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Recent visitors to the high-class Chelsea, New York, venue Kurimanzutto have been treated to a collaborative effort between Patti Smith and the Soundwalk Collective. Over the past ten years, Soundwalk Collective founder Stephan Crasneanscki has been working with the American folk singer to isolate some of the world’s most intriguing modern dystopias and tragedies. Visiting poignant locations that carry stories rich in emotion and human meaning, Stephan and Patti have recorded the scenes and then layered in incredible verse as an artistic response.
At the arts venue, eight short feature films were exhibited alongside sculpture, drawings, and collage to demonstrate some of the planet’s most heart-moving scenarios and stories. Themes of death, chance, and rebirth permeate starkly different aspects of human situation that demonstrate nature holds all the cards and we only have the illusion of holding our own. If we ask politely then nature plays the cards we want and if we’re rude and demanding nature can play a few new ones to teach us a lesson. Will we ever learn? The recent exhibition was called Correspondences and explored the polarity between the romantic culture imagination and the reality at our feet during the pivotal 20th Century. A documentary of failure and a human spirit that endures, real life recordings of ambient surroundings merge with captures of voice, response, and exclamation. Among the several videos presented, Children Of Chernobyl was one of the most talked about. The political situation in Ukraine is in the headlines a lot recently and it’s all one way. There is an entire community of people in that country who have difficult lives and their stories go beyond the battlefield. In the devastated and abandoned areas of Chernobyl, where the nuclear accident made the land radioactive, it’s not only wildlife and rare plants that have made a re-appearance. People, too, have unofficially moved in and begun to live as squatters on the unwanted plot. What draws them there and how do they live in the utter emptiness of the wasteland? This story is explored with a 15-minute video accompanied by Patti Smith who recites poetry as a response to her emotions. You can listen to the soundtrack on YouTube. 
The world is a lot different today than it was in the past. Perhaps it was the invention of the microchip or perhaps it was the advent of mass media communication, people in general are expected to behave and think in ways that are repeatable and predictable. Our systems are created to a regime that suits the goal of its leadership and the people within it are expected to behave in the way provided. Deviation from the routine is often seen as detrimental to the process and with today’s methods and perspectives, it’s often true. Because of this homogenisation of the social construct across the planet, the subtle differences between us are not only more apparent, they are also more problematic. In a system designed for narrow and controlled and therefore most productive action, of course the people who don’t thrive in this kind of order don’t thrive at all.
We are all different and the ways we do things are increasingly more the same. Compatibility across society is better than ever because everything is connected and leads on to its counterparts in the big picture. This has created a specific and guided routine that citizens must follow to get the most out of their lives. In this scenario it becomes ever more obvious than some of us are not best designed or set up to be of benefit to this kind of system. The system is not designed or set up to be of benefit to them, either. This is a problem that has become significant in several social, financial, and political levels of decision- making. Our system was designed for an industrial world, our systems of attainment are based on the same steps taken by the Victorian middle classes when it was the factory and the mill that made you wealthy and prosperous. This is the 21st Century; the factory and the mill are nearly completely automated. The homogenisation of industry was possibly the first aspect of society to be made uniform since the religious upheavals of the middle-ages. Suddenly everyone involved was expected to repeat themselves all day with very little room for intuition and initiative. It was just a matter of making the machine work. Now even this is automated and it’s usually a matter of computer input somewhere in another room. Is it any wonder that our innate character differences are amplified and problematic when we’re all expected to think in the same way? This global automation of craft and manufacture has somewhat shut out the sunlight on the diverse and divergent aspects of the population. In a way, the problems we face today are a real-life example of why human beings are not always a font of wisdom. Our seemingly good ideas are not always as good as they may appear. It takes a diverse and divergent set of minds to truly test out whether something that feels and looks good on the front is the same all the way to the back. We’ve done our best, and although there is the occasional evil genius who doesn’t care, most of humanity has valiantly strived to make a better, fairer, and easier world. The capitalisation of the ideas that make the most in regards to investment return has