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Capturing creativity IU ARTISTS DISCOVER THEIR MUSE
INDIANA DAILY STUDENT
THE
Art
ISSUE VOL. 3, ISSUE 3 www.idsnews.com/inside Editor ALLIE TOWNSEND
Art Director ELLIS LATHAMBROWN Photo Editor ZACH HETRICK Features Editor ASHLEY WILSON Features Assistant SARAH HUTCHINS Departments Editor CJ LOTZ Departments Assistant CLAIRE BURKE Associate Editors HALEY ADAMS, SHANNON BURRUSS, JOE JASINSKI, BRYAN PAYTON, AND ERIN WRIGHT Copy Editor AUDRIE GARRISON Editor-At-Large BRIAN SPEGELE
INDIANA DAILY STUDENT Editor-In-Chief MICHAEL SANSERINO Managing Editors NATALIE AVON AND BRIAN SPEGELE Art Director LARRY BUCHANAN
Untitled This abstract work by student artist Troy Mottard is nameless in order to leave interpretation to the imagination.
Web Tech Specialists GREG BLANTON, SUPREET JOGLEKAR, AND ANKIT KHARE Advertising Sales Managers ADAM DISKEY, DANIEL LINDSEY, AND HILARY ROBINSON
FEATURES
Advertising/Marketing Web Masters ADAM ROCHFORD, MEHDI SHAYAN, AND SERHIY VERNEI
COVER STORY
Happenings Calender Coordinator KATHY BAKER
12 The creative question mark
10 Mr. Washington’s paintbrush
BY ASHLEY WILSON
BY BRIAN SPEGELE
What is art and where is it generated? A handful of IU artists help us answer our questions about their craft.
Joel Washington might be the most famous Bloomington artist you’ve never heard of: a look at life on the cusp of national acclaim.
Marketing Manager ANGELICA PIERZCHALA Distribution Marketing Manager SHELBY JACOBSON Creative Manager MATT SIMANSKI IU Student Media Director RON JOHNSON
PHOTO BY ZACH HETRICK
EDITOR’S NOTE I think Rilke said it best: “A work of art is good if it has grown out of necessity.” We asked student artists what inspires them to create. The answers were as different as the people themselves, but their intent was the same: to send a piece of themselves to a place where only an interpretation of the world could ever exist.
DEPARTMENTS
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Confessions
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Know-It-All
BY CLAIRE BURKE
BY JOE JASINSKI AND ERIN WRIGHT
Local film entrepreneur Nicholas Peters talks business, finding inspiration in the Bloomington community, and hip hop aliases.
Go beyond the museums. From restaurants to storage rooms, find local art that’s not in the brochure.
Better You
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Tip Jar
BY HALEY ADAMS AND BRYAN PAYTON
BY CJ LOTZ AND SHANNON BURRUSS
Fashion is more than relating to a particular style. It’s a personality statement.
Inspired to design? (We were!) These cheap and easy DIY projects will fill your creative craving.
On the Web at www.idsnews.com/inside VIDEO BEHIND THE SCENES BY LARRY BUCHANAN A backstage look at the creativity photo shoot + interviews with the artists who tell us what inspires them. ONLINE EXTRA THE INSIDE FICTION PROJECT
We asked IU students and staff to channel their inner author, and wrote a story, line by line.
INside magazine, the newest enterprise of the Office of Student Media, Indiana University at Bloomington, will be published twice an academic semester: October and December, and February and April. INside magazine will operate as a self-supporting enterprise within the broader scope of the Indiana Daily Student. INside magazine operates as a designated public forum, and reader comments and contribution are welcome. Normally, the INside magazine editor will be responsible for final content decisions, with the IDS editor-in-chief involved in rare instances. All editorial and advertising content is subject to our policies, rates and procedures. Readers are entitled to a single copy of this magazine. The taking of multiple copies of this publication may constitute as theft of IU property and is subject to prosecution.
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CONFESSIONS
Confessions of a film geek After graduating from IU in December, 22-year-old Nicholas Peters dove into business as a freelance filmmaker and created local media production company GunZ n Butter Productions. TELL US ABOUT GUNZ N BUTTER PRODUCTIONS.
Nicholas Peters: I really took creating the business step-by-step. At Àrst, I didn’t have a lot of starting capital. I started with graphic design and animation because it was the cheapest to produce and started to learn how to do that. As soon as I could buy a few things, like audio equipment, I started learning more about audio production, because that was the next least expensive, and then video cameras are a little more expensive, so once I could buy a video camera, I did. I’ve always had an interest in all media, but as far as the business goes, I have to take those steps. From what’s cheapest to what’s the most expensive. WHERE DID YOU GET THE IDEA FOR YOUR COMPANY?
