What happens when we put people together of different age, sex and profession and we challenge them to face the magnitude that, a blank sheet of paper can symbolize?

The objective was to gather together a circle of people who, intuitively, spontaneously and playfully, generated a creative sequence composition. And at the same time, as Nicolás Calas –a Swiss innovator– upheld, revealed the unconscious reality of the group that had created it. I do not know if we have reached that point, but what is crystal clear is that the result gives us an opportunity to reflect on creativity.

 

Creatividad colectiva. Cadaver exquisit

 

It did not matter if the collaborators knew how to draw. The idea was that each of them let their imagination soar, so we could get an interesting and fun sequential drawing. The result was surprising. The drawing shows us how the participants have presented their interior world in each phase.

In the first fragment made by Txiki, a professional actor, one can observe a lot of energy and complexity. This overcrowding is further contrasted by the simplicity of Santi’s strokes, the youngest in the group. The absence of perspectives and proportions proposed by Laura surprises us because of her capacity of synthesis, which slowly becomes more defined and ordered through the contribution of Marta, the lawyer. The shading that Emanuelle introduces again to the drawing, together with the details and adornments, are elements that as a pastry chef are deeply instilled within him. As with the illustrative and imaginative capacity shown by Alicia. Her work as creative director proves that she is used to this kind of challenge, and her ability to create is clearly reflected.

As creatives, we often need to face this mental effort of putting ideas together and setting them down on a blank sheet or screen.

If to be honest, we must say that on many occasions we have all had that sensation that our mind is the same color as the sheet of paper in front of us. To overcome this, we have to color our mind. We have to fill it with stimulus, references to ideas that do not come by themselves, but that one has to go out to find and experience. We constantly fill our minds with information, which would appear to have no direct or practical use. However, one day, when we have to be creative again, we will hark back to that very time when…