So tonight instead of catching up on blog posts like I should have been doing (…whoops…) Anna, Alexandra and I made paper snowflakes to decorate the lab. Katie made one too. Little did I know this would be a great metaphor for what I’ve learned about aesthetics this semester.
Anna had the idea, provided the supplies, and set goals for how many snow flakes we should make. She didn’t make as many snowflakes as Alexandra or I , but she hung almost all of them. To have a successful design project, you need an idea, goals, a means to complete the project, and a sense of purpose for your finished project.
Alexandra made very pretty snowflakes that were both scientifically correct, and geometrically attractive. Although she said she can’t come up with things just out of her head, clearly that isn’t true. She did illustrate that people can be equally creative and yet approach art in very different ways. I may prefer Vermeer over Jeff Koons, but they are booth artists and I am able to appreciate that more now than I was at the beginning of the year.
I free-handed most of my snow flakes, but I gathered inspiration from templates I saw online. They were more intricate than Alexandra’s generally, but they also had a greater chance of failure. In design, it’s ok to draw inspiration from other people’s work, but you have to make it your own–and sometimes that means taking a risk.
Katie only made one snowflake but I think she showed the best example of what it means to be a creative. She took an idea, toyed around with it and sketched it out, revised it, and then finally made it happen.
Hope you enjoy your snowflake Phil. It’s a work of art.