NP: At the time, it just seemed natural. I had a friend who had a few businesses of his own, and he helped me and guided me in the right direction with Ànding the right paperwork and what to do. Being in Bloomington helped starting a business, just the whole mentality. And on top of that there are a lot of student-run organizations and clubs. I got experience that transferred over to business through WIUX and IU Hip Hop Congress. WHAT PERSONAL PROJECTS ARE YOU CURRENTLY WORKING ON?
NP: I’m writing a screenplay. It’s kind of like a feature-length animation as well as the pilot episode of a series. I’m recording a rap album, for better or worse. Docta SARS is my rap name. That’s originally where the name “GunZ n Butter” came from. You know how rappers shout out their productions companies? They’re like, “Blah blah blah Productions!” and say all that stuff ? I was trying to think of something funny to say, and “GunZ n Butter” came to me. It’s a term from macroeconomics. So that’s where the name came from originally. It started as a joke and just became a reality. WHAT IS YOUR LONG-TERM VISION FOR GUNZ N BUTTER?
NP: It’s constantly growing, and that’s just what I want to happen. Eventually I want to be able to become more than a sole proprietorship, like a limited liability corporation, or just a corporation, so I can have employees. Right now, if someone contacts me and they want me to do something I can’t necessarily do, I can learn to do it or direct them to a friend of mine. I have a large pool of people I know who do art. Artists, a lot of them, are a lot more specialized than I am. I’ve always been interested in everything, and a lot of people, whether it’s by choice or if they were advised to learn or whatever, would specialize themselves a lot more in the arts. I like to meet as many artists as I can and see what they do now, what they’re interested in, what they’re learning to do, and Bloomington is a great place for that. – As told to Claire Burke P H O T O B Y D AV I D E . C O R S O
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K N O W - I T- A L L
S E E I T, D O I T
John Waldron Arts Center
SHOW AND TELL
IU Art Museum archives The museum has more than 30,000 pieces, and only 5 percent are on display. Want to see photos by Ansel Adams? Native Haitian paintings? The curators will pull up to 20 works of art from any collection, artist, or country and set up a private showing for as many as 15 people. To make an appointment, call Nan Brewer at 855-1040. 1133 E. Seventh St.
The Waldron offers classes in areas from belly dancing to “Blings and Rings!” to “Cartoons and Caricatures,” aimed at enlightening future artists through participation. 122 S. Walnut St.
NEW TO THE SCENE
The Venue IU alumnus Gabriel Colman opened The Venue, a law-Àrmturned-art-gallery, in October. The gallery includes IU art students’ work. “Involving them creates a channel to campus,” Colman says. “We especially make a point to have our work at the level of Àne arts, but to the price range students can afford if they want to decorate their homes.” 114 S. Grant St.
Art on location Trash the brochures and snooze-inducing tour guides, and wake up to Bloomington’s local art scene. BY JOE JASINSKI AND ERIN WRIGHT
ART UNWRAPPED
ENABLED ARTISTS
Stone Belt
Laughing Planet
An inspiring contributor to the “outsider art” movement, Stone Belt showcases work from artists with developmental disabilities. “It is the transformative power,” says Larry Pejeau, director of Art & Craft, a division of Stone Belt that sells the artists’ work. “People who didn’t know how to do art ... now you ask them what they do, they say, ‘I am an artist.’” Stone Belt, which features mosaics, oil paintings, and watercolors, displays work at Lennie’s Brewery, 1805 E. 10th St., which runs through March and at WonderLab, 308 W. Fourth St., from March 2 through May 29. Tours are available every day at the Stone Belt facility. 2815 E. 10th St.
Along with its veganfriendly menu and colorful atmosphere, Laughing Planet offers dangerously delicious burritos and walls decorated with paintings by local artist Joel Washington (for more about him, see page 10). 322 E. Kirkwood Ave.
YO U R E X H I B I T
Art Hospital Students don’t have to meet Andy Warhol status to land their own gallery shows. The hospital is a community-run, nonproÀt organization where artists can rent studio space and create their own exhibits. Anyone can book a show or event in the gallery space for a minimum of $25. 102 E. Allen St.
SPEAK UP
Multiple venues B R AV O , B L O O M I N G T O N
Tutto Bene Wine Café & More Take your date to break out the bubbly and feast on art from local artists. The restaurant serves as an exhibition space, but Tutto Bene also has two galleries – the Green Room, which rotates artists’ work on a monthly basis, and the Back Gallery, which showcases several artists, bigger pieces, and styles ranging from watercolor and woodworking to abstract and modern art. 213 S. Rogers St.
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Slam poetry, or the “competitive art of performance poetry,” Ànds a home in local competitions. Max’s Place is host to poetry slams, concerts by local artists, open LP nights, and pizza pies. Rachael’s Cafe holds periodic MATRIX poetry slams and concerts. The Runcible Spoon Poetry Series and Open-Mic takes place the fourth Friday of each month. Max’s Place: 109 W. Seventh St., Rachael’s Cafe: 300 E. Third St., Runcible Spoon: 412 E. Sixth St.
