Thursday, January 1, 2009

Lynda Barry: On Creativity and Not listening to the 2 Questions

For New Year's Day Q replayed Jian's fabulous interview with Lynda Barry. Lynda was speaking about her latest book What it is which was described as part autobiography, part philosophical exploration and many parts instructional guide. She made a strong case for the belief that creative work has more to do with mental health than entertainment.
She cited some research that explained that the brain flow of children involved in deep play and the brain flow of adults in deep concentration is identical. Consequently she believes that creative work has a biological function ie. it should not be done just so you can hear someone say "This is good". She feels if we don't use it it's like having a vitamin deficiency. YES.
The point is that it is good to make something for no reason, but just for the experience itself. And she goes on to say that the neat thing is that if the experience is good, it'll transfer in the "marks' you make. YES.
Also explains that there are 2 questions that inhibit adults and present an obstacle to creativity:
"Is it good?"
"Does this Suck?"
She advises us to ignore those 2 questions and just create.
You can listen to the full interview by going here. I highly recommend it.

1 comment:

Shane Harrison said...

oh, i love all of your new blogposts! Can't wait to listen to this!!