What Modern Art can teach us about Creativity
589 likes33,748 views
The document explores how modern art challenges traditional norms and inspires creativity by encouraging individuals to break boundaries and question established rules. It highlights the importance of creativity in today's economy, referencing surveys and notable figures who emphasize its value. Through examples of groundbreaking artists, it illustrates how their rebellious approaches have transformed perceptions of art and beauty, ultimately suggesting that such creative audacity has broader implications in various fields beyond art.
![“Artists can do what
they want, they’re
artists! I work in
[insert serious field],
I can’t do that!.”](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/modernartandcreativity-150816180342-lva1-app6892/85/What-Modern-Art-can-teach-us-about-Creativity-106-320.jpg)
What Modern Art can teach us about Creativity
- 1. What Modern Art can teach us about Creativity … to Warhol From Picasso By Podium Wisdom
- 3. At an auction in May 2013, this painting, “Onement VI” by Barnett Newman, sold for quite a pretty sum…
- 5. “WTF!?”
- 7. I mean… it looks like something even I could do!
- 8. And this revived a suspicion I’ve long had about modern art:
- 9. Is Modern Art… Complete… and total…
- 10. B.S.? Is Modern Art… Complete… and total…
- 11. And this was hardly an isolated case…
- 13. $230,000My Bed (1998) by Tracey Emin
- 14. $230,000My Bed (1998) by Tracey Emin
- 15. $230,000My Bed (1998) by Tracey Emin $MillionsBlack Square (1915) by K. Malevich
- 17. Find a picture of a museum with a queue around the block, and add the caption: “Are we being duped?” Maybe we’re all…
- 18. Find a picture of a museum with a queue around the block, and add the caption: “Are we being duped?” DUPED? Maybe we’re all… getting
- 19. Fortunately… I don’t think we’re getting duped. On the contrary…
- 20. Such artworks can be incredibly Valuable
- 21. Such artworks can be incredibly Valuable (Ok… maybe not $44 million… but valuable!)
- 22. And I would go even further…
- 24. WE SHOULD ALL CARE ABOUT MODERN ART And here is why…
- 25. Modern Art can teach & inspire us enormously about a most precious quality in the 21st century economy…
- 29. A 2010 IBM survey of 1,500 CEOs named creativity the most crucial factor for future success. (“Creativity is the New Black”, Forbes, July 16, 2010)
- 30. “Creativity is as important now … as literacy.” Sir Ken Robinson
- 31. Now, you might be thinking…
- 32. “Well DOHHH… everyone knows creativity is important.”
- 33. “and everyone knows Monet and Van Gogh are creative… BUT…
- 34. How does that HELP ME become more creative!!??
- 35. How does that HELP ME become more creative!!?? Well, here’s how:
- 36. We know that to be truly creative, we must be willing to turn away from the old…
- 37. that creating the truly innovative is impossible without challenging rules,
- 38. that creating the truly innovative is impossible without challenging rules, breaking tradition,
- 39. that creating the truly innovative is impossible without challenging rules, breaking tradition, poking the system
- 40. “Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.” – Pablo Picasso
- 41. “To be an exception, a painter… had to contest the norms of the art that had formed him.” —John Berger Renowned art critic
- 42. “There’s a feeling of rebellion in any act of creativity.” —Philippe Petit The “Man On Wire”
- 43. And this is where the heroes of modern art can help you.
- 44. Let their stories inspire you and lead you…
- 45. Let their stories inspire you and lead you… To Break boundaries
- 46. Let their stories inspire you and lead you… To Break boundaries
- 47. Let their stories inspire you and lead you… To Break boundaries and Rip Up the canvas if you fancy…
- 48. To illustrate the point, allow me to paint a picture for you…
- 49. There used to be rigid rules on what art could be about. Mostly, subjects of art were…
- 53. In other words… If you weren’t god, rich, royal or a sexy naked lady, you were not good enough to be art.
- 54. In other words… If you weren’t god, rich, royal or a naked lady, you were not good enough to be art. Eventually, artists decided: “To hell with that!”
