How does refusing to consume someone else’s creativity help you find yourself?

We all understand that creativity is part of culture. Each artist, musician, sculptor or designer brings something new to the world where we live. But does culture give something back? Can music, painting, architecture around us help us to be more creative?

Of course, almost every creator draws inspiration from the work of his idols. The song of your favorite band gives rise to a new idea for a picture, and a freshly watched movie can inspire you to create a game on a similar theme.

It has always been like this: for example, it is believed that Caravaggio was guided by the now lost Medusa by Leonardo Da Vinci when he painted his work of the same name. And the Wachowskis openly admit that they borrowed the idea and many plot moves of The Matrix from the creators of the Ghost in the Shell anime.

Culture is cyclical, and we tend to rely on it to find topics. The only question is: is it always good? Sometimes the work of other authors pushes us to create something new and original. But in other cases, the new work is perceived as a cheap imitation of the old one. Surely you had such that you heard a song on the radio and thought: “But [name] already had it!”.

So how new are these consumer culture-inspired ideas? Isn’t it more useful to abstract from everything that has already been created in order to come up with something completely new? And, if so, is it still possible to draw or write something that was not there before?

Creative crisis

You may have asked yourself one of these questions too. At some point, a nasty worm of doubt arises in your head about what you are doing. It becomes unclear why even try to draw and what is the point. If this has happened to you, that’s fine. You are not alone. Most writers go through periods when fear and uncertainty override the desire to create. Let’s list some of these doubts and figure out how to deal with them.

Are my ideas original?

One day you wake up with an awesome turn-based strategy warrior concept. Or with the plot of an exciting comic book about a samurai hamster. You start working on this idea, look for resources, references – and suddenly you find out that another artist already had this.

What is my art about? Am I creating or just imitating?

We all learn by having before our eyes the work of artists whose level is higher than ours. Perhaps you notice interesting linework in someone’s portrait, or analyze color palettes in your favorite movies. And at some point, the thought arises that your work is just a set of techniques that you spied on other people. It turns out that in your paintings there is no you, it’s just a compilation of other people’s styles, techniques and techniques.

Yes, your preferences and idols inevitably influence what you create. But this does not mean that you are not in these works. In the end, your personality is formed from what you love, remember how you perceive the world around you. You do not mindlessly copy someone else’s, but pass information through yourself and modify it.

Picasso said: “Good artists copy, great artists steal.” There is no shame in borrowing ideas from other people – most importantly, do not forget to analyze exactly how you do it.

One of Banksy’s works is a stone with an engraved inscription: “Bad artists imitate, great artists steal.” The artist changed Picasso’s quote and crossed out his name, leaving his signature instead.

Refusal of consumption as a way out of the creative crisis

Of course, it’s great that for every such fear there is a counterargument – the only problem is that they do not always work. It seems that the brain understands everything, but the creative block does not go anywhere. One of the ways out in such a situation is to abandon the culture of consumption.

Literally from birth, you are surrounded by culture and art in various manifestations. You listen to music, watch movies and series, read books, play video games. Your brain is saturated with information from all possible sources, and sometimes it can overlap your own thoughts.

What to exclude from the diet

The best way to listen to yourself is to get rid of that visual noise. Here you can go one of several ways:

For a while, completely abandon the consumption of art. Stop listening to music and watching cartoons, don’t read a book. Try to replace it with leisure, which will allow you to concentrate on yourself. Go out for a walk outside the city, where there is no advertising and urban design. Or arrange a retreat for yourself – this is a kind of sanatorium, only they do not treat physical health there but mental or spiritual.

  Andy Warhol, Campbell’s Soup Cans, 1962. According to Warhol, one of the main reasons for creating this work was that he drank this soup for breakfast every day for 20 years.

Moreover, the rejection of art does not mean the rejection of creativity. You can come up with a list of tasks that will be aimed at developing creativity. For example, write down dreams or thoughts that come to mind during the day.

Stop consuming certain types of content. For example, you can forgo visual content but continue to be inspired by books and music. That way you stay on the lookout for new ideas, but you won’t be influenced by the work of other artists.

Stop consuming certain types of content. For example, you can forgo visual content but continue to be inspired by books and music. That way you stay on the lookout for new ideas, but you won’t be influenced by the work of other artists. In the process, you can give yourself different tasks. Try drawing illustrations for a book you’re reading or creating an alternate album cover for your favorite band.

Give yourself time to process the information

By today you have seen and heard a lot of things that can help your creativity. Your brain absorbs this information every day, but does not have time to digest it. By unloading it, you will give yourself time for self-reflection and scattered bundles of information will take shape and turn into ideas for new works.

Find out who you are

In the frantic pace of our lives, we often stop hearing our own thoughts and desires. By eliminating external interference, you will better understand your work rhythms and get to know yourself anew.

I wish you a lift and creative inspiration.

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Artist Nata Shemshur

https://www.natashemshur.com
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