Longitude Sound BytesEp 07: Being a mindful observer | Molly Turner – by Jordan Ramirez (Listen)
Molly Turner, orchestral conducting graduate student at the Juilliard School, NYC:
Of course, it’s hard to put a specific definition or hard-lined idea for what creativity is. But I had a freshman year music theory teacher, Tony Brandt, provide some structure and framework with which we can talk about creativity. Dr. Brandt wrote a book called, The Runaway Species, subtitled, How Human Creativity Remakes the World, and he wrote that with a pretty famous neuroscientist, David Eagleman, and they had this concept of creativity being founded on three important elements, and that’s the three B’s, which is bending, blending, and breaking.
So something that’s bending is that we take an idea that we know and we just kind of shift it in a slightly different lens. Blending is obviously combining two different ideas and seeing what comes between the interaction of them. And then breaking is taking this idea or multiple ideas and kind of crushing it in a way. And Dr. Brandt had a really beautiful way of connecting this with music because all the music that we wrote, and I have a music composition background, all the music that we write or the things we create, are just sort of an amalgamation of the things that we have already observed. Our creative process is intimately tied to everything that we have taken in already. And as a young composer, that was a really important framework with which to work with. And again, the bending, blending, and breaking are the transformations by which we create things.
Creativity is intimately tied to my identity as an artist, which is more specifically, a musician. And for me, that core of it has always involved observation and being a mindful observer. In order to create things, we have to observe the things around us.
Jordan Ramirez, Longitude fellow, Indiana University, Bloomington:
I believe Molly Turner’s insights regarding the development of one’s creativity are very accurate. In many ways, what we put into the world is a reflection of our own experiences.
Artists are always lauded as being immensely creative, and this is because they are especially adept at displaying their unique experiences in a way that is both unique and relatable. Now, I know we’ve all heard some of the annoyingly repetitive melodies of modern pop songs and the comically simple pieces of contemporary art, but these are truly the minorities.
Fortunately, most artists pride themselves on creating art that is as unique as their own backgrounds. Many of the most famous artists; however, are those that can cause viewers to relate their work. There is a reason why Drake always mentions the “6” in his songs. Relatability is often essential for many artists to become widely popular
Something that really stood out to me was that Molly Turner mentioned how important it is to be a “mindful” observer. It is so important, given these current times that we do not simply project our own stories but the stories of those that have been neglected. We must be willing to listen and embrace others’ experiences, because this will greatly improve our creativity, but more importantly improve our world.
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Join us next time for more unique insights on Longitude Sound Bytes.
