This is the second in a series of posts exploring the connection between creativity and our senses.

The brain is a brilliant interpreter. When the eye transmits data, the brain instantly scans a multitude of visual assumptions it has gathered over a lifetime and makes an identification. That’s why, when you go to the supermarket for bananas, you don’t have to wait for the brain to sort out whether the item before you is a tomato, banana, or zucchini.

It’s Tricky

The brain’s efficiency can be a nuisance, however, for the artist facing a creative challenge. As you stare at your banana/challenge and ask the creative question, “What else could it be?” your brain keeps answering, “It’s a banana.”

What tool do we possess for seeing beyond the obvious? We trick our brain out of what it thinks it knows.

The Eyes of a Child

Children often aren’t as interested with what they are seeing as they are with how many different ways they can see it.

So they squint to make things blurry. Peek from between their fingers to change the boundaries of what they see. Look through one eye, then the other. Waggle their heads. Hang from a tree limb. Peer through water.

Give yourself permission to play with sight. Forget about what you need to accomplish. Forget about trying to create. Play is the path to new vision.

A Fresh View

Wouldn’t you love to know what kind of play led to these examples of creative seeing?

They inspired our creative team to invade a nearby farmer’s market for some food play of our own. Watch what happened. And then let our play inspire your play.