Teaches Turning Ideas Into Art

Table of
Contents

1
 03 14 19
Meet Es Strength, Model-
Devlin Not Length Making: An
Get to know the renowned The argument for keeping Introduction
designer and visual artist your manifesto short Bring your sketchbook
concepts to fruition using
household items
05
Stagecraft 14
Through ASSIGNMENT
the Ages Write your creative manifesto 20
Tracing the evolution of ASSIGNMENT
theatrical set designs within Translate one of your ideas
the Western tradition 15 into a 3-D scale model
Finding
09
Your Cube 21
Understanding Es’s signature
Where Do aesthetic so that you can Designing
Ideas Come better establish your own Sustainably
From? A short primer on Es’s
contemporary creative ethics
An inquiry into the very begin-
ning of the creative process
16 23
Rethinking
ASSIGNMENT
10 Find a new visual reference
Reading List Productivity
Nine books that inspired Es Maintaining creative output in
17
(and informed her work) a hectic world presents unique
How to challenges—or does it?

11
Sketch
Drawing regularly can boost
Building your confidence—and unlock
25

Strong your creative subconscious Es’s Tips

Partnerships for a More
Six keys to successful Creative Life
collaboration, according to Es Indispensable wisdom for any-
18 one seeking a more fulfilling
ASSIGNMENT (and beautiful) existence
13 Develop your sketching habit
Creative
Manifestos
How to crystallize your artistic
values using the written word

2
Meet
Your
Instructor:
Es Devlin
FROM INTRICATE STAGE DESIGNS TO AVANT-GARDE ARTWORKS, ES TURNS
ETHEREAL CONCEPTS INTO DAZZLING REAL-WORLD RESULTS

3
P icture this: It’s just you and some 50,000
strangers together in the dark. A bright white
cube emerges, disappears, and emerges again,
at breathy intervals suggesting sentience. Blink and you’ll
miss a flash image of the star performer you’re there to
Gaga, and Irish rock band U2 followed. In the years since,
Es has continued to branch out and experiment in the field
of visual arts, from architectural works to gallery installa-
tions, amassing an impressive (and eclectic) body of work.
Her recent projects include Mask in Motion, a 3-D–printed
see. The cube begins to rotate. Smoke billows around it. kinetic sculpture encompassing distorted models of cities
The crowd is going nuts; the venue is stiff with anticipation. at miniature scale; I Saw the World End, a digital artwork
And then global pop phenomenon Beyoncé appears. (created with studio colleague Machiko Weston) that in-
This is how it feels to be at a show designed by the vestigates the effects of the atomic bomb on Western and
London-based visual artist Es Devlin. Widely considered Eastern societies; and The Singing Tree, an audiovisual
the most influential stage designer alive, Es has created piece that uses machine learning to synthesize 19th-
abstract, ethereal, and conceptually dazzling sets for the century poetry with modern-day words submitted by the
likes of Louis Vuitton, Britain’s Royal Opera House, and the public, generating an automated carol song.
Olympic Games, as well as for English singer-songwriter These works—along with her award-winning designs for
Adele, Canadian singer, songwriter, and producer the stage plays, operas, and concerts—are a testament to Es’s
Weeknd, and other powerhouse performers. Es draws in- larger creative philosophies, which cannot be contained to
spiration from architecture, literature, modern art, classical a single mode or medium. In this course, she’ll teach you
theater, and contemporary design to build psychologically how to cut to the marrow of a scene or song, distilling its el-
gripping experiences that drastically expand our idea of ements into a visual language you can use on stage; she’ll
what’s possible on stage. help you understand the intricate, emotional interplay be-
To get there, she does her research: listening closely to tween performers and audience members. But, more
find a deeper meaning in your favorite pop songs or under- broadly, she’ll discuss how to explore your imagination, ha-
standing the emotional journey of a theater scene. Her sin- bitually sketch the environment that surrounds you, and
gular creations—stage sculptures, as she calls them— bring the ideas that are in your mind to tangible fruition.
have involved a revolving multistory building, an origami She hopes that you’ll walk away not just with a better
airplane, the tongue of American singer-songwriter Miley understanding of art and design, but with something much
Cyrus, and an abstract mountain peak. more valuable: a set of tools that you can apply to any cre-
Born in 1971, in the London outer borough of Kingston ative endeavor.
upon Thames, Es became fascinated with architecture as a
child. She remembers being enchanted by a handmade
scale model of the small English town of Rye, where her
family settled when she was six years old. The model,
styled to evoke the Victorian era, came complete with
sound and light effects, and Es loved the tales about the
people who lived inside it. She went on to study literature
at the U.K.’s University of Bristol, where she found herself
entranced by imagistic novels. She began to wish she
could paint pictures in lieu of writing the essays assigned
in her classes. (Instead, she painted the floor of her house.)
Es’s first big break came in 2005, when Kanye West was
shown images of sets she had designed for the British
punk band Wire. She went on to work with West on his
Touch the Sky Tour. Collaborations with the English pop
duo Pet Shop Boys, American singer-songwriter Lady

