Following other creatives over the weekend, I came across artist and writer, Austin Kleon. He is known for his book, Show Your Work. I continued with a download of his book and watching different interviews and presentations. Today, I wanted to focus on his speech at SXSW, a gathering place for creatives and innovators, from 2014.
He started off his time on the stage with introducing a simple exercise that he uses regularly, which involves taking a newspaper and circle words or headlines that stand out. Then, he blacks out the rest of the words and is left with a new kind of humorous haiku. His blacked out poems from newspapers have been seen all over the country.
During any interview or presentation from Austin leads to one main point, you don’t need to be a genius to show your work. He goes on to say, “Good work isn’t created in a vacuum.” The environment of a so called genius plays a role and so do the people around that person. The old model focuses on one person but the new model looks at all the minds connected to that individual.
Creatives should understand the new model because we all have our muses. We find our inspiration in other people, moments throughout the day, and interactions with other people. Each connection plays a part in shaping who we are.
He goes on to talk about how we should try to become contributors to the “scenius”, or community of genius. Instead of becoming hungry for blood and competition, or over promoting, the focus should shift to sharing. We all have something to contribute. We all just need to show our work and be human about it. Sharing who you are through your work will connect you to other like-minded people. Just don’t spam them.
You can find Austin Kleon’s presentation at https://youtu.be/m8v3jf8RVBk.
You can also find his book, Show Your Work, at https://amzn.to/2QsqL4t.
May the posts continue.
~Yoon Ju
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