P H O T O I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y Z A C H H E T R I C K A N D E L L I S L AT H A M - B R O W N , F R A M E S C O U R T E S Y O F T H E V E N U E
START THI HINK HI H NK KING IN NG AH HE EAD D..
START PLANNING YOUR FUTURE. START FEELING INSPIRED.
START RAISING YOUR EXPECTATIONS. ST S TAR ART TA ART T KI KING NG G ON CH HAL ALLENG NGES ES.. ES
START EXPANDING YOUR HORIZONS.
START STRONG. SM
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A PRO’S EVALUATION Director of IU’s student Fashion Design + Culture Group Deborah Christiansen comments on the models’ new looks. Right: ON CARLOTTA “I liked that the color choice was very bright. The out¿t was a little retro, and I liked the boots. It’s something we’ve been seeing, so everything was very on-trend. The hat made it more eccentric, maybe not something for everybody, but it was perfect for a college student.” Left: ON UNDERWOOD “The hoodie was very on-trend with a bit of a techno print, updating the computer-generated print. It was nice to have the re¿ned look of the belt with the Chuck Taylors.” IN GENERAL “She made good choices, and they were perfect for this age group.”
B E T T E R YO U
Your body, your canvas We’ll show you how to be a one-(wo)man exhibit. B Y H A L E Y A D A M S A N D B R YA N PAY T O N
FASHION ON THE BRAIN Edward Hirt, an associate professor in the department of psychological and brain sciences, says choosing the perfect outfit is one of the many ways people express themselves, and clothing communicates information. “When people are trying to express a certain kind of image, they want to dress to convey that image,” he says. “If you’re going out on a date, you know what clothes you want to wear. In a job interview, if you want to express professionalism, you’ll wear a power suit.” There are other factors people look at when making judgments, such as facial attractiveness, body shape, and race. Hirt says people are the product of the strength of their stereotypes. If a person’s judgments come true, that person will stereotype more often. Judgments based on appearance are unavoidable, he says. “I think it’s unrealistic to believe people can ignore it,” Hirt says. “In many cases, it is an important cue to get information.”
P H O T O B Y D AV I D E . C O R S O
We all become artists when we dress in the morning. We use our clothes as expression, giving meaning to what we drape on our bodies. Whether you’re reminiscent of classical art in a three-piece suit or a modern expressionist in pink heels and shutter shades, remember: Perception is everything. With a Áair for the sartorial, student fashion designer Lauren Ison chooses a casual look for two student models, and the director of IU’s student Fashion Design + Culture Group, Deborah Christiansen, offers her interpretation. Ison is a senior fashion design student working on her senior project inspired by the transformation of Norma Jeane into Marilyn Monroe, showing March 7 in the Willkie Auditorium. Chantsler Underwood (left) is a senior majoring in journalism who has modeled for Finish Line and plans to sign with NEXT Model Management in New York after graduation. “He’s athletic, and he’s actually a model, but he’s always on the go and always moving,” Ison says, “so I wanted him to feel like himself.” Underwood says the combination of classy and comfortable clothing is something he’d wear. “I’m always on the go, so I could just slip these on if I’m in a rush,” he says. “I’d still feel comfortable, but it’s a chic, classic look.” Also dressed by Ison is Justine Carlotta (right), a sophomore majoring in creative writing. She is the editor-in-chief of the newsletter for the IU chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America and is a 2009 Union Board director. “Justine has an outgoing personality, and she’s really outspoken, so I wanted to bring in bright colors,” Ison says. “With the hat and the jewelry, I just wanted to make it real trendy and classic, and maybe turn a few heads when she walks past.” The accessories and colors are bold but wearable, Carlotta says. “It’s eccentric with the purple and the yellow contrasting each other,” she says. “And the boots are always fun since everyone’s wearing boots right now. If I was going out, I would deÀnitely wear this.” 7
TIP JAR
You don’t need a gallery to showcase these done-in-an-hour art projects. Make a corkboard out of memorable wine stoppers, or string cup lights around your basement bar. Most of the supplies can be found at a thrift store, or if you feel like going for a dive, your neighborhood Dumpster.
Put a cork in it This bulletin board lets wine connoisseurs display their vintage bottle stoppers. The rest of us can reuse corks from $5 bottles aged locally at Big Red.
IU senior Sarah-Anne Lanman made this corkboard after studying abroad in France.
