burning of the sculpture by clicking this link.

“But I am not creative, like you!” cried my friend when I asked her to join the drawing course with me. All my pleas to assure her that all humans are designed to be creative by nature failed. She wouldn’t budge.

Most people fall in the same category as my friend. They don’t consider themselves creative. “This wouldn’t be a big deal if the self-assessment didn’t tend to become self-fulfilling,” says James C. Kaufman, author of Creativity 101, “but it does. We think we’re not creative, so we don’t cultivate our creative potential and—voilà!—we’re not creative.”

“In his book, Orbiting the Giant Hairball, Gordon MacKenzie discusses how he used to go into elementary schools to teach students how to make sculptures from sheets of steel. When he began each class, he always started with the same question: “How many artists are in the room? Would you please raise your hands?” The pattern of response was invariable. The first graders were all in, leaping in the air, hands enthusiastically shooting for the stars. But with each successive grade, fewer hands were seen waving in the air like they just don’t care. MacKenzie notes, “By the time I reached sixth grade, no more than one or two (raised their hands) and then only ever-so-slightly—guardedly—their eyes glancing from side to side uneasily, betraying a fear of being identified by the group as a ‘closet artist.’” – Vince Gowman

I used to be like that too. I wanted to create but didn’t believe I was creative. I thought only some gifted people were creative. But I didn’t give up my dream so easily. I started studying creativity and found that creativity was not the domain of the select few. Creativity is innate to humans just like flying is to birds and swimming is to fish. Birds fly, fish swim, humans create became my mantra.

Not only that I started doing specific exercises to unleash my creativity. Here are 15 tips to get your creative juices flowing.

1. Practice idleness

Contrary to the common belief that ‘Idle mind is devil’s workshop,’ the idle mind is the germination ground for ideas. We need idle time to be creative. Incorporate idleness into your routine. Switch off the TV and sit still in a quiet room. Meditate. Take regular ‘do nothing’ breaks.

I have often wondered whether especially those days when we are forced to remain idle are not precisely the days spent in the most profound activity.

Whether our actions themselves, even if they do not take place until later, are nothing more than the last reverberations of a vast movement that occurs within us during idle days.

In any case, it is very important to be idle with confidence, with devotion, possibly even with joy. The days when even our hands do not stir are so exceptionally quiet that it is hardly possible to raise them without hearing a whole lot.”

Rainer Maria Rilke in Letters on Life

2. Make unexpected connections

“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things.

Steve Jobs

Learn to make connections. Warm-up by finding connections between two unrelated things – a cat and a suitcase; a window and a carpet; a bird and a picture. For example, both the cat and the suitcase could be black which leads to confusion, or the cat can fit in the suitcase and travel with her owner. Now you think of the connection between a window and a carpet.

3. Imitate or Copy

Don’t let the mention of imitation or copying put you off. We learn by imitation. After all, humans have originated from monkeys. All great artists start by imitating their heroes. Imitation is an ultimate compliment. It tells the person being imitated that you value their work so much that you want to produce work like them. Of course, you will never be able to become exactly like them because you are you and she is she. Your ultimate compliment to your hero is when you transform their work into something of your own.

Copying an idea or style is not plagiarism. Definition of plagiarism is – trying to pass someone else’s work off as your own. Copying is about reverse engineering. Cast copying was an acceptable way of training new artists during the Renaissance. Copy those whose work you admire and you will find your own voice. Your own style.

“Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery – celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from – it’s where you take them to.”

 Jim Jarmusch [MovieMaker Magazine #53 – Winter, January 22, 2004 ]

4. Generate ten ideas in two minutes

You are having a creativity drought because you are not generating enough ideas. Take a pen and paper and write down ten ideas in two minutes. Don’t evaluate, just keep writing. The first few will be easy, the middle ones will be a bit of a struggle but the last two to three will be the hardest. They will be the nuggets you are looking for. Do this exercise every morning and you will flex your creative muscle within days.

