I recently had the pleasure of taking a group of designers to the New York studio of the Danish architecture firm, Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG). The parallels drawn from this experience outline a set of actions which we as artists might apply to the creative process, and help draw deeper connections and meaning to our daily practice.
The idea behind the visit was two-fold: to inspire and invigorate our team by examining processes outside of, but not foreign to, our own methods, and to distill their formula for constant evolution. Apart from their work being of the highest quality, they have struck upon a universal-- that is, translatable-- formula that fosters evolution, and simultaneously sustains them in a genuine process.
Most of our designers came from a live tv industry environment; our outstanding mark was speed of production, while quality of execution often suffered in necessity to time. All were more than capable of polished work, but long form projects were rare, and seizing opportunities to lend meaning to such a fast-paced environment is crucial to avoiding burnout. We needed a 'sustainable' approach to our own daily practice.
Analyzing techniques and processes outside of our own methods engages abstract thought, and grants license to retranslate ideas in original ways; to reinterpret, modify and problem-solve with custom toolsets. Making connections to these sister art forms not only lends meaning to our own process, but also elevates the potential for cohesiveness and impact in collaborative environments. It's not so direct as examining other designers within our industry, and as a result rejects the mold, infusing definitions of our own process with creativity and meaning.
While BIG must be emphatically accredited as the impetus for this creative process comparison, their ideas and techniques are relevant to the creation of all art forms, and-- while the most important qualities of all art forms lie beyond language, we can use this medium to define the common denominators, helping to see us a bit more passionately through our next creative endeavor. The following ideas can be used as tools to help break down walls in pursuit of evolution.
Composition and Arranging
Transcribing
Elimination of Complexity
Improvisation
Retranslating
Pragmatic Utopianism (BIG)
Excess + Selection
Migration of Ideas
Layering
Editing
Yes Is More (BIG)
Iteration
Reinventing Tradition
Intuition
Influence
Design Thinking
... I'll attempt to address each idea unto itself in forthcoming posts.