Creating from a Place of Curiosity

Last fall I was working on a video project that went astray. 

Have you ever experienced those times when you think you were doing one thing and you realized you were going down the wrong road? That was me with this project.

I created mini documentaries. They were abstracted but they were still documentary in style.

The Problem

The problem (for me) was, I was meant to be participating as an artist and I wanted to break out of the documentary form.

Your issue might be wanting to step out of a specific color palette, like Van Gogh did after moving to the South of France. Or you want your art to respond more directly to the current political environment like the so called ‘degenerate artists’ of the 1920s and 30s who changed their art practices including painting, film, and music in response to the political environment.

My initial reaction to my first edits was a form of disappointment.

But working from disappointment isn’t a fun place to be, and this is my art. This is where I want to experience joy and flow and get lost in the creative process. 

The Solution 

So I decided to move into curiosity.

I created a new timeline and said, what if I did this? What if I made the videos shorter? What if I strung them together into one piece? What if I made them vertical?

Then I wrote. What am I trying to say? How will the audience interact with the material in an augmented reality, or AR Tour format? What do I want them to experience? If I could choose one word, what is this piece about?

Between experimenting and journaling a new form was born. And after trying various paths to AR a new way of augmenting reality using portable projection and speakers, going analog so to speak.

Invite Your Curiosity

If you are feeling stuck, can you find a way to break your pattern and invite in curiosity?

Try a Series of New Approaches: Is it possible to try things you may never use? Give yourself a challenge to try three very different approaches to solving your problem.

Journal: Can you write about what is on your mind? Ask yourself what your goal is and what you want people to feel when encountering your work.

Change Your Environment: Is it possible to put yourself in a new environment and see what new ideas spark a different direction? Can you visit a book store, check out some new magazines, scan through Pinterest to bump up against new ways of seeing?

And most importantly, do not take your new tries so seriously. Try to stay open to the process and have some fun.