Webinar

Maxim - (noun), a short, pithy statement expressing a general truth or rule of conduct: the maxim that actions speak louder than words.

Revolution - (noun) a drastic and far-reaching change in the ways of thinking and creating.

In order to survive the recession and dramatic changes in commercial arts, there must be a revolution. And I believe the revolution must be about creating itself. If not now, when? To get us thinking and creating in new ways, I present the first dozen maxims meant to stir the creative soup.

Perhaps the greatest newspapers are from outer space. What if you were filing photographs to some supreme photo editor who wants to understand Earthlings and has a low tolerance for bullshit?

You call yourself a photographer. Photography is not a sedentary occupation. Stand up. Grab your camera. Let them have it!

• What sounds do your photographs make?
• Stand up and rap out loud in front of a mirror or video camera.
• Make the invisible visible.
• Haunt independent bookstores.
• Allow yourself dazzling flight - flights of outrageous imagination.
• Be a songbird; not a parrot.
• Make a new photograph of all of today's experiences.
• If there is nothing to shoot, shoot it.
• Make a photograph of common household objects. While you are at it, clean the cabinet under the kitchen sink.
• Spend a day making photographs only in your mind's eye. Shutter less pictures stored in the workflow of your brain. Write a description of each non-photograph.

My intention of presenting this is the desire to help you place an emphasis on a creative revolution as a means to growth and survival in this changing economy. Maxims are meant to stir the soup. In order to do this, I created statements that I hope will help you and other commercial artists begin to think in a different way; to look back from the future; to develop new scenarios; to dream again. This economy has discouraged people from dreaming. This webinar is about heart work. It is about doing things that are beyond the expected. Join the ride with Ian. Viva creativity.

About Ian

Ian Summers has been a lot of things: art director, creative director, painter, poet, investigative journalist, think tank operator, teacher, and publisher, to name a few. Ian was Creative Director for The Black Book, Leber Katz Partners, and Random House and has taught at Fashion Institute of Technology, Parsons School of Design, and New School for Social Research. He has lectured on creativity at many colleges, including Syracuse University, UCLA, and The Portfolio Center. He has written 14 books and he has had three solo shows of his paintings in the last 2 years.