FMIRANDA@alpha.CC.OBERLIN.EDU on mon 15 apr 96
Re: Talent and Vince's comments: There is an interesting article in
Psychology today, Dec. 1989, by Howard Gardner that we have sometimes asked
our students to read. In it Howard contrasts the Chinese method of
meticulously teaching little ones to draw and do calligraphy with the
American method of simply giving the kid a pencil and letting him go at it.
He points out that the Chinese view of creativity runs like this: "In every
realm there are accepted meanse for achieving competence - prescribed and
approved performances. There is really no good reason for attempting to
bypass a long-establshed route although a modest degree of latitude can be
tolerated as the traditional form is acquired." The Chinese kids as they
grew older were able to incorporate the creativity they needed into their
discplined systems, (Gardner calls this the more "evolutionary" method),
while on the other hand the American kids learned the discipline after they
had experimented to their hearts content. We seem to value originality and
independence very much in this country. American system= "revolutionary"...
The point is there has to be a balance. I do not teach Suzuki piano
because I have great problems with the business of having students learn by
copying what they hear. And because I know that if they dont learn how to
read very early on, it becomes a block later. But there have sure been some
good suzuki players out there.
Recently we had a violinist giving master classes who asserts that you have
to have 33% god's gift, 33% discipline and 33% hard work. And the extra 1%
is the secret ingredient: luck. That's a pretty good way to put it, if you
have to quantify it at all....
Sharon, in Oberlin, where a tornado blew trees down in a straight line
right thru town, and shut down my kiln way too early. Sigh...
*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*
Sharon LaRocca-Miranda *
Oberlin Conservatory *
Oberlin, Ohio 44074 *
FMiranda@oberlin.edu *
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .*
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
frasera1@westatpo.westat.com on fri 19 apr 96
All,
As a fun side-bar topic I passed some of the best comments on
creativity to a friend who is a professional artist. Attached is
her comment which I found thought provoking:
State interference in art, and interpretation of art, confuse the
issue of creativity for me in countries like China and Russia.
For the moment, what comes to mind is the experience Margaret
Seeler had. She was a world famous enamelist and was hired by the
Chinese firms to design cloisonn jewelry molds for commercial
production. The Chinese over and over, proved that they were
incredible technicians, but couldn't do original designs.
I personally support a very disciplined, learned and structured
approach to all the arts. But just as children are encouraged to
write original compositions about their perceptions and their
thoughts and their experiences of the world around them they
should be taught at the same age to write original music, and
paint original paintings on the same subjects.
As for the Suzuki method, children of instrument playing parents
learn very early in life to repeat what they hear. I don't think
it does them harm. As a matter of fact, I know personally that
the youngsters are surprisingly more comfortable and creative with
music than their traditionally taught counterparts.
Thanks for a good thread.
Alexa Fraser
FraserA1@Westat.com
Jean Lutz on mon 11 sep 00
Take a look at the following site for lots of stuff on creativity.
MIND TOOLS http://www.mindtools.com/
SusanRaku@AOL.COM on mon 11 sep 00
In a message dated 09/11/2000 4:37:17 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
jlutz@AZLINK.COM writes:
<< MIND TOOLS http://www.mindtools.com/ >>
Jean, now it is my turn. When I put that address in I get an error.
Susan
Patrick Logue on wed 2 jan 02
I think a better way to phrase it is creative problem
solving.
define what you are trying to accomplish.Then attack
it from as many different directions as you can.
Some people call it "thinking outside the box".
i dont like that term because i've never been in the
box.
Creativity is no great mystery. There are some really
good books out there on the subject.
One of my favorites is "The Creative spirit" which was
also a pbs show. Great information. They even give you
good excersizes to work your "right brain".
once you can define the creative process within
yourself and learn to work it,the sky's the limit.
my big problem is that there is constant creative
chatter in my head and I have trouble focusing in on
one idea. It's like my mind solves the problem and
just moves on before I ever physically do anything.
Does anybody have any tricks for this ailment?
Pat
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Kate Johnson on wed 2 jan 02
Oh, Pat! I had to laugh about this one!
> my big problem is that there is constant creative
> chatter in my head and I have trouble focusing in on
> one idea. It's like my mind solves the problem and
> just moves on before I ever physically do anything.
> Does anybody have any tricks for this ailment?
Yes, live forever.
Seriously, the only thing I know to do is to work. To start. Then the
pysicality of action captures your attention as well as your imagination.
And if you can, sketch out your idea in a journal or some such so it doesn't
escape...at the least, make notes.
Perhaps the reason I haven't started some of my ideas is that some part of
me knows I'm not ready. I wanted to make a goblet with leaves and vines
climbing up it; there's a whole series of these functional/creative objects
banked in my head, but the one I DID make warped and the vines pulled loose
in firing...it was too ambitious for what I knew at the time. I'll try
again, and soon, and will be far more ready now...then perhaps the rest of
the series will fall into place.
Meanwhile I've been applying myself to the basics so I can reach that
place...