“Many people need idea therapy. Not so that they can come up with great ideas right this second (although maybe you will) but so that people can come up with ideas when they need them: when their car is stuck, when their house blows up, when they are fired from their job, when their spouse betrays them, when they go bankrupt or lose a big customer, or lose a client, or go out of business, or get sick.”

James Saltucher

5. Nurture your courage

Every new idea is different by nature – it’s off the beaten path and it takes courage to risk failure or rejection. The crucial element of being creative is to have the courage to take a risk. Find out what gives you courage. Is it past successes, a well-thought-out plan of action, encouragement from others, belief in yourself, faith in your idea, a big potential payout, having alternatives, or trust in the universe?

“Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees the others.” Aristotle, Philosopher

6. Follow your curiosity

If courage is the father of creativity, curiosity is the mother. Creative people are always curious. Curiosity is gentler than passion. It leads subtly to the unknown and ultimately leads to answers.

You don’t need to do anything spectacular, just take one lead and start asking questions. Your question could be as simple as this, “Now what do I want to know about this?” Then start looking for the answer. The answer may not excite you to run out naked shouting “Eureka.” But it might hold your attention for a moment. At that moment it might lead you to something else. Then curiosity will ask you to just spend a few more moments and find the answer to another question it has popped in your head.

I roamed the countryside searching for answers to things I did not understand. Why shell exist on the tops of mountains along with imprints of plants usually found in the sea. Why thunder lasts longer than that which causes it. How circles of water form around the spot which has been stuck by a stone. And how a bird suspends itself in the air. Questions like this engaged my thought throughout my life.”

Leonardo da Vinci

7. Ask a fool

This is what the role of the court jester used to be. To present things with a different perspective. If a man is sitting backward on a horse, who is backward, man or the horse? What will be a fool’s idea? How many ideas can you come up with thinking with court jester’s hat on? Read my post to use the energy of a trickster.

8. Find your motivation

What puts fire in your belly? Your motivation is the fuel that ignites creativity. There are many motivators – money, survival, personal expression, creative outlet, passion, recognition, leaving a legacy, having fun, dissatisfaction, deadlines, mortality. What is yours?

9. Use constraints, put obstacles

Creativity thrives with constraints. It loves to overcome obstacles. Nina Katchadourian started using her inflight time to make art using just her mobile phone camera. Her project Seat Assignment has been displayed at several art museums throughout the world and her collection is continuing to grow.

Her project is a prime example of thinking on the feet, the artistic potential that lurks within the mundane, and the curiosity about the productive tension between freedom and constraint.

10. Rearrange things

When out of ideas, rearrange things. Look at them backward. Turn them upside down. Read the chapter from the end and work your way towards the beginning, paragraph by paragraph. It will make you notice things that you would have missed otherwise. Rearranging things make different connections. Like letters of Scrabble, whole new words and meanings will come into play.

“People who are resting on their laurels are wearing them on the wrong end.” – Malcolm Kushner, Philosopher

My friend will not join me in the drawing course but she is an amazing cook. When she goes to any restaurant and likes a dish, her quest is to recreate it at home.

How do you express your creativity?

Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash

There was a time when art and creativity were linked to poverty. A struggling artist is a common image in everyone’s mind. That is why parents force their artistic kids to also have some professional qualifications as well in case they can’t make a living from their art.

That is why Elizabeth Gilbert writes in Big Magic not to stress your art by demanding it to make money for you.

…long before the Internet and digital technology ever existed – the arts were still a crap career. It’s not likely back in 1989 anybody was saying to me, “You know where the money is, kid? Writing!” They weren’t saying that to anyone back in 1889, either, or in 1789, and they won’t be saying it in 2089. But people will still try to be writers, because they love the vocation. People will keep being painters, sculptors, musicians, actors, poets, directors, quilters, knitters, potters, glassblowers, metalworkers, ceramicists, calligraphers, collagists, nail artists, clog dancers and Celtic harpist as well. Against all sound advice, people will stubbornly keep trying to make pleasing things for no particularly good reason, as we always have done.