been the main cause of the narrowing problem. People who don’t naturally grow in the narrow path are not the problem; the path is too narrow. One the main quests for innovative culture in today’s modern world is to expand the path to allow more of us to make the most of who we really are. It will result in much less depression as we can be truer to ourselves and much less stress as we’re not forced to behave in strange and sometimes unnatural ways. Having the ability to identify the harm or the pain-point in any situation is a valuable skill. Executing the process of litigating the response is another. It’s not easy to fix problems with the tools that created it and it’s often that we have to think of novel and inventive ways to manage the real-life problem situation that’s so-far caused by necessary action. In the scope of necessary action, is it the outcome we are looking for. The process of getting there is less important. Being aware of this provides fuel to the methodology of creativity and provides reasons to look beyond the conventional in order to bridge the gap. Innovation is always a team effort, we can have a good eye for problems and an inventive character, but getting something into the world as a valuable instrument of change and empowerment takes more than one person. It takes a community. Our post-industrial setting has shown us that our humanity is valuable for our differences and imagination. The heavy lifting, the repetitive actions, the intricate handiwork, it’s all taken care of. We don’t have value for our ability to do those things like we used to. It’s our thinking power and our decision making that gives us the edge. The modern world makes use of information networks and knowledge silos in order to make the most effective decisions. We, as people, can be sources of information and carriers of information to varying degrees and in doing so, add value to the systems. Identifying the value and placing it in the correct market is also a valuable skill. We can hold, communicate, arrange, and create information in ways that are unique and valuable to open-minded and interested systems. Using the available information with the resources given can be a difficult task. It’s clear that the value must be extracted and purified in a way that benefits the whole system so that the pain-points are always avoided. It’s not a simple matter of adding a few ingredients, everything has to be done according to the way preferred by all parties. Creating new stories and presentations for the information can help others to find new ways of using it and to identify new problems and anomalies that can be addressed, studied, and solved as necessary. The more diverse thinking and new perspectives offered to work with the available information, the more scope and thinking power the rest of us have to progress the whole picture in our own way. Invention and innovation spur from the process of critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. It’s a repeating cycle that is maintained by the constant shifts in the wider world and the changing habits and needs of the people involved, both in the production, service, and use of the procedure or product. Collaboration can be self-guided in which we research what others have had to say and what others have already tried, or it can be group guided in which we draw in real people to work in real time with the feedback and idea forming process. A collection of both styles of collaboration is likely to be the most effective, provided you can rely on the genuine basis of what you’re told. Where people differ in views and versions of what is best for themselves and others, the creative aspect of problem-solving can be applied. Making a path that leads in both directions without leaving the field is an important part of managing diversity and difference. Rather than magnifying situations by forcing adaptation and aesthetic, it’s clear we need to make room for all types and all emotional states before we can successfully benefit them and create cohesion for the future. Critical thinking, communication, cultural understanding, and creative thinking, are all necessary skills for the modern-day as many more jobs are automated each year. Playing a vital role in this network of machinery and technology is about becoming a kind of spider, connected to it all with one mind in the centre giving it purpose. Our webs and networks connect with those of others and that’s where we have to learn to put things together. How do spiders do it? They often build their webs on something stable, like a wall, and it gives the appearance of a blanket. That stable element is our human motivation and desire for positive change. A passionate person is a motivated person, they think about their subject, they study it, they create new ways of looking at the world through the eyes of their subject, and they can go on to invent new ways of putting it into action. In the past, we were often on the edge of hunger and exposure. In these extreme situations, our minds become more attuned to possibility and inventive ideas. Having the ability to nurture this same psychology in today’s comfortable world is a genuine challenge. Being in the position where you don’t need to think of a new thing because life’s pretty good, then you’re not always the one to do the work. If you are truly passionate