This is all fascinating to me partly because I write a regular column for a
magazine called _Watercolor Magic_ on practical creativity...been trying to
frame an article on learning from a new discipline. Like, for instance,
clay...
Best--
Kate
Frank Gaydos on sun 26 may 02
The June, 2002 issue of ID magazine has an interview with Milton Glaser =
the great Graphic Designer.
I want to share his vision of 'Risk' which I believe all potters live =
with daily decisions at each stage of the creative process.
" It seems to me to be a requirement of any creative activity to push =
forward.=20
There should be another word besides risk and it's accompanying drama.=20
Taking risks makes it sound like a Hollywood movie. So what? You tried =
to do something different. Big deal.=20
Risk intrinsically is at the heart of the whole imaginative pursuit.
=20
It simply means you're doing something that you don't fully understand.=20
You move into an area where there's no certainty. Certainty is the death =
of imagination.=20
The assumption should be that risk is something you do if you want to do =
good work"
Frank Gaydos
jeanette harris on mon 9 apr 12
Interesting talk.......long--30 minutes--by John Cleeves on Creativity
http://io9.com/free-advice/
Maybe it's okay
to say
"I Play with clay."
Rimas VisGirda on thu 23 aug 12
From:=3DA0 =3DA0 mel jacobson =3D0ASubject: phil's post =
on cre=3D
ativity=3D0A=3D0Ai have always felt that creative action is base on=3D0Asup=
erb pr=3D
oblem solving.=3DA0 taking a problem to a new=3D0Alevel.=3D0A=3D0A=3D0AI ha=
ve a degre=3D
e in Physics and worked as a physicist, R&D of solid rocket propellants, fo=
=3D
r a number of years before I went back and got my Art degrees... So in my r=
=3D
esume I include that info under Employment. Sometime back in the late 70's =
=3D
I had an interview for the second ceramics position at Purdue. Unbeknownst =
=3D
to me, they were interested in the "marriage between art & science" -almost=
=3D
literally as Marge Levy, the ceramics prof, was living with a physics grad=
=3D
student and the fiber prof was married to a chemistry prof. And the reason=
=3D
I got the interview was the physics reference in my resume... All of which=
=3D
I was unaware of until after the fact. One of the first questions the comm=
=3D
ittee asked was how my science background affected my art; my response was =
=3D
that it was detrimental to making art, that is because science (and it's su=
=3D
bset engineering) use linear logic to solve problems whereas art is intuiti=
=3D
ve... I didn't get the job. However a knowledge of
science/engineering IS handy as it allows one to solve physical problems e=
=3D
ncountered in the process... -Rimas=3D0A
Taylor Hendrix on thu 23 aug 12
I am reminded of Francis Bacon shivering in the snow stuffing chicken
carcasses with the cold stuff as an experiment on refrigeration. What a
dumbass artist thing to do!
Art is, as Science, empirical. Just my scientific opinion.
Taylor, in Rockport TX
wirerabbit1 on Skype (-0600 UTC)
http://wirerabbit.blogspot.com
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https://youtube.com/thewirerabbit
On Thu, Aug 23, 2012 at 9:43 AM, Rimas VisGirda wrote:
> ...One of the first questions the committee asked was how my science
> background affected my art; my response was that it was detrimental to
> making art, that is because science (and it's subset engineering) use
> linear logic to solve problems whereas art is intuitive... I didn't get t=
he
> job. However a knowledge of
> science/engineering IS handy as it allows one to solve physical problems
> encountered in the process... -Rimas
>
>
Robert Harris on thu 23 aug 12
I would add to that, many fine scientific minds leap to an instinctual
(creative/artistic?) conclusion or hypothesis, and then make sure the logic
works out afterwards.
The Special Theory of Relativity certainly wasn't come to in any linear
logical manner. Einstein had the idea/hypothesis, and then worked the maths
out.
Robert
On Thu, Aug 23, 2012 at 1:08 PM, Taylor Hendrix wrot=
e:
> I am reminded of Francis Bacon shivering in the snow stuffing chicken
> carcasses with the cold stuff as an experiment on refrigeration. What a
> dumbass artist thing to do!
>
> Art is, as Science, empirical. Just my scientific opinion.
>
> Taylor, in Rockport TX
> wirerabbit1 on Skype (-0600 UTC)
> http://wirerabbit.blogspot.com
> http://wirerabbitpots.blogspot.com
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/wirerabbit/
> https://youtube.com/thewirerabbit
>
>
> On Thu, Aug 23, 2012 at 9:43 AM, Rimas VisGirda wrote=
:
>
> > ...One of the first questions the committee asked was how my science
> > background affected my art; my response was that it was detrimental to
> > making art, that is because science (and it's subset engineering) use
> > linear logic to solve problems whereas art is intuitive... I didn't get
> the
> > job. However a knowledge of
> > science/engineering IS handy as it allows one to solve physical proble=
ms
> > encountered in the process... -Rimas
> >
> >
>
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