Semi Permanent Sydney 2017

Semi Permanent, the global creative and design platform, is a great opportunity for Sydney’s designers and artists to get their creative juices flowing. Founded 14 years ago by Murray Bell, and organized in six different countries, Semi Permanent gathers more than 800 inspiring speakers and 400,000 attendees worldwide. This is an event not to be missed.

This year, a great variety of workshops, experiences, and panels were organized around the theme ‘Designing for Change’. Held at Carriageworks, it featured creative and innovative speakers such as Elizabeth Ann McGregor, Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Alexie Glass- Kantor, Director of Artspace and Jacqueline Bourke, Getty Images Senior Creative Insights Manager, to name a few.

I had the opportunity to attend the session ‘The Contribution of Creativity to the Future of Work’. The panel included Jay Manley, Senior Technical Program Manager at Tesla; Aaron Rose, Artist, Writer, Musician, Film Director and Independent Curator; Alan Liao, Designer and Founder of Tzukuri; and Emma Morris, Producer at the ABC.

Technology was at the heart of the conversation. As technology increases, it often causes disruption, which can be seen as a threat. Interestingly, most of the speakers agreed on the fact that despite what people think, change doesn’t happen overnight. None of them believe that there will be a massive change in technology in the next five years.

Emma Morris said that she always put the story at the forefront of what she does. To her, technology should always be used as a tool to enhance the story, not as an add-on. It should help creative professionals do their job better. As Jay Manley said, ‘there’s two things you can do: work harder or work smarter. If you work smarter you work less’.

On the other end, technology can kill the creative process. As Emma said, the problem with technology is that we are not bored anymore — we are over stimulated. The thing is, boredom boosts creativity. Aaron also thinks that the convenience offered with technology can slow the creative process down. ‘I don’t necessarily think that convenience is healthy’, he said, ‘I believe that the best things are created during the uncomfortable times, when you have to push yourself harder’.

One thing is for sure: technology opens up new possibilities for creative people. It will be interesting to see what possibilities will be explored in the return of Semi Permanent to Sydney next year.

– Aimy
Aimy recently moved to Sydney from Paris where she enjoys Sydney’s lifestyle as much as she likes writing about it. @aimyguez

Visit www.semipermanent.com to find out more about all things Semi Permanent.

Disclosure: The Plus Ones were invited guests of Semi Permanent.
Image credit: Semi Permanent.