Finding Inspiration During Quarantine
The world currently faces a unique situation where half of its inhabitants need to stay home. Being stuck indoors can seem an obstacle to freedom and to our ability to create. As artists, creativity is essential, as we talked in a previous post. Being alone can be beneficial for us, but can it still do good after 5 weeks? Everybody needs to take a step back and not panic, because it obstructs our inspiration instantly. Today, we want to show you that the last weeks of quarantine are THE moment to have the best ideas!
It was proven scientifically that boredom is a good way to increase creativity. Let your mind wander during this period, because once it slows down, you start daydreaming. You have time anyway. It means that ideas hidden deep into your brain are brought to the surface. As we can’t plan anything right now, we become more spontaneous and it also applies to your creativity. It shows that it is more dynamic in this situation, and even more when you do stuff you aren’t used to doing.
There are many free cultural contents uploaded online during quarantine. What a good way to learn new things, watch or read something you didn’t have time to read before, or renew your sources of inspiration. Here few examples:
Following this link to have lots of examples in English of what you can do at home;
This is a short list of institutions you can visit on your computer: Louvre, Vatican Museums, British Museum, but also Dalì Theatre Museum, National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne where you go through the gallery’s collections, and have access to resources on various themes;
Many national theatres around the world let people watch performances online thanks to special programs during quarantine;
All over the world, publishers offer free e-books on their website;
European TV channel Arte shares documentaries about politics, culture, philosophy… in 6 languages. We can’t get bored with this!
Now can be a time to try new things, like our project manager who started drawing, it is never too late to try! When you already are a painter, you can learn new drawing technic, begin new personal pieces, go back to traditional painting or try digital for the first time. Do with what you have to hand! Sketch with only a pen and a sheet of paper… event if it isn’t directly linked to your professional background, it can renew your ideas in general and make you accept more easily the current situation. Cooking, gardening (even in a flat), sewing, playing video games… even locked up home, there are many things to do.
Getting used to having an open mind will maybe change your point of view on life and your art when quarantine will end. For now, we are not done with the virus so let’s act together by staying home.
Quarantine by Erikas Perl, 2020
Quarantine 2 by Erikas Perl, 2020