Heavy Trash is an anonymous arts organization of architects, artists, and urban planners. Heavy Trash creates large, disposable art objects that draw community and media attention to specific urban issues. By explaining a particular urban problem and suggesting a solution, Heavy Trash seeks to provoke dialogue among citizens.

"We feel that gated communities are becoming popular at a very alarming rate, and that 10 to 20 years from now, people will realize that the gates are an anathema to a democratic, open society, and that they instead make for a more fearful society."
-a Heavy Trash member who identified himself as Jake, an inner-city developer

Heavy Trash has recently installed viewing towers outside these gated communities, and I just have to say this is brilliant and engaging. In the news here. Images here.

Stair to Park, 1997
Heavy Trash installed their first project -- a 2,000-pound stair providing temporary access to Triangle Park at Santa Monica and Bundy. A 7'-high fence had been erected around the park to prevent the homeless from using the grassy enclave. The City solved the "problem" by using $28,000 of tax-payer funds to fence off the park and permanently remove it from the public realm. For three weeks, the stair allowed the local community to use the park again.

Aqua Line, 2000
The Aqua Line is the installation of "Coming Soon" signs that suggest the construction of a subway line that would connect the Westside to downtown and the rest of the Los Angeles metro system. On August 13, 2000, Heavy Trash installed 8 signs along the 15-mile route in an attempt to promote civic dialogue about the need for better transportation in Los Angeles.

I just read this, and I find it pretty interesting. I don't have a source to accredit, though I can say I didn't write it.

"A common misunderstanding equates creativity with originality. In point of fact, there are very few absolutely original ideas. Most of what seems to be new is simply a bringing together of previously existing concepts in a new way. Psychologist and author Arthur Koestler referred to this merging of apparently unrelated ideas as bisociation. The fact that creative thinking is based on a knowledge of previous work in one's field is the justification for teaching the history and foundations of a given field as a resource for future research and creative work. It is possible to develop ones ability to think intuitively and creatively."

The stages of the creative process (as listed by artlex.com):

1. Finding or formulating a problem. George Kneller (American psychologist)
   called this stage "first insight."


2. Researching and drawing from life experiences (memory), networking, etc.
   This stage is variously called "discovery" and "saturation."


3. Mulling over the problem in a sort of chaos of ideas and knowledge, letting
   go of certainties (forgetting). Jacob Getzel (American psychologist) called
   this stage "incubation" -- engaging the intuitive, non-sequential,
   or global thinking at the core of creativity.


4. One or more ideas surface. This is also called "immersion" and
   "illumination."


5. The idea is tested as a potential solution to the problem. Getzel called
   this "verification." This final stage often involves revision --
   conscious structuring and editing of created material.