Different, bold, strange, interesting, strong, and passionate.
Values that show who you are as a person.
In my last post you got to see my process of figuring out who I want to be and this post can continue this theme a bit as well.
We recently went to Seattle with our packed bags and a driving question:
“Why does it take a crazy person to change the world?”
After even the launch of the project I learned that the values I listed in the beginning is what starts change in the world. This idea of changing the world is something that many push aside, however, those who are crazy, those who don’t choose to fall in the mainstream path are the ones who make a difference.
During this trip, I got to experience how specific places and people embodied the idea of being “crazy” and how it created change.
Imagine you are in a dream, filled with crazy weird neon colours and warped objects, everything feels surreal. Frank Gerhy stepped outside of the norm of architecture and created this similar to this, expressing his originality.
Walking through his building was nothing like I’ve experienced before in real life, it seems like something I’d dream about, pretty crazy!
I learned that when he wanted to make a new building sometimes he would crumple up paper and take inspiration from it, slowly turning it into something that could be built. Because of this, most of the buildings he made look warped, the MOPOP is a great example of this.
There are various opinions on his creations because they aren’t normal but, it didn’t stop him from doing something he enjoys. His different take on architecture and his determination caught many people’s attention, starting a rise of new ideas in and out of this industry.
As we kept walking around Seattle, visiting beautiful places, I had the idea of climate change coursing throughout my brain. I kept seeing trash everywhere, most wasn’t even close to being sorted. These are just a few photos that I took.
When I thought of climate change I thought of all the carbon emissions being produced in factories and buildings, I thought that all hope is lost, at least I did for a while.
I was seeing things everywhere about animal extinction and environments changing all around the world, progressing into something completely different. I’ve seen influential media everywhere promoting a clean future, but the Climate Pledge Arena opened my eyes even more to it.
This arena showed me that even the things you think can’t change, can if we are committed enough. Amazon and Global Optimism helped fund the creation of this arena, instead of following everyone else and just creating a regular arena they created one that strives to be 100% net-zero carbon by 2040, something the world hasn’t seen before (“Driving Climate Solutions.” sustainability.aboutamazon.com/climate-solutions. Accessed 26 Feb. 2024).
They don’t use fossil fuels and all energy is 100% renewable, unlike the rest of the world.
This is something different and it marks the start of a new, electric future, changing how the world works.
Speaking of different, on our trip we went to see a museum full of glass that was blown into unique shapes and artistic patterns, focusing on how it was Chihuly’s biggest strength. He brought a different approach to glass-blowing, captivating many people.
Because of his passion, he was able to show how he expressed his thoughts and creativity. Because of his drive to create something different, he ended up pushing traditional boundaries and reshaped the idea of contemporary art. By creating his masterpieces he challenged people to see the world through a new lens and inspired many to embrace the power of imagination (Chatgpt, chat.openai.com. Accessed 27 Feb. 2024).
He showed the theme of choosing his own path and faced an irregular way of glassblowing, inspiring many.
Learning about these people and places really showed me the different ways you can show your unique mind.
It showed me that no matter how crazy your ideas are you can make them possible.
I would say that I like to create art, but I would have never been able to create something as bold as theirs, nor be so original that people know my name from it.
Because they pursued their goals and didn’t choose to go down the easy mainstream path, they were able to change people’s perspectives, welcoming them into a place of new possibilities.
Walking through these places I can confidently say there wasn’t a time I was bored, every new place you looked there would be something new drawing you in.
When I’m older I want to create something like them, something that inspires others like how I felt witnessing these incredible creations.
I hope I was able to tell a story about these inspirations that made you feel as I felt.
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Thought the post was done? Well almost.
Make sure you stay updated to see how I used all of this information and how my group and I turned it into a Pecha Kucha presentation.