Richard Florida's position for the Room for Debate topic, Is Creativity Endangered? was the most intriguing in my perspective. Titled Cities Are the Fonts of Creativity, Florida discusses how many citizens living within cities are the most creative.
I agree with Florida, being an artist myself, I see cities as the most painted canvases within each state. In all, many travel to cities to pursue their career in art, whether they'll be an artist, a musician, a writer, an actor, a director etc. Each of those careers within the art category not only need creativity in order to thrive, but they need attention. Therefore, the city is the perfect place for it, an area full of diversity. Florida's statement on how creativity is a social process shows how most artists become more creative based off of others works, who we compete with, and who we collaborate with. I relate to his opinion because where would art be if it wasn't for our major influences? We derive our originality from someone, we create from what we have learned, seen, and heard. Us as human beings look up to someone which has led us to what career we have, or hoping to reach for. Being creative is a talent that almost everyone has, yes many creative people live within the city or the suburbs area, but that doesn't mean all. However, most creative people out of the city area tend to move to a city to get noticed for their work. The media is somewhat a city, but for some artists it doesn't get you entirely of where you want to be.
Reading Richard Florida's position I doubt our creativity is or will ever become endangered because year after year there is something new. If something new hadn't exist, then where is the creativity? I envision our future will be made entirely out of unique creative artists, just like how our world came to be throughout history. We will always achieve to be better, new, and different. Creativity surrounds us in everything we do, it isn't going anywhere.
-Maddison Worley
I believe creativity is better when there are a group of people rather than one specific person just like how Florida points out. For instance, the hit show Grey’s Anatomy, the lead doctor didn’t know why one of his patients kept on having seizures. Instead of giving up, he went to his interns where they figured it out together. They saved the patient’s life and showed promise. He could’ve tried to figure it out himself and just wing it in the surgery room and hope for the best, but instead went to a community of interns and seeked their opinions as well. Some people might think that technology is helpful or harmful to creativity, but I think it depends on which type someone is talking about. For example, an author might write a book and look for feedback online. The author would use that feedback to fix some errors or be more detailed in their work. I think it’s harmful as well because someone might try to copy other people’s work that go viral instead of producing their own original act. I feel people need to encourage others for their creativity to come out; especially from a young age as kids in school are facing bullying already, they don’t need to be discouraged just because their imagination is different.
ReplyDeleteI think when he said creativity in "dying" per say, I think he meant within ourselves. Yes the world's creativity is evolving but if you think about it, our generation isn't really that creative. The majority of the "new creations" that are brought to light, are either a trend everyone follows cause everyone thinks its cool when its not or it doesn't come from our generation. I personally think that creativity is dying. Some kids at home don't have the motivation to BE creative because maybe their parents don't like it or cause they don't any inspiration. We're tired, the amount of homework we have every other day flushes creativity out. But that's just me.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with with what you said about our generation following trends. However, I don't think homework is the reason for this. I believe our generation is captivated in the world in their phones such as social medias. Social media exalts dumb trends. Like why do people buy articles of clothing for approximately one hundred dollars more just because of a brand logo like Supreme, Bathing Ape, and Gucci? The majority of our generation has lost a sense of originality. Our culture is influencing people to prioritize all the wrong things. Back to the creative aspect of things, creativity is perishing due to the loss of originality because of a trend following culture.
DeleteI agree with what you say about homework being the same old same old. However, Julia I believe your thought about the social media being the downfall of creativity is false. I always come across rad artwork, and Life Hack videos and they all spark my creativity. It may be because I am an artist and I do see things differently. I am constantly inspired, and social media helps a lot when it comes to grabbing a reference.
DeleteMaddison, I agree with some of your points as to why urban areas are the center of creativity. Such as the diversity, competition, and opportunities that cities have to offer. However, is it really creativity if one uses another's work as inspiration or reference? It doesn't seem to be original work. I don't like the conformity that can be a result of this. Maybe it is just a trend or it could be imitative. Personally, what makes someone an exceptional artist is having a good imagination to generate visions and inspiration for their work on their own.
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