Habits of the Creative Minds

Boredom and Curiosity

In the letter to students, the author uses the introduction of “Alice in Wonderland” as an example of how arbitrary the concept of boredom can be. The letter, in summary, explains that our mindset about the things around us can determine what we find boring or interesting. Alice chooses to follow the rabbit, which leads to her adventure, but just as easily could have left the rabbit unacknowledged and continued being bored. The author says, “nothing is inherently interesting, but everything… has the potential to be made interesting.” In present times, any moment that isn’t filled with something fully engaging is considered boring, and much of the Gen Z and younger millennial population is almost constantly bored. However, older generations don’t experience this the same way for a few reasons, but most clearly because of the lack of entertainment technology. Today’s youth absorb and accept information and stimuli for what it is, and get bored when they are not connected to this stimuli. To me, posing creative questions and pursuing answers results in “boring” things and moments to become interesting. Acting on curiosity, in this case and many others, is the direct combatant for boredom.

 

Thinking Visually: Memory Recall

 

On Learning: Seeing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Learning: Writing

     In recreating Egon Schiele’s portrait, I recognized a difference in my process compared to how I would normally draw something. Usually, I would focus on drawing piece by piece, making each individual feature as detailed as possible. This process would usually lead to erasing and redrawing countless times because of inaccuracies that I would pick out. However, recreating this drawing upside down allowed me to take a more technical approach. Instead of hyper fixating on features and getting frustrated with a lack of perfection, I simply follow lines. 

     Disassociating what I was drawing from names was significantly easier while drawing upside down. There were times where I wouldn’t recognize exactly what I was drawing, I just knew the lines belonged there. When I turned both drawings over I was surprised to see it turned out better than I expected. Not only was the copy relatively accurate, but it looked like my own piece. I hadn’t spent any time obsessing over how the copy should look identical to the original as possible, and ironically, It came out better than most things I’ve drawn. On top of that, it took maybe ten minutes total, even though a sketch like Schiele’s looks like it would have taken thirty minutes at least.

     Although there are few flaws in the copy besides the shape of the head and eyes, there are aspects of the copy that were not as successful as others. For example, Schiele’s sketch had shading and extra lines in comparison to my copy. I didn’t notice this while I was drawing, but once I flipped the two papers, I saw how two-dimensional my sketch looked. Somehow I had completely disregarded everything except for the most basic lines that made up the drawing. My mind had gone into a place of technicality and logic, where the image itself had lost all meaning. There is a negative aspect to this assignment: when you stop looking at what the image actually is, it loses its intention and feeling.

Beginning: On Unlearning- Practice Session 1

     After a few days of paying attention to my reading style, keeping in mind the question, “is the way you read and write better described as a set of rules or as a set of habits?” I struggled. I noticed that I have a habit of researching everything, whether it’s a word, an interesting sign, or news I heard on social media. I also love taking notes and organizing things visually; I forget everything otherwise. This seems to follow a set of rules, but i don’t do this consciously, so I guess it’s just a set of habits. At the same time, I feel that these two things are crucial for me to be an effective writer and I can’t function without them. My conclusion is that these patterns are both habits and rules for me.

     If I were to teach someone how to write like me, I would start in a methodical way. The first step is to list everything that you want to mention in your writing in a list. This list should start off with vague topics, and more detailed topics should become subcategories. Make as many subcategories as you want, as long as they don’t distract you from the purpose of your writing. If you feel as though there are categories that are lacking depth, research that topic until you have a broader understanding of it. Never write about something you have no understanding of, even if it’s fictional. After that, writing should flow easily; outlines make everything more visual and a lot simpler, personally. As long as the writing piece makes sense, there are no other standards that I would immediately consider.

 

On Looking and Looking Again: Observations of an Organic Object

Day 1:

 

The object I chose for this project is a leaf from my little house plant. The leaf in question is smaller than the rest, and faced away from the others, limp and distant. I plucked it out of the plant because it would be pointless to watch an unchanging leaf for days on end, but I feel like I have betrayed my plant mom instincts. This runt leaf, when pulled away from it’s siblings, looks vibrant and hopeful. It thinks that I chose it to be special in contrast to the others, not yet knowing it’s going to die. I wonder, if the leaf had grown like the others, if I would have still pulled a leaf off of my plant for this assignment, or if I would have used the apple I got from the dining hall. This poses the question: am I a bad plant mom? Do I show favoritism and expect perfection from my little adopted child? I hope to better answer this question in the following entries.

