Visual Arts
Why Man Creates
By Commentary by Cynthia Kirkeby
Video excerpt by Saul Bass
Apr 25, 2008, 08:16 PST

This short excerpt from Why Man Creates, the award winning short film by Saul Bass shows the animation of civilization, from the dawn of man through the nuclear age. If you have never had the good fortune to have seen this amazing short film, seek it out. It is often shown in high schools or universities as an example of "different thinking."

At one point in the film Saul Bass changes a dancer in a club into a milkshake shaker, and a prattling woman into an empty cavern with a very deep echo. Walk - Do Not Walk signs control more than just who crosses the street, and in this clip we see civilization rush by in under 5 minutes. the trick is to look at the world in different ways that Why do we create? What are the steps to breakthrough thinking? It's all about skewing our view to see ordinary events as something new and different. With a slight change of perspective, the world looks very different indeed.

Enjoy this short segment of Why Man Creates by Saul Bass, and if you get the chance watch the entire film.