about the problems of other people then it might tip the balance. If finding the answer to your own problems is just as important as finding the solution to the problems of others then the motivation might be a lot higher. For those of us who thrive in problem solving environments where our ability to discover and think up new ways to get things as they should be, it can be difficult to co-exist with a society which wants to give everything to us and have someone there to pick up the loose ends. Some of us are not mentally suited to being domesticated to this degree and need something else to stimulate their mind and to give them a sense of purpose and meaning. Rather than turning to drugs, which can provide the illusion of these things, becoming a creative person with a desire to make a living from it when you’re not in a position to sustain it indefinitely is possibly the most empowered place to work from. Calm and persistent growth in the directions governed by ethic and feedback can be extremely useful in giving a person a sense of being and purpose as well as creating social cohesion, solving problems, and building communities. Innovation that enables others to become better at their chosen activities and give them easier ways to complete the necessary ones is how we create great social cohesion and more value for the community. Enabling others to produce, contribute, think, experience and report on all kinds of available activities and thought process to enrich and qualitatively build on the available foundation. The more sense we can make from the world, the more we can understand other people and their perspectives, the better place we will be in to prevent social and political catastrophe. Communication and effective story-telling are therefore vital in the process of transmitting information from one set of people to another. The way that different cultures and sets of professionals view various parts of society can differ greatly and before using these as cues to think and feel a certain way, we need to know what they are associated with to them. We can imagine ourselves in their shoes and test to see if something is unfriendly or unkind and we can learn about their background and their group psychology to appreciate the red areas we should avoid or be tactful with. The ability to do this well and to an acceptable level of value is based on our ability to imagine, feel, and empathise. These are human powers and are based on the nervous system. This bodily organ, when working properly, is sensitive to all kinds of problem in the manner of a fear or stress response. What working properly means for the nervous system is when it’s not causing a problem unnecessarily. Obviously, having a nervous system that is not working properly is a traumatic, and sometimes humiliating experience. Critical thinking is not just about finding problems out there in the world that we think we can solve. It’s about looking within and critically assessing our own thoughts and even emotions. Now, we can't control our emotions but we can control how we respond to them. I’m sure most of you have felt angry before but how many of you went out and did something about it? Doing something about the cause of the anger is something else and involves examination of the emotion and process of being triggered to explore the root cause. This can then be calmly addressed, creatively if necessary. It’s often just a matter of identifying an immature or unhelpful thought buried within the grown-up and solid thinking we rely on and usually have. We can apply criticism to all manner of things, both inward and outward. Once we have identified the problem, we must be able to at least try to see a solution as well. If there is no solution, perhaps the problem is just a chore. Will you quit and stop experimenting? Are you too comfortable? Problem solving requires an in-depth and consistent effort to learn about the whole situation. This means we need to account for perspectives and concepts that might sound alien or counter-intuitive to ourselves. Having an open mind and an imaginative area we can play out this information within is imperative to holistic appreciation. Learning about the technical and social side of the situation gives us the best perspective to solve the problem and act upon it with progressive ideas. Collaboration is vital as these systems count for people who require stability and psychological safety. By taking charge of old wisdom and new ideas, we can combine the two and form a working solution to the modern issues and boundaries that prevent us from thriving in our own way. Further reading: Empire of Normality- Neurodiversity and Capitalism Study for Free with FutureLearn. How about -Inclusive Education: Essential Knowledge for Success, Queensland University of Technology
Mental health problems are not fun, not only do you miss out on things that would otherwise be available, you also create extra work for the people around you which can make you feel worse. Being fully able to recognise the unhelpful thoughts and feelings is one thing but navigating them during daily activity is another. Creativity is something that many people gravitate towards who have mental health problems. Is this related to type or is it a chosen source of relief? The answer is probably both. What’s going on and why is it often helpful?
