Yesterday the third year's were treated to a half day workshop titled 'The Creative Detox'. Here's level 3 student Adam Smith (@AdamTheSmith on Twitter) to explain what it was all about:-
"Wandering into Studio 2 of the Lincoln Performing Arts Centre, I felt like I should've packed my ballet shoes: the windows were big, the floor was tactile and grippy and the ceiling was high enough to chuck a ballerina as high as you like.Ten minutes later and Mandy Wheeler, co-founder of Punch It Up and wise one for the day, had our group pointing at things and calling them whatever they were not. Simple, right? Not so. Trying not repeat ourselves, say something totally unconnected, funny, random, not saying whatever other people next to us were saying, started making it tricky. Needless to say, it was frustrating.
But who placed these rules on us? They were not externally imposed. No-one but ourselves.
Sounds quite 'Jerry's Final Thought', but it's a pertinent point that relates to how we work. When coming up with ideas, why are we naturally restricting ourselves?
By naming and shaming these factors, most of which are internal, they can be dealt with. And this would lead us to fewer restrictions in idea generation, thus mapping out a path to the holy grail... better work! Champion.
The rest of the session was devoted to getting rid of these barriers.
The 'Yes, and...' technique works great with (creative) partners, stopping criticism and blocking comments dead in their tracks. Think now, edit and refine later. There's nothing more thought-busting than someone going against your grain, so go with it, in other (longer) words. So what if it leads to more thoughts that are crap? There's still a greater chance of having 'eureka moments' if you do it.
Following this, we were pulling objects out of boxes, questioning what they were, painting a mental picture about it. Idea progression, again importantly without the thought-blockages.
No need for ballet shoes after all."
Thanks Adam. To add to this post, check out Ash Billinghay's (@Ash_Billinghay) post on the CAInspration blog here.
Finally, thank you very much to Enterprise@Lincoln for funding this innovative event and Kim in LPAC for sorting out the most perfect location to hold such a 'hands-on' workshop. The LPAC rehearsal studio was SO appropriate!
Following this, we were pulling objects out of boxes, questioning what they were, painting a mental picture about it. Idea progression, again importantly without the thought-blockages.
No need for ballet shoes after all."
Thanks Adam. To add to this post, check out Ash Billinghay's (@Ash_Billinghay) post on the CAInspration blog here.
Finally, thank you very much to Enterprise@Lincoln for funding this innovative event and Kim in LPAC for sorting out the most perfect location to hold such a 'hands-on' workshop. The LPAC rehearsal studio was SO appropriate!
And....relax.