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1. Collect memorable wine corks from used bottles or ask a fancy restaurant for discarded corks. 2. Buy a wooden picture frame from a thrift store or craft shop as the backing of the bulletin board. 3. Remove the backing so that only the glass and frame remain. Secure glass to frame. 4. Paint the frame if you’re feeling extra crafty. Otherwise, leave the Áaws. 5. Using a hot glue gun, attach the wine corks to the glass of the frame. Let your artistic mind go to work on this part. The corks can be glued in rows or in a pattern. 6. For the push pins, grab regular thumbtacks (snag them from your roommate’s bulletin board). Find a handful of bottle caps, hot glue them to the top, and pin up those old concert tickets and napkin poems.
Bloomington party lights We’ve all got stacks of Pizza Express cups skyscraping the kitchen counters. We show you how to put them to work as mood lights at your next basement show.
1. Find some old Christmas lights, or raid any store trying to unload its holiday decorations. 2. Puncture holes in the bottom of the plastic cups using a hammer and nail. 3. Push the bulbs through the cups enough so that the bulb doesn’t touch the plastic. 4. Poke a few ventilation holes on the sides to make sure the bulbs don’t get too hot. 5. Hang like vines from the ceiling or windows.
Mr. Washington’s paintbrush * Ten years since his first big break, local artist Joel Washington is on the brink of national acclaim. BY BRIAN SPEGELE PHOTO BY ZACH HETRICK
erhaps it’s still too early in the day to call a paintbrush and blank canvas Joel Washington’s transcending tools to eminence. It’s just past 10 a.m., and the Indiana Memorial Union custodian has three more hours pegged to a different trade’s tool. He wheels a squeaky gray trash bin through the corridors, atop sterile linoleum tiles in a routine repeated for more than 20 years. But on this day, like many before, Washington is distracted. His eyes will sometimes wander. Other times they’ll resort to a daydream. Even as his movements become lethargic during one of these dreams – so slow he’ll bend to pluck a piece of trash – his neurons could not jump any faster. Co-workers wonder what Washington is thinking. “He’s different,” they say, and puzzle at what must amount to a spectacle of inspiration. Where to begin, what new project to start? The energy heaves and pulls as Washington’s trash bin wheels, ungreased and screeching quietly, never cease to lament. Who knows what he’s thinking? Or how many times during the past two decades he’s slipped into the staff room during a shift – avoiding the watchful eye of friend and longtime boss Roy Robertson (“He doesn’t get special treatment,” Robertson says) – to sketch out the day’s idea.
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For years, he carried notebooks with him at work. Once, out of curiosity, he counted the sketches: more than 1,400 in all. “I still go back to them when I don’t have any other ideas,” he says. Then again, perhaps he is like the rest of us, co-workers reassure themselves. Different but the same. Brilliant but – refreshingly – the janitor Joel they’ve always known. His art hangs locally in restaurants and behind bullet-proof glass in the IMU; his paintings are featured in the U.S. Embassy in Thailand and hang in galleries alongside the masterpieces of Indiana’s greatest artists. His work has swept local art competitions to the point, friends say, he seems embarrassed to enter. But to dominate the local market is just not enough. He’s backlogged on commissions and has been for some time. After his Union shift ends at 1 p.m. each day, he’ll return home, often to paint late into the night. Finishing one painting, he begins sketching the next. To delve into Joel Washington’s world is to see each place in a psychedelic swirl of color. Those colors, often found nowhere in nature, Ànd Washington in dreams. It’s a world shaped by a boyhood in Indianapolis, by jazz, skateboards, Sgt. Pepper, Andy Warhol, and later by the simple pleasures of antique tractor shows. For Washington, a black man, it’s a Àght to live in
a post-racial world, to be judged as equal among artists of all races, and to escape the novelty – the too-often-told narrative of a struggling, if emerging, painter who scrubs Áoors by day to help sustain a passion. For those who have followed Washington for the better part of two decades, his work has matured and evolved, pushing to the edge the rules of color blends, hue, and intensity. He paints well, there’s no denying that. But to the extent any work is “good,” as valuable is the name scrawled in the bottom right. What does it mean to own a Joel Washington piece? Not much yet, the artist admits, but he insists he’s on the brink. More than likely, this conÀdence is similar to a faith in God: will and hope for it, convinced by the prospects of Heaven. But there is no denying a subconscious, stinging twinge. What if it never comes?
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You can’t help to wonder whether Washington has always maintained the surreal, never-will-it-getto-me attitude he displays in the Union, or during one afternoon in his apartment’s living room as he touches up a portrait he painted in 1987 of The King. In a white T-shirt and black pants, Washington swishes over the painting with relative ease.