Being creative and having the ability to build upon things to make new things, or change the way a thing is used, is a culture that is learned through activity. We each have varying degrees of creative reach on our own, the imagination works differently for each of us, but with the help of others we can build much bigger pictures from the combined ideas of the group. Allowing people and encouraging them to be a member of these creative groups in problems solving, games playing, and role-play mind experiments, helps people to exercise their creative muscles. A culture of innovation and creativity provokes creative thinking and intelligent appreciation. The creative and innovative mindset has to learn to utilise both progressive and conservative attitudes towards the world and their work. Disruption without value is useless and value without change is stagnation and uncompetitive. A free-thinking and open environment is essential for effective problem solving. Putting restraints on appropriate thought and reasonable methods will only hamper the creative ability of the whole. What is considered reasonable and appropriate can be discussed in terms of harm and emotional relevance. In mental health problems, the appropriate and reasonable limitations may be much wider than usual. One of the biggest fuelling agents of creativity is change. When new problems arise, we have to find new ways of solving them. Often, if things are stable and we have a well-greased operation already, the desire to change and create is less imperative. The world doesn’t really work like this and things around us are always changing. Even people change. When it becomes a problem for us, that’s when we choose to use creativity and innovation the most. If we have a creative job then the problem is always there as we’re responsible for creating new things all the time. Creative and competitive environments require a continual output of new ideas that fit the pattern that people want. It can also be said that one of the biggest causes of mental disorder is change, too. This means that when we’re forced to adapt or think about something in a new way, when something unwanted happens, we are more susceptible to experiencing problems with our mental health. The way the mind completes the grieving process is different for all of us, and the sadness part of it can be prolonged and detrimental. Depression has a tendency to appear even when there is no immediate source of grief. There may be more subliminal and subconscious reasons behind the melancholia that if unattended can mature into long-term depression. Our perceptions of the world and the rules we feel are important may be hiding the causes behind ethical or intellectual boundaries. When we find new and disruptive creative enterprises, we can navigate wider change in a positive and intentionally forward-facing way. Clearly, we might need to accept our human frailty when handling personal loss and changes that require some sort of emotional adjustment however new technology, new politics, new discoveries, they can all help to improve our creative and problem-solving toolkit. Mental health problems often find people thinking in unconventional ways, the depressive or manic mindset often results in peculiar thoughts and strangely magnified feelings. It’s this ability to think and feel in sensitive and far-reaching ways that can make creative projects more relevant, more disruptive, and more valuable. Instead of using the screwdriver to twist your feelings, use it to fix the circuit. It’s been a common-sense association since times before scientific investigation became the go-to place for value in reasoning. People who are mentally unwell tend to be more creative. Perhaps this is because from a sane and well person’s view, the mentally unwell person seems creative with their speech and actions. They might not be deliberately acting creatively. The career choice phenomenon can be studied in modern times with statistics. It can be shown that people who work in creative industries are more likely to express mental health problems of some kind. What kind of mental health problems are there and how to they relate to creativity? Psychologists have for a long time been able to determine two types of mental health disorder that can then be branched into many other varieties. There is the depressive branch and the bipolar or manic branch. Depressive disorders are susceptible to finding problems and flaws, they struggle to see the good side of things and are often drawn to the worst-case scenario. When applied to quality control and finding problems in the everyday things that can be improved upon, this kind of focus is really important. Using the negative eye to pick at the things you’re charged with improving or feel you can improve is a much better use of the energy. Bipolar disorders tend to swing from lethargy and depression to spontaneity and hyperactivity. Racing thoughts and eternal trains of emotion can swing to absolute withdrawal and broken self-esteem. It can be like a balancing act to stay somewhere in the middle and if you end up falling in one direction it’s almost certain the backward motion will be equally as challenging. Finding a purpose for the creative and abstract mental patterns that expresses itself artistically and beneficially is a skill that can be learned. Music, writing, painting, or any other form of projected expression is a useful tool for managing this mental process. It’s not to be stated that work done by the mentally ill is any good for the sake of the illness. A person must be willing to learn their