Eric Wahl is according to his website, a graffiti artist. He said he didn’t use his skills until well into his 30s when he was made redundant from a corporate job during the dot.com bust.
He told his story whilst painting, painting a phenominal picture of Bono. He talked about us all being artists, although afraid to do anything about it. He asked the audience how many were artists, with only 1 or 2 hands going up, yet he said if he asked a class of 11 year olds it would be perhaps 20% and if he asked a class of 5 year olds it would be everyone. Why do children stop believing they can paint? What do we do to turn off that creativity? He also said we have to take a chance in life, be brave to achieve, which he demonstrated by having someone in the audience, who caught a ball he threw out, think he was going to be challenged to do something scary (based on a US TV program called Fear Factor). Actually what he did was give him an envelope with the challenge inside which said he would own the painting.
He did 2 more paintings, Steve Jobs and Einstein, both of which were raffled later in the week.
The question of when do we stop believing in ourselves, and what makes that happen, really stayed with me. Is it something we teach 'out' of children, 'condition' them for corporate life?
Is this what stops girls looking for a career in technology? When you see a room full of 5 year olds there is nothing to differentiate the exploring minds that will make them iPad experts (if they aren't already).
Do we teach 'out' technology in girls?
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