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Einstein, the artist
Einstein was an inspirational Artist
Could you believe that Albert Einstein was fundamental in inspiring a thought shift in physics not because of his scientific thinking but as an artist?
Think about how language defines our concept of the universe. What we as humans see isn’t so much what the universe has defined, but what we have grown up learning to label.
In the English language, we define a scientist as an individual who gains knowledge systematically about some area of nature and our world and utilises this knowledge to describe and make predictions about it. We describe an artist, alternatively, as a person who creatively produces.
These learned labels are significant. They’re not exacting, but they do let us differentiate between the different notions of our reality.
A problem emerges when we use them incorrectly. Some tend to presume mutual exclusivity when it comes to knowledge branches such as science and art.
Einstein was, of course, a theoretical physicist, but that does not mean that he was not also an artist. In fact, I often declare to my art students when the subject of Albert Einstein arises, that I am certain that most of his success was attributed to his creativity than it was to his undeniable knowledge of physics. First, he had to imagine a paradigm for relativity before setting about proving it.
There have been and are still many brilliant scientists. Rarely, if you look closely, are they capable of developing work that radicalises our entire understanding of our world. This outcome depends greatly on developing an entirely new way of perceiving things.
Many people call themselves artists, but in my view, the quality of what a true artist produces depends predominantly on their inherent creativity and their development of it. Yes, I can teach them a million practical techniques and I have spent my life building these for myself, but without creativity, many simply use these techniques to reproduce their version of someone else creation. Then, if they manage to sell a few , they churn them out like a commercial machine. (after all, we all have mortgages or rent to pay!)
Inspiration..the chicken or the egg?
Scientists are constantly studying creativity.
Many people would assume that inspiration strikes us like a 'light bulb moment’, however, studies have shown otherwise.
I read about Dr Mark Beeman from the U.S., who leads the Creative Brain Lab at Northwestern University. He uses brain scanners to conduct research studies to understand the creative process. In his own words:
“Although the experience of insight is sudden and can seem disconnected from the immediately preceding thought, these studies show that insight is the culmination of a series of brain states and processes operating at different time scales.”
So, I believe that "light bulb moments” or new inspirations occur because of the thoughts and the work we do precede them. Action leads to inspiration more often than inspiration leads to action.
Treat your creativity like a busy chicken, so many eggs will come
I tell my students to set a schedule and develop creative thinking processes, and their individual creativity will develop exponentially, just doing it regularly and striving to constantly learn is powerful.
The best way to create is to treat it as a job, only a personally driven one. Set a regular time, show up reliably, and produce.
Taking Einstein as an example, it was a boring job at the Swiss Patents office that made him discipline his hours to allow for his time working on physics. He wanted a teaching job, but could not get one, so he found the time for Physics through the disciplined balance of his weekly hours and the result was the Annus Mirabilis papers. Scientists call it the miracle year. What came out of it was the formulation of the two fundamental theories in physics: the theory of general relativity and quantum mechanics.
So he didn't sit around waiting for a "light bulb moment", he developed processes that nurtured his creative thinking.
Creativity - magic? or re-inventing the wheel
As I see it, creativity could be thought of as just a new and imaginative way of combining old ideas. It isn’t rocket science, and it isn’t completely abstract. Below are some relevant quotes from Pablo Picasso, (who, although I believe to have been a misogynistic narcissist, was a very creative human)
“Everything you can imagine is real.”
“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”
“I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it.”
“The chief enemy of creativity is good sense.”
“Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.”
“There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterwards, you can remove all traces of reality.”
Creativity is mostly a fresh way of perceiving the existing phenomena of our reality.
In his "Ideas and Opinions", a collection of Einstein’s writings, included is his letter in response to a survey by a French mathematician who was trying to study and understand the thinking patterns of famous scientists.
“The words or the language, as they are written or spoken, do not seem to play any role in my mechanism of thought. The psychical entities which seem to serve as elements in thought are certain signs and more or less clear images which can be ‘voluntarily’ reproduced and combined."
It is also clear that the desire to arrive finally at logically connected concepts is the emotional basis of this rather vague play with the above-mentioned elements. But taken from a psychological viewpoint, this combinatory play seems to be the essential feature in productive thought — before there is any connection with logical construction in words or other kinds of signs which can be communicated to others.”
If we think about creativity as he did (the ability to develop meaningful connections between existing parts of our reality), then we can understand that creativity isn’t just possible for the likes of Einstein, Da Vinci, Mozart or Picasso. It’s something that impacts all of our lives, and it’s something we all practice.
Nurture and feed your mental bank of knowledge and let it mix and mingle in new and even crazy ways.
Be willing to make failures
Like anything else in life, creativity comes down to “repetition is the mother of skill”.
Nobody likes to create disappointing works, but the fact is that we learn more from these than our successes.
Even the greatest painting masters produced failures and Einstein was also not always right.
To use our creativity and think in unconventional ways is to sometimes experience disappointments or “failures”, but the only true failure is not learning from these “unsuccesses”. I think we need to be open to constructive criticism, embrace it (from sources we trust and respect) and use it towards our constantly forward-moving processes. Like others, it may well take you 10+ years of compromises on your way to developing your best creative successes.
Learn from the ultimate creative, Einstein
a. Don’t wait for light bulb inspiration to get moving. Creativity is a process. To commit to your creative development, set a schedule, be disciplined, understand it takes time, and built up of regular sessions of growth and practice.
b. Ponder on relationships between existing ideas. Work through your questions on your own creative process checklist (for my students: your Compositional Planning Page). Nothing new is completely original. Creativity is simply about producing something in your own way using a combination of the established elements of your reality. (technical practice offers more ways to combine, portray, and interpret these elements)
c. Creativity doesn’t work unless you do. Don’t think…” is it right or is it wrong”, but more like ”Am I succeeding in my goals or not?” Keep producing in the face of “unsuccesses". Just as it was for the masters, creating unsuccessful work is necessary in order to develop your greatest work, and it all takes time.
Developing your creativity is an art in itself, and like any art, it can totally empower you.
JW
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