the challenge
I’m out on the street today on a creative exploration assignment. The Seed I will be using is Body-Less.
Take this Seed with you and keep observing mindfully. Be ready to be surprised.
my insight
It started with a walk on the street. I was on one of Tel-Aviv’s most colorful streets — a street in which I can stop every step or two to look at something interesting. But nothing triggered the association to the Body-Less Seed.
Shabazi street houses quite a few art galleries. Somehow, I never visited any of them. When I’m on a photo-walk, I generally prefer the randomness of the street on the curated collection of deliberate art you can find in a gallery. Yet today, one artwork visible to passersby caught my attention. It was a glass and wood sculpture of a pair of angel wings.
The combination of glass and wood, the details of the wings, the way this artwork sparks more questions than answers, and of course the missing body of the angel were all striking. I entered the gallery to observe the enchanting wings more closely. And this, in turn, gave me a perfect opportunity to discover more surprising artworks — almost all of them as thought-provoking as this one.
Unfortionanty, I realized I hadn’t written down the name of the artist until I was too far from the gallery. I tried to look for it online based on the sticker on the wall behind it, but without much success.
reflection
I realized only today that even in my most open-ended creative activities, I am at risk of being captive in my own patterns. You see, I love art, but when I am on an urban photo-walk, I focus on the outdoor — on the things one can find on the street. I can spend hours in an art museum, but only when I plan it. In all the times I passed by this art gallery, I prevented myself the chance of being surprised and inspired by artworks just because they were not on the street but in a closed and carefully designed environment. And it was my loss.
The Seed I used today made me aware of an artwork which just happened to be visible from the street, and this gave me the perfect “excuse” to go inside the gallery. I’m somewhat disappointed with myself that I needed that excuse.
I often say we need to make detours to be surprised. I usually turn into streets and alleys without planning it in advance. But the most apparent detour — going into a gallery for ten minutes just to absorb something completely different — didn’t come naturally to me.
With every creative challenge, something in my brain is being rewired. But today I feel something more profound happened. The experience I had today is going to affect my behavior going forward.
Habit Zero might start as a repetitive habit, but soon it evolves — it affects our brain, and in turn, our brain affects what we do. That’s the beauty of creativity and reflection.
mental notes
- Keep revisiting your creative habits. Always look to refine them. Always be ready to break them.
now it is your turn… be creative!