Part 2 of WHERE DO IDEAS COME FROM?

Last month I asked “Where do ideas come from?” (pretty much anywhere!) and wrote about one way of coming up with art ideas – by being aware of what has gone before (“standing on the shoulders of giants”)

This month I want to remind you of the importance of your VAJ – never go anywhere without it – and flag up a great YouTube video!

1 The JOURNAL (VAJ)
(“Does your idea have legs?”)

The journal is VITAL!

The first suggestion I make to any student who announces that he/she has an “idea” is that they should explore the idea in the journal and in at least two media, coming up with alternative ways of depicting this idea, and show me six journal pages illustrating the development the starting point both visually and in writing.

In short, I ask “Has it got legs?”

If the journal pages are full of potential, the answer is probably yes.

The journal documents

the development of art-making skills and techniques
experiments with media and technologies
personal reflections
your responses to first-hand observations
creative ideas for exploration and development
your evaluations of art practices and art-making experiences
your responses to diverse stimuli and to artists and their works
detailed evaluations and critical analysis
records of valued feedback received
challenges you have faced and your achievements.

2 Kirby Ferguson and Everything is Remix

In addition to teaching art I “teach” Theory of Knowledge (can it be taught?), and last August/September I started off the year by showing my ToK group a great video from YouTube (Everything is a Remix).

The video is very entertaining but more importantly it provokes a number of great questions about the development of ideas and where they come from. Kirby Ferguson says similar things about how we learn (through the process of ‘remix’ – which in some ways could relate to shoulders and giants).

See also “Embrace the Remix”

“In a convincing talk from TEDGlobal 2012, director Kirby Ferguson explores the challenges of originality and freshness in a world where creativity takes root in what has come before. Without previous inventions we would not have the iPhone, the Model T Ford, Star Wars, Warhol’s soup cans, or the electronic musician Girl Talk. Ferguson highlights that remixing, referencing and reproducing previous innovations allows artists to engage in a cultural dialogue and allows art, technology and society to continue evolving”.

Creativity is not the same as originality!

Remember: