“The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves”
–Carl Jung
I have always been regarding myself to be someone with creative potential. Since childhood, I have been living with the world of my imagination and have long been intrigued by exploring the non-stereotypical and unconventional. Nevertheless, I have also been a person with affection towards structural and systematic disciplines, attaining top-tier grades in school subjects such as mathematics, computer science, physics, and chemistry. I have long been living with conflicting selves, willing to express my creative side but suppressed by external doubt and fear of exposing anything too personal, including my skills, thinking, and uniqueness. I have chosen NYUAD, engineering, and more importantly, this creating class, to try to solve my self-doubt on creativity and discipline, to learn to employ creativity in my future academics and careers, and to, hopefully, elegantly settle the aforementioned “conflict” and truly embrace the wonderful concept of “the intersection of arts and technology”.
Regarding these goals, I believe that I have transcended myself as I am now closer to them. Through the readings and assignments, I now can more confidently embrace my creativity and can learn to use them in a controlled way. Before this class, I believed that the difference in creativity between people is only determined by their pre-wired “talent”, so average people like me can only wait until it strikes, just like finding treasures in the ocean. I still remember my first assignment, when I came up with analogies, meanings, and interpretations of the word “desert” but failed to find the best “idea”. In fact, this was already some lateral thinking after I learned the analogy method. All it takes then was to get my hands on, to be sure about myself, and to perfect from trials and errors — just like the group that was asked to make the most pots in Art & Fear. Moreover, the daily making assignments facilitated this transition process from solely imagining to starting making. For example, I started my assignment 6 (How to get to School on Time?) with just three ideas, and the latter three came by combining asking “what if” and “why” during the making process. These creative strategies covered in class, the readings, and implemented by the assignments are like maps, directing me to “find more treasures” and “find them faster”. In another way, I also learned to look “beyond treasures”, in that some ideas may not sound genius at first but perhaps wonderful when the making process starts. Apple fairies might sound impractical and imperfect from a pure engineering, result-driven, vertical perspective, but wouldn’t we all love their elegance when we just adopt this concept first and then realize later that they can actually be implemented with current and near-future technologies, as well as their immense marketing potential.
Class visits accomplish more than learning about works and creative processes. They are also chances for me to meet new, interesting, and respectful people and communities. I had the chance to learn about new forms of art, which in turn let me realize that art is not defined by external criteria but by whether their creating processes relate to a part of the artists that they are willing to explore and show. Ming Poon created social-experimental dance pieces such as Undressing Room and Project June 4th. He may have used simple techniques, but the chill they gave was extraordinary when I realize how magical it is that he could bring people together to achieve art or political activism. Ephemeral Tomorrow created hardcore scientific installations that engage the public and show them the beauty of real-time data and astronomy in a form that I have never seen before. The carefree working style of Kollage Kollectiv and the embracing environment of field.io resonates with me on the importance of mental enjoyment in addition to pure skills, which can efficiently boost our creative energies just like what the book Flow mentioned about the Flow State. In fact, I found none of them boring and can extract the best from each talk.
Last but not least, I would love to appreciate the importance of wellness stressed by the professor and respected by the class. Meditation helps bring me back to the present in this bustling world. Moreover, being extremely sensitive to interpersonal dynamics and new to sharing to others my creativity and everything else that was “too personal” for me in the past that I was only willing to share with myself, creating and maintaining a “safe zone” is initially important for me, and I now have the confidence to say that I will grow till I can gradually let go my dependence on a deliberate “safe zone”.