okay since I was a little girl I always
knew I wanted to be an artist
ever since my elementary school teacher
she gave us the assignment to draw our
favorite animal on a piece of paper and
I chose to draw a dog and my
three-year-old self
knew from that very moment from looking
at that beautiful brown-eyed puppy in
front of me from remembering that my mom
studied fashion that I was born and
destined to be putting beautiful things
to paper for the rest of my life so when
that same teacher came to my desk and I
was ready for my much deserved praise
and she said to me honey a chocolate
chip cookie is not an animal well let’s
just say in that very moment I knew I
would never be an artist so I must
confess I am NOT an artist but over the
past few years I’ve been lucky enough to
spend my time around artists artists
like moe vana Chen who is pictured here
in the top left a Hong Kong artist who
travels the world knitting conversations
out of maps to learn about global
communities and how we’re all connected
artists like Simon birch who’s in
contemporary artists and known for his
moving portrait an artist like Jon
friends and in the middle here who draws
each line with every breath he takes and
I noticed that every artist has
something in common
I’ve been able to realize that they
think a certain way they create a
certain way and they question a certain
way the artistic mindset the artists
mindset is so incredibly unique but in
realizing the artists mindset I’ve
noticed that we currently live in a
creative paradox six years ago I chose
to leave my home in New York to study at
the University of Hong Kong firstly
everyone thought I was absolutely absurd
for leaving America to study in Asia but
then when I chose to major in
comparative literature with a minor in
fine art and business all hell broke
loose I was questioned weekly you know
what is why is that such a weird thing
that you do business or it just doesn’t
make sense
this is such a weird combo why did you
choose to do that well to me the Y was
obvious and it wasn’t weird at all I
loved you know art and museums and
paintings and seeing sculptures but on
the other hand I also loved the idea of
starting my own business
of human resources and just a little bit
of accounting so that leads me back to
this creative paradox I’d like you to
think back to yourself when was the last
time that you are asked to be creative
to innovate to think out of the box you
know in these different everyday
mindsets were questions and we’re called
upon to be innovative and spark true
ideas so we might not all be
artistically inclined and that’s okay
but what’s not okay is for us to ignore
the artists mindset and the creations
that create in a world that so
ferociously craves innovation ideas and
growth every single second so what can
ask non artistic humans do do we take a
drawing class do we go to the theatre
perhaps you ballet I suggest that we can
adopt this artists mindset to try and
learn from it to observe the art to
create and see where their ideas come
from where their inspiration stands from
about a year ago is working with a
start-up named gourmet we were tasked to
help an international insurance company
reach its innovation targets the company
had flown about 30 of its regional
managers to Hong Kong and tasked us to
create an event that would help spark
innovation I suggested an art jamming
session now you can imagine the lead
manager thought it was a little bit out
of my mind you know how can you ask a
bunch of insurance managers to paint but
luckily he was open enough and did let
me you know experiment with his team so
I brought in two very famous Hong Kong
street artists gave them all paint
markers and a white wooden plank each of
the teams were tasked to create and the
only example they were given was to mark
something that was creative to paint
what crossed their mind when they
thought of insurance again this might be
a very difficult task I know for me it
would be so by the end of the evening
the lead manager had asked each of the
teams to take their works of art to the
streets of Wan Chai and to sell those
paintings so you can see that while
these wooden planks might not be
beautiful works of art
they were pieces that each of the teams
created on their own and what resulted
was the teams had a true idea of
innovation they created something that
they built with their own hands in an
environment that had completely no
inhibitions they were able to create and
sell something that they related to and
in that very moment they were able to
find new ways to sell things that they
had never sold before true innovation
for an insurance agency so artists don’t
always create with market research and
in that moment the insurance agents
didn’t either so step one of the artist
mindset is to create with what you have
and perhaps not with all the evidence
that you may need for the second part of
the artist mindset I look to Japanese
artists Yayoi Kusama now many of you
might know of her for those of you who
don’t
she’s favorite very famous for her polka
dot works she has an obsession with
polka dots but the stemming the
origination of those polka dots come
from her troubles and hallucinations
most famously she was that she spent
decades in a psychiatric institution so
what can she teach us she sees the world
in polka dots more specifically this is
how she sees Mount Fuji so through her
new perspective what she’s able to teach
us is that not everyone sees the world
in black and white the person sitting
next to you might see the world
completely different than you might see
it yourself and everyone sees different
colors different gray areas and through
her reframing of her medical diagnosis
she was able to gain a new perspective
that new perspective challenges us every
day it challenged us to see the world
from our clients from our customers from
our patients from everyone around us and
who were trying to influence help or
create this work is called when life
boundlessly flares to the universe so
step two in adopting the artists mindset
is that you should sorry that you should
look at the world with a different
perspective and perhaps question the
things around you so I hope that when
looking at this work when life
boundlessly flares to the universe you
