The Creative Process: Creativity Without Borders

Floris Visser postulates that scientists are artists – and his opinion hit a nerve for me. An opinion that also fits perfectly in my series about the Creative process.

Too often, we seem to draw a line between the professions and interests. However, when we take a step back, there are common grounds. Just like artists, scientists need to be very creative people in order to make discoveries and advance their field.

The very essence of science is as creative as art – but also the outcome and the observations in science can show an artistic beauty. You might think, for example, of beautiful repetitive patterns in nature, which can either inspire scientists and researchers to take a similar step (remember the bacteria in self-healing concrete that are inspired by the terraces of Pamukkale?) or can inspire artists to achieve, amongst others, the perfect proportions which we see repeated in nature.

You can improve your creativity by developing your creative habit. But today, I'm asking you to take this idea one step further. I'd like to invite you to share a link between art or nature and your profession or research topic in the comments section below. Please share, and inspire others!

This post is an adaptation of an earlier post for TEDx Delft

Magritte

Last Sunday, I -finally- visited the Magritte museum in Brussels. I would highly recommend everyone to visit this relatively young (open since 2009) museum. Details can be found here.

Although I grew up with an admiration for Magritte, I didn't know anything about his two "other" styles: besides his surrealist works, he also painted some impressionist works (during the second world war) and in a "periode vache" (after the second world war).

Impressionist work by Magritte

Work from Magritte's "periode vache"

These works were not that popular, and Magritte's gallery holder in Paris told him to return to his old style. That must have been the best advice someone ever gave to the painter. He returned to his surrealist style, and produced some of my favorite paintings.

Magritte challenges our perception of day and night
I truly love how Magritte's paintings challenge our perception of reality. They make me think and reflect on our world.

At the exhibition, booklets with citations of Magritte (which are displayed in French on the walls) are available. As food for thought, here are five citations of Magritte:

All that I desire is to be enriched by intensely exciting new thoughts.

The real value of art is measured by its capacity for liberating revelation.

Surrealism is the immediate knowledge of reality.

We mustn't fear sunlight just because it almost always serves to illuminate a miserable world.

To be surrealist is to banish the notion of 'deja-vu' and seek out the not yet seen.