“Inspiration is for amateurs.” “All the best ideas come out of the process.”
Tina Seeling, faculty member at Stanford University, talks about creativity in the broadest sense and the three stages of creativity for people who want to transform the world.
Stage 1 IMAGINATION
Engagement: Art historian Jennifer Roberts’s class. 3 hours of just looking at an artwork and building a relationship with it. Deeply understand the object.
“Most people think you envision what you want to do, and then you make it happen. But engagement is the first step; you need to engage.”
Envision: Set a problem to solve and draw your own boundaries.
Stage 2 CREATIVITY
Motivation: Danial Pink -Autonomy, fulfilment and meaning become the beginning of motivation, and then the experiment could be started.
Stage 3 INNOVATION
focus /reframing:Deeply focused, but breaking the mould and creating something new.
There are creativity myths: prevalence and correlates of misconceptions on creativity. 1.Children are more creative than adults. Inspiration is important. It’s a very common misconception that bright ideas are good. These are concepts that are common to all cultures and countries.
2. Creative ideas need a break: Brainstorming is only helpful for people who are vocal and like to lead; brainstorming itself does not generate creative ideas.
What happens in our brains.
The ability to look at things in a new way.
Three networks are active in the brain. The Default Mode Network (DMN), an area of the brain that is active when you are in a daze or daydreaming, is activated.
CEM(Central Executive Network: Sustained attention (the part of the brain involved in complex problem solving and memory)
SN(Salience Network: Choose the internal cues of the moment, acting as a switch to focus or daze.
Creative work is possible when you are immersed and think deeply. Creative people have developed the ability to switch between creative and editing modes freely by following a rigid routine rather than being spontaneous.
WHY ART?
Why incorporating traditional, simple arts and crafts into a workshop with children is beneficial in this digital age.
Art and craft activities stimulate creativity and imagination in children. These activities encourage them to think outside the box and express themselves uniquely.
Art provides a safe outlet for children to express their emotions. Through colors, shapes, and textures, children can explore and communicate feelings that they might not yet be able to articulate verbally.
Crafting often involves figuring out how to turn a concept into a physical object. This process enhances problem-solving skills and encourages critical thinking as children plan and execute their projects.
Art and craft activities require a level of concentration and focus. Engaging in these activities can help children develop a longer attention span, which is beneficial for academic learning.
In a world increasingly dominated by screens, traditional art and craft offer a valuable balance. They provide a tactile, hands-on experience that is essential for child development.
Completing an art or craft project gives children a sense of achievement. This success boosts their confidence and encourages them to take on new challenges.
References:
Benedek, M., Karstendiek, M., Ceh, S. M., Grabner, R. H., Krammer, G., Lebuda, I., … & Kaufman, J. C. (2021). Creativity myths: Prevalence and correlates of misconceptions on creativity. Personality and Individual Differences, 182, 111068.
Seelig, T. (2017). Creativity Rules: Get Ideas Out of Your Head and into the World. HarperOne; Reprint edition.