Campbell’s soup – Washington, from a bluecollar family, had greater access to the paintings. Today, he retains the art-to-be-shared attitude, but as he speaks about the genre, he seems to wonder whether he’s just too late. “Man, I just wish I could have been an adult during that time period,â€? he says, taking a moment to reĂ ect. Forget the discrimination against blacks and the often-bloody battle for civil rights during that era. These were issues from which Washington’s mother – a strict, hardworking woman, as he describes her – shielded him. Even so, in the subsequent years since leaving Indianapolis, he’s been shot with a pellet gun on Kirkwood Avenue, has been shrieked at in a McDonald’s in Martinsville, and has watched as a mother shielded her children from him as he trudged home from an eight-hour shift. How to deal with his race is an issue Washington has considered for years; he’s wanted to paint these feelings, but only now does he say he’s artistically and emotionally ready. He lives in a world of colors, minus those on skin. He’s particularly wary to take special art grants for minorities, and those who work close to him say he hesitates to apply for those designed only for African-Americans (Washington, however, says at this point, he’ll take whatever he can get). And coincidental as it might be, some of Washington’s biggest breaks have come from galleries’ desires to increase the diversity of their work. Ten years ago, in an effort to display greater
variety, the Union asked Washington to paint the legendary black jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery, says Rand McKamey, the IMU’s preparator. By chance, Washington was already painting Montgomery. The product, an infusion of dreamy color blending with a deeply realistic rendering of the musician with guitar, hangs protected in the IMU as part of its permanent collection. Washington has no children. This, along with other paintings hanging in permanent galleries, is his legacy. In similar fashion, Washington’s work was chosen for display at the Indiana State Museum. Then, while visiting recently, the U.S. Ambassador to Thailand – a Hoosier native – Eric G. John, visited the gallery and selected several of Washington’s pieces as part of an exhibit at the embassy. For the next few years, Washington’s works will hang alongside the sketches of Kurt Vonnegut and paintings by Robert Indiana among others. He talks with amazement at the prospect of who might see his work. This could be the chance to break from the withstanding narrative that has long shaped people’s perceptions of him and his art. Joel Washington, the artist among dignitaries. But with the glimmer of success comes frustration. “I’ve made it internationally, but I haven’t made it nationally,� he says, only half-joking.
Continued on page 22
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It’s Elvis in his formative years – years before the plumper version took the stage. Down a short hallway, leading to his bedroom, paintings lean against the wall, one atop the other. More are stacked in the bedroom, paint supplies in the kitchen, a small aluminum Christmas tree next to the MTV-tuned television, and Washington, sitting forward on a cushioned chair, presides over the smiling King. It’s cozy, he says, likening himself to a Beatnik, crammed in some small space in the East Village or San Francisco. He’s never read Kerouac, though, nor Ginsburg, nor any of the Beats; it’s more their legend he loves. More importantly, the space is inspirational. Not a single painting hangs on the walls. Their imperfections are too distracting, he says. In 2001, a local newspaper – in an effort to frame him as a poor, struggling janitor, Washington says – described his furniture as shabby and “worn.� Buying into the story, a concerned reader donated her coffee table. “I mean, it’s not that bad,� Washington says, later joking “that table will be up on eBay soon.� Growing up on the east side of Indianapolis, too young to understand the cultural rife around him, Washington missed the era’s artistic edginess and the emergence of pop art, his favorite genre. The work of famed Andy Warhol notably inspired Washington. As Warhol’s art was meant to be shared – as dollar bills, Coke cans, and
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The creative question mark BY ASHLEY WILSON
Art and creativity are intertwined, but where does innovation stem from? To ďŹ nd out, we asked student artists what inspires them to create.
Photos by Zach Hetrick
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Troy Mottard, from Nashua, N.H., is a senior studying oil painting and art history. His work has appeared in the School of Fine Arts Gallery numerous times, and this fall he was awarded the BFA Capstone Award.
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David Schneider (M.A.’04) graduated in May with a doctorate in music composition. He won the 2008 Dean’s Prize Competition for his orchestral piece “Automation,” which was performed by the IU Concert Orchestra in the fall of 2008.
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Sara Baldwin, a junior from Zionsville, Ind., is studying journalism with a second concentration in photography. Photos from her “Les Velos de Paris” series were featured in the School of Fine Arts Gallery’s BFA Painting and Overseas Study Exhibitions in December.
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Samy Estrada is one of three female break dancers on the IU break dance team. She’s a 19-year-old freshman from northwest Indiana who has been dancing for most of her life.
Keane Rowley is the president of the IU break dance team. He’s a 21-year-old senior from Indianapolis who had never danced before college.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION ZACH HETRICK
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214 W. Kirkwood Ave.
419 N. Walnut St.
430 E. Kirkwood Ave.
115 S. S.R. 46 ByPass Suite B
812-323-1077 110 Franklin Rd.
