on creating...

[spacebug]

In general, do you find that your ideas come first, and then you figure out the tools to realize them, or do your ideas come out of the capabilities of your tools?

Is one way better than another?

Comments

[gunn.livejournal.com]

I do everything at the same time. I'm a collector- sometimes I'm collecting ideas that I have yet to collect the ingredients for, sometimes I'm collecting tools whose purpose has yet to be realized.

It's hard to know which I do more of- I have drawers and drawers and shelves of doo-dads and whatnots, and random pieces of paper and books full of ideas.

[r4c.livejournal.com]

Sometimes I start with a process (a lot of that happens in my work...I like to experiment with new tools and new processes) and sometimes I start with an idea or concept and then try to realize that using the tools that I have at my disposal. So I would say both. I don't think one or the other is better, it really just depends on your working methods.

[ilexcassine.livejournal.com]

My first thought about this question wasn't an answer, but another question- does the response (and even the nature of the question) change depending on the nature of the idea- or artistic goal? (in other words, this seems like a musician question, in a way, I don't know if I'd even think of it like that) And its weird, I assumed you meant artistic idea initially, but really, it could be anything, hm?

Idea and tools are generally pretty inextricably linked for me, even if they don't always match up perfectly (like I haven't figured out what the idea needs or I don't know enough about the tools).

[spacebug.livejournal.com]

I wasn't thinking specifically about music, but I was thinking artistic ideas. ...but it was also purposefully open ended.

[star5.livejournal.com]

i go both ways. sometimes i have ideas and then figure out how to make them happen. sewing is like that for me. but often i have to play with something to figure out its capabilities and what will inspire me.

when i was taking a sculpture class in college and was about to learn to weld, our instructor wanted us to draw out an idea or two of what we'd like to do. but i had never tried welding.. and i just didn't know what to imagine yet. it was really hard. and i don't even think i ended up with what i'd drawn. for me, if it's a completely new medium it takes time to just play with it.

it's rare for me to just have an idea on it's own that doesn't come out of playing around.. though it is happening more often these days. the tree was an idea on its own. and it too evolved, though most of its evolution was before i'd even started, just talking with others.

[star5.livejournal.com]

oh and i don't think one way is better than another.. though i do think it's really nice when the ideas just come to you and then you solve how to make them happen.. it makes me feel less floundering somehow. more like i have a direction. but even still, they often change once you actually start.

[spacebug.livejournal.com]

Sewing is the same for me, too- it's kind of a relief to have something that has a more defined "done" point, as making music, for better or worse, is often more like wandering in the dark.

[pied-piper70.livejournal.com]

If I'm working on just a music piece out of thin air, the ideas I come up with are, most times, based on the tools I have in my hands or at my disposal: guitar, keyboard, software, whatever. Often, too, the idea is germinated by another outside source, be it a sound, a noise, a rhythm, a sampled beat, a chord shape, a musical accident...Sometimes there is a concept that I have in mind that I want to do, but with no actual musical ideas until the tools are in place to realize that concept; then once the tools are in place, my fingers start moving (or the mouse starts clicking) and the ideas roll in automatically...

However, when it comes to scoring or other projects like that, my ideas come first, and then I find the tools to utilize those ideas (or at least approximate them)...This is a oftentimes frustrating endeavor, especially when I don't have certain items or programs or skillsets at my disposal...although this is also why I like (even prefer) working on outside projects cuz it gets me to think outside my little box...

Tools...I wish I had more tools...You can never have too many tools...

[rubin110.livejournal.com]

One thing that I've learned being with DDI is that one can do pretty much anything. Ideas come first.

[http://users.livejournal.com/i_heart_to_____/]

What is DDI and how did you come to that conclusion?
(uh...I'm down with figuring out how i can do prettymuch anything. I haven't figured that out yet.)
-karlyn

[rubin110.livejournal.com]

http://dancedanceimmolation.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/dancedanceimmolation/interesting/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_Dance_Immolation

[kittekaat.livejournal.com]

When I am painting, it is the idea, then I retrieve the colors I want and purchase what I don't have and need. I rarely stop to consider what I already have on hand until I need it.

When I am making jewelry, I work with my materials at hand and assemble from there. I start with either a focal bead, theme, or color scheme for my intended recipient and put something together. But then, my bead collection is vast from years of hoarding and collecting. And I have stopped making "the market" my intended recipient years ago, so now I only do custom pieces for specific people or occasions.

[lostmachine.livejournal.com]

It is so good to see a comment from you on Spacebug's page.

Both of you are Awesome people.

[kittekaat.livejournal.com]

Thanks sweetie! I do love Caly! We met on the playa what 3 burns ago? We were neighbors. She walked by my camp in an amazing GIR jacket and I chased her down to talk to her. Found each other again on LJ and she has been enriching my life since!