 

Day 2:

 

The leaf has started to lose its stiffness; unlike the rest of the unpicked and thriving leaves, this leaf is starting to lose its brightness and its strength. Only a day ago, it was a tough, vibrant, immalleable…but now, it is a dull green, easily folded like a piece of paper. I can see lines of dark brown, where death has already taken hold. This leaf, who once trusted me with sunlight and sustenance, has now realised I have chosen for it to die. It’s still strong enough to face me with a look of betrayal on its sad leaf face. It knows it’s days are numbered, and wants so badly for me to rescue it. However, once a leaf has been plucked, it can’t just be glued back into place.

 

Day 3:

 

For this entry, I’m going to speak outside of my choice of poetic license because the leaf can no longer” look” at me and that’s genuinely upsetting. When I refer to the leaf looking at me, I refer to the way it held itself up at an angle as a result of its shape. However, the ridge of the leaf that was holding it up turned brown, so in an attempt to inspect this spot, this ridge completely collapsed. Now, my dying plant child can’t even see what’s going on around it by itself. I’ve elected to face it down so I don’t feel as guilty, but this tactic is not working.

 

Day 4:

 

I’m a firm believer in energy absorption; Whatever energy you place onto something is the energy it will take on. As a result, the unusual dark color that i’ve noticed spreading along the veins of the leaf make me wonder if the leaf is absorbing my grief and guilt for its murder. Maybe instead of holding a weight upon myself for its life, I should praise it’s time and sacrifice. After all, removing it improved the quality of the plant as a whole, and has inspired a series of very introspective paragraphs for this assignment. Everyone wants to leave this world knowing how much of a positive impact they have had, so maybe I should enable my leaf with this kind of opportunity.

 

Day 5:

 

My leaf, when placed down in the same way as I placed it on Day 1, now lies flat and withered, soulless and defeated. However, with as much remorse that I hold for the leaf, I cannot let it die in vain. I took the little corpse and placed it at the base of the original plant, giving it the ability to decompose with a purpose. I envision an avatar-like reincarnation, where it can return to the plant, and hopefully grow into a healthier leaf. This feels like the best way to honor my leaf and relieve my guilt.

 

 

Image Detective: Visual Thinking Strategies

I found the lesson comparing Queen Elizabeth I coronation portrait to Queen Elizabeth II coronation portrait really insightful. These two portraits have to very different energies and messages, but this lesson helped me to understand exactly what parts of the portrait were creating these feelings.

The way that the queens present themselves are very different from each other. Queen Elizabeth I stares the viewer in the eye with a straight face. She holds herself in a very powerful, grandiose manner; she’s palming the orb in a casual manner, symbolizing how she places herself above the church, and gently holding the scepter against her lap. This presentation tells us that she is in control and she is above all of her subjects, and she’s confident in this belief. This use of pathos portrays her to be intimidating and feared. Queen Elizabeth II, however, looks and faces away from the viewer in a vulnerable manner. She cradles the orb in her hand, symbolizing her respect for the church, and has a tight grip of the scepter, holding it above her. This shows that she sees herself as serving the people, and presents herself as easy going and trust worthy of her subjects, which was essential when you consider the context of her coronation being less than a decade after World War 2.

The background of the image is crucial to the meaning of each portrait as well. Queen Elizabeth I is in front of a plain, dark background. This has two effects- firstly, to emphasize that she is the focal point of the portrait, and secondly, shows how serious she is. The queen intended on being seen as less personable and more someone to be respected and followed unquestionably; there are no distractions from her. Queen Elizabeth II is shown in the Westminster Abbey church. The chapel makes for a beautiful background, but serves a more important purpose. The church takes some of the focus away from the queen in the image; this represents her respect and service to the church.This use of ethos makes for a very personable, honorable, and selfless image of the queen.