430 E. Kirkwood Ave.
MON
“Margarita Town” Ultimate Margaritas $3.50 Corona & Corona Lite $2.75 50¢ Chips and Salsa
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Half Price Wine Bottles All Day Pitchers: Coors Lite $6 Killians $7 Blue Moon $8
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Free Karaoke every Wednesday $1.50 Wells $1.50 Bottles
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on Woodlawn Avenue, senior Troy Mottard is repainting the walls a fresh hue of white. His jeans and navy sweatshirt, splattered with bits of paint, are characteristic of the rest of his wardrobe. He takes a break from stirring paint and Àddles with the black iPod sitting nearby. It, too, is splashed with a drop of red. A Àne arts student in oil painting, Mottard believes creativity isn’t something you can touch, but something you can feel. “I think of creativity as a physical place that keeps changing,” he says. “It’s an opinion, it’s how you feel a certain way, and it keeps changing.”
IN HIS EMPTY ART STUDIO
To Mottard, art isn’t just interesting. It’s a part of who he is, as essential as sleep or breathing. Strip him of his canvas, paints, and brushes, and he might burst, spewing creative energy out around him. “When I’m making something, I get a sense of euphoria, and if I stop, I don’t have that feeling anymore,” he says. “It’s not exactly an addiction, but it is a craving.” Artists everywhere talk of the allure of their craft – this need to be creative – but what is creativity? Psychologists say it’s the generation of ideas, insights, or problem solutions that are new or meant to be useful, or as an elusive quality waiting to be tapped and unleashed, but those deÀnitions only go so far. How is creativity generated? Is it innate or fostered by time, environment, and experience? And is it something we’re all capable of ?
Finding answers to those questions is, in a sense, IU professor Jonathan Plucker’s raison d’etre. Plucker, a professor of educational psychology and cognitive sciences, specializes in creativity research. He says the word “creativity” has been wrongly deÀned in the past. “Some say it’s only originality, but different doesn’t always mean creative,” he says. “It’s a trap we’ve gotten into.” Plucker deÀnes creativity as originality and usefulness, but only within a speciÀc social context, since these terms are difÀcult to deÀne. “It’s very relative, very situational,” he says. He says he believes that though some people are more creative than others, everyone has the potential. Unfortunately, he says most people don’t even begin to tap into their creativity. “For all intents and purposes, the nature versus nurturer argument is irrelevant because we can all be more creative,” Plucker says. IU GRADUATE DAVID SCHNEIDER hasn’t had any trouble tapping into his creative side thus far. A classical music composer, he’s spent the last 10 years devoted to his music. When he began working on the piece that would complete his master’s degree in composition from the Jacobs School of Music, he was sure of two things: First, it would not be written for an orchestra, and second, it would be unusual. He centered it on two Shakespearian sonnets that drew him in: the well-known Sonnet 18 (“Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day”) and the lesser-known Sonnet 65, which begins “Since brass, nor stone, nor earth, nor boundless sea.” To Schneider, the poems shared a common thread. Both, he says, comment on the transitory nature of life, and the ability of art not only to preserve, but also to persevere when everything else is lost. The end result is something Schneider says he feels particular affection for. Though time and effort are surely a factor — from start to Ànish, it took him two years to complete — it’s more than that. When he Àrst tried his hand at composing, he found it was mysterious, romantic, even, and hearing a Ànished composition such as this one reacquaints him with those early moments of magic. But more
importantly, perhaps, it’s another reminder of his long-realized desire to create. “There was no particular moment that I decided I would be a composer,” he says. “I just always knew that I would do something creative.” One way to unhinge creative abilities is to silence the inner critic, says Ken Weitzman, a professional playwright and visiting professor in IU’s playwriting program. Weitzman describes creativity as the “reordering of the status quo.” Though he says everyone has the ability to be creative, he also believes it must be nurtured.
He teaches his undergraduate students this by encouraging them to not only develop their voices, but to feel comfortable with what they have to say. During a recent class, he gave an exercise to help free the mind’s natural impulses. He handed out two note cards to his students. On one card, they were told to write a cliche, and on the other, something speciÀc. After passing the cards around, Weitzman told them to use the phrases as the opening and closing lines of a monologue. His only stipulation was that they write continuously for 10 minutes without lifting their pens from the paper. He didn’t care how vulgar, absurd, or silly their writing became, just that they not stop. “You have to turn the inner sensor off,” he says. “You can judge everything you write to the point where it never makes it on the page.”
