It could be doing jumping jacks in front of the bathroom mirror, gluing Tic Tacs to a streetlight or removing all of the stickers from your roommate’s Rubik’s Cube. It doesn’t matter.
Everyone expresses their creativity in a different way. That’s why it’s so refreshing and personal.
We spoke to some successful and inspiring Canadians who make us laugh, cry, gag, dress better and think more, to find out how they keep the creative juices flowing while keeping it real.
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How do you get inspired?____________________
Every month, we’ll profile people from across the country who make us sit back and say “wow.”
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Tom Green, comedian and overall crazy dude, is a prolific and thoughtful artist. From his pioneering shock-comedy to his newly released rap CD, Prepare for Impact, and his blog madness (www.tomgreen.com), he's always on the go. We asked him about what inspires him the most right now. “I get most inspired by a completely clean canvas as far as a completely new idea. ... The idea of the Internet is really interesting. To be involved in a medium in its infancy is really exciting for me. Now, TV's gotten so structured and formatted that it's hard to go in and break new ground; with the Internet, you can. That's really inspiring to me. The unfiltered part of it is what's cool ... you're not constrained by anything like a deadline, which can sort of block you. For me, (the blog) is something I enjoy personally. It's never as good when I'm sort of obligated to be creative." |
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Floria Sigismondi makes music come alive with her dreamlike videos and vivid imagination. We asked this stunning Toronto artist about how she continues to ooze originality and what she does to stay inspired. “I think life inspires me — what's going on in the world, things that frustrate me, the political climate we live in. I travel a lot, so I'm always seeing new things. When I'm doing music videos, I listen to the song over and over again until I don't hear it anymore, until the images just come to me. I'm a receptacle, open to images coming in and I try not to question them. I just have faith in the idea. I enjoy coming up with ideas for film. I enjoy the process and all the things involved. My favourite part is scouting for location.” |
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Chris Staples and Ian grais make imaginative and hip ad campaigns. As two of the creative minds at Rethink Communications, an edgy advertising shop in Vancouver, they break new ground in advertising campaigns — such as with the Dose ads — on deadline and often win awards. How do they stay creative? CS: “I'm a media junky, so I like to get as much media saturation as I can. I try to watch as many TV shows as I can — like 10 at once —and I probably read about 30 to 40 magazines a week. I have a diet extremely high in saturated media.” |
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‘I try to write everything down in small notebooks’ IG: “A lot of creativity for me happens because I'm always following my curiosity. I try to write everything down in small notebooks. I have hundreds of them. If I'm blocked, I try to think of something differently. I try to take a Zen approach.” |
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Tanya Tagaq Gillis, 31, a throat singer from Nunavut, says her music is a part of her that needs to get out. “It's like I have legs, so I walk,” she says. Tagaq Gillis, who has toured with Björk, says her daughter, Naya, 2, constantly inspires her, as does the North. “When I perform, I get to be Mr. Hyde and be a part of myself that I can't be in a normal day. It breaks down society for me and I get to be really free. My whole heart is in Nunavut. My inspiration comes from home. It's all about the North. People love it or hate it. I try to spend at least six months a year there. It envelopes me completely. I can't work on my music unless I'm at home in Nunavut but I can perform it anywhere. Tagaq Gillis performs in Vancouver on Jan. 28 at the Chan Centre and in Calgary on Jan. 29 at the High Performance Rodeo. |
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Adam Brodie is a funny guy with a whole lot of talent. In between directing music videos and making short films, he is one half of the Knock Knock comedy troupe in Toronto (the other half is Dave Derewlany). We asked him to tell us how he stays creative. “If I'm feeling pent up, I'll go to the east side or the rundown part of Toronto and challenge people to a game of two-on-two basketball to free my mind. If I can get really good rebounds, I can write a script, just like that. Also, I like to watch America's Funniest Home Videos: Uncensored. It's all real. I try to make things funnier than that.” |
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Amanda Dunsmuir, 32, has changed the way Canadian women chill out. As head designer in Vancouver for Aritzia's in-house casual label, T n' A, she is the force behind the sexy sweatpants and cuddly hoodies hipsters crave. Her work atmosphere and personal style help charge her creative juices, she says. “I have to say that my office is inspirational because I sit in front of this humongous window that overlooks the North Shore mountains and the ocean. It's beautiful and that's really important to me. I don't think I could work in a box. (Designing clothes) has never been a struggle for me. I think you must have creativity in there but to reach it, you need to open up to it and not be afraid of what people think.” |
Dose.ca homepage photograph by Floria Sigismondi taken from the book, Immune. Published by Die Gestalten Verlag, Berlin 2006.
© (c) CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc.
