Creative Art learning thinking communicating process

Structure Is Everywhere

As it has already been mentioned, all things in life have a structure. Interestingly, many of these structures are made up of a unique relationship of similar parts or elements. But it is the particular relationship of these parts and elements between one another that determine what function these parts and elements will play in a relationship and what effect they will have upon us. It is not any one part or element that defines a structure or what it achieves. It is the interaction of these parts or elements between one another that defines its structure and what functions it will perform and what end results it will ultimately achieve.

An image is a structure. In fact, an image can either be a visual, or a non visual structure. A musical image is basically a non visual structure of musical notes, chords, rhythms and beats etc. produced by a musical instrument of one kind or another. The lyrics or words accompanying a musical piece, on the other hand, are verbal, linear structural aspects of music. Visual images, on the other hand, are made up of their particular patterns of shape, color, value and line information on paper, film, canvas, video tape, dvd, and other surfaces by means of various visual/tactile media such as ink, paint, clay, camera, print and printers, computers etc.

A painting is a structure. The structure of a painting is a relationship of visual patterns of line, value, color, size, value and texture information of an visual image produced by a visual/tactile painting medium such as oil, acrylic or watercolor paint etc. It is the relationship of these visual and tactile elements that forms the structure of a painting. The subject of this painting can be an image of a tree or a person or an abstract composition, for example, but it is the painting medium itself that actually creates this image on a selected support surface of one kind or another. The visual image of a Rembrandt painting, for example, is a visual/tactile structure that he created with the visual/tactile material of his paints and brushes. The paint and canvas that went into making this painting has little monetary value in relation to that of the structure of his painting which may be worth millions of dollars. It is, thus, the structure that Rembrandt gave to the paints and canvas that creates its real meaning and value of this painting.

A business is a structure. It too, is a structure of many parts. A business involves the people that create and run the business, the customers of the business, the supply train of services that provide the needed supplies that support the business. It is a structure that involves finances, equipment, licenses and a place or places in which to do business. There are many other aspects of a business structure, such as the way it interacts within the community in which it operates. Again, it is the relationship between all these elements that determines what kind of business it is and how well it succeeds.

A system is a structure. A computer operating system, for example is a structure or language based upon two simple elements- ones and zeros-(1's and 0's). It is the particular relationships of these ones and zeros that determines what functions a computer systems will perform and how well it will perform these functions. There are many layers of functions within this system, each of which operates with its own set of ones and zeros, but which is related to the whole of the larger system. Some of these subprograms serve to compute numerical functions, perform word processing, help control inventories or any number of other functions.

In creating new viable structures in our selected endeavors, it is “information” of the properties of our different media that makes it possible for us to shape new viable structures in our living and working situations. In essence then, it is more the quality of the information we gain from working with these media and materials that will enable us to succeed in our endeavors, than it is the quality of the media and materials themselves. Gaining access to the “right” information of our media and situations, thus, is the key factor involved in developing the viable structures and forms of our lives and times. This key factor of this unique creative process is the play factor.

If we are to achieve our desired ends, we need to gather relevant information of the media involved in our endeavors, whether they may be concrete, paper, silk, steel, chemicals, words or whatever. Working and creating in any medium or material, therefore, always involves a good deal of information processing, whether or not we realize it.

A friendship is a structure. Friendship is a relationship between two or more people. To have a friend, is to be a friend. People have their our own individual patterns of behavior that make them what they are. These patterns of behavior make up their personal structures. Our friends have their own patterns of behavior and we have our own patterns of behavior. Being a friend requires that we understand these differences and allow and even encourage our friends, to be themselves. Being a friend is not trying to make everyone else behave the same way we do, which is the way most of us relate to one another. Whereas, if we had a better understanding of the idea of pattern and structure in life, we would appreciate the differences in people and things and not try to make them into something they are not. The more perceptive we become, the better able we would be at relating and working with one another as we are and with the things of our world. This would allow everyone to be more creative and to be more themselves in their different relationships and endeavors.

An identity is a structure. Our identities are composites of all our diverse personal characteristics. They make us what we are. These patterns come in many sizes and shapes. Some of us are outgoing, while others are shy and withdrawn. And there are a lot of different patterns of behavior, some of which we can control better than others. By learning to play these patterns and traits against one another by means of contrast and comparison techniques, we can learn more about these behavior patterns and can exert some control over them in our lives. We must first be perceptive enough to be able to identify these characteristics and patterns and then to refine and shape them into more effective entities.

Ordinary Acts, Extraordinary Outcomes* is a phrase that expresses in simple but very powerful terms an underlying principle of The Minds Alive approach to learning. This approach is a unique creative process by which simple elements are compounded into more complex, powerful structures or forms in achieving ever greater end results. More specifically, it is a process by which ordinary acts or simple elements are shaped into outstanding outcomes an empowering process that falls well within the range of all but the most severely handicapped individuals. What this means, at least to me, is that our success in life is not so much a matter of having extraordinary abilities but it is more a matter of using our ordinary abilities in extraordinary ways. It means that all of us have the built-in capacity to achieve outstanding accomplishments and to make a “real” difference in this world. It is part of the fundamental structure of our bodies and minds. The reasons why more of us today don't take better advantage of this capacity is that, for one thing, we don't truly realize that we were born with the natural potential for achieving outstanding outcomes. And, for another thing, we don't know how to focus this potential within the significant, viable forms of our ever changing present. The problem in this regard, as I see it, is that the realization of our greater potential not only requires a positive belief in ourselves, it requires the development of perceptual and focusing skills to complement the other skills we are formally taught in our culture.

*Ordinary Acts, Extraordinary Outcomes is the title of a book by Betsy Sanders.