Create Week

“Every human being is an artist”. This is a quote from the German artist, philosopher and environmentalist Joseph Beuys from a lecture he delivered in 1973. What I understand this to mean is that every human is a creative being, can thus understand and reflect the world, and craft an artistic vision on their own terms.

Interestingly, Beuys worked across a wide variety of fields – painting, sculpture, but also environmental art (his 7,000 Oaks project, which involved planting – you guessed it – 7,000 oak trees). He also has a connection to Edinburgh, famously visiting the Edinburgh College of Art in 1970.

Nearly 40 years on from his death, this eclectic vision of art is now commonplace. It is rare nowadays for people working as artists to only pursue one medium (e.g painting) – think of the work of Tracey Emin, or the recent winner of the 2024 Turner Prize, Glasgow artist Jasleen Kaur.

Likewise, social media platforms – especially video streaming platforms such as Youtube and Tiktok – are full of creators doing their thing, with the freedom to upload what they like, without gatekeeping.

Of course, being creative is not just confined to what is thought of as Art and Culture (note the capital letters!). In 2005, the critic and Oxford don John Carey wrote a book called What Good Are The Arts? In it, he argues against the elitism of ‘High Art’, and advocates for the valuing of pursuits of everyday creativity and technical skill: things like gardening, woodwork, and knitting. These are, of course, creative activities that require dedication and time. And anyone who has watched Interior Design Masters will know, designing and planning a room is something that requires a hell of a lot of creativity, focus and skill. Perhaps more importantly than anything else, it can really lift our spirits.

As we are now in Create Week, do something that scratches that creative itch: write a poem (it can even be something as simple as capturing a single image, like William Carlos Williams does here). Make sounds on your laptop with GarageBand. Take a photo of the environment around you, and draw a sketch. Make a story, or, like me, write a blog post.

By Kieran Curran

Photo by russn_fckr

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