4
 Stagecraft
Through
the Ages
TRACING THE EVOLUTION OF THEATRICAL SET DESIGNS
WITHIN THE WESTERN TRADITION

5
ANCIENT EGYPT
Scholars remain divided over the role of theater in early
Egypt. Unfortunately, much of the civilization’s history
has been lost (or possibly wasn’t recorded to begin with).
Still, evidence suggests that the Egyptians had a healthy
appreciation for drama, satire, and spectacle. Plus, one of
the oldest surviving illustrated papyrus rolls could very
well be a scripted play.
Known as the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus, the arti-
fact appears to celebrate the rise of Pharaoh Senusret I
near the start of the Twelfth Dynasty (1938–1759 BCE)
during the Middle Kingdom. When this scroll was discov-
ered around 1896, it was heavily degraded due to the
conditions of the tomb in which it was kept. According to
some academic interpretations, the legible hieroglyphs
explain the various roles for actors, contain distinctive
scenic marks and narrative direction, and, importantly,
detail how various props and backdrops should be ar-
ranged or used during the recital. In other words: how to
design the stage.
GRECO-ROMAN INFLUENCE
The foundations of what we recognize today as Western
theater come from Ancient Greece. The Greeks were the
first to put seating around a stage, in the 6th century BCE;
even the word theater comes from the Greek theatron,
which means “to behold.” The Theatre of Dionysus in Ath-
ens dates to around 500 BCE, with some elements likely
laid about 100 years earlier. Stone seats that could ac-
commodate 17,000 spectators were added to the site
during the 4th century BCE.
Performances were attended by people from all walks
of life, which partially explains why some audiences were
notoriously raucous. To keep the people engaged and
approving, performers needed to involve them in their
art, controlling their energies to ensure that hecklers
wouldn’t hijack a scene. According to some dramatic
scholars, a single wrong note in a tragic scene could lead
to jeering and possibly food throwing.
In ancient Rome, theater audiences expected enter-
tainment. Circuses were built for chariot races and gladi-
ator fights, often preceded by musical processions. Un-
like Greek theaters, Roman stages were raised so that
every seat could have a view of the action. And that action
“Don’t be afraid
of standing on
the shoulders of
others who’ve
had extraordinary
ideas.” - Es
was dangerous: Real spears, torches, chariots, and hors-
es were used to entertain crowds.
Permanent theater buildings were initially banned
within the city of Rome, as they were considered to be
excessively decadent. But by 55 BCE, the Roman
general Pompey the Great had built Rome’s first perma-
nent stone theater. Eventually, in a dramatic turnaround,
many important cities dedicated their theaters to
showing plays.
EARLY MEDIEVAL SPECIAL EFFECTS
In the 10th century, the Catholic Church started using the-
ater as a vehicle for telling biblical stories. Clergy members
would perform plays inside church buildings, where small
spaces, known as mansions, would be set up along the
nave of the buildings—each the home of its own scene.
These scenes would sometimes portray Jesus ascending
to the heavens via a kind of rope-and-pulley system, with
outdoor plays during this period even more likely to feature
complicated flying scenes. By the 1300s, performers were
relying on counterweights to ensure a smoother flight.
So-called hellmouths would frequently make appear-
ances, too, each built to capture then-popular imagery of
sinners being devoured by the underworld, derived from
Anglo-Saxon artworks. These stage pieces were pretty
much what you’d imagine, considering the name: a gaping
maw to emphasize the drama of being swallowed into hell.
6
Some of them even breathed fire or smelled like tar, and a rector of Vienna’s famed Burgtheater, and Charles Kean,
performer playing Satan would typically sit inside. the manager-actor who dominated London’s stages, were
leaning into the idea: Both emphasized historical accuracy
REALISM (AND BACKLASH) and realism in the scenery they built.
The bedrocks of modern-day scenery were largely devel- During the 1900s, a movement called the New Stagecraft
oped during the Italian Renaissance, which ushered in a rebelled against realism, creating abstract sets with dramat-
revolution in terms of how plays could transport an audi- ic lighting. Swiss architect Adolphe Appia, one of two de-
ence. Among the most important figures of this era was signers who spearheaded the movement, believed lighting
Italian architect Filippo Brunelleschi. Born in 1377, he went should shift during a scene, changing color and direction to
on to pioneer the use of linear perspective—a mathemati- match the mood of the work. In many ways, Appia (and his
cal system for creating an illusion of three-dimensional acolytes, like the prolific American futurist designer Norman
space on a flat surface. Another Italian architect who was Bel Geddes) started a new tradition in Western contempo-
instrumental in the Renaissance period was Sebastiano rary theater—one that Es continues to expand upon and ex-
Serlio, who, during the 1500s, created a sloping stage floor plore with her groundbreaking conceptual work today.
and angled wings that made it easier for audiences to view
the action.
These techniques spread across Europe, as did the later
invention of the box set—the now-familiar arrangement of
three physical walls, with the audience seated behind an
arch or a roof above the stage, observing through a figura-
tive fourth wall. This setup discouraged audience partici-
pation but added a level of voyeuristic intimacy that was
thought to make shows feel more immersive and lifelike.
By the early 19th century, the likes of Josef Schreyvogel, di-

