The Groove Issue 66 - How to Get Your Creative Mojo Back
Welcome to the 66th issue of The Groove.
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HOW TO GET YOUR CREATIVE MOJO BACK
With ten days left in yet another tumultuous year, you may be feeling depleted, burned out or that you have hit a creative block.
Have you ever wondered what motivates you to find new challenges, get better at what you do and figure out new ways of doing things you hadn’t previously thought of? Where do successful artists, entrepreneurs, CEOs of companies and anyone who is creating value find the motivation to keep upgrading, breaking barriers, and pushing through?
For many years, psychologists have studied the behavior of those who keep going at it, wanting to find the underlying motivation that propels people to innovate and to take chances in support of their bigger vision.
In every study I found, the results confirm the enormously positive effect of intrinsic motivation on the creative/innovative performance, above and beyond extrinsic motivations.
In other words: the motivation to do something for the sake of personal fulfillment and enjoyment is always more important than external rewards such as praise or money. They matter, of course, but not as much as the self-directed and internal drive.
How Meret Oppenheim Lost Her Mojo
Meret Oppenheim photographed by Man Ray in Paris in 1933.
From the time German-born Meret Oppenheim moved to Paris at the age of 18 in 1932, she was able to insert herself in the circle of Surrealist artists, forming friendships with Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, and Man Ray. She found great success inside and outside her peer-group.
Her paintings and object installations were exhibited in sold-out solo shows, and she was thrilled with the flow of ideas and production in her studio. She was translating her inner strength of character and self-assurances that brought originality and audacity to her work and established herself as a leading figure in the Surrealist movement.
That is, until 1936, when Oppenheim’s best known artwork Object — Le Déjeuner en fourrure (Lunch in fur), featuring a teacup, saucer, and spoon that she covered with fur from a Chinese gazelle, was bought for the permanent collection of MoMA and included in the museum’s first Surrealist exhibition titled Fantastic Art: Dada and Surrealism.
Meret Oppenheim, Object, 1936
This was the first Surrealist artwork that the museum acquired, and Oppenheim became known as the First Lady of MoMA. That Object was displayed at MoMA was both a blessing and a curse for Oppenheim.
On the one hand, it made her extremely popular, but on the other, it reinforced the public's belief that Oppenheim was only a Surrealist, and this affected her freedom of artistic expression and exploration of other artistic styles.
Right after, she moved to Switzerland and became an art conservator until 1950. For 14 years, no matter how much praise and fame she had in the initial stages of her career, Oppenheim was creatively blocked and she worked on restoring other people’s art until she was ready to make and share her work again.
While this is an extreme example, it is a confirmation of what the researchers have found: no amount of external validation or rewards can stimulate creativity, unless you feel the desire to be curious and interested, to seek out challenges and to exercise and develop your skills and knowledge.
How She Got It Back
Meret Oppenheim’s Le Festin presented in Paris in 1959 at Galerie Daniel Cordier was the performance that signaled her comeback.
In 1950, Oppenheim began frequenting the Kunsthalle Bern, which prompted her to explore international art trends like op art, fluxus and minimalism. This reignited her willingness to make art again.
Later in 1956, Oppenheim was called to design the costumes and masks for a production of Picasso’s play Le Désir attrapé par la queue. She was even cast in the play itself.
Three years later, she organized Le Festin, or a spring banquet for a few friends, at which food was served on the body of a naked woman.
The exhibit caused controversy, because it was so daring and original, and nobody had ever seen anything like that before. Oppenheim had gotten her mojo back. By then, she had already moved on from the Surrealist label and never exhibited with them again.
How did Oppenheim find excitement and creativity again?
She opened herself up to the possibilities of looking outside what originally had been her sole passion and motivation: Surrealism. To look for ideas in food, parties, theater, and minimal spaces, and to create something that was uniquely hers. It had to come from within.
Soon thereafter she began reexamining her original work of the 1930s and set out to reinvent it.
She also found the sense of humor to poke fun at her own creative block. In 1970, she revisited the Object that made her famous as an open edition entitled Souvenir du dejeuneur en fourrure, a kitsch miniature version of the MoMA one, with fake fur covered under a glass dome.
Acknowledge That Creativity Is Cyclical
For most of us, it is impossible to be on a creative upward journey where all our ideas flow happily in tandem and produce excellent results all the time. If you acknowledge this cycle, the periods of barrenness will not only be tolerable, but welcomed as a normal part of the creative process.
However, there are a handful of things that help shake off the sense of stagnation, like celebrating small wins and looking for activities outside of your normal range.
Since you already know that most of the motivation to create and innovate has to come from within, you can fire up your curiosity and knowledge by doing something as simple as watching a movie outside of the genres you love or picking up a book in an area that isn’t your typical go-to.
Another option, like Oppenheim did, is revisiting old work and giving it a new twist that makes it relevant. This could be a treasure trove of fresh possibilities.
The most important thing is to remember that little things compound over time.
If all it takes is to take one step every day, like keeping a journal of ideas, or using dedicated chunks of time during the day to think intently about a problem, then letting it go until the next day, it is almost certain that you will start to feel progress and your creativity will come back. It may even arrive unannounced at first. Be ready for that.
Thank you again for the incredible response to my book announcement.
“How Creativity Rules The World” has been a “Number 1 New Release” on Amazon for two weeks straight!
Please preorder my book from Amazon, B&N or your favorite independent bookstore and remember that today is the last day to claim FREE immediate access to my creativity online course with over 40 practical videos and PDFs guaranteed to spark a creative breakthrough in you, no matter what you do.
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Thank you for reading this far. Looking forward to hearing from you anytime.
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THE CURATED GROOVE
A selection of interesting articles in business, art and creativity along with some other things worth mentioning:
How sleep may boost creativity
The metaverse will be built on meritocracy not deep pockets
5 things small business owners can do to ignite their creativity
Disruptive Innovation Roadblocks: Three Ways To Overcome Status Quo Bias
10 Works of Art That Evaded the Algorithm This Year
17 pandemic innovations that are here to stay
How to Tap Into Innovation, the Most Essential Part of Your Entrepreneurial Journey
Best art exhibition I saw in NYC last week