Great example of the creative process in action!

Here is a great example of the creative process at work.

 

Marc Yates Composer in Residence the Observatory

 

As Marc Yates does his research he is accessing and using visual stuff, physical stuff (through walks in the landscape), and allowing his intuitive (big picture) and more logical (the details) thinking to entangle and work themselves out.

 

There is patience and acceptance that the creative process should not be rushed; Marc is willing and able to give his subconscious the time and space it needs to mature his thoughts.

 

Significantly, his creative process uses different techniques: making sketches and audio recordings, and reflecting upon his thoughts. The creative outputs will also be multiple: pictures and music, and they will most probably influence each other. 

 

Lastly, there is discipline and a focus upon and a progress towards outputs.

 

Quite a lot described in 4 minutes!

 

Thanks Marc!

Stop press!

I have now analysed Marc's creative process in depth and explored how his habits and approaches can be adopted by us all. You can read my analysis here.

Make an impression

Imagine you are walking along a cliff top by the sea during an early summer’s day. You feel the heat of the sun on your face, arms and back, smell and taste the sharp edged saltiness of the sea and hear and feel the wind rushing passed your ears. You see the energetic scurrying of the clouds and through the ground you feel the oncoming rhythm of the waves as they crash vigorously against the rigid, upright cliff.

Debussy’s three symphonic sketches collectively known as ‘La Mer’ impress themselves upon the senses of the listener just as the physical elements impress themselves upon us as we walk along the above mentioned cliff top. Debussy is not offering some vague impression of the sea for us to listen to passively. He is creating a detailed sensual experience within which we are invited to immerse ourselves. He is encouraging us to respond to his music physically by evoking sounds that appeal to our senses rather than our thoughts and emotions.

This is even more obvious in his famous piece ‘Prelude a l’apres-midi d’un faune’. Here Debussy composes music designed to evoke in the listener the very physical (verging upon the erotic) sensations experienced during a hot and sultry afternoon. He was so successful in this that some critics of the time accused him of writing ‘pornographic music’.

When addressing a problem it can sometimes be more helpful to do or experience something rather than to continue thinking or exploring feelings about it.

Can you put yourself physically into the position of those involved? Can you walk through a process? Can you build, draw or sculpt something that might help you understand and address the problem effectively? Can you create some kind of simple prototype to handle, play and experiment with?

Sometimes doing rather than thinking and feeling can create that breakthrough moment that allows the waves of creativity to roll in and broil around us.