Below (left): A sketch of the sculpture Es created for a 2017 production of the opera Carmen.
Below (right): Es’s Carmen sculpture brought to life.

7
8
Where Do
Ideas Come
From?
AN INQUIRY INTO THE VERY BEGINNING OF THE CREATIVE PROCESS
T his class is for those who have ideas, who
have forms in their mind, who have shapes and
thoughts and philosophies,” says Es. In her
work as a stage designer and artist, success is a matter of
taking these types of abstract concepts and translating
them into real, tangible expressions that will have an effect
on the audience. Typically, this creative process begins with
Es “surrounded by a happy, comfortable chaos of inspira-
tion.” But how does she find that inspiration? And how might
you do the same?
THE “EUREKA!” MYTH
History is fond of epiphanies—we celebrate tales of sud-
den and profound realizations, the proverbial lightning
strike of inspired thought. In truth, an idea is much more
like an actual lightning strike: a combination of existing
factors that accumulate, combine, and, in certain condi-
tions, yield a unique result.
Indeed, as humans, we use our brains constantly and we
seek out patterns. We also make strong neural associations
based on past experiences, sensory information, observa-
tion, and inference, among other factors. Studies have
shown that strategies like incubation (breaking up ideation
sessions with other tasks) can help us avoid fixation loops,
recognize new patterns, and significantly boost creative
9
output. Tales of the Greek mathematician Archimedes’s
bathtub (or English mathematician Isaac Newton’s apple)
might have you thinking that brilliance relies on a series of
epiphanies. But even “new” ideas have their own genealogy.
IN OTHER WORDS…
Pure originality is a trap, especially in the creative realm.
It’s a truism acknowledged across disciplines by even the
most innovative figures, from English novelist Mary Shelley
to Spanish artist Pablo Picasso. As the Italian philosopher
and economist Vilfredo Pareto famously said, an idea is
“nothing more nor less than a new combination of old ele-
ments”—and the capacity to bring these elements togeth-
er depends on one’s ability to see relationships.
That may sound daunting. But we can get better at see-
ing these relationships by flooding our brains with dispa-
rate information, then allowing our subconscious to roam
free. So stop waiting for an idea to strike you like lightning.
Instead, go to an antiques store, wander through an art
gallery, eavesdrop at a coffee shop, read more books. Ex-
pand your sources of inspiration, and you’ll inevitably ex-
pand your creative abilities.
As that expansion continues, make sure to document
your ideas—whether they occur as you’re in the shower,
about to fall asleep, or even while merging on the freeway.
 READING
LIST
When you feel a creative impulse of any kind, write it down. If Nine books that inspired Es
you can’t put pen to paper, try dictating it into your phone or (and informed her work)
switching on a tape recorder. Just don’t let those thoughts
disappear into the ether.

