[Previous entry: "Psych!"] [Next entry: "You ought to be in pictures..."]
07/13/2006: "Might as well face it, I'm addicted to blog!"
Tonight my July issue of Wired finally arrived and I got to read that article Cody mentioned awhile back: "A new (economic) theory suggests that creativity comes in two distinct types - quick and dramatic, or careful and quiet" What Kind of Genius Are You?
This article is incredibly interesting:
"...he (Galenson) has scoured the records of art auctions, counted entries in poetry anthologies, tallied images in art history textbooks - and then sliced and diced the numbers with his econometric ginsu knife. Applying the fiercely analytic, quanitative tools of modern economics, he has reverse engineered ingenuity to reveal the source code of the creative mind".
"What he found is that genius - whether in art or architecture or even business - is not the sole province of 17-year-old Picassos and 22-year-old Andreessens. Instead it comes in two very different forms, embodided by two very different types of people. "Conceptural Innovators". as Galenson calls them, make bold, dramatic leaps in their disciplines. They do their breakthrough work when they are young."
"Then there's a second character type, someone who's just as significant but trudging by comparison. Galenson calls this group "Experimental Innovators."...they proceed by a lifetime of trial and error and thus do their important work much later in their careers. Galenson maintains that this duality - conceptualists are from Mars, experimentaalits are from Venus - is the core of the creative process."
Anyway, the article goes on and really is facinating. I couldn't decide if I fall into either catagory. In some ways I opperate like a conceptual innovator, in that I work meticulously, almost scientifically on a piece and know exactly what I want before I put the brush to canvas...where the mechanics of painting are less of the driving force...(a tendancy of the CI according to the article) but on the other hand, I have been trudging along series after series, experimenting, learning new techniques etc. and I think my work is improving with age...at least I hope it is as I'm in my 30s now and still don't have any break-away hits (though I am *certain* I have some in me).
So, to the rest of you...based on my very simplified rehash of a complex theory, what type of genius are are you?
AH DAMN! After waiting several weeks for my print copy to arrive and then typing out a bunch of it above, I just double checked and the article is available online. sheesh!