- 55. In other words… If you weren’t god, rich, royal or a naked lady, you were not good enough to be art. Eventually, artists decided: “To hell with that!”* *Except for “naked ladies”. They still loved naked ladies
- 56. In the mid-1800s, artists started to feature subjects such as…
- 59. Picasso (1912) The Poor The Crazy Everyday Stuff
- 60. Duchamp (1917) The Poor The Crazy Everyday Stuff Urinal
- 61. Pollock (1948) The Poor The Crazy Everyday Stuff Urinal ????
- 62. Warhol (1962) The Poor The Crazy Everyday Stuff Urinal ???? Soup can
- 63. Oldenburg (1992) The Poor The Crazy Everyday Stuff Urinal ???? Soup can Trash
- 64. Sure, they were heavily criticized for such brazen violations. And yet…
- 65. They brushed it off, painted on and chipped away.
- 66. … and so, stroke by stroke, chisel by chisel, they completely reshaped what the world perceived as artistic beautiful
- 67. such that today, our creativity can literally…
- 70. be made from any material Hirst (2012)
- 71. We look out into a wide open world, with nothing to limit us but the limits of our own imagination.
- 72. So the next time some schmuck tells you: “That’s not an appropriate topic!”
- 73. Just remember what Monet or Picasso would say:
- 74. Just remember what Monet or Picasso would say:
- 75. That’s how they took down another old commandment of the art world…
- 76. Thou shalt paint in the approved way, and only this way:
- 77. Precise, detailed, alive real as a photo Van Eyck (1434)
- 78. With brush strokes so fine they’re barely even visible Van Eyck (1434)
- 79. and yet idealized romanticized Botticelli (1490)
- 81. If you didn’t paint in this way, your art was never admitted into the salons…
- 82. Thus, all was smooth and orderly in the art world…
- 83. Thus, all was smooth and orderly in the art world… Until some brash hooligans mucked it all up. Again.
- 84. by painting but the roughest of impressions Monet (1872)
- 85. twisting the world into dreams feelings Van Gogh (1889)
- 86. reducing the world to a bunch of shapes, to reveal its true nature Cézanne (1887)
- 87. and then reducing people to shapes also Picasso (1889)
- 88. in order to reveal THEIR true nature Picasso (1925)
- 89. But the rebels didn’t stop there…
- 90. They took the “shape” thing above and beyond Delaunay (1924)
- 92. and simple in its elegance Judd (1972)
- 94. By constantly flouting the rules, these rebels created a world in which…
- 96. Rembrandt (1632) can be every bit as beautiful as this
- 98. Titian (1520) can be every bit as magical as this
- 99. The fact that most people I know would prefer their bedrooms to look like…
- 100. this
- 101. rather than this
- 102. Tells you just how profoundly modern art has changed the way we think about art and beauty
- 103. In the process, modern art forever altered the face of this world
- 104. And continues to challenge our assumptions perceptions (“Execution” by Yue Minjun, 1995)
- 105. “But wait!” you might be thinking…
- 106. “Artists can do what they want, they’re artists! I work in [insert serious field], I can’t do that!.”
- 107. Well, let’s ask some “serious folks”…
- 108. “In field after field, past experience has taught us that the ones to pay attention to are the ones who understand the rules so well that they also understand the urgency to break them.” — Yongme Moon, Professor, Harvard Business School
- 109. “The most important thing for young scientists is to dare to be different.” — Yuan Tseh Lee Nobel Chemist
- 110. The audacity to challenge the status quo has changed our world in ways far beyond the artistic…
- 111. In how we see the rights and dignity of all people, whatever the color of their skin
- 112. … in how we learn about EVERYTHING
- 113. … in how we think and talk about Privacy
- 114. … and much, much more
- 115. Cave Painting, Banksy (2008) You may or may not be the next Picasso or Warhol
- 116. But you can still let their stories inspire you
- 117. To shred up dictums, upend structures, and sow creative chaos wherever you are A Sudden Gust of Wind, Jeff Wall (1993)
- 118. Because… who knows…
- 119. From the debris of that chaos
- 120. A new world may yet emerge Gyre, Chris Jordan (2009) created from trash from the ocean
- 121. What Modern Art can teach us about Creativity … to Warhol From Picasso By Podium Wisdom
- 122. 90% of what I’ve learned about modern art came from the BBC Arts Editor Will Gompertz and his book, What Are You Looking At?
- 123. Podium Wisdom