CLEAR YOUR HEADSPACE 1 7

As Es mentions, sometimes the mind must be emptied of The Order of Time Magic: Stage Illusions
distractions in order to generate creative (or even clear and by Carlo Rovelli and Scientific Diversions
comprehensive) thoughts. When you’re reading a primary Including Trick
text, she recommends turning all electronics off. “Don’t an- 2 Photography
swer the door, don’t answer the phone, concentrate on [the Chaos: Making a New by Albert A. Hopkins
text], just absorb it,” she says. “The most salient parts will Science by James Gleick
rise to the surface…[and] reoccur like earworms later.”
Often, Es will create entire set designs around these de- 3
tails. She uses the example of a play with three scenes: one Hyperobjects:
in an airport, one in a restaurant, one in a hotel room. She Philosophy and Ecology
recommends visiting each of those locales, and immersing After the End of the World
yourself in their sights, sounds, and smells. Note those by Timothy Morton
sensory details and, if need be, take photographs. “Under-
stand the system at play within each of those places,” she
says. “Then lay them all out in a row and say, ‘Right. What’s
the common thread? What is it that I can find? And what is 8
the point of each scene? What is each scene trying to tell The Memory Palace
me? And how can I only take the essence?’ ” (In this case, it of Matteo Ricci
might be side-by-side seating and peering out of a win- by Jonathan D. Spence
dow.) If finding those granular connections feels like a
struggle, she recommends getting away from the desk or 9
going for a walk so you can “shut off [the] front part of your Howards End
brain and gain access to the lizard part in the back.” 4 by E. M. Forster
Of course, there’s no definite formula for creative This Changes Everything:
thought. But Es does allow that many of her ideas occur to Capitalism vs. the Climate
her early in the morning, when she’s lying in bed in a totally by Naomi Klein
dark room, watching light creep around her curtains. She
sets an initial “gentle” alarm to allow for 20 minutes of 5
meditative napping before greeting the day. Labyrinths
“It’s a lovely liminal space,” she told the Guardian in by Jorge Luis Borges
2019. “You can really luxuriate in what your mind would be
like if you didn’t have to do anything. It’s really important.” 6
A Brief History of Time
by Stephen Hawking

10
11 
Building Strong
Partnerships
SIX KEYS TO COLLABORATING SUCCESSFULLY IN
A CREATIVE ENVIRONMENT, ACCORDING TO ES

F or Es, a stadium con-

cert represents the culmi-
nation of intense and pro-
longed work, often in collaboration
with sizable creative teams. At her
studio, she works with up to 10 trust-
ed associates who take her sketches
and turn them into drawings and
models as well as help her work
through more abstract ideas gath-
ered from casual conversations.
When she’s looking for potential
collaborators, Es has her eye out for
those with a sympathetic mindset
(meaning people who have similar
values) and a specific set of skills. (“I
can’t do 3-D drawing or 3-D render-
ing,” Es admits. “I can just sketch.”)
But most importantly, she has to
trust and respect the people with
whom she’s working. “If you haven’t
enjoyed a one-hour conversation
with a person you’re then going to be
collaborating with, then you really
[need a] good reason to want to
spend more time with that person, ”
she says. “If you find the people hard,
it’s going to be a hard project.”
Collaborating with others can be
exhilarating, maddening, and
serendipitous—sometimes all at once.
Here are a few tips for making it work.
“We’ve evolved to tell stories
to one another, to imagine
together. A collective
act of imagination makes
life worth living.” - Es
TRUST YOURSELF
Be aware of how you feel after that
first phone call with your collabora-
tor. Are you excited? Bored? Full of
dread? Those feelings are likely to
come up again.
GET INTO THE NITTY-GRITTY
Make sure that everyone on your
team understands every step of the
creative process. Establishing these
clear expectations will help greatly
when challenges inevitably arise.
SPEAK UP (AND LISTEN)
Keep the lines of communication
as open as possible. Admit to each
other when you’re struggling and
need help.
LEAVE YOUR EGO
AT THE DOOR
Competitiveness is the enemy of
collaborative success. Allow mutual
respect to reign.
EMBRACE FAILURE
Because “accidents” frequently be-
come innovations.
KEEP IT GOING
In the words of Es, “If you find a col-
laborator, marry them. Or hold them
close and don’t let them go.”

