Creativity in Society

Creativity in Society

Chapter 1: The transformation of Everyday Life offers a multitude of interesting key points concerning the economic and social changes within our culture, both on an individual aspect and how they correlate to one another. In specific I found the beginning of the chapter in the section; The Force Behind the Shift, to especially state key points about today’s creative world that I can both agree and disagree with. Florida states that creativity is in today’s society viewed as a commodity and that “creativity cannot be bought and sold, or turned on and off at will. This is why for instance, we see emergence of a new order in the workplace.” (Pg 5.) And while this may be true I do not believe the majority of people view creativity as a commodity, however I do believe a vast number of people view creativity as something they “wish” they had but do not need. In addition, I do not agree with Florida’s argument that creativity is asserting a new order in the workplace, rather I believe we see more workplace environments as aesthetically pleasing, surrounded by creative new pieces of art work and creative ideas in correlation the dictionary definition Florida quoted on pg.5”the ability to create meaningful new forms.” However, I believe Florida is a surrealist who takes the definition out of context, I believe in the workplace the order is changing in the aspect of creativity because the more “meaningful new forms” created is measured on the standard of how economically successful that form may be.

If I were to play devils advocate- Florida is correct by saying creativity is creating a new order in the workplace in relation to small companies, or artists- for instance, sculptor Virgina Abbot created two beautiful blue herons located on South Bethlehem’s Greenway. The Herons were created out of waste therefore not only symbolizing recycling but asserting yet another change and development in south Bethlehem’s community as a whole.  Alice Gast, the president of Lehigh University stated “The greenway is much more than a park; it is a thread that weaves through the fabric of our South Bethlehem community, binding the residents and visitors in a way that didn’t exist before,” Gast said. Thus, correlating back to Florida’s idea that meaningful new forms established in the workplace are beginning to alter the change in the workplace. Consequently, I believe this can be found both true and untrue depending on what workplace you are referring to.

Despite, Alice Gast stating the importance of a creative community such as Greenway’s park, I can first handedly state that I do not believe the art community is respected the way it should be at Lehigh University. In 2011 I was an freshman enrolled in a number of art courses- I found the courses to sadly be a waste of my time, after attending New Canaan High School where art was in the necessary creative environment stated by Florida as; “creativity must be motivated, nurtured in a multitude of ways, by employers, by people themselves and by the communities where they locate.” In specific, the course introduction to photography was an easy course for me as I had graduated high school taking AP photography, yet I got a D+ in the class. Not because the work I handed in received poor marks but because I became unmotivated by the environment and assignments, I felt as though the course was no longer stemmed from individual creativity but rather a math and science (who could edit a picture the best due to the standards of what was systematically said to be correct) it no longer mattered what emotions a photograph transpired and we were told what kind of photographs to be taken, tainting our individuality. In addition, not only was this class considered an “joke” to my peers and some professors but so was the drawing expression class I was taking as well- despite the 20 hours + work I was doing for each course. Thus, I agree with Florida in the aspect that creativity is dependent on a nurturing environment that motivates the creative individual.

            All in all, despite any hardships found within the sphere of creativity, “geography is not dead” and an creative individual (such as myself, see picture below) can not “turn it on and off at will”. Our generation is one of a creative nature, “a key fact of our age is that more of us than ever are doing creative work for a living.” (Pg. 8)

 I "doodle" all over my notes, notebooks, etc when I am in class or thinking- often times my professors think I am not paying attention, but in retrospect I am listening and this is my own way of not zoning out. On another note, I can not "turn it off" when a pen or pencil is in my hand and I am not engaged in an class conversation or have my computer to browse through social media and creative communities this is the result....