Defining Creativity
For this assignment, I interviewed Philip Noyed--my father. My dad is the Creative Director at Schwan's. He is also a practicing artist with a current focus on geometric light installations--but has past experience with pottery, oil painting, and sculpture.
Lessons learned through the interview:
Lessons learned through the reading:
How will I incorporate these learnings?
Professionally, I will keep the idea of creating with a "beginner's mind" at the forefront. I can only get to the "beginner's mind"set if I let go of my own judgement and expectations. Creativity also means reaching beyond ordinary or passable work, and extending one's creations into a space that is new and engaging. In regards to teaching, creativity means losing the redundant worksheets and tired lessons; it means being authentic and fresh in the creation and presentation of original work.
Personally, I can think of creativity as a fluid constant, as it ebbs and flows from place to place in my life. I think of myself as a very visual person, and have allowed creativity to spill over through that facet... but my dad had an excellent point: creativity boasts no confines.
- What is your definition of creativity? "Playing, imagining and producing something." To him, creativity is something that "leaps beyond the ordinary." Creativity is the practice of allowing oneself the freedom of seeing something anew.
- What is your creative process? My dad often thinks of artistic possibilities while running or practicing yoga. Otherwise, he sketches for many pages and sees how the ideas unfold. Throughout, he never judges harshly nor seeks perfection. He also stated the importance of practicing the Zen idea of a "beginner's mind," that is, seeing everything with fresh eyes. Lastly, he listens to feedback and reactions to past work, and learns from it.
- How does this creative process relate to your life as a greater whole? My dad sees himself as an artist in every facet of his life, in all things ranging from cooking, to light design, to exploring bike routes.
- Do you see your own creativity/creative process as fundamentally different between your personal art-making, and your creative direction at Schwan's? For his creative direction at Schwan's, my dad keeps the business goal in mind and finds a way to reach it through user interface. For his personal art, he instead starts "with the zeal of exploring an idea with my art."
- Does something creative have to ultimately be utilitarian? "No way." My dad considers himself to be in the "both-and" group; that is, that utilitarian items can be designed "to the highest level of creativity and style," but he also appreciates non-utilitarian art forms such as Calder's mobiles.
Lessons learned through the interview:
- There is a certain amount of letting go involved in getting to the "beginner's mind"
- Creativity has no boundaries--it can "leap beyond the ordinary in any field"
- Creativity can simply begin with exploring an idea with gusto
Lessons learned through the reading:
- Being novel does not mean something is automatically creative
How will I incorporate these learnings?
Professionally, I will keep the idea of creating with a "beginner's mind" at the forefront. I can only get to the "beginner's mind"set if I let go of my own judgement and expectations. Creativity also means reaching beyond ordinary or passable work, and extending one's creations into a space that is new and engaging. In regards to teaching, creativity means losing the redundant worksheets and tired lessons; it means being authentic and fresh in the creation and presentation of original work.
Personally, I can think of creativity as a fluid constant, as it ebbs and flows from place to place in my life. I think of myself as a very visual person, and have allowed creativity to spill over through that facet... but my dad had an excellent point: creativity boasts no confines.
Variations on a Theme
I never saw creativity
as a series of connections
But vaster expansions
Come around when a strong base is already down
Creativity can come in bouts
And it's believed to be elusive and magical
A re-combination of existing knowns
How many times can I see
This new light, this new answer?
I can't decide if its unpredictability
is my master
It can be nurtured through experience
It can be interdisciplinary
I will go forth towards unique links
Creativity is borne of being open
Learners can grasp these
Elusive bits of magic as they pass
Fleeting as a storm,
Though sometimes they last and last and last
Creativity can come in bouts
And it's believed to be elusive and mystical
It can be nurtured through experience
It can be interdisciplinary
I will go forth towards unique links
Creativity is borne of being open
I try my best to hold you near when you appear
And I'll always open up, since
Preparation and past knowledge
Leads to blooming anew
It can be nurtured through experience
It can be interdisciplinary
I will go forth towards unique links
Creativity can come in bouts
Creativity can come in bouts
I have learned that creativity is not necessarily inherited. However, creativity has the capacity to be fostered by past experience and knowledge. Through an interdisciplinary approach to making new connections, creativity may bloom. As a teacher of creative practices, this is a concept that I must keep in mind. If children in art class or those who are painting in their homeroom feel uninspired or claim an inability to create, I will encourage those to take a chance and think of a new combination to form a solution or way of thinking. The reading helped highlight some of these points, but having to condense (and expand simultaneously) these learnings into a song really facilitated the synthesis process. To apply this knowledge, I aim to "connect the dots" in productive, fruitful, and new ways.
as a series of connections
But vaster expansions
Come around when a strong base is already down
Creativity can come in bouts
And it's believed to be elusive and magical
A re-combination of existing knowns
How many times can I see
This new light, this new answer?