12
 Creative
Manifestos
THE TIME-HONORED METHOD FOR CRYSTALLIZING YOUR ARTISTIC VALUES
I n recent years, Es has become fascinated with
radically sustainable designs (see page 21), thanks in
large part to the work of contemporary British philoso-
pher Timothy Morton. She remembers Morton saying,
“ ‘I’ve got a kind of manifesto for artists who want to get
involved in this space and want to help. And my advice to
them is: Preaching hasn’t really got us where we need to
be. In fact, preaching might have contributed to the prob-
lem. So how about we don’t preach to people to change
their behavior, but we try to amaze them into changing
their behavior?’ ”
Witness the power of a manifesto to influence how cre-
atives approach their work. Even if it’s not intended for
public consumption, Es suggests that you sit down and
try writing one of your own.
WHAT IS A CREATIVE MANIFESTO, EXACTLY?
For hundreds of years, artists have used manifestos to
declare their intentions, make political statements, or
free their fellow creatives from oppressive aesthetic tra-
ditions. Combining elements of a mission statement, a
call to action, and a rubric for evaluation, these docu-
ments can have a profound impact on how we think about
(and define) aesthetics.
Manifestos can also serve as moorings, allowing art-
ists to experiment without fear of straying too far from
their overall goals, as well as a motivational tool in mo-
ments when inspiration falters. They can be sincere or
satirical, printed on paper or afloat in cyberspace, kept
private or circulated widely. The format ranges from
lengthy collected discourses to a few punchy proclama-
tions assembled as a point-by-point list. There’s no set
template, and the content of the doctrine is what really
matters most.
13 
WHY ARE MANIFESTOS IMPORTANT
TO MODERN ART?
During the 20th century, creative manifestos were a driv-
ing force behind several major avant-garde waves. In
1909, breaking with his contemporaries, the Italian poet
Filippo Tommaso Marinetti laid out the tenets of futurism,
arguing that art should champion movement over senti-
ment, modernity over tradition, and humanity over na-
ture, helping build an artistic and social ethos that antag-
onized polite society.
Ten years later, German architect Walter Gropius again
called for change, in an influential essay. “For there is no
such thing as ‘art by profession,’ ” he wrote, urging his col-
leagues to form a new creative guild that was free of the
“divisive class pretensions” between craftsmen and art-
ists. Gropius’s egalitarianism would come to drive Ger-
many’s Bauhaus art school, a rebellious place for artists
to synthesize traditional craft with experimental designs;
this, in turn, supercharged the larger Bauhaus movement,
which prized simple geometric shapes and function over
form, presaging the likes of Apple and Tesla.
Around the same time, Dadaists, a disparate group of
creatives largely working in Europe’s artistic capitals,
were also calling for a revolution in art making. They
sought to overthrow the era’s rationalist dictums, which
they saw as inextricably linked to the fervent nationalism
that led to World War I. People like Tristan Tzara, a Roma-
nian and French artist and one of the founders of the
Dada school of thought, called for an intentionally frag-
mented art movement that would “recognize no theory”
and, in turn, perpetuate independence by creating works
that would never become part of a larger monolith. Other
major avant-garde practitioners, including the cubists,
vorticists, and surrealists, also published manifestos.

STRENGTH,
NOT LENGTH
The argument for making your manifesto short and striking
Formed during the 1980s out of
frustration with the white- and
male-dominated New York art
scene, the Guerrilla Girls are one of
the world’s most iconic creative col-
lectives. They make elaborate,
multi-disciplinary works that tackle
complex social issues. But their
manifesto is relatively brief and
straightforward: “We wear gorilla
masks in public and use facts, hu-
mor and outrageous visuals to ex-
pose gender and ethnic bias as well
as corruption in politics, art, film,
and pop culture. Our anonymity
keeps the focus on the issues, and
away from who we might be: we
could be anyone and we are every-
where. We believe in an intersec-
tional feminism that fights discrimi-
nation and supports human rights
for all people and all genders. We
undermine the idea of a mainstream
narrative by revealing the understo-
ry, the subtext, the overlooked, and
the downright unfair.” With this in
mind, research their wide-ranging
body of work online, noting how it
stays true to their original doctrine.
How might you set concrete rules
while leaving space for creative iter-
ation in your own manifesto?
ASSIGNMENT
Write a Manifesto
Time to write a creative mani-
festo of your own. When it
comes to verbiage, strive for
strong, declarative language.
Words like maybe or sometimes
don’t belong here; if you don’t
feel passionate enough about
an idea to commit to it, it’s prob-
ably not worthy of your mani-
festo. Try experimenting with
the format—are you more of a
numbered list person, or a suc-
cinct and eloquent essayist?—
to find out how to get your point
across forcefully. Aim to answer
the main questions an audience
would ask about your creative
goals and opinions. What do
you see as the purpose of your
art? Who is it for? What makes
it distinct from other kinds of
art? You might think of your
manifesto as a tool of persua-
sion, imploring others to share
in your vision. Or you could con-
sider it a bristling repudiation of
the status quo. Either way, make
sure that you are bold. If it’s
provocative, confrontational, or
cranky, all the better!
14
 Finding
Your Cube
UNDERSTANDING ES’S SIGNATURE AESTHETIC
SO THAT YOU CAN BETTER ESTABLISH YOUR OWN

