Reimagining innovation in the arts.

by Startacus Admin

Reimagining Innovation in The Arts

At Startacus we have long been convinced of the interdependence which exists between enterprise and the arts. Creativity is after all the very lifeblood of innovative entrepreneurship. It is the force that drives progress in commerce and technology, and allows ambitious and impassioned individuals to find new and lucrative ways of doing things.

Member of the Startacus community Bhavani Espanthi, understands this better than most. At the end of September she will be hosting an Open Sourced Talk for Digital Design Weekend 2015 at The V&A  which will discuss how innovation thrives within the creative industries.

Bhavani gives us an overview of the issues involved.

“The Arts has gone through dramatic shifts in recent years, from artists embracing digital technology to engaging in the wider sciences. The notion of bio-artists and thought provoking installations certainly push the viewer to be a part of the artwork much more than in the past. One could argue the artist's job is to innovate, daily. I mean what’s an artwork if not innovative? Surely, recreating the same thing with the same agenda has never been an artist's’ priority.

So how do you reimagine innovation in an age saturated by digital intervention within the Arts?

That’s what Designing Innovation is all about, interestingly to innovate comes from the Latin innovatus meaning ‘to introduce as new’. Perhaps the idea of innovation isn’t about coming up with something new at all but to introduce something in a new light? This is only possible when we bring people together, people who would ordinarily not find themselves in a conversation with each other. Some of the biggest startups of our times were built by putting two old concepts together and turning that into a new one; Uber, Instagram etc.

What can the arts learn from emerging startups and vice versa? When we think of startups, our minds automatically turn to Silicon Valley or the tech world in general but let’s pause for a second and revision your practice as an artist or any creative venture as a startup. Looking at innovation from the lens of the startup world by using creative processes will lead us towards curious paths.

1. What does innovation mean to you?
2. Share an example of an arts startup you think we should know about
3. Creating vs execution; which one's harder?
4. What are the defining factors of the startup culture?
5. When was the last time you had an insight?

It’s not something we can do on our own so we’re asking you to tell us how you approach ideas, innovation and out of the blue brilliance in your everyday life. You could be a designer, CEO, startup founder, an artist, writer or just about anyone who believes the startup world and the arts need to get talking! Tweet with your thoughts #DDWoTalk so we can take these steps to reimagining what it means to innovate in the Arts and more importantly, come up with new ways of working that supports the growth of innovative thinking.

You can also come talk to us in person at The Digital Design Festival during The London Design Festival hosted at The V&A where we’ll be compiling all the snippets you provide us with your tweets into a handy guide that anyone can download and begin implementing.

Come, reimagine what it means to innovate!”

Thanks for sharing Bhavani!

Check out her event here or why not follow her on Twitter.

Or, take a look at some of these other creativity rekated posts;

Rainy Day Street Art
The People's Republic of Creativity
Music Relief, Transforming Lives Through Creativity

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Published on: 15th September 2015