Creative Sweden

[creativesweden]

Sacred space pt. 2

Me and my colleague once did the assumption that we could split a creative space between to different creating companies over a day. It’s easily assumed:

- No one works for 16 hours straight.

It became clear thou that the creators sometimes left hours before their time ended, and often were frustrated about the fact that they had to leave because of the next company coming in. The frustration came out of one single aspect: They were in “it”.

It being that state of creation - that feels so fickle and volatile and is so easily lost and interrupted by a single annoyance, and horribly hard to get back. Or maybe it’s the fear that you lost it, forever, since you are not really sure how you ended up there in the first place.

One consoling and helping quote from a master of productive creation Ernest Hemingway can help a wee bit i think: “I never stop writing until i know where to start tomorrow.”

[creativesweden]

Sacred space pt.1

I have this friend who’s a booming music artist. He is split in his relationship to live shows, he is not overly fond of the pr stuff, doesn't really care about the financial administration, he lives loves and enjoys making music. The studio is in all values “his castle”. A holy sphere where no other ideas and only a privileged few are invited.

My friend who's a painter, puts on her headphones and “disappears for a while”.

I heard that Missy Elliott presumably doesn't listen to ANYTHING except her own music during the recording of a new album. The lack of transparency goes both ways in this case. The studio is a cocoon (like that metaphor? you can have it.).

My friend who is a craftsman “go and work”, and all we hear is metal against wood and the distant sound of obscure drum n bass. 

There is something to the idea on the cover of Where Good Ideas Come From by Steven Johnson: “Chance favours the connected mind”. But it seems that the act of creation favors the isolated place.

Creation needs access to it’s tools all the time and at that time there will be no compromise with ambience or disturbances. 

[creativesweden]

I don’t imagine anyone in this room believe that the amazing explosion in music export in the form of reggae was the child of a brilliantly designed culture policy in Jamaica.

Development executive in a tiny swedish municipality

[creativesweden]

I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones.

John Cage

[creativesweden]

Creative Sweden

It begins, and I (for now) start small yet aim big. I am working with the development of creative infrastructure. The framework of innovative process, through a systematic approach and with a little bit of box-busting I am trying to create an obstacle free and well connected creative environment. The point being, more time for the creator to be creative and less time spent grounding the canvas so to speak. The website, is for now, a simple straight forward flow of thoughts and projects. I (or perhaps we) will change it later - when the complexity of action overwhelm the simplicity of the format. Without further ado... let's go!