craft and their mental process has to be trained in order to fully utilise the mental energy. Being able to do the things first and then applying the mental energy to the thing is how it can be successful for the benefit of more than simple relief. Getting the value out of the chaos can be therapeutic and empowering instead of traumatic and self-destructive. Even people who don’t have a skill or the ability to learn one can communicate their intuitive ideas in a constructive way when bringing up their thoughts. Putting the information into the world so it can be used in a proper way is a useful and valuable contribution. Remembering to keep things based in reality is a challenge, so learning to accept questions and facts that eddy the flow of mental energy as beneficial is essential. It requires a calm mind which is also an essential skill for managing mental health problems. An uncalm mind in any kind of mental illness can be highly traumatic and even dangerous to the self and others. It’s a sad fact that suicides are also more common in creative people. This is an example of out of the box thinking that if used productively could likely have solved a lot of problems. The issue was the focus on the negative that combines with the desire to resolve a problem. Self-worth is therefore an essential nourishment for all people who struggle with their mental health, not too much and not too little is how to get it right. We often shower ourselves in it or refuse to give any at all in a way of coping with how we feel about ourselves and our place in the world. If we feel we are owed something then we might be more susceptible to overdoing it, leading to being easily pulled down, and if we feel we are not achieving enough we may underdo it, meaning that one more step down is a step into hell. It’s important to keep it in the middle. The prominent form of mental illness in the creative industry is the mania branch. People with manic thoughts and emotions are more likely to express creative ideas because mania is associated with abstract thinking and loosely connected flows of concept. In some cases, manic thoughts can be three or four steps ahead of the reality with assumptions holding the ideas together like cards, and when one is taken away it can be distressing. This means that once again, staying calm and considered is a key skill in both utilising the creative output and maintaining a healthy state of being. A therapy for the condition and a way of using the condition work together to make effective thinking. Manic ideas are often funny and inventively comedic, and this has been shown again and again with various comedians who openly struggle with mental health problems. The emotional reward that the manic idea creates is the impulse that creates a feedback loop which can be dangerous if left unchecked. However, if used properly, it can be used to create engaging stories and exciting new concepts that can be highly valuable to the wider world. It has been shown that those of us who excel at language and music are the ones who are more likely to express mental health problems later in life. These subjects point towards a sense of inner awareness that might not be available for others. The ability to find and use words and the ability to appreciate and academicise the subject of music is a pointer to a depth of inner awareness that goes beyond the initial primary thoughts and feelings that we usually have. Rumination and deep thought are more likely to be associated with mental health, possibly because those who are able to express it are the ones who do and those without those skills find it more difficult to express or perhaps, they simply don’t find the problem at the same rate. The same symptoms of mental health problems, when used professionally and with mindfulness, can be useful. Problem finding, problem solving, fresh ideas, cheaper methods, and risk taking are all highly sought after skills in the creative industry and beyond. Even a shopkeeper needs those skills as they create communities and loyalty. Being a person with the type of personality that is likely to have mental health problems means that a creative output might be a great way of exercising those parts of you that need work. Finding appropriate and reasonable ways to put your thoughts and feelings into the world that can benefit other people is a great way of finding worth in the things that might otherwise be problematic. Learning creative skills is a brilliant way of training the mind to learn coping mechanisms and safe routes for expression. You might even benefit others with what you produce. The better you get the more this will be the case. The well person with the mental capability to think and feel abstractly with limitless range is a true asset to any organisation or cause. So, it is in the interests of all to stay well and learn to appreciate who you are by seeing the good side of what your mind finds natural and easy. If you struggle with mental health, you don’t need another person to tell you about it. Looking for mental health problems when there are none is a pointless activity, look for the skills you need to succeed creatively instead. Further reading: Robert Lowell, Setting the River on Fire: A Study of Genius, Mania, and Character Study for free with FutureLearn - How about Understanding Anxiety, Depression and CBT, University of Reading
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CategoriesAuthorAlternative Fruit by Rowan B. Colver  
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April 2025
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