Year 1: The Art of Creativity, part 1

The arts and creativity: the relationship seems obvious. In fact it seems so obvious that in many people’s minds they are one and the same. As in, being creative equals to paint, sculpt, write poetry…you know, the usual suspects.

And even though this confusion has lead to a deeply engraved misconception about creativity itself (I'm not creative because I'm not an artist, just to name one.) , that doesn’t mean the arts should be avoided just for the sake of not adding to that confusion. That would be an even bigger mistake. Hence, this first year is dedicated to the arts.

Today, I will ched some light on two of the five themes Pinching the Ostrich consists of: "Learn anything" and "Connect to anyone".

Learn anything:

My Ostrich 2009: October 2009, I have successfully completed: The Arts, Past and Present at the OU London with a minimum score of 70%.

On February 7^th, my course on the arts, as part of the BSc at the OU London, starts. This course has 7 tutor marked assignments, plus an end-of-course assessment taking you through 4 major topics: Reputations, Tradition & Dissent, Cultural Encounters and Place and Leisure.

This is where the speed reading, memory techniques and mindmaps will be coming in to study these topics as profoundly as possible in a minimum timeframe.

The link with creativity as a process: Using Buzan mindmaps one uses a whole brain method of processing information. Not only do you rely on “left brain” logic, linearity, words, sequence… you also incorporate so-called “right brain” features such as colour, rhythm, association, humour, pictures…making it a tool that relies on pretty much the same processes you would come across in a creative thinking process.

The link with creativity as an outcome: For that I would like to refer to my previous article, the year 30.001. In short, the Arts are one of my personal ostriches, which I seek to address on an academic level to acquire a basic understanding. Why I would want that is explained on the website in the chapter “Learn anything”

Connect to anyone:
My Ostrich 2009: December 31th, 2009 I am looking back on 4 artistic experiments that will have taught me why it is artists do what they do and how they do it.

As far as the arts are concerned, I am not in the loop. (read: the year 30.001on this blog) But I do see the passion that takes hold of the artist, whether it be a painter, dancer, singer, poet, photographer… I do notice their love/hate relation towards creating. By walking a mile in their shoes, I’m hoping to get a taste of their passion, to experience first hand why they do what they do and how they do it. By sitting in the front row, I’m not just looking to step out of my comfort zone for its own sake, but to, hopefully, bring something back that allows the rest of us to dig in our own creativity,  no matter in which field we would like to apply it to.

Else said: What if the Artist's creative passion and process could be translated and made available to all of us?

The link with creativity as a process:

To create something out of – seemingly – nothing. Looking at the world in a completely different way. Seeing what everyone else walked passed. Questioning what is, has been and is to come. And translating that into a tangible, meaningful outcome. Sounds as much as a painter’s struggle to get something on his/her canvas, as it is the business person’s battle to create a new and successful service or product. Or is that just me? Well, that’s what I’m trying to find out.

The link with creativity as an outcome:

What if I too, can make use of an artist’s creative process in order to become a more creative thinker myself? What if our understanding of creativity would benefit from this experiment?

At this point there’s little more I can say about that.

Thus far, I have been working on the artist in myself, using Julia Cameron’s book: The Artist’s Way. And I am actively on the look-out for artist’s that 1) understand what it is I’m trying to achieve with “Pinching the Ostrich”, 2) can translate that into an assignment that doesn’t necessarily teaches me to paint or sculpt, but allows me to step into their worlds. Which is not the same thing, per se.

I will, of course, keep you informed on the result of that search and the assignments that cross my path. 

That said, I still owe you what it is I will do with “overcome anything”, “create my own reality” and “inspire anyone” this year. However, I’m sure you can appreciate the delicate balance between reporting on what I do, and actually doing it. Looking at my agenda, I think I will call it a day for now. There are only so much hours in one day.

For now, take care,

Karl

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