Collaborative project with Leston Paul: A creative comparison study

Leston Paul and I collaborated on each other's blog, I interviewed him to compare creativity in the different fields of art other than visual art and he interviewed me as a fine artist

 Here is my interview with Leston Paul who is a student completing a degree in graphic designs. He considers himself a young designer, an artist, an actor as well as a photograph and  pageant model.

        What do you think creativity means to a performing artist?

In my opinion, Creativity is the foundation of any artist, and more so a performing artist. As a performing artist, your job is to be creative. To bring a story to life; this means taking the words from a book or a script and giving an illusion to an audience, making them believe that what they see on a stage or even via film is happening for real. 

3        What is creativity to a visual artist?

As a visual artist, creativity is using your imagination, to think outside of the box and being able to look at things from a new perspectives. In my opinion it is a mental process involving the generation of new ideas or concepts, or developing new associations between existing ideas or concepts. Creativity is an artist's personal expression where he or she is not being bound to confirm to rules, customs or norms.

      What are the main differences if any between the creativity of a visual artist and a performing artist?

The difference between the creativity of a visual artist and a performing artist are very slim. As a performing artist your role is to motivate, inspire and move an audience on the spot. When a performing artist has a role to play, his/her job is to persuade, with emotion, movements and sounds which will create for the audience a scenario that has or has not happened. 

As an actor playing the role of an abused boy, the actor was allowed to be very creative with his acting, his different tones of voice, his posture, his mannerisms and sometimes appearance. As a performing artist your job is to keep the audience's attention for the length of time you are on that stage. Therefore your creativity is seen in your ability to make your audience react such as laugh or cry as well as to convey the message of the script by bringing it to life in such as way that an audience can relate to is always important.

 However as a visual artist, the viewer does not see the thoughts of the artist or designer. The viewer can only imagine from the work what the artist/ designer has displayed and what he or she is trying to say to the audience. However his/ her creativity is different from that of a performing artist. As a visual artist you can act either as a social revolutionary, highlighting injustices and inciting the viewer to change their behaviour or become more aware of injustice. 

To others not involved with a creative field, creativity would appear very impractical; however it serves as vital nourishment to the human spirit, providing us with an avenue to explore our world and provide truths that more practical endeavours can sometimes obscure. 

       Do you as an artist think that creativity is any better achieved in any artform?

It is my opinion that creativity cannot be taught. However it can be nurtured. It is either we are born as creatives or not. As an artist I don’t believe that I have to be a certain type of artist/ designer to be considered creative. All artists find their spark which highlights their creativity. Your creativity may come suddenly, but it can be enhanced and sustained. However as artist no matter the type of art form, we should be positive, and have an open mind for ideas and be honest with ourselves. 

Thank You Leston for sharing your ideas.