The Discipline of Creativity Pt. 2

I posted on the boundaries that creativity needs to flourish yesterday, but I still have some thoughts on the topic rumbling around, so we’ll tap this well until it dries out.

Brian commented yesterday asking, “when is it good to stay, ‘inside the lines’ and when is it good to go outside of them?”

That’s a really good question.

I think part of the answer comes when looking at what those “lines” provide for the individual or group that is using them. What kind of fruit do they produce? For instance:

• Frank Lloyd Wright produced some of the most brilliant, complex, and inspiring pieces of art-chitecture ever. He utilized lines, right angles, architecture, and geometry in ways that continue to stun and amaze. Boundaries for Wright were not only important, but essential to produce what he did.
• Contrast that with Jackson Pollock who disregarded all measure and form and to the casual observer, simply “splattered” paint over giant canvases to create works of art. Boundaries or “lines” were less important to Pollock, although he still used them as most of his works are all done on giant, rectangular canvases.

Pablo Picasso’s “blue period” was brilliant because he had the discipline to only use the color blue (and her many shades thereof).

Michael Phelps is the world’s best swimmer because, according to his mother, he likes the “order” that the lines on the bottom of the pool provide for him.

“Lines” produce the skeleton on which we form the body of our creativity.