[spacebug.livejournal.com]

Yep, both kitte and lostmachine are favorite random-playa-people that I've come to know and love!

It was totally random that we walked into your camp this year having a dance party during the dust storm... and then I looked at the sign and thought "Camp Yes, Please- hey! I *know* these people!" So awesome! Sorry we never got a chance to come back and cheer for you!

[kittekaat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I am sorry you didn't get a chance to cheer for us while you where there. Damn primadonna Dj's not wanting to interrupt their set! LOL. He kicked me off the machine to do his set just before you arrived if that makes you feel any better.

[spacebug.livejournal.com]

hehe, no worries. Your pals at Leopardy loved us and told us we had to come back, except we never did. Ah, playa time... Cheering was one of my favorite activities, though, so I hope we'll do it again. We already have outfits and everything!

[kittekaat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, your outfits were totally adorable!

[lostmachine.livejournal.com]

Awesome, She and I met the year I was camped across the street from you.
It really is a small fucking world.

When are you visiting Portland?

[kittekaat.livejournal.com]

I am hoping to make it up on October 13th for Ben's birthday. Are you going?

[lostmachine.livejournal.com]

I don't think I know Ben? But if you're up here we should get coffee.

[kittekaat.livejournal.com]

He's Kat's husband. Are you planning to go to Decompression in SF? I am!

[undercrypt.livejournal.com]

Definitely both, but usually for me the ideas come first. Indiscriminately. Without heed to what I have access to, or my skill level, or the time investment required, or even occasionally what media I work in. Creations that flow from the tools are happy good fortune in comparison.

I don't know if one is better than the other on the whole, but I find them very different. The idea-creations can take a long time to materialize and come with a certain amount of frustration ("I think so brain, but where are we going to find a Byzantine cantor at this time of night?"), but I tend to be very pleased with them when they finally come together. The tool-creations are faster and more fun ("A keyboard! A stepladder! Three dancers! Let's go!") but run the risk of being forgetable.

[pants-of-doom.livejournal.com]

I'm usually idea first, but the things I do are really different in different media, so.... yeah. The idea changes as I go, and the media are a big part of that.

[lostmachine.livejournal.com]

I go all kinds of ways.

Sometimes it is like making Stone Soup. I start out with one cool found object and then the idea (lets make "soup"), after that I find ingredients that will go well with the soup (tools, techniques, and materials).

http://www.lostmachine.com/projects/heartlamp/lamp.html
http://www.lostmachine.com/projects/chessboard/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBCSCb4f5xE

Sometimes someone wants something and then I am more of a designer than an artist, but what they want needs to be "Artsy".
http://www.lostmachine.com/projects/chess/index.html

Sometimes I get inspired by someone else's work and I'm determined to make something with their idea.
http://www.lostmachine.com/projects/elephant/dali.jpg
http://www.lostmachine.com/projects/elephant/index.html

Sometimes I'm limited on what I have to work with. I built this one with some basic hand tools and a drill, soldering iron and a small grinder.
http://www.lostmachine.com/projects/dryboard/dryboard.html


Even if I don't have the tools to realize an idea I still build it in my head. Even if it never gets built the process of overcoming problems while designing will help out with other projects later.

To answer your questions, no one way is best as long as you like what you are doing.

[azure-armand.livejournal.com]

Tools come before the ideas. It's not as romantic of an idea - we'd all like to believe "I have this fully formed work of genius in my head just itching to get out!" But that's not how I think it works. Brain interacting with material reality, through the medium of tools. Its a process. Again, tools are first.

[angel-boi.livejournal.com]

very interesting question...
must come back and read throguh responses when i have more time.

i definitely work both ways... but mostly i think ideas first

[http://users.livejournal.com/i_heart_to_____/]

I am almost always idea first, and it's a problem for me, because it's rare that I can really find the media (this is how it goes with music, anyway).
Sometimes I stick to the idea and work towards getting my hands on the media. Other times I have to change bits and pieces of the idea to make it work, or just let it sit while other things fall into place. I'm still grappling with how to get that kind of stuff done.
On the other hand, whenever I have just worked with whatever was in front of me (for example, when you are just playing in a band and writing on the spot, or doing anything like that) unexpectedly good things come from it. Maybe that's coz I'm not trying to control it as much. Still I think the process of conceiving of something out of nothing, of having ideas that come from nowhere, is good mental practice in general. Sometimes bits of those ideas get recycled in weird ways when there *is some sort of available media, and that's ok with me--at least something is getting made in that case.
This question is making me think too hard.
I miss you. How are you?

[harfang.livejournal.com]

Ideas, always ideas, and then massive trepidation at the inability I think I have to realize them. So I don't create much, and many things swim eagerly and forlornly in my head.