Explore

Libraries feature highly in my creative journey. When I started Uni I visited the Wellington library and the City Gallery next door almost weekly. When I moved to Auckland the Elam Fine arts Library and Auckland University Architecture library were integral to my design practise. Most recently the Nola Miller Library at Toi Whakaari in Wellington has become vital to my thinking and practise around design.

What is it about libraries that are so conducive to the way I create and learn? Surely the Internet is the only resource I need? It's all there on line. Yes it is but there is something that isn't there on line. A library allows me to connect and more importantly to connect randomly. As I walk down aisles I see books I wasn't looking for. They find me. A cover grabs my attention and I investigate. In a library my mind is activated to explore.

I recently purchased a Waccom pen on amazon to use with my drawing tablet. This is a piece of drawing tech I use for digital paintings.  The thing is now I get updates from amazon of technology they think I will be interested in.  The algorithms at Amazon and Goggle are working out what will interest me. The problem with this is that I'm not interested in more technology of this sort. The failing of this approach is that I have no idea what I'm interested in until I find it.

No website or server will ever understand me enough to do my exploration for me. For the Internet to be a useful creative tool I have to be the active member. Not the algorithm. I have to be critical of what I read and find information that is appropriate. I have to find connections and dig deeper. It is crucial that I stay open to the random opportunity. I have to stay alive to the connections that I don't yet appreciate nor understand.

In the end the person alone is the greatest tool in researching and developing a craft. Not a search engine, site or for that matter even the libraries I so cherish. When exploring is approached this way it opens exploration up to every unknown corner rather than those most familiar to us. It seems obvious of course but when so much of the media we consume and utilise is doing the exploring for us it becomes increasingly easy to become a passive member in the journey rather than an active one.