| Thinking Inside the Box |
| Sunday, 16 August 2009 |
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I’m generally not one for quippy little phrases like, “on the same page”, “out of pocket” or “thinking outside the box”. I don’t like bumper-sticker-speak. Three letter acronyms (TLA’s) drive me batshit. And don’t even get me started on Intel-speak. If someone you love is employed by Intel you know what I’m talking about here. We should form a support group – an ISG.
Over the last several months I’ve shifted the focus of my blog toward the creative process – specifically what it looks like for others and how my own process connects with theirs. I have had the great privilege of talking with several artists and sharing a piece of their process with you. I’m excited to write up my notes on new interviews with four San Diego creatives including a painter, sculptor, master gardener, and photographer. Today I’m bringing an artist to my page directly from her own page. Twyla Tharp’s book The Creative Habit: Know it and Use it for Life is a most unusual look at creativity. She honors the discipline, ritual and craft of the creative process itself. Art is work; creativity is a habit. I bought this book because of Chapter 5 entitled: “Before you can think out of the box you have to start with a box.” I’ve written before about my percolator box. The box that holds odds and ends and images that appear to be important in the flash of a moment. I have a penny taped to the lid, a paint stirrer, dice, greeting cards, and hundreds of magazine, postcard, and photo images. A map and some sheet music too. This box sits in my closet and gets toted around town with me during the genesis of a project. Twyla Tharp takes this approach one step further – she creates a box for every project that she starts. Twyla asserts that starting a box is how she knows she’s committed to a project and that the work has begun. She jots down a few simple goals for the project on index cards and tosses them in first. From there Twyla layers all the parts that make up the process of creating the work – CD’s, articles, dance videos and images. Twyla notes, “I find the box is most useful at three critical stages: when you’re getting going, when you’re lost, and after you’ve finished.” My most recent project is a world unto itself – an entire universe worthy of its own box. I actually picked out a special inaugural box to honor my first project of this magnitude and to celebrate this addition to my process. I wrote two goals on index cards and tossed them inside. I have made the commitment; the work has begun. |