That is the reason Hugh McLeod advises to keep your day job in his book Ignore Everybody.

The creative person basically has two kinds of jobs. One is the sexy, creative kind. Second is the kind that pays the bills.

Austin Kleon agrees with them in How to Steal Like an Artist and advises to find work that pays your bills but also teaches you something that helps you with your art like being a librarian or website developer helped him to establish himself as a writer.

But what if they are all wrong? What if they are being over cautious? What if artists can make living with their art?

What if art is the only thing that will get rewarded in the twenty-first century?

Jeff Goins in his book Real Artists Don’t Starve makes the point that you can make a living as an artist and that you don’t have to starve to follow your passion.

He tells the story of Michael Angelo to break the myth of starving artists.

I don’t know how much you know about Michelangelo but usually they taught us that he kind of struggled like Vincent van Gogh.

For centuries, historians believed that Michelangelo, the great Renaissance master, struggled like Vincent van Gogh . That he was just another starving artist. Michelangelo himself embraced this image, living frugally and often complaining about money.

But it turns out he wasn’t telling the truth.

Jeff Goins in Why the Story of the Starving Artist Needs to Die

Jeff Goins goes on to say, “Thanks to the power of this myth, many of us take the safe route in life. We become lawyers instead of actresses, bankers instead of poets, and doctors instead of painters. We hedge our bets and hide from our true calling, choosing less risky careers, because it seems easier. Nobody wants to struggle, after all, so we keep our passion a hobby and follow a predictable path toward mediocrity.”

Now is the best time in history to do creative work. Seth Godin has been giving this message in his books for a while now.

When you were rewarded for obedience, you were obedient. When you were rewarded for compliance, you were compliant. When you were rewarded for competence, you were competent. Now the society finally values art, it’s time to make art.

I have collected three examples of new-age creatives who are not only surviving but thriving.

750Words

Buster Benson, an IT geek who wanted to become a writer, has long been inspired by an idea he first learned about in The Artist’s Way called morning pages.

One fine morning Buster decided he was going to build an online app where he can type morning pages. His idea was, it is easier to reach for a computer these days than finding a notebook and his hand worked better on the keyboard than on the notebook. So he builds an app and called it 750Words, which he made available for others for free.

Writers liked it so much that in three years’ time Buster had to install more servers to keep up with the demand. Today the app has 455,111 members, out of which approx 4500 are paid, members. I will let you do the math how much Buster (and his wife Kellianne who provides support to the members) make from just one bright creative idea they implemented. Of course, Buster has many more up his sleeve, check him out.

Psychotactics

Sean D’souza, of Psychotactics, is a graphic design turned cartoonist turned marketer who has built a massive community of small business owners worldwide working from New Zealand. He passes on to them what he learned from Leo Burnett’s advertising agency which he considers one of the best advertising agencies in the world. Not only that, he runs online cartoonist courses each year which gets sold out within 14 hours of release. Recently he stopped doing online business mentoring saying no to $150, 000 a year so that he can concentrate on other things. Such is the demand for his expertise.

Brain Pickings

This is what happens when a 23-year-old worker of an advertising agency notices that her co-workers were circulating information within the advertising industry around the office for inspiration. The world’s most famous literary blog gets started. Because 23 years old work had different ideas. She thought creativity was better sparked with exposure to information outside of the industry one was familiar with. In an effort to stir creativity, she starts sending emails to the entire office containing five things that had nothing to do with advertising but were meaningful, interesting, or important.

From that humble beginning, email originated Brain Pickings a blog read by millions making its writer Maria Popova an online celebrity. She is said to make the US $250,000 to $500,000 a year from her blog.

What are your thoughts on striving artists? Have you got any examples of thriving creatives you would like to share here? I would love to hear from you.