I can't decide if its unpredictability
is my master
It can be nurtured through experience
It can be interdisciplinary
I will go forth towards unique links
Creativity is borne of being open
Learners can grasp these
Elusive bits of magic as they pass
Fleeting as a storm,
Though sometimes they last and last and last
Creativity can come in bouts
And it's believed to be elusive and mystical
It can be nurtured through experience
It can be interdisciplinary
I will go forth towards unique links
Creativity is borne of being open
I try my best to hold you near when you appear
And I'll always open up, since
Preparation and past knowledge
Leads to blooming anew
It can be nurtured through experience
It can be interdisciplinary
I will go forth towards unique links
Creativity can come in bouts
Creativity can come in bouts
I have learned that creativity is not necessarily inherited. However, creativity has the capacity to be fostered by past experience and knowledge. Through an interdisciplinary approach to making new connections, creativity may bloom. As a teacher of creative practices, this is a concept that I must keep in mind. If children in art class or those who are painting in their homeroom feel uninspired or claim an inability to create, I will encourage those to take a chance and think of a new combination to form a solution or way of thinking. The reading helped highlight some of these points, but having to condense (and expand simultaneously) these learnings into a song really facilitated the synthesis process. To apply this knowledge, I aim to "connect the dots" in productive, fruitful, and new ways.
Architecture of a Space: My Dining Room
My dining room, in my cabin-like 500 square foot New Canaan "garage apartment" studio, is a special place. Outside of my bed, my dining room table provides the most surface area in the apartment--useful for meals, sure, but also to spread out all of my homework. Now, the sheer amount of space to do homework is fabulous, but the space itself--the area around the table and its location--is also really nice. The ghost chair in which I always sit allows me to see the three horizontal windows in my quaint living room, and I have a large window on my right. Having natural light from both directions (front and side) makes a huge difference in both energy flow and overall lightness of the space.
This dining room is also special because it is mine, for the first time ever. After living in parents' houses, dormitory arrangements, and with a roommate whose furniture populated the entire space... it's a great feeling to know that this dining room is a space I carefully curated, alone. A special feeling of ownership belongs to this table, one from Ikea that I painstakingly put together myself. With only 500 square feet of space, having furniture I love is very important to me. So, having a table and beautiful, comfortable chairs, makes me proud to use them.
Another aspect of this space is that it has artifacts that are both beautiful and sentimental. On a DIY bulletin board, there are photographs of my father and I from long ago, a concert ticket from the summer after graduating college, a collage from my O'Keeffe Museum internship, and a drawing from one of last year's kindergarteners (that was delivered in a very special letter from 1st grade saying, amongst much else, "please rite back"). Having tokens of a life once lived (postcard from MoMA, sticker from Denmark) makes me look forward to adventures. Yet, here I sit, working on homework--but these little sentimental pieces bring me back to my purpose and surround me with a sense of well-being that I'm hard-pressed to duplicate elsewhere.
Enjoy.
This dining room is also special because it is mine, for the first time ever. After living in parents' houses, dormitory arrangements, and with a roommate whose furniture populated the entire space... it's a great feeling to know that this dining room is a space I carefully curated, alone. A special feeling of ownership belongs to this table, one from Ikea that I painstakingly put together myself. With only 500 square feet of space, having furniture I love is very important to me. So, having a table and beautiful, comfortable chairs, makes me proud to use them.
Another aspect of this space is that it has artifacts that are both beautiful and sentimental. On a DIY bulletin board, there are photographs of my father and I from long ago, a concert ticket from the summer after graduating college, a collage from my O'Keeffe Museum internship, and a drawing from one of last year's kindergarteners (that was delivered in a very special letter from 1st grade saying, amongst much else, "please rite back"). Having tokens of a life once lived (postcard from MoMA, sticker from Denmark) makes me look forward to adventures. Yet, here I sit, working on homework--but these little sentimental pieces bring me back to my purpose and surround me with a sense of well-being that I'm hard-pressed to duplicate elsewhere.
Enjoy.
What I learned from the article, "Rethinking Technology & Creativity in the 21st Century" A Room of Their Own"
From this article, I learned that the space of a room is formed more by human interaction than it is by design; that spaces are "naturally built". Yes, design and architectural intention is a large part of a room's purpose, but the activities that take place in a room shape its true existence. The article states, "In order to function best, designs must be created flexibly," and it's true. A space can come filled with promise, but it is the inhabitants of that space that mold the experience within. In regards to spaces at school, "many elements emerged organically as the instructors and students actually engaged in the act of teaching and learning" (Cain, Henricksen, Mishra, & Sawaya, 2013).
As for how this article will affect my personal and professional life, I will keep in mind the importance of created space versus intended space. With a group of students in a classroom, it is key to remember that the students form the space as the year progresses, no matter how many anchor charts or pre-determined ideas of the room one might have. Personally, it is nice to think that space can be filled with intention. Living in a studio makes this all the more true--my space has no clearly delineated areas for living, dining, and bedroom; instead, I chose.
From this article, I learned that the space of a room is formed more by human interaction than it is by design; that spaces are "naturally built". Yes, design and architectural intention is a large part of a room's purpose, but the activities that take place in a room shape its true existence. The article states, "In order to function best, designs must be created flexibly," and it's true. A space can come filled with promise, but it is the inhabitants of that space that mold the experience within. In regards to spaces at school, "many elements emerged organically as the instructors and students actually engaged in the act of teaching and learning" (Cain, Henricksen, Mishra, & Sawaya, 2013).
As for how this article will affect my personal and professional life, I will keep in mind the importance of created space versus intended space. With a group of students in a classroom, it is key to remember that the students form the space as the year progresses, no matter how many anchor charts or pre-determined ideas of the room one might have. Personally, it is nice to think that space can be filled with intention. Living in a studio makes this all the more true--my space has no clearly delineated areas for living, dining, and bedroom; instead, I chose.