These little details, like position, expression, focus, and others can give off a very important impression to onlookers. Depending on who the audience is, this impression is extremely important, and can result in having people take you seriously, or not have any respect for you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Curious Researcher

“Most people do without art very well already and always have”

 

A quote from Ellen Dissanayake’s response to Steven Connor’s, “Doing Without the Ideology of Art” that seems to oppose the perspective that art hold’s actual importance. Dissanayake explains that this isn’t meant as a way to dismiss art entirely, but to dismiss the idea of fine art and high standards of what good art really is. However, this quote on its own pretty much says that we don’t need art, contradicting Dissanayake’s entire career. So what is the purpose of investing so much time into art if it doesn’t matter?

 

Mark Rothko is an abstract artist who prefers to work conceptually with basic human emotion, and doesn’t focus too much on form and color. He pretty much goes by the same ideology that Steven Connor goes by: focusing more on what emotion the art evokes, and not what the art is made of. However, when you take the quality of art out of the definition of art, there’s not much left for the public to define it by. The best definition of the true meaning of art is well worded in the article: “Art is generally understood as any activity or product done by people with a communicative or aesthetic purpose—something that expresses an idea, an emotion or, more generally, a world view.” By default, this definition shows that art has no practical purpose, but an emotional purpose; art can start conversations and cause thought, or simply serve to express a simple emotion. However, not all “art” does this; art is a matter of opinion and perspective, and many people who identify as artists are seen as untalented by some and amazing by others. 

 

Aisha Jeanette Animashaun writes in an article titled, “What is Considered Art and Who Decides?” that our exposure to art has been opened up to artists everywhere by social media, so that even small artists can have their portfolios open to the public. So who decides who is a successful artist and who isn’t?  Animashaun quotes the Oxford dictionary definition of artist, “A person who habitually practices a specified reprehensible activity.” So by this definition, anyone doing something that provokes the public mind to a different way of thinking or living is considered an artist. True art often plays a huge role in how we think about things because of the attention it attracts

 

To contradict what Dissanayake says in her response to Connor’s work, the majority of people live harmoniously with art. Art’s purpose is to create a disruption in our system and have us critically question how certain things are. Art does hold importance, and should not be dismissed so quickly as nonessential.

 

Helen Keller: On Making Thoughts Visible

Growing up, I was notorious for being very compassionate towards the people around me. I was patient and giving from an early age, and I maintained a philosophy of selflessness for the majority of my adolescence. My kindness was something I prided myself in because I thought it made me more mature, wiser, and most importantly beloved by all. My parents and the adults in my life always told me that my kindness would be my biggest downfall, and I would be used by people with bad intentions. However, I believed I was careful enough to avoid that; I had so many “friends”, and enough happiness to share with everyone around me. Looking back, I realise how naive that logic is.

 

In highschool, I started to see the reality of being too kind. I had a track record of mentally abusive relationships and short-lived, materialistic friendships. People saw me as either invisible or as a sweetheart that would help them with their homework, and very few people genuinely enjoyed my presence. 

 

Two weeks before I entered university, my entire life changed in twelve hours when the person I was dating abused several drugs at once and almost killed me and another person who I loved like a sister. I knew my significant other had a past with the police and I didn’t want to get her in trouble, so I decided to stay and try to take care of her for six hours with her cousin before calling for help from another person. What happened next was needless to say traumatizing, and I spent six more hours in the police station being denied medical attention for my wounds and dry clothes because I was too scared to demand to see my parents. My excessive selflessness could have killed me, and that’s something that I think about every day.

 

After this night, I was a shell of a person for several weeks. I recall the night after the incident, one of my best friends came to see me, and when she looked into my tired eyes, she said, “You’re losing your glow.” Something about that statement shook me to my core. My beaming energy was everything to me; my entire essence revolved around being the bubbly happiness that made everyone’s darkest moments a little brighter. In that moment, I truly began to understand what self care and self love is. I allowed myself to grieve for the people I had lost after the incident, then decided to focus unapologetically on my happiness. When I stopped giving all my energy away to people, many of the people I thought were my closest friends seemed to disappear either in anger or carelessness. I began making a small circle of so far very genuine people that I enjoy being around, and don’t ask me for too much considering my weak mental health. I learned that endless selflessness and humility will never lead to happiness, a balance of kindness to yourself and others needs to be found before you can ever find peace in yourself.