15 
 Concept sketch-
es for a massive
automated cube,
which appeared
in Es’s stage de-
sign for Beyoncé
(page 15).

T he cube is an adaptable motif for Es, one

she has returned to again and again in order to
build immersive worlds. Consider her design
for Beyoncé’s Formation World Tour, when Es made a cube
split in two and “cry” with sparks. Or English director Sam
beneath a mess of overhead lights, and not much else.
It’s at once a thought exercise and a creative calling card.
While finding your own version of Es’s cube may be a
challenge, it could be a worthy pursuit. Recurring mo-
tifs—like the noose, cigarette, and light bulb in the work
Mendes’s stage production of The Lehman Trilogy, for of the Canadian American figurative painter Philip Gus-
which Es created a revolving cube that could take the audi- ton, or the advertisements in American pop artist Andy
ence from one scene to the next, almost as if they were Warhol’s paintings—can help put an artist on the map. If
watching a film. Or the IMAX video installation that accom- your aesthetic preferences remain a mystery to you, pay
panied a musical piece by British composer Nitin Sawhney, attention to your visceral reactions to different environ-
in which Es used animations of multiplying cubes to con- ments: Researchers believe that visual affinities are prob-
vey modern city life, rotating them occasionally so that a ably an evolutionary trait, handed down from appraising
superimposed performer could dance on the walls. various aspects of our surroundings for biological impor-
Of course, this motif is just one aspect of Es’s vast tance (suitable mates, food sources), and that artwork
body of work. But it offers her an endlessly iterative entry still activates those same areas of the brain.
point into thinking about innovative stage design. She In other words, that feeling of elation you might experi-
can use the cube to subvert her audience’s expectation of ence when absorbing a beautiful work of art (or the dis-
what they’ll see during a live concert: a band, on a stage, gust you might feel just glancing at something you don’t
like) is a primal part of who you
are. Which is to say: Your cube
is out there. We don’t always
pay close attention to the visu-
ASSIGNMENT
al stimuli that inspire us. But by
Explore New Aesthetics noticing your own environment
and your own reactions, you
Shut your laptop, go outside, and try to find a new visual reference. Look for
an element of your environment—natural, man-made, or a mixture of both— can start building a vibrant,
that doesn’t neatly resolve itself, something that doesn’t have any straight visual life that inspires you
lines, something you can’t easily conceptualize. Observe it, study it, con- creatively.
found yourself with it. Use its inherent open-endedness as the starting point
for a brainstorm. Continue to iterate using your sketchpad (see page 9) or a
model (see page 20) to enrich your creative practice.

16
How to Sketch
DRAWING AT REGULAR INTERVALS CAN BOOST YOUR CONFIDENCE—AND,
ACCORDING TO SOME ARTISTS, UNLOCK YOUR CREATIVE SUBCONSCIOUS
As a former teacher once told Es, “Never think
without a pencil.” It’s a maxim Es has continued to embrace
throughout her professional life; she’s always leaving trac-
es of her ideas in notebooks that she can use later as refer-
ences. In this way, she’s been able to make sketching—
and, by extension, creative expression—a habitual activity.
A HEALTHY PRACTICE
The benefits of consistent drawing sessions go beyond
improving your craft: For starters, they can help you weather
difficult emotions. A 2016 study at Drexel University in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, found significantly lower levels
of cortisol, a stress hormone, in subjects who had been
making visual art for a period of 45 minutes. In another
study, from 2017, researchers at Iowa State University in
Ames, Iowa, suggested that coloring, doodling, and free-
drawing