Emma Vaughn, who graduated from IU in December with a degree in psychology, wrote her honors thesis on creativity, paying particular attention to mood. Psychologists say mood is perhaps the most widely studied and least disputed predictor of creativity. Though many studies propose that positive moods do improve creative problem solving, there are few theories explaining just how it happens. Perhaps one explanation is that in some cases, it is a negative mood that actually increases creativity. Psychologist Carsten De Dreu, of the University of Amsterdam, published in 2007 an oft-cited article theorizing that creativity is the function of both mental Áexibility and persistence. Through various studies, he found that while positive moods led to higher levels of mental Áexibility, tasks that required problem solving within a narrower framework were better facilitated by negative moods. Vaughn says she wanted to explore the correlation between negative mood and creativity after studying artists such as English novelist Virginia Woolf, who suffered breakdowns and recurrent depressing periods while her creative and literary abilities remained in tact. “With this evidence in mind,” she says, “it makes it easy to question the generally accepted conclusion that positive mood states produce more creativity versus negative mood states.” Vaughn conducted two studies using introductory psychology students. At the start of the experiment, each person was told they would be participating in a linguistics task. They were then shown a randomly assigned Àlm clip, which induced either a happy, sad, or neutral feeling. Vaughn was interested in exploring the things that came to people’s minds spontaneously, so participants were asked to list and rate modes of transportation as being commonplace (bus or car) or out of the ordinary (a magic carpet). One of her primary goals, she says, was to Ànd whether happy participants would be more Áexible information processors versus sad or neutral participants. What she found was that sad participants generated more creative 19
responses overall. Though they demonstrated less mental Áexibility, they showed greater numbers of ideas or insights. Vaughn says the negative mood participants tended to dig deeper within fewer categories whereas the positive mood participants had
JUNIOR KEANE ROWLEY, president of the IU break dance team, says his mood deÀnitely affects how he dances. Having never danced before college, it was during his freshman year that the sounds of music drew him to the crowd gawking at the group of students spinning on their heads and hands. “When I’m mad, I dance tough. When I’m sad, I dance sad. When I’m happy, I dance silly,” Rowley says. He describes creativity as taking everything you’ve learned and experienced and changing the format. “Every minute is a new minute,” Rowley says. “Every day is a new day. It’s all about trying new things, taking risks.”
that more evidence is needed to support her Àndings, photographer Sara Baldwin, a junior majoring in journalism, would say she’s right. Sitting in Soma coffee shop, Baldwin, dressed in tight black jeans and a dark purple shirt, recounted her experience studying abroad in Paris this past summer through the School of Fine Arts. WHILE VAUGHN ADMITS
a broader range of responses. Similar to De Dreu’s Àndings, she concluded that negative moods could facilitate more creativity, but only within a narrower focus.
20
Upon arrival, she says the Àrst thing she noticed was the number of bicycles in the city. Thinking that the bike culture in Paris would be similar to that of Bloomington’s – trendy, she says, with cycles reÁective of owners – she decided to visit various Parisian neighborhoods and photograph people with their bikes in the hopes that the personality of each would change from place to place. What she found, though, was that the bikes didn’t say much about the areas at all. They weren’t telling or different, but rather “mode de vie,” a part of life and an essential form of transportation for many Parisians. Because of this, she had to turn her project, which every student had to complete by the end of the program, into a broader expression of transient life and culture in Paris. The project, “Les Velos de Paris,” or “The Bikes of Paris,” was successful in the end, but not without frustration and disappointment along the way. Though Baldwin says she loved being in Paris, she felt unhappy most of the time. “I was really lonely and frustrated most of the time,” she says, “but because of
that, I worked really hard.” She says her negative mood drove her to devote all of her attention to the bike project. “The
whole time that I was angry and lonely, that’s when I got the best work done because I was trying to prove everyone wrong.” Baldwin, who self-describes as being “obsessed” with photography (she owns 12 cameras), thinks
of creativity as the manifestation of ideas that must be made into reality. And as she advances in her skills, she says she Ă€nds more opportunities to get creative with her photos by playing around with angles or lighting. She likes that photography changes the reality – and, as a result, the memory – of a situation. “I like the idea that photography is a mirror of reality. The lens distorts it, so it is different, but also exactly how you Ă€rst saw it.â€? Professor Plucker says he believes there should be more talk about creativity, especially in today’s global world. “We need to put our money where our mouth is, and focus on innovative problem solving, â€? he says. He worries that if we don’t, countries that do put attention on creativity, such as China and Taiwan, will eventually dominate. This, he says, is one reason why he keeps researching this area with such a passion. “Creativity really is the study of human potential,â€? he says. “Are we doing enough? Are we helping college students be creative? That should be priority number one.â€?
Cut the copycat BY SARAH HUTCHINS
Whether you’re penning the next great American novel or just another research paper, here are a handful of tips to get those creative juices flowing: FIND INSPIRATION.
BE FLEXIBLE.
While preparing for her role in “Dead Man Walking� last October, third-year graduate acting student Lilia Vassileva found songs to associate with the production and characters. Old photos, a piece of art or even a memory can make the most mundane assignments meaningful.
