Creativity vs. Innovation, Pleasure vs. Value

NORMALLY IF I HEARD ABOUT SOMEONE WHO WENT INTO A BATHROOM AND APPLIED TOILET PAPER TO THEIR HEAD I would think – as I suspect you would as well – “they’re not doing it right.”

But look at Nina Katchadourian’s Lavatory Self-Portraits in the Flemish Style and I think you’ll agree she was doing it right. Flush with inspiration in what has to be the world’s most confined studio, she created a series of images that amuse and impress and that also illustrate something really important about creativity: It’s supposed to be fun.

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Can't Beat Imagination with a Stick

THREE YEARS AGO IT WAS THE CARDBOARD BOX. THURSDAY IT WAS THE STICK. And I was glad to hear it. The National Toy Hall of Fame inducted the stick into its showcase of classic toys this week. Media around the world ran the news. Curator Christopher Bensch told the Associated Press “It’s very open-ended, all-natural, the perfect price — there aren’t any rules or instructions for its use.” As I morph into a middle-aged curmudgeon I’m getting cynical about the degree to which the landscape of play seems to have shifted from exploring possibility to attaining mastery.

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Reinvention Rising

I WAS A SWEATY LITTLE KID when I first explored the basis of the creative process: combining existing things into new combinations. Of course, that’s not how I thought of it at the time. Then, I just thought “I hate mowing the lawn and getting covered with grass clippings when I empty them into the trash bag.” It occurred to me things would be a whole lot easier if I could somehow put the trash bag inside the catcher so that the clippings would fly right into the bag, which I could then remove, tie up, and abandon at the curb as I ran back inside to resume reading “The Secret Agent on Flight 101” or whatever Hardy Boys mystery I was in the grip of at the time. I tinkered with mower and bag briefly, and gave up quickly. (My eureka moment wasn’t accompanied by sufficient mechanical skills to move from idea to innovation.) But I recall vividly what lingered in my mind.

“Maybe someday,” I thought, “I’ll be a ‘reinventor.’”

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