This past weekend I was in Chicago for Pitchfork Music Festival. In order to save vacation days, I worked from my company’s Chicago office. The office is in a building off of State St. and is on the 23rd floor so every window has an amazing view of downtown Chicago. The desk I was working at gave me a 360 view and I couldn’t help but stare at Marina City, with the negative space in between the two buildings reminding me of a spine. I snapped a picture, and though I know it’s grainy (I was taking it from inside a building), it still gives me inspiration for a future painting. My favorite thing is when I see something organic out of industrial structures. Sometimes I literally will look at something, squint and see the abstract shapes in objects and imagine what other forms they could morph into.
Marina City was the first urban post-war high-rise residential complex in the United States and is widely credited with beginning the residential renaissance of American inner cities. Its model of mixed residential and office uses and high-rise towers with a base of parking has become a primary model for urban development in the United States, and has been widely copied throughout downtown Chicago. (Wikipedia)
Even the blueprint of one “slice” of the building reminds me of a flower. Shapes found in nature are appealing and supports the theory that things that are “designed by nature” tend to have a better harmony and balance than something born out of man’s thought.
And of course, one man’s design can inspire another man’s creativity.
There are days I don’t feel inspired. It brings a damper on my mood and I find it hard to function at work and at home. I don’t feel the same unless I’m thinking/conspiring/imagining/questioning. Sometimes I will have a random thought or idea for something and end up questioning myself, thinking it’s stupid and no one else will agree with it. It’s daring to act on new ideas and question the status quo. There are times I get so excited about an idea, I can’t articulate it well. The way I have been trying to combat it is to offer as many ideas as possible, or at least keep track of them (practice makes perfect). When you challenge your supervisor and talk about all the great ideas you have, you should have an arsenal to back it up with. Being innovative and creative is challenging, but it really takes a willingness to be observant of the world around you and the fearlessness required to share ideas.
My Name Is Reb 