To Think Outside of the Box

Recently in my Digital Creativity class we read the article "Thinking Outside and On the Box: Creativity and Inquiry in Art Practice," by Julia Marshall.

Marshall believes that thinking outside of the box implies taking what we know of the world and creating something new and different based off of that. The "box" is the function that specific things have. Marshall encourages exploration and deviation from how we already understand and use things, and finding different associations with them, in order to inspire something fresh, to solve a new problem that might be presented in life. She took a literal play on the words "outside the box" by actually having her students create a packaged invention with an imaginary function, explainable and with instructions in the terms of materials and concepts that exist.

According to Marshall, a few ways to think outside the box involve searching out questions, gathering source material and analyzing it, and playing around with the meanings and functions of different materials. In searching out questions, we think critically about things that need to be solved, could be solved, or could be done differently in life around us. For example, one student noted the problem of retaining information from textbooks, and set out to create a tool to assist with that process. Having something to figure out inspires an artist or worker to set out trying to understand and solve that idea, and find solutions. It drives inquiry.

After we know what we want to figure out, it is important to think of how different materials/ideas or combinations of materials/ideas might be used to put together a solution. This process involves exploring why and how things have been created before or questions have been answered before, and what other things might have the same characteristics or abilities to do the job in the same way, differently, or better. Ultimately, it is doing ones research to figure out what will work the best in solving the problem, without simply copying an existing formula or solution. This involves exploration.

Finally, during conception of the idea and also in the physical/action creation of a solution, there needs to be the freedom to try new things, swap things out, and see how meanings might change if things were switched around. It is allowing ones self not to get too connected to one's work, where one stops exploring it, and finding ways to improve upon it. It is taking the solution to its full potential, even if the solution ends up being something very different than the person was expecting it to be. This process in itself might pose new ideas or problems to pursue further in a new exploration.

Thus, the creative process is never really finished. It is fluid and continuous. It absorbs information and connects it and disconnects it in new ways, figuring out how things work or might work if put into different contexts. It is the endless cycle of formulating and solving questions, and making creations accordingly along the way.