writing

3 EXPERIMENTS FOR THE FINAL PROJECT & PAPER

1) TECH BREAK

Twyla Tharp and David and Tom Kelley provide strong models for living a creative life and incorporating creativity into our work lives in their books. One suggestion offered by is the importance of occasionally removing distractions from our lives in order to focus on important projects, problems or challenges.

For example, part of Tharp’s creative process is spending time alone with her thoughts and few distractions. One of her “rituals” when committing to a major project is to “subtract” things from her life that she knows will distract her (movies, multitasking, business details, and background music) for up to a week at a time.

The Kelly brothers, on the other hand, endorse the idea of “relaxed attention”: “In that mental state, the problem or challenge occupies space in your brain, but not on the front burner. Relaxed attention lies between meditation, where you completely clear your mind, and the laserlike focus you apply when tackling a tough math problem.” (Kelley, 83)

For this experiment, survey the technology you rely on a daily basis (phones, iPods, computers, TV, internet access, etc.), take a break from that technology, and then reflect on whether your relationship to technology supports and enhances your creativity and productivity or might in some cases detract from it.

Step 1: Survey of distractions

Step 2: Block out a 2-4 hour period where you will refrain from using technology (this should take place during a time frame that will not interfere with work or family commitments). See how long you can hold out and what things come up that may get in the way of completing this attempted restriction on technology.

Step 3: Try one or both of the Kelley brothers’ suggestions for attaining relaxed attention: 1) take a quiet walk (away from traffic and intrusions) to mull over a challenge or problem OR 2) try to take advantage of the half conscious state between waking and dreaming by “letting your brain wander in a state of relaxed attention, working in an unfocused way on some challenge or problem” (Kelley 84).

Step 4: Include a short reflection on the break from distraction and/or use of “relaxed attention” in your final reflection paper. [Did you find it difficult or easy? What were the hardest points? Could you go for longer? Did you have to stop the experiment or momentarily forget that you were not answering texts, phone calls or emails? Were you able to take advantage of the concept of “relaxed attention” to mull over or generate a new idea or way of looking at a problem? Would you ever try this again?]

NOTE: Possible exceptions to the” technology break”

• Course work (for example, reading on a Kindle or other device, D2L site for readings, etc.), research or paid employment that must involve your computer or the internet

• If you use your phone as a safety net or need to be accessible by phone you might consider turning down the ring tone rather than leaving it behind

• The 2-4 hour timeframe is only a suggested limit. You could go shorter or longer if needed, but be sure to consider how or why the time is less or more (i.e., practical reasons or just too hard to stay away from your technology)

2) BUG LIST

Quote from Creative Confidence (Tom & David Kelley):

We are surrounded every day by products that don’t work well, services that slow us down, and setups that are just plain wrong: the website that requires ten clicks to accomplish what should take only one or two; the projector that stubbornly resists linking up with your laptop; the machine at the parking garage that makes paying so difficult. Noticing that something is broken is an essential prerequisite for coming up with a creative solution to fix it. Making “bug lists,” which Tom described in The A rt of Innovation, can help you to see more opportunities to apply creativity. Whether you use a piece of paper in your pocket or record ideas on your smartphone, keeping track of opportunities for improvement can help you engage with the world around you in a more proactive way. The running list can serve as a useful source of ideas when you’re looking for a new project to tackle. Or you can make a bug list on the spot. Write down the things that bug you, and you’ll start being more mindful of them. It may seem like you’re focusing on the negatives, but the point is to notice more opportunities to do things better. And while many of the items on your bug list may be things you won’t be able to fix, if you add to it regularly, you’ll stumble onto issues you can influence and problems you can help solve. Almost every annoyance, every point of friction, hides a design opportunity. Instead of just complaining, ask yourself, “How might I improve this situation?” (118-19)

Add to your journal a list of at least 4-6 opportunities, challenges, needs, or problems to which you would like to develop a response. These can come from your daily life, from work situations, or places, situations and environments you are familiar with. Write a brief description of these opportunities or problems that details what and why something is in need of an improved or new response, product or process or repair. (Some questions to consider: Who would benefit? How extensive is the need? What currently exists (if anything) and how might it be improved?) There is no need to devise solutions immediately, just raise the question or opportunity. At some point, pick one of the ideas or problems that you could find a solution for or that you could begin to outline some steps that you can take. You can frame this in a positive way by thinking about opportunities or existing solutions to problems or needs that could be improved, made simpler or less expensive. Helpful questions to ask to get started:

* What would make your life easier or improve someone else’s experience? * What have you complained about at work or as a customer? * What would you like to get others to do? * What changes would you like to introduce? * What gets wasted? What is too complicated? What is inefficient? * What bothers or irritates you? * What processes could be smoother? * What needs does an organization have that are not being fulfilled? * How could considering “extreme users” (like children, people with limited mobility, older people, etc.)

open up new designs or approaches?

3) GROUP BASED CREATIVE PROJECT/PROCESS

For this last experiment, I will place you in small groups and would like you to work together (mostly on Zoom or another communication method) on some small-scale creative project or process. Below are some suggested examples, but I am open to your group creating its own alternative. Document your product or process with photographs, descriptions or drawings and submit as a group through email to me by the last week of classes: [email protected]

• Create a new game (board game, card game, narrative based game, etc.) using cards or pieces from games you have at home or create for this purpose. Play a round or two and write up the “RULES” and take few pictures.

• Work together to create a short, illustrated children’s story. The illustrations can be drawn by group members or may rely on photographs you take or drawn from open sources on the Internet. Document this using Power Point or another means to capture your product electronically.

• Take an existing poem and illustrate images from the poem. Document this using Power Point or another means to capture your product electronically.

• Get together in a Zoom session and create the paper houses designed by architects (or create your own designs). The designs are available for printing in a PDF near the end of the following New York Times article “Tiny Architect-Designed Houses to Build at Your Desk.” Here is the link to the article and the PDF file: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/16/t-magazine/paper-houses-craft-architecture-design.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/03/16/t-magazine/architect-designed-paper-houses.html

• Use the origami patterns from the World Wildlife web page to create several origami animals together on a Zoom session.

https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/origami-patterns