I have been teaching art practices and how you create original work for over 30 years but I have never taught a workshop specifically on the act of creativity before.
So I was having trouble right until the day of the workshop with what to choose in terms of forms of practice to use to help people access their creative potential.
I try to really listen to what is going on around me in a workshop environment so even though I had created a very formal structure it moved in and out responding to their needs.
Music / writing / body work / sense work / photography/ collage making, listening to passing conversations all became ways into exploring the process of being creative throughout the day.
We discussed the need for self discipline and how creativity extends way beyond art making. We worked through 3 stages, preparation, exploration and creation.
We discussed the role of the flaneur as a way of talking about the act of observing and listening as an art practice. (Flâneur is a French term meaning ‘stroller’ or ‘loafer’ used by nineteenth-century French poet Charles Baudelaire to describe the act of observing modern urban life.)
We talked about Pena Bausch (choreographer) who used the scars of her dancers to tell the audience about their life experiences.
We acknowledged the use and importance of music in creating atmospheres and moods to create work.
The last couple of hours of the workshop, each participant created a creative map from all the influences of the day and beyond. They were all very different and personal but also so rich in terms of possible starting points for other things and resonated with us all.