“There’s a lesson we all have to learn eventually, and it’s not easy, but we won’t ever ďŹ nd a perfect environment,â€? Plucker says. Understand your ideal working conditions and try to satisfy them, but realize these preferences are not laws and will not always be met. PROCRASTINATE.
SEARCH FOR A GOOD SETTING.
Though there is no formula for creativity, freedom from distractions is important for almost everyone. “Don’t try to squeeze in a paper during halftime,� says Jonathan Plucker, professor of educational psychology and cognitive science, who specializes in the study of creativity.
Plucker says some procrastination can be helpful. Even though we might be engaged in other activities, we are likely still thinking about the project at hand, he says.
Lilia Vassileva is a graduate student studying acting. She has appeared in numerous IU productions, most recently as Callie in the play, “Stop Kiss.�
KNOW YOURSELF.
PUSH THROUGH.
When it comes to writing, the best strategy is to push through the writer’s block. (Hey, Ernest Hemingway used this strategy, and he didn’t turn out too bad.)
This is the golden rule of creativity. “Everyone has their own way to be creative,� Plucker says, “something that works for them.� Tap into strategies that were successful in the past, and remember what works best.
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Continued from page 11
Washington paints everyone (the King notwithstanding): JFK, Jimi, The Beatles, and Barack Obama among them. He wants to dig deeper, to delve into the issues affecting his life. For now, those ideas “are just up here,” he says, index Ànger to temple. Finally, though, he is almost ready to plunge headlong. For Washington as an artist, so psychologically embalmed in each stroke and grain of the canvas, emotional unease is a painstaking process. “I’ve never destroyed a painting. Except one,” he says. It was his strongest ever. As part of a series chronicling the Kennedys, Washington painted Lee Harvey Oswald, the suspected assassin of President John F. Kennedy. Oswald’s eyes stared back at Washington and haunted his dreams. He’d wake up in cold sweats, unable to escape the nightmares. Joel had no choice: His favorite painting had to go. Maybe one day, when he’s ready, he’ll try again. He can still see Oswald. He’ll never forget those strokes.
***
He’d leave IU tomorrow, given the chance. IMU Director Bruce Jacobs knows it. Longtime supervisor Roy Robertson agrees. But for Washington, it’s not that simple. “Not using this as a cop-out,” Washington says, “but I’m diabetic.” The health coverage is just too good. Hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in medical bills could
otherwise accumulate within months. Not that he can’t do it, Washington says, he just needs a plan. “It’s not like the 1960s where you could just take off,” he says. Should that day come, however, when Washington leaves the Union, never again to clean for anyone but himself, he would leave behind a life of more than three decades, a time when he pushed the ideals of everyone around him. “He lived on concrete and asphalt his whole life,” says longtime friend and fellow janitor Charlie May. Now retired at 67, he bonded with Washington for more than a decade at the Union. May’s fascination with antique tractors inÁuenced Washington, and before long, the two were together many weekends, traipsing the Indiana and Illinois countrysides – from one tractor and steam engine show to another. Washington had never seen these things, May says. He was just a boy from Indianapolis, raised on jazz and art and break dancing. But he seemed curious – if not in the tractors, then the people. He’d stop and talk with a lady selling paintings at a tractor show, curious in her technique. And if not the people, always the food, May says. Oblong, Ill., has great popcorn. And Rockville, Ind. – Washington always asked about the chicken there. May drove Washington to work most mornings. He often sat nearby in the staff room on breaks, watching Washington sketch in his little notebook. He’d occasionally show up at an art opening. He couldn’t help but wonder if their weekends
together inspired these colors and shapes onto canvas. Bloomington’s art circle surrounds Washington at these openings, curious to glimpse what he’s painting now. “I’m not into art like Joel,” May says, but he likely stood nearby as Bloomington’s other artists praised Washington and told him just how famous he could be. “We better buy them now before they’re too expensive,” they sometimes say. There’s no telling what that ceiling of success is, but Washington is frustrated. Why not now? The art has potential to make somebody, someday, millions of dollars, McKamey, the IMU preparator says. But if the history of artist toil is any indication, by that time Washington will likely be dead. It’s a thought he initially cringes at, but stops to reconsider. Not a moment wasted, he says, “I love it too much.” Janitors are a quiet, unnoticed part of Bloomington society, Robertson says – and that’s how they like it. “I’m an old-school, meat-and potatoes kind of guy,” he says. He’s sitting in the IMU cafeteria, coffee cup in hand, dressed in a doublebreasted evergreen shirt and jeans. It snowed that morning and he and his team just Ànished shoveling the sidewalks (“The only time you hear about janitors is if somebody slips,” Robertson says). He’ll sometimes see Washington’s paintings – just lines on a page to him. His speech twangs as he talks about the “glitz and glamor” of Bloomington. His right hand strokes a white Fu Manchu beard, his left clings to the warm coffee mug. On second thought, why not lines?
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