WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION

Our creativity is central to who we are. It is not only an expression of individuality but also a way of vitalizing our essence and deepening our connection to the world. Since life is not static, our creativity must likewise remain in a dynamic state of emergence.

At times, however, we may find ourselves working in rigid or programmatic ways. Using a clear and relatable approach, Creating Beyond Convention is designed to give each participant a practical set of tools—either to enliven the path they are already on or to launch them in an exciting new direction.

Participants will be introduced to a range of contemporary artists, photographers, writers, filmmakers, and musicians. We will examine the ideas, methods, and strategies they use to propel their work in unconventional directions. The goal of this workshop is to cultivate out-of-the-box creative approaches that act as powerful accelerators in both art and life.

Each week will focus on a specific approach and will include a slide presentation, a guided assignment, a group discussion, and a review of participants’ work.

Course Structure:

1. Introduction

The first week of the course will serve as an introduction—a chance to share our work and discuss areas where we may feel stuck or destinations we’re finding difficult to reach. We will take an overview of the class—its structure, themes, bibliography, and goals.

2. Breaking the Rules (An Introduction to the Trickster)
John Baldessari, Beat Takeshi, Georges Perec

In the second week, we will be introduced to the Trickster—a mythological archetype found in cultures throughout the world. Artists are natural tricksters, and we’ll examine three who excel at breaking conventions through acts of playful subversion.

3. Chance Encounters
Philip-Lorca diCorcia, John Cage, Sophie Calle

Sometimes the unexpected path is the most fruitful. In the third week, we’ll explore how elements of chance, spontaneity, and improvisation can serve as powerful catalysts for creative discovery.

4. Variations on a Theme
Claude Monet, Ed Ruscha, Sol LeWitt, Erin Dykeman

In the fourth week of the course, we’ll examine how working in series and sequences can generate ideas greater than the sum of their parts.

5. Fact and Fiction
Jorge Luis Borges, Marcel Broodthaers, William Kentridge

The blurring of boundaries—especially those separating the world of reality from the world of make-believe—creates a third space: a liminal zone that speaks more eloquently about the nature of both without being either. In the fifth week, we will take a deep dive into the work of artists whose creativity resides in the interstice between fact and fiction.

6. Failure
William Blake, Samuel Beckett, Gordon Matta-Clark, Félix González-Torres

Mark Twain once said, “Good decisions come from experience; experience comes from bad decisions.” In the sixth week, we will examine failure not as defeat but as a valuable source of knowledge, perspective, and wisdom.

7. Memory
Milan Kundera, Joshua Oppenheimer, Marjan Teeuwen

Memory is not a perfect record—it is fallible and fragile, vulnerable to the forces of trauma and time. In the seventh week, we will look at artists who examine memory as a performative act—one that has the power to reshape reality for both individuals and societies.

8. Practical Jokes
Maurizio Cattelan, Martin Kippenberger, Mika Rottenberg

Babies learn to “tell” jokes before they learn to speak. With this in mind, one could argue that humor is our most primal form of communication. In the eighth week, we will look at artists who use humor to subvert cultural values and expose the absurdity, contradiction, and hypocrisy behind the many rules that govern our lives.

9. Side Project as Personal Sandbox
David Lynch, Gabriel Orozco, Jim Shaw

Developing a side project as a creative tool can be both an end in itself and a powerful method for artistic growth. In the ninth week, we’ll discover that lowering the stakes and working on the periphery is not an act of frivolity but an essential component of creative integration.

10. Conclusion: Integration and Reflection

The final week of the class will be devoted to synthesis. We will summarize the material, revisit our projects, and share insights from our collective experience. Together, we’ll explore ways to integrate Trickster principles into long-term projects and reflect on how the ideas we’ve explored might reshape and transform our creative practices—and even our personal outlook—beyond the scope of our work.