I have just returned from a trip to Netherlands, the land of tulips and windmills.  The first one representing an outgrowth of our humanity’s adoration for beauty of nature, and our ingenuity in refining it to the outmost perfection. The second, a product of design projecting humanity’s pragmatic inventiveness when faced with a need for a solution and solving it through design thinking, this at the core of my mission there. 

Should current technologies motivate and dictate new innovative designs or can concept designs inspire novel technologies? Which one is better, wiser, more advantageous in a long run? But is the choice black and white or could students be offered some, or the best of both worlds of occasions? Should educational systems, most of which are motivated by the need to differentiate themselves, this in order to compete with other similar in objectives schools, be also willing and capable of electing the more comprehensive and more globalized, Renaissance like approach and philosophy towards their education?

We have been, and so have the technologies we invent, evolving with an accelerated speed. Currently we are, as it should be, at the stage of development that is the most advanced thus far. Technology is a true “magic wand”. It makes us more powerful then ever. This is likely the most exciting time to be a creative individual or an artist, or a designer, or even an engineer or technologist or inventor. Borders between all disciplines are dissolving before our eyes. Interdisciplinary fusion is lighting up the path to exciting future.

 

Nature’s unsurpassed poetic, imaginative, intricate and glorious artistic ingenunity, the range of infinite design resources through which it is able to express its ideas and experimentation, are never captured visualized as magnificently as in astoundingly delicate designs Nature never seems to run out of, be shy about, or short on alternate renditions of its explorations, all in its perpetual strive for utter perfection.

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, it was 1985 in fact, the SIGGRAPH Electronic Theater thrilled me by selecting “Nick Brew”, my first ever CGI animated project, for its eminent annual screening of the best of computer animation from around the world. For me it was a foreword to the world of 3d computer animation.

I do admit, technologies utilized today by computer animation are simply breathtaking. Prospect such powers unveil are truly arousing. They made me itch for the chance to harness them, to will them to accomplish my imaginative feats, make my dreams come true. The insanely realistic modeling, texturing, shading, lighting and rendering are truly astonishing. Synthetic actors, their dynamics, the gestures and facial expressions are almost life like. Today it takes an experienced eye to differentiate a synthetic actor from a real live one. It is amazing. It's a genuine achievement. So what is wrong with this?

    

Not only are these amazing, and mind you, not rare at all, examples of Nature’s brainy creations truly stunningly impressive but they also bloom, in full color! Who can say this of our human brains? Maybe this is why we humans hide ours under our think sculls, while these awe-inspiring flowery creations so proudly expose theirs for all to admire?

Therefore, for the first time ever opening my mind to such a concept or possibility, and as a result of or reward for this broadmindedness, becoming so inspired by the amazing flowers initially discovered while in Japan, but their lasting impression reignited by that very garden I then entered while in Peru, I wish to pay homage to at least some of those flowers which I had the honor to make acquaintance with in my recent wanderings. For wherever I journey, whatever continent I land on, I find the Nature’s magnificence true to my expectations. Always glorious, forever astounding in its imaginary scope of artistry, and eternally adept at simply consistently and forever taking my breath away, it expands my mind, vision, perspective and gratefulness for its inspirational stimuli. In the same breath, it never seizes to take that certain air of human arrogance or “hot air” out of me, deflating my unjustified superiority while putting me in my place for who I am in contrast to its illustriousness, just another meek grain of sand in its infinite creative expanse and a never culminating, or running out of innovative ideas, breath of diverse possibilities.

Upon awakening I started to walk around the house within which I just became a visitor. Thus I came across this amazing sculptured scene contained within a small, simple box. As I swung open its flimsy doors, it unveiled to me an astoundingly fantastical realm hidden within its tiny confinements. Its thoughtfully choreographed scene bloomed with magical stories exploding with imagination and fantasy. It rightly took my breath away.

As I gazed into this enchanted world of an unknown to me artist, my mind immediately flooded with impressions of stories being spun by the horny “blue” goat seated amongst the two females, all behind a table set for what looked, one could almost smell it, like an irresistibly delicious feast, just about to begin. And so, as the ladies began to pour drinks and serve delicacies, I, as an expected visitor from outside, felt graciously invited. And thus totally transposed into my imaginary mind, I left my large clumsy human body behind to join the magical gathering within the tiny wooden boxed world of infinite possibilities.

