Why do we make things?

[fritzie]

I am involved in some research this year exploring two questions. First, what are the reasons we make things (intentionally)? There are surely a variety of motivations carrying different weights for different people, as well as different motivations for different things each of us may make.

Second, among the ideas you have, how do you decide which to pursue and how does the project advance for you from idea to a concrete beginning?

I would love for those participating in WC to give me your own replies to these two questions.

[La_]

things ... lol ... that's a pretty broad word

i'm making a ball out of saran wrap ... because every time i peel the wrap off my pallet i have to do something with it besides throw it in the garbage ... it's larger than a large softball now ... i envision it to eventually grow to the size of a medicine ball before i release it to roll about my house as decorative sculpture.

la

[Clive Green]

Short answers ,

1. because we have hands, role models, and sense organs.
2. a. primarily dreams, memories, senses, supports and materials collide and coagulate, secondarily a series is working its way through, thirdly another person has the idea for me to realise.
2. b. In like flynn or sketches and daubs, sitting and looking, distraction activities, debates and discussions then straight to the work or a long process of box composition, layer analysis, measurement, reference ....

I shall take some time and put a 10,000 word or longer reply up on my blog later.

[cstroh]

First of all, sometimes I make things out of necessity, sometimes for fun. Both of them make me feel alive and that is why I create. Sometimes someone comes to me because they want (or need) something. I feel a great inner joy when I am creating something, even just in my mind. My daughter had a Sgt. Pepper's themed wedding...I had months of creativity rolling around in my mind. I did a lot of creating...Sgt. Pepper's jackets for the groomsment, invitations, table decor...everthing. I had a great time. I love to paint. Sometimes I spend a lot of time thinking of what I want to paint and putting all the pieces together. Then I sit down with my supplies and start painting and solving all the problems that go with it as I go along. Creating just makes me feel alive, I have no other way to describe it. I hope this helped.

[Use Her Name]

I think humans make things for the same reason birds build nests, or termites make mounds. I think it is genetic. Which came first? Big brains and opposable thumbs? Or the need to make things.

The ideas I pursue are those that strike some kind of a chord in me, or fulfill a need. From idea to concrete object, the idea is first an image that I decide on, then, often through some trial and error, I make the object. Sometimes it has changed, some times it is the same as when I initailly thought about it.

More and more, I am becoming bolder in my art. I started with some usual shapes, now I am moving on to more unusual shapes.

[claude j greengrass]

Originally Posted by Use Her Name

...Which came first? Big brains and opposable thumbs? Or the need to make things.

Anthropological evidence would seem to indicate that the need to make things appeared in humans, or their distant relatives, after opposable thumbs and before big brains.

[fritzie]

Thank you all for your responses so far.

LA, the reason the question is posed so generally is that people make so many different things that being specific doesn't make sense. Some make primarily art, some tinker with equipment to adapt it to unintended purposes, some design rooms or gardens... some manipulate materials by hand... some make routine things as a form of meditation that is distinct from their more creative work...

Clive, could you put an alert here of when you post your longer response to your blog?

[alfreda]

for the same reason I talk, to communicate, to process things that interest or disturb, for fun, for meditation.

Second, among the ideas you have, how do you decide which to pursue and how does the project advance for you from idea to a concrete beginning?

Decision is often based on the immediate reaction to an idea, or desire to explore a finished piece further in another way. I sometimes get a vision in my mind or when dreaming and am so excited to try it and see how it will work out.

[Razzar]

It started from need necessary for our survival. Then as we progressed we came to have the time to decorate our tools and weapons, which then evolved into more and more elborate creations and decorations.

[fritzie]

Razzar, could you give a response that is true for you for the sorts of things you make and work you do? If you are comfortable doing that?

[Vanity87]

There are many reasons for why I make things but I think the main reason for why I do is because I have an overactive imagination. Everything that runs through my mind must be transferred to paper so that I don't forget about it. That and I think that I get the most out of my life by constantly making new things.

[Marigold]

First, I make things that serve a purpose (those things I never consider art)

I make things as an extension of my identity into the world

I make things as a form of interaction (reflection on the character of the relationship I have to a person, object, place, memory etc)

And maybe most importantly I make things out of a need for the beautiful, which I consider a very important part of what it means to be human.

Susanne

[Use Her Name]

I have always been interested in the "Neolithic Revolution" which is the time when both Art and Religion apparently sprang to life all at once. Both seem to be joined. There was some period of time when people simply just started doing art. Art first had a "purpose" which was "Magical" or religious, (whichever way you describe it).

[Horsa]

I think in part we make things because we can. It is not so facetious as that sounds. We are uniquely equipped and adopted for making things. Complex and wonderful things. Humans often seem to make things solely for the sake of making things. Every animal species I can think of that makes things does so for a definite functional purpose. We are unique in that some of our creations do not serve functional purposes.

Of course we all make things to serve a functional need. If I make a meal it is for the function of eating and obtaining nutrients, if I make clothing it is for protection from the environment and social display. When I write a story it is in the hope of selling it for money. When I post on WC it is to communicate.

As for the second question, at least in the case of creative "art" I choose the projects that most compel me to create them. Ideas tend to rattle around in my head for a good long while before they come to fruition. As for my creative process, it is often fragmentary and scattered at first. I have lots of bits of partially completed projects. Some never get beyond this stage, others push through to completion write away.

[fritzie]

I want to thank everyone again for the variety of responses you are offering.
One thing I love about WC is that it is one of few places in which one can count on a great variety of authentic answers, even in a public forum, as there is not an accepted "party line."