My creative mind is my happy place. I can block out the world when I have a plan up my sleeve and get completely lost in thinking and doing. I feel very lucky in my ability to lose myself in my creativity, and it comes as no surprise that many have currently found crafting and artistic pursuits beneficial to their mental health in lockdown. Has enforced solitude meant there is a greater opportunity to daydream, to let the mind meander towards creative thoughts and possibilities? Has boredom led us to express ourselves though creativity or is it quite the opposite? Crises and constraints can definitely boost creativity. I heard an amazing and equally terrifying story about the crew of the Apollo 13 who, risking death after oxygen tanks exploded on board, had to act quickly to create a filter system that would enable them to return safely to earth. They saved the day using a sock, the front page of their checklist manual and a roll of duct tape! Impressive, inventive and without a doubt creative. Do restrictions, crises or maybe even pandemics force us to think harder and produce better work? I definitely work best under pressure, but thankfully, so far, never near death kind of pressure.
My most creative spurts recently have come during online ‘Zoom’ workshops with the wonderfully talented and funny Ryan Dawson Laight. It’s an hour of total and utter mayhem, shared by a group of fellow creatives. Not all designers - there’s an actor and a potter amongst the merry crew. Ryan sets tasks around a theme to be done in anything from 3 minutes to 15 minutes maximum. Last weeks theme was ’Street Theatre Costume Character Design’, and I loved it. It got my creative juices flowing and the adrenalin pumping. We drew, we sculpted, we laughed a lot, and my final effort was this, who knows what of a construction, thrown together in minutes around the theme of “midnight, animal, cabaret”. Not stage worthy obviously but such a fun challenge in the time frame. I realise I have relished the madness of these workshops, the thrill of a deadline that is missing in my life without theatre. On the flip side my downtime outwith efforts to sustain my career, feed the family and the usual stuff, has been spent reconnecting with yoga, walking and crafting in front of Netflix. Patchwork has surprisingly become my therapy, and I am enjoying making space in my life for these activities. My conclusion is that life and creativity require both stimulation/pressures AND room to breathe in order to produce our best work. Yin and yang, a dualism and a balance that I hope I can achieve in my life when some kind of normality returns and in a way I never did before.
4 Comments
Lou
18/7/2020 08:44:10 am
Couldn't agree with your final sentiments more. There's a lot to be learned from the lockdown and lessons to be taken from it and continued if at all possible! Love the headpiece, you're so creative and your costumes have such flare and show just how imaginative your are!
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so true that creativity helps massively to switch off from other issues for a while and let our minds wander. It's also been an opportunity to invest in doing something that is good for our head space as well as trying to keep ideas flowing. Love your costume Ali - those zoom calls sound inspiring (and fun!)
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I love the sound of Ryan's Zoom sessions, and love the idea of coming up with ideas under pressure - definitely good for the creative and resourceful brain! I agree with you that a bit of pressure can help the creative process; it's about finding the perfect combination of this, and clear space to create, reflect and refine.
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Lukinere
30/7/2020 07:33:46 am
I love the sound of the projects that you are working on, I've followed you on Instagram and am intrigued by your latest 'sound baubles'. Looking forward to seeing what they are to be used for. Lockdown has been such a difficult time for so many and I'm sure it will be years before we see the true impact. How amazing it would be if more people have also discovered the joys of creating something for themselves and others to share.
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Author - Alison Brown is a Costume Designer and maker based in Scotland.
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