Connecting Creative Culture (TEDxYouth@SG)

Being a Producer & Video Director in the last decade, I’ve seen how creativity triggers discomfort. I firmly believe that integrating the creative thinking process into any process or organization adds value and creates unique experiences…Creativity allows us to do insanely great things… What do we want to be remembered for?

The creative process is one that includes trial and error, observes the world, identifies the patterns of behavior, generates ideas, gets feed-back, repeats the process and keeps on refining it. Being creative is hard work. Many people believe creativity comes in a sudden moment of insight and that this “magical” burst of an idea is a different from our everyday thinking. But research has shown that when you’re creative, your brain is using the same mental building blocks you use every day.

When we take time off from working on a problem, we change what we’re doing and that can activate different areas of our brain.Change becomes the catalyst for creativity.I could be in a Bathtub, on the Bed or travelling on a Bus… many times while walking along the Beach, ideas have famously and suddenly emerged. The creative process happens not with one brilliant flash but in a chain reaction of many tiny sparks while executing an idea.

Samuel Pierpont Langley, a leading government-funded scientist, launched his flying machine on Dec. 8, 1903, but it plummeted into the river. 9 days later, the Wright brothers got the first plane off the ground. Why did they succeed when a famous scientist failed? Langley hired other people to execute his concept while the Wrights’ were fixing problems like wing shape and wing warping, each adjustment involved a small spark of insight that led to others… It’s amazing because anyone can take photos with their phone today. This picture was taken by my iPhone.

Photography and filmmaking became my passion. It never fails to inspire me. Creating shots gives me the strength to keep going on. It is all about capturing the moment from behind the lenses … and sharing them with others. I began shooting everything! Food, people, places, buildings, objects, establishments… I realized it is about human truth – and that truth is about perception of reality:

Let’s take the number 1 consumer brand in the world today: Coke Cola!!!
Coke in supermarket/wholesaler – Sells for $0.80
Coke in MacDonnell – Sells for $1.80
Coke in café – Sells for $3.00
Coke in Hotel – Sells for $5.00
So what is the difference? It is in the perceived value… in reality; the contents are similar but the value is different! VALUE of reality bears no relation to cost.So when you connect to culture using your creativity – it is LIMITLESS!

My creative process starts with problem solving using creative briefs & mind mapping. Producers that work in just one medium are limiting themselves. What makes any project great is consistency – one that has all elements of aesthetics, clear organized information and interactivity. What is this project? What’s the task at hand? Why are we doing it? What is the problem or opportunity? Who is it really for? And why should they care? Where and how will it be used? When? What value can we add? Who will become engaged with it directly and indirectly? How will it be remembered and retold? It is about sharing ideas, images & Stories. Connecting the dots of our independence day with the audience, telling the Singapore story from the lens, angle and new perspective.

There’s an importance of connecting with a purpose:
 Those who can collaborate on a constant stream of always improving products, communication, services, systems and experience for customers who didn’t know they needed it, but will spend a premium when they see the need. Connecting big corporations (Sony) to entrepreneurs and companies, letting them try out new equipment that best fit their businesses. Thus doing product reviews became a win-win situation for me.

So the key is: collaboration. Looking at what others in your field are doing. Brainstorm with people in different fields. Culture has a value & collaboration releases that creativity. Our influences then makes an impact back to our culture. Your productivity in your life depends on how you place the value on what you do to help others succeed. Collaborating with House Rabbits Society of Singapore (HRSS) is one example of helping abandoned rabbits find responsible foster parents.

Take risks, and expect to make lots of mistakes, because creativity is a numbers game. Work hard… Do what you love, because creative breakthroughs take years. Ideas don’t magically appear in your head from nowhere. It is not an arty fancy thing. Ideas always build on what actions that came before. So did ideas come first or action? Think about it… These are some results of my collaborations (actions) – workshops, projects, overseas trip..

Main part of my work of what I’m currently doing is about preservation. Agencies today are experimenting the “Big Table” collaboration with development teams to synergize ideas and add value to their product and services. On your left: Marina Bay in the 1980s, currently documentation is being done to preserve the past and enhance our ever changing landscape. These works are a collaboration between the agencies of The National Parks & Heritage Board.

Take that coke bottle which I bought in 1995 in a small back alley shop in Paris has moved from 15 francs to another realm. It is called the realm of the priceless… It has become an object of sentimental value to me… it reminded me of: The friendships, hard work, doing the things I love, the creative breakthroughs, developing a network of colleagues… Forget those romantic myths that creativity is all about being artsy and having gifted talents. If you are waiting for that one full-blown moment of inspiration, you may never start working on what you might someday create… So discover the wonders of connecting creativity & culture in everything that you do today!