delve

Fascinating Video Essays

Posts tagged creativity

1 note

[Works of art] that I really respond to …have behind them a lot of conceptual, political, and intellectual activity…the visual representations are really signposts to this beautiful machine that has been constructed, unique on the earth, and is not just a rehashing of visual elements, but is really a new thought machine that an artist, through visual means and combining his eyes with his perceptions has created.
Mihaly Csikszentmihaly

Filed under Thought machine Adam Westbrook delve mihaly csikszentmihaly art flow creativity

191 notes

austinkleon:
Jason Segel on being okay with being bad until you’re good:
I’m willing to be bad for as long as it takes, until I’m good….I don’t have a sense of shame. I just don’t. If I’ve hurt someone’s feelings, if I’m mean to somebody, I’ll lament over that for days. I’m that dude. I’ll lose sleep over mundane stuff. But I don’t really have the thing of, “Oh, I’ve embarrassed myself.” I just don’t understand why I would stop trying to play piano even though I’m not good at it. I want to be good at it. So why wouldn’t I keep playing?
Just. Keep. Working.
Remember: ✓ curiosity ✓ kindness ✓stamina ✓ a willingness to look stupid.

austinkleon:

Jason Segel on being okay with being bad until you’re good:

I’m willing to be bad for as long as it takes, until I’m good….I don’t have a sense of shame. I just don’t. If I’ve hurt someone’s feelings, if I’m mean to somebody, I’ll lament over that for days. I’m that dude. I’ll lose sleep over mundane stuff. But I don’t really have the thing of, “Oh, I’ve embarrassed myself.” I just don’t understand why I would stop trying to play piano even though I’m not good at it. I want to be good at it. So why wouldn’t I keep playing?

Just. Keep. Working.

Remember: ✓ curiosity ✓ kindness ✓stamina ✓ a willingness to look stupid.

Filed under Amen Austin Kleon Jason Segel Wisdom creativity being bad

1 note

Nowadays we can watch more than enough animation anytime we want. But no matter how good the animation is, when we have too much, it is no longer of good quality…it takes a great deal of effort to create significant work given the current flood of animation. It is like pouring clear water drop by drop into the muddy flood waters. I can’t help but feel lonely that, just because it is such an effort, some decide to settle for sending out mediocre work to be pushed along with the rest of the deluge.
Hayao Miyazaki, a lecture in June 1982

Filed under Adam Westbrook Hayao Miyazaki Delve animation social media content art creativity popularity deluge of content quality

179 notes

austinkleon:
The last paragraph of comedy writer Tom Koch’s obit was staring at me when I sat down at my desk to work today. cf. Ian Svenonius: If one becomes a lawyer, scholar, mechanist, typist, scientist, production assistant, or what-have-you, the world will commend your decision. Each day at lunch, on vacation, or at whatever party you attend, your choice will be applauded, upheld, and affirmed. And you will know what is expected of you. Even if your job is difficult—if you are a brain chemist, international death merchant, or rocket designer—your responsibilities will be obvious and your goals concrete. If you achieve them, you may be rewarded by promotion. If you fail, you might be fired or demoted, but nonetheless—unless your boss is insane—the job will have tangible parameters.[Art], however, is different. You will never know exactly what you must do, it will never be enough… no matter what change you achieve, you will most likely see no dividend from it. And even after you have achieved greatness, the infinitesimal cadre who even noticed will ask, “What next?”One solution: chain-smoking. 

austinkleon:

The last paragraph of comedy writer Tom Koch’s obit was staring at me when I sat down at my desk to work today. 

cf. Ian Svenonius

If one becomes a lawyer, scholar, mechanist, typist, scientist, production assistant, or what-have-you, the world will commend your decision. Each day at lunch, on vacation, or at whatever party you attend, your choice will be applauded, upheld, and affirmed. And you will know what is expected of you. Even if your job is difficult—if you are a brain chemist, international death merchant, or rocket designer—your responsibilities will be obvious and your goals concrete. If you achieve them, you may be rewarded by promotion. If you fail, you might be fired or demoted, but nonetheless—unless your boss is insane—the job will have tangible parameters.

[Art], however, is different. You will never know exactly what you must do, it will never be enough… no matter what change you achieve, you will most likely see no dividend from it. And even after you have achieved greatness, the infinitesimal cadre who even noticed will ask, “What next?”

One solution: chain-smoking

(Source: igcdn-photos-g-a.akamaihd.net)

Filed under art creativity austin kleon

9 notes

All of history’s greatest figures achieved success in almost exactly the same way. But rather than celebrating this part of the creative process we ignore it.

This missing chapter in the story of success reveals the secret to doing meaningful work. But in the modern world, full of distraction, do we have what it takes to do great things?

The second in a two-part series about creativity.

Part One: Why Leonardo daVinci was no genius (and what means for the rest of us)

Filed under Adam Westbrook history art history leonardo da vinci renaissance milan the last supper duke of milan lady and the ermine painting creativity success john coltrane jazz jazz music marie curie stephen king michael faraday tiger woods golf mozart craig ferguson marketing how marketers ruined everything robert greene mastery

20 notes

The Long Play Part 1: why Leonardo da Vinci was no genius

In this video I’m going to try and convince you that the great Leonardo da Vinci was actually kind of a loser. And that every time we proclaim him as a “genius” we’re actually distorting the truth about how creativity really works.

It’s a video that you want to see if you’ve ever felt unsuccessful, or that other people are more successful than you; or if you’re stressing about turning 30.

Filed under delve video essay leonardo da vinci creativity success michael faraday harrison ford craig ferguson nikola tesla ulysses s grant history art history florence italy adam westbrook turning 30 worried about turning 30