let those new perspective
boundlessly flair to your own universe
now part three of the artist mindset I
look to my previous boss and mentor
Simon birch now much like Kusama Simon
birch struggled with cancer and he told
us about how just on this very TEDx
stage actually how his medical diagnosis
helped him become the artist that he is
today but what I’d like to focus on
instead is his innate nature to
collaborate a few years ago Simon and I
were walking the Occupy central and the
umbrella movement and then Simon is
quite a famous Hong Kong artists so
you’re walking the street and a young
student passed by and said I got it
so then Simon turned around and said hi
what’s your name and what Simon did in
that very moment showed his true nature
of choosing to collaborate with the
community and artistic community around
him no matter how unexperienced or
experienced you are
he asked the students name he asked
their address the artist student said
that he was so inspired by Simon that
Simon inspired him to become an artist
himself but unfortunately he couldn’t
afford paint he couldn’t afford canvases
so Simon asked me to take his address to
ship him as much paint and as much
canvases as he needed and once that
student was done with that artwork to
send it back to Simon studio to see how
we can work with it and half a man could
get inspired by it
so that showed Simon’s true nature to
collaborate so when adopting the artists
perspective I hope that you can remember
to collaborate to communicate and
perhaps not to compete all the time
Simon just recently opened the 14th
Factory in LA it’s an enormous project
150,000 square feet were over 10 artists
collaborate and there’s over 14
different installations Simon has
claimed international acclaim with this
project something that might have been a
lot more difficult for himself had he
done it all alone similarly there’s an
undeniable beauty that comes across when
over 230 galleries gather in Hong Kong
every year for Art Basel each and every
month so
– actually with what you have to change
your perspective and to collaborate
these are just a few observations that
I’ve made over a very brief career and I
hope that you can somehow make your own
I challenge you to go to a museum to go
to a gallery to go to the class of your
daughter who might think she’s an an
artist one day because artists create
and when they create it’s not always
rational logical or linear rather it’s
more often than not sporadic
different and communal and when they
create it’s really up to us to learn
from these creations to look at what
they’re creating to adopt their mindset
and turn it into practical creativity
for us to use in our daily lives so once
again I challenge you to go to a gallery
to visit your friend who might have an
artist studio on the south side of Hong
Kong to visit a gallery or even to
explore Art Basel one more time on your
own without any inhibitions because true
creativity innovation and seeds of
growth all products of the artist
mindset exist in all forms shapes and
sizes even in a chocolate chip cookie
shaped dog drawing thank you
[Applause]
you
knew I wanted to be an artist
ever since my elementary school teacher
she gave us the assignment to draw our
favorite animal on a piece of paper and
I chose to draw a dog and my
three-year-old self
knew from that very moment from looking
at that beautiful brown-eyed puppy in
front of me from remembering that my mom
studied fashion that I was born and
destined to be putting beautiful things
to paper for the rest of my life so when
that same teacher came to my desk and I
was ready for my much deserved praise
and she said to me honey a chocolate
chip cookie is not an animal well let’s
just say in that very moment I knew I
would never be an artist so I must
confess I am NOT an artist but over the
past few years I’ve been lucky enough to
spend my time around artists artists
like moe vana Chen who is pictured here
in the top left a Hong Kong artist who
travels the world knitting conversations
out of maps to learn about global
communities and how we’re all connected
artists like Simon birch who’s in
contemporary artists and known for his
moving portrait an artist like Jon
friends and in the middle here who draws
each line with every breath he takes and
I noticed that every artist has
something in common
I’ve been able to realize that they
think a certain way they create a
certain way and they question a certain
way the artistic mindset the artists
mindset is so incredibly unique but in
realizing the artists mindset I’ve
noticed that we currently live in a
creative paradox six years ago I chose
to leave my home in New York to study at
the University of Hong Kong firstly
everyone thought I was absolutely absurd
for leaving America to study in Asia but
then when I chose to major in
comparative literature with a minor in
fine art and business all hell broke
loose I was questioned weekly you know
what is why is that such a weird thing
that you do business or it just doesn’t
make sense
this is such a weird combo why did you
choose to do that well to me the Y was
obvious and it wasn’t weird at all I
loved you know art and museums and
paintings and seeing sculptures but on
the other hand I also loved the idea of
starting my own business
of human resources and just a little bit
of accounting so that leads me back to
this creative paradox I’d like you to
think back to yourself when was the last
time that you are asked to be creative
to innovate to think out of the box you
know in these different everyday
mindsets were questions and we’re called
upon to be innovative and spark true
ideas so we might not all be
artistically inclined and that’s okay
but what’s not okay is for us to ignore
the artists mindset and the creations
that create in a world that so
ferociously craves innovation ideas and
growth every single second so what can
ask non artistic humans do do we take a
drawing class do we go to the theatre
perhaps you ballet I suggest that we can
adopt this artists mindset to try and
learn from it to observe the art to
create and see where their ideas come
from where their inspiration stands from
about a year ago is working with a
start-up named gourmet we were tasked to
help an international insurance company
