ThoughtSpurs

"In Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switerzland they had brotherly love, they had five hundred years of democracy and peace, and what did they produce? The cuckoo clock." Orson Welles in The Third Man I like this quote. Not only because it's smart and funny but because it get's me thinking about the role of conflict in creativity and innovation. When I was working with the team at Idealog on prototyping our baby there was an occasion I have sworn never to talk about in detail. So I won't. But it involved conflict with a contributor who felt so passionately about her work that she…well I can't tell you what she did. But, needless to say I will never forget it. I have worked in hotbeds of creativity before but I have never had any body (deleted) me before. I loved it. Inspite of the shock. Why?… For crying out loud she cared! (A...

It isn't enough to simply make a great commercial anymore. You have to market it. The buzz surrounding the Sony Bravia TV Balls commercial was literally phenomenal. It launched Jose Gonzales from being a well known Swedish performer to becoming a global one. In many regards the commercial is an absolute expression of the tried and true concept of a single minded proposition - Colour Like No Other. There is no evidence presented to support the proposition, none is needed. We trust the Sony brand. Its Trinitron technology was ground breaking in the 70s (and it too was supported by buzzworthy commercials). We also accept that technology 'just works' now. No convincing is required. So, 'Balls' is a happy marriage of convention and innovation. Knew meets New. Rationalism marries existentialism. How do you create the sequal to something a popular and fully formed as 'Balls'? What more is there to say? Well, nothing really. Colour like no other remains the proposi...

Late last century, when the dot.com bubble was still inflating, a new cliche entered the vernacular. Herding cats. It conjures up a powerful mental picture. But this commercial from the late 90s (by the ad agency Fallon McEllicot - now called Fallon) goes one step further in bringing the idea to life. I was just reminded of it as I watched a group of colleagues trying to get in the same room to have a meeting. The economy may have moved on from those wild-west days, but coordinating advertising people doesn't get any easier.

It's Friday night. Late. My son has the TV, watching cricket from India. I'd rather cut off my own foot, braise it and serve it with a jus on a bed of saffron rice than endure a single over. So…I've been watching Flight of the Conchords on YouTube. Brilliantly funny. Definite qualifiers for the title The One & Only..Flight of the Conchords Watched a couple of movies earlier: It's all gone Pete Tong Story of a star English DJ in Ibiza who goes deaf. Sounds dreary, a Sunday night play…but it's surprisingly good and has won a number of festival prizes around the world.

I have just come back from spending lunchtime at the New City Gallery. Felt it was time to get me some culture. The show was, um, interesting. My particular favourite was the spa bath installation. You can sit in the spa in a darkened room and watch the projected artwork. Bathrobes are provided and you must shower before going into the pool. Not your typical artwork. The winning work features a large (life size?) sloth with the title Doomed, Doomed, All Doomed . I thought it was a gibbon to begin with. I went to the zoo with my daughter a couple of weeks back and I have to say that gibbons are quite impressively scary in real life, but this creature, lying prone has a somewhat unsettling effect. I guess that is the point of art. If if doesn't upset your equilibrium then it hasn't achieved anything. Looking at chocolate box paintings that are utterly familiar and immediately forgetable might be art of a kind, but without a challenge then I find it dull. I like a challenge. Inter...

"Don't you love a farce; my fault I fear I thought that you'd want what I want - sorry my dear But where are the clowns - send in the clowns Don't bother they're here" - Stephen Sondheim Have you ever noticed how often New Zealand governments refer to Scandinavian experiences to validate social experiments ? You gotta love the Scandinavians. Actually I have a Saab car, so I know they don't always get things right. So, from those lovely people who brought you the Vikings .... Check this out. S'funny how you can make weird connections. Last night I went to the launch of my friend Helen Medlyn's new CD. The clown song features and she performed it at Mollies in Auckland. Very posh. If you like that sort of thing. I'm more inclined to edgy bohemian myself. But I am always gobsmacked by Helen's ability to have the audience eating out of her hand. Like at at Sheepworld, but with rich people. I will never forget her performance in Madama Butterf...

