Glimpse inside the minds of creative artists

Paperclips are common little objects and their use is pretty straightforward – a twisted piece of metal to hold papers together.

An inbred fear of failure stops people thinking outside the box

Now think harder. Think creatively. Try to come up with different uses for the familiar clip.

“Thinking beyond this use – for instance, imagining that paperclips could be used to fasten children’s sock to a clothesline, or straightening a clip to use it as a toothpick – is considered abnormal, a capricious abuse of standardised functionality,” says Raphael Vella, the curator of an exhibition that explores different creative thinking.

The exhibition, called Divergent Thinkers and organised by Aġenzija Żgħażagħ, brings together seven young artists who explore and display the creative process behind their work.

The works are in different media and include drawings in graphite, digital media installations, photography and sculpture.

Mr Vella explains that the inbred fear of failure often stops people from thinking outside the box – a paperclip will probably not support the socks on the clothesline.

But when it comes to artists, he says, failure is just as enriching during the creativity process that explores different options.

“From the outset, the exhibition… was inspired by the belief that many visual artists test the boundaries of accepted ideas, including their own previously held ones, by exploring alternative materials, compositions and solutions to a given artistic ‘problem’,” he says.

The exhibition, being held at St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity in Valletta until September 2, explores several possible ways on thinking about making art.

“Indeed, a paperclip can serve many different ends,” Mr Vella adds.