Take a look at the astonishing developments, architectural, cultural, entertainment or city planning initiatives arising in China, under the very political and ideological system our “New World” had branded as the red peril (or whatever the lexis was), the foe of the “free” world (just in case you are confused, or do not know, that’s us), the Communism we had fought against for decades. And look now? Where would our “New World” be without their newly found affluence? Watch their booming economy, ambitious expansionism and clear aspirations for the very role we have played until now, the leadership and dominance of the world, the “Old” and the “New”.

However tempting, I shall refrain from spiraling into politics. This is not the topic of this blog. Nor am I endorsing communism. I have tasted its grip while growing up back in Eastern Europe, the “Old World”. I had my share, thank you. This reflection is devoted to the spirit of imagination, innovation, ideation and invention, and for the focus of this particular blog: how these precious values are reflected through the architectural realizations of the country called the “New World”. In my humble perception, something has gotten lost in translation. Are we slipping, losing it?

On one side of the infinite spectrum, imagination represents the Origin of it all. On the other side, it signifies the power to look into the future, which some gifted humans do have. In the case of the later, I am referring to the grand future in the concept and design of which human existence represent only a minuscule spec. Yet, by the power of our imagination and determination, we can now alter some of it. From our very origin humanity has been striving to unravel and unveil the grand design, the very scheme by which this vast Universe, and all within it, works, and the ingenuity by which it all begun, as well as where it is all evolving to. In this pursuit, as history has shown, we have wasted a lot of time seeing ourselves as unique, the center of it all, the ones around whom everything revolves. But now, that we have come to our senses, at least some of us, we have realized how insignificant we are in the vastness extending out there, and that our perception of reality might represent only one of numerous and parallel layers of realities shaping what is out there, and directly all around us. Humanity has posed for itself this vital assignment: to seek and discover the truth governing this complex puzzle, to cut through this Gordian knot. It is the power of imagination that will act as the very sward enabling us in distillation of the truth.

I have been fortunate to shape academic programs dedicated to exploration of imagination and ideas, these igniting powerful, meaningful and often deep personal stories expressing the inner soul, or inspiring unique original concept designs that probe not just what is but what could be. In all such I strive to shape a system that will challenge the students to take risks, to probe, to test, to experiment, to find themselves, to discover what make them unique, who they truly are deep inside, not on the outside. I challenge them to expose themselves, not physically but spiritually. I call upon them to “take the condom off their head”, have an unsafe idea, for life is too short and precious for following in someone else’s steps, make your own path through an untapped space.

In my previous reflections I wrote, as poetically and passionately as I could, of the almost infinite powers of imagination. When I speak on such a topic in the various presentations, master classes or creative workshops, the key question that arises is this: “But how do you awake imagination or how do you open your mind to the “gravity free and reality independent” thinking and ideation or storytelling that is liberated of all that we have grown to be gravitated by, or entrapped within?

However, while some of us find, consciously or subconsciously, a path or an ability to preserve vibrancy of their imagination, most do not. In the case of the prior, it may have to do with their “make up”, upbringing, parents or a passionate desire to explore, to challenge the status quo, to break the rules, to question all and everything. Or maybe it has to do with an inner curiosity that does not let us accept what we are told by the elder, or our teachers, or the society at large? To us the “system” is the symbol of oppression, the foe to resist in almost any cause. To us, not understanding something is a challenge that motivates and inspires, it ignites our imagination, makes us restless until, if fortunate, we arrive at an answer, a climax, whether right or not.

 

 

For some time now I have been promising myself a return to organic art. In my case this means line drawing. I love how line fluctuates, swings, cuts, curls, twists, envelopes, stubs, caresses, how it becomes a natural extension of an artist, how its creator can funnel into it the inner thoughts, passions, desires, frustrations or dreams. How such a simple entity can act a echo of the complex one who brings it to being. What a harmonious synergy and mutual dependency, one might say, till death us apart? It is amazing how it carries and projects such an amazing range of emotions, while maintaining its black and white purity and simplicity, even certain integrity, how it can challenge and drive its creator crazy. And so, I loved it back when it and I had such an emotionally fulfilling bond, and hence have been missing it ever since. Now, years later, my desire to rediscover and explore it once again has grown in intense, became eager to be unleashed.

Over the years, I kept on delaying and postponing. But in Japan, maybe due to the quality of calm and stability, of which I had spoken in all the previous reflections, even if for a limited period of time, I found it and regained it. Did I enjoy it? To the fullest! I felt motivated, vibrant and “spirited away” once again. It was amazing to see that the skill, the passion, desire to will a line, to unleash it to life, is not eternally gone. It is reliant on one’s state of mind, and time to reflect.