Like many I was shocked to hear that Frank Lloyd Wright's masterpiece was demolished to make way for a shopping mall. Still, …progress…, I guess. FLW was a great iconoclast. I will never forget watching a documentary about the great man. One scene struck me in particular. Lloyd Wright had a monumental project to complete. Like many creative individuals he had apparently done little until the deadline was virtually on him. He burst into life, designing not only the structure, but also the fittings and furniture in an intensive burst over a couple of days. On his death a passage from Emerson was read at his funeral. "Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind." It comes from his essay - Self Reliance - possibly the most important thing I ever read. Actually...here it is in full: ESSAY II Self-Re...

A friend has written to me complaining that my last blog was complicated. This one is simple to compensate.

I met an American honeymooning couple on the ferry back from Waiheke Island on Saturday. In spite of fatigue from a long day in the sun and sampling the island's hospitality we had one of those curiously random conversations one has with strangers when forced to sit face to face. Nicole, the new Mrs Truitt, talked about her experience as a Ph.D student at the University of Southern California, San Diego (electrical engineering, I think). She had founded a competition with some of her colleagues to stimulate innovation and cross pollination - subjects near and dear to my heart. Perhaps it wasn't such a random conversation after all? I visited the contest's web site . The aims are: :: Developing networks of people with technical, financial, marketing, and management backgrounds with the common interest in creating new enterprises :: Fostering the generation of marketable ideas and their development into value generating enterprises :: Encouraging awareness of cutting edge t...

I flipped on the set this afternoon while I had a sandwich for lunch only to be confronted with the most banal images I have ever seen. The New Zealand parliament at question time. The sparring had all the drama and tension as the slapping scene between Napoleon Dynamite and his brother in the movie Napoleon Dynamite. Can someone call central casting...

I have written a new post on the Idealog site . Though I have sold my stake in the magazine I continue to contribute a column and I am recognised as a founder on the imprint (the credits) in perpetuity. I have realised that I was frustated by the process of having to sell advertising and produce stories ...the grind of publishing, distracted me from my mission–which is to continue to advocate for the development of the creative economy and to support its heroes. But I am delighted by the ongoing success of the mag and enjoy watching it evolve. The next issue is on sale on the weekend. I think you should subscribe.

Some people ask me why I traded the comfortable life of an ad agency for unpredictable businesses and roles. This clip says it pretty well. (with thanks to UK planner Russell Davies ) who seems to feel the same way...(and keeps up a superb blog - he is to communications planning what Thomas Mahon is to bespoke, Saville Row tailoring )(I kid you not)-both brilliant insights into their respective crafts, both very authentic. Spoke at the first Congress of the The Council for the Humanities / Te Whainga Aronui ("to promote the regognition and value of the humanities/aronui in the creation and transmission of knowledge essential to personal well-being and the cultural, social and economic development of Aotearoa/New Zealand"). My topic was the Unknowledge Economy yesterday. I'll post the text once I have edited if for the web. Next formal engagement is the conference of the nation's school guidance councillors...I think the topic might be Successful Failure I am struggl...

A couple of media hits for you. The much viewed Smirnoff Tea Partay spoof of hip hop videos which I think is rather fetching... And a quote from the September issue of Vanity Fair magazine... 'You want to be like Kate Moss? Be yourself' Very 1&0.

I recently had a contrary discussion with a friend about whether science should be considered part of the creative economy. On one hand it is a component of the creative economy, or rather technologies are, but I make the distinction between discovery and invention. The Americas existed before Columbus ‘found’ them. Ask any Native American. My friend, who has a brain the size of a planet and who is a chief science officer for a leading biotech firm, will earn millions of dollars for her work developing a vaccine for HIV (which has begun the testing process in the US required by the FDA). She will create wealth from her knowledge and discovery. But, and this is just my opinion, that doesn’t place her endeavour within the frame of the creative economy. The reason for my exclusion of science is that science resides within the knowledge economy. That is an important part of New Zealand’s future too, but it is not the creative economy. Most human activities require some creative thought. Bu...