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One question people may have after scrolling through these photos could be something along the lines of, “How do you make an arguably horrible idea look so elegant?”
According to psychologist and creativity researcher Keith Sawyer, part of it is making use of the limitations you have through the materials at your disposal.
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“Ideas come from working with materials,” Sawyer said. "It’s a key part of the iterative exploratory process because the materials usually surprise you. Novelists often talk about characters in their books having a mind of their own, and engineers create prototypes and continually test their different features."
Sawyer’s latest book, titled Learning to See, provides insights into the creative processes of professional artists and designers, as well as how they teach others to be creative. According to him, his biggest takeaway is that constraint actually allows a more fluid flow of ideas.
“Making something new and original isn’t about sudden flashes of insight but about realizing how to look, to engage, and to be willing to tolerate the uncertainty of the process,” Sawyer said, noting that it is a habit that many artists and designers develop through constant practice.
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The uncertainty Sawyer speaks of is likely how many of these works came about. What started as a seemingly horrid idea turned into a piece of art worth bragging about, which is always a pleasant surprise.
“When we learn to see our own work more clearly, we open the door to discovering what it can become,” he said.
