Back when I was a young undergrad, I took an art class. I really enjoyed the class in terms of learning about the history of art and even trying different kinds of art, like painting, clay-sculpting, etc.
What I didn't like was something my teacher told me in that class.
One day we were reviewing one of the artists who paints in a way that basically looks like a bunch of scribbles using colored paint. And then art experts from around the world oo and aah at how deep the painting is. Many of us in class said, "Oh, come on, we could totally do that!" Our teacher was quick to jump on us and say, "No. This artist had years of schooling to be able to do something creative like this. He is recognized because with his degrees he is better assumed to know what he is doing, and therefore gets the proper accolades."
I paraphrased that quote, but that's about what she said. I. Fucking. Hated. It.
I have always had a pretty creative mind. Even if nothing comes out of the things I think about, devise, create, then oh well! At the very least: I tried.
The reason science is part of this conversation is that despite science being largely mathematical, it is also quite creative. Especially for those scientists over the course of the Earth's existence that have founded ideas, formulas, laws, structures, theories, etc. that no one needed previous mathematics to figure out (really).
A month or so ago I posted a blog about Jack Andraka, who with little to no medical training, ya know, because he was 14 years old, developed a way to prevent various kinds of cancers. Yes, his ideas were denied by almost 200 doctors and biologists. But they were all wrong.
You see, the point I'm getting at here, is that we can't hinder students to be creative simply because they don't have the education to be creative. That is a fallacy. Yes, I understand art is a little bit different, but I've met some phenomenal painters/drawers over my life that had no formal training and created amazing works of art. So why aren't they regarded among the best? Well, as far as art goes, no one really gives a shit about you until you die. It's not true for every artist, but it is true for most artists. Everyone of the time is generally so pretentious and pedantic that they overlook the beauty, marvel, brilliance behind works of art. But once those artists are dead, scholars come out of the wood works and go, "Oh, heyyyyyy, I see what they did there now that they're dead and can't reap any of the rewards."
There is one kind of art that is revered by millions. Those millions revere many who never received formal education for their artistic accomplishments. Who am I talking about? Well, musicians, of course.
This brings me to my next point: In this world you are as good or amazing at something as you are revered by amounts of people. Some musicians also write lyrics like poets write stanzas and sometimes, without formal education, the musician churns out better messages/lyrics/words than the revered poet/writer. Perfect example is Rivers Cuomo who was already a well known musician/lyricist BEFORE he went to school to be educated better on writing skills.
So why do we have these silly rules, then? I don't think creativity really has rules, and that's the whole point of art. If you hear rules from an art teacher, music teacher, etc. then I think you have to realize that they've completely lost the point--as it's why they are not revered artists/writers/etc. and, instead, are just teachers. Is music theory important to understand? Yes, and it's just as important as it is for a painter to understand the use of lines, but the best artists in the world did something so different that it changed the perspective of the world!
Ultimately, I love music. I'm glad that the one thing I decided to do well at, at least better than anything else I can do, is music. Music is more malleable than most artistic avenues, and it's the one thing that has the most unique ideas left (probably). It also, even though I hate this as a fact, has a slew of famous artists that are pretty god awful--those one hit wonders (Rebecca Black comes to mind more so than Rick Astley). Their creativity, though, serves as the reason they are remembered, and it gives us all a different perspective to create something far better.
So, to those creative artists or scientists (of the mind) out there, screw the rules!
CREATE!
- PatInTheHat
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