reach its innovation targets the company
had flown about 30 of its regional
managers to Hong Kong and tasked us to
create an event that would help spark
innovation I suggested an art jamming
session now you can imagine the lead
manager thought it was a little bit out
of my mind you know how can you ask a
bunch of insurance managers to paint but
luckily he was open enough and did let
me you know experiment with his team so
I brought in two very famous Hong Kong
street artists gave them all paint
markers and a white wooden plank each of
the teams were tasked to create and the
only example they were given was to mark
something that was creative to paint
what crossed their mind when they
thought of insurance again this might be
a very difficult task I know for me it
would be so by the end of the evening
the lead manager had asked each of the
teams to take their works of art to the
streets of Wan Chai and to sell those
paintings so you can see that while
these wooden planks might not be
beautiful works of art
they were pieces that each of the teams
created on their own and what resulted
was the teams had a true idea of
innovation they created something that
they built with their own hands in an
environment that had completely no
inhibitions they were able to create and
sell something that they related to and
in that very moment they were able to
find new ways to sell things that they
had never sold before true innovation
for an insurance agency so artists don’t
always create with market research and
in that moment the insurance agents
didn’t either so step one of the artist
mindset is to create with what you have
and perhaps not with all the evidence
that you may need for the second part of
the artist mindset I look to Japanese
artists Yayoi Kusama now many of you
might know of her for those of you who
don’t
she’s favorite very famous for her polka
dot works she has an obsession with
polka dots but the stemming the
origination of those polka dots come
from her troubles and hallucinations
most famously she was that she spent
decades in a psychiatric institution so
what can she teach us she sees the world
in polka dots more specifically this is
how she sees Mount Fuji so through her
new perspective what she’s able to teach
us is that not everyone sees the world
in black and white the person sitting
next to you might see the world
completely different than you might see
it yourself and everyone sees different
colors different gray areas and through
her reframing of her medical diagnosis
she was able to gain a new perspective
that new perspective challenges us every
day it challenged us to see the world
from our clients from our customers from
our patients from everyone around us and
who were trying to influence help or
create this work is called when life
boundlessly flares to the universe so
step two in adopting the artists mindset
is that you should sorry that you should
look at the world with a different
perspective and perhaps question the
things around you so I hope that when
looking at this work when life
boundlessly flares to the universe you
let those new perspective
boundlessly flair to your own universe
now part three of the artist mindset I
look to my previous boss and mentor
Simon birch now much like Kusama Simon
birch struggled with cancer and he told
us about how just on this very TEDx
stage actually how his medical diagnosis
helped him become the artist that he is
today but what I’d like to focus on
instead is his innate nature to
collaborate a few years ago Simon and I
were walking the Occupy central and the
umbrella movement and then Simon is
quite a famous Hong Kong artists so
you’re walking the street and a young
student passed by and said I got it
so then Simon turned around and said hi
what’s your name and what Simon did in
that very moment showed his true nature
of choosing to collaborate with the
community and artistic community around
him no matter how unexperienced or
experienced you are
he asked the students name he asked
their address the artist student said
that he was so inspired by Simon that
Simon inspired him to become an artist
himself but unfortunately he couldn’t
afford paint he couldn’t afford canvases
so Simon asked me to take his address to
ship him as much paint and as much
canvases as he needed and once that
student was done with that artwork to
send it back to Simon studio to see how
we can work with it and half a man could
get inspired by it
so that showed Simon’s true nature to
collaborate so when adopting the artists
perspective I hope that you can remember
to collaborate to communicate and
perhaps not to compete all the time
Simon just recently opened the 14th
Factory in LA it’s an enormous project
150,000 square feet were over 10 artists
collaborate and there’s over 14
different installations Simon has
claimed international acclaim with this
project something that might have been a
lot more difficult for himself had he
done it all alone similarly there’s an
undeniable beauty that comes across when
over 230 galleries gather in Hong Kong
every year for Art Basel each and every
month so
– actually with what you have to change
your perspective and to collaborate
these are just a few observations that
I’ve made over a very brief career and I
hope that you can somehow make your own
I challenge you to go to a museum to go
to a gallery to go to the class of your
daughter who might think she’s an an
artist one day because artists create
and when they create it’s not always
rational logical or linear rather it’s
more often than not sporadic
different and communal and when they
create it’s really up to us to learn
from these creations to look at what
they’re creating to adopt their mindset
and turn it into practical creativity
for us to use in our daily lives so once
again I challenge you to go to a gallery
to visit your friend who might have an
artist studio on the south side of Hong
Kong to visit a gallery or even to
explore Art Basel one more time on your
own without any inhibitions because true
creativity innovation and seeds of
growth all products of the artist
mindset exist in all forms shapes and
sizes even in a chocolate chip cookie
shaped dog drawing thank you
[Applause]
you
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