Post #3: Creativity

Alright, so today’s topic is Creativity. What do you think is ‘creativity’? What makes something creative while another thing, erm…not creative? Why do some people share the same thoughts you have upon a certain artistic thing while others don’t? If that thing is creative to you, it should be creative to everyone right? Well, no.

Wikipedia defines creativity as the ability to improve, i.e. to add value to something. The William Webster dictionary on the other hand, defines it as the quality of being creative or the ability to create. What does all these definitions mean? Just because we can arrange a stack of toothpicks in a row, does it make us creative? Or what about just simply hitting different piano keys at a time, have we created a creative new song?

Let me give you an example. His name was Jackson Pollock. He was an influential American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. Jackson Pollock’s paintings attempted to reveal the unconscious of his mind. What does that mean?

He allowed his unconscious mind to control his movements to create an art. An abstract art. Now, let me show you some of his famous works.

Untitled No. 3

Number 1, 1948

Number 1, 1950

Yeah, those were his drawings. All done using his unconscious mind, meaning it was probably done with his eyes closed or something. All he did was, wherever his unconscious wanted him to put the paint, he did. And this was his product. Well, as you can see the paintings do not have names for obvious reasons; it wasn’t he who made the paintings, it was his unconscious mind. So, if it had wanted to name it, it would be the unconscious mind who should name it, right?

Well, what do you think of the paintings? Do you see something there? Like maybe you actually can see what his unconscious thinks?

Truth be told, if you ask me…that is what you get when you let the monkeys in the zoo get a hold of paint and a canvas. If this painting was being exhibited on the side of the street by a homeless person, would you have given a care about it?

That is my point. Creativity isn’t always the same for everyone. Here is another example. His name was John Cage and he was a famous American composer. One of his very influential pieces was 4’33”. The title of the song was for the 4 minutes and 33 seconds of silence which was played as the music. The song composed of nothing, he would not play any instruments for 4 minutes and 33 seconds. And even then, he was celebrated as such an amazing musician, in fact one of the most influential American composers of the 20th century. But why?

Well, he attempted to tune people who were listening to his silence into stuff they usually miss in their daily lives. By playing no instruments, he was making everyone listening to the sound of their environment and their surroundings. He broadened their awareness in life, listening to the itty bitty things we miss. And even though he played not a single note, he got a standing ovation for his piece. If you wish to watch his piece being played, you can always check YouTube.

Do you see my point? Would you be willing to sit down for 4 minutes and 33 seconds and do nothing but listen? Just listen. It is amazing how creative that is. We are always taught to think outside the box, but how much do we really do that?

With this, I come to my point of the day. Creativity is all about relevance. For something to be creative to us, we must be able to relate to it. The more relevant the art piece is to us, the more it seems artistic and creative. There are a lot of different things in this world, everything is creative in its own way but it does not mean we have to admit that everything is creative. When things don’t seem to relate to you, it’s good to admit that “I’m sorry but this piece does not relate to me. It’s not as creative as I thought.”

Now, for the last part…

I call him, Mouse-rine. It’s supposedly a mouse-looking creature but with claws like Wolverine. Yeah.

This one was made quite recently. I’m not really sure what it is but it looks like a flower, I guess.

Look, I am not here to ask whether or not I am creative. I don’t really care. I have been making these things my whole life. And all that time, I still never know what I’ve ever made. I just think of them as unique creatures that only exist in my own imagination. It never looks like any real living creatures and it doesn’t have to at all! I will never stop making them, although I have made it less now because I have a lot more stuff to do but still, it was always be a part of my life. If I have a chance, I would show you many more that I have done. It is part of who I am, and if you can’t see the creativity in it, it doesn’t matter.

Anyways, today’s post is about creativity. I enjoyed writing this post, because I feel I have done something amazing in my life. I will never be able to create any living creatures using wires but I don’t care. I don’t even care if it does not have any monetary potential. It is something I love doing and will always be a part of me. So remember, creativity is about relevance. So let it be that there will be critics out there who will shun you down if they dislike your art. There will still always be people who can understand you and appreciate your creativity.