Creative Blocks and art

I was flipping through the September/October 2002 issue of Picture and re-read an article on 'Working through Creative Blocks'. Let me quote a section on Ian Summers, a creative consultant. Ian says

"Artists of many disciplines come to me for help with overcoming creative blocks. Those who seem to have the most trouble come from the commercial art fields of photography, illustration, graphic design and art direction. I find those blocks for commercial artists often come from the confusion between art and commerce. Commercial artists often choose their profession because someone along the way told them that if they were to be an artist it is necessary to make a living. So they wander into a field that demands problem solving which I believe to be the antithesis of creating. In this country and in most fields, we are trained to be problem solvers and we are rewarded by how innovative and practical the solutions may be. With problem solving the impetus comes from the outside, someone presents you with a problem. The role of the artist is to make the problem go away with an often-innovative concept that sells more widgets. This is required for most commercial artists and most are good at it, however, it is not art; it is art for commerce. In problem solving, the energy comes from the outside.

Commercial artists remember what it was like to make work that comes from their hearts - work that may be cherished and may challenege - work that demands participation from the viewer - work that does not need to sell anything. I believe that creating is causing what you love or what matters to come into being. And with this definition we can see the frustrations that lead to some forms of creative block. The source is profoundly different. The energy comes from the heart and not the brain and not someone outside oneself. So we looki inside. And when we are creating we are manifesting not makng something go away. The challenge for most commercial artists is to go back and retrieve the energy they experience as young artists before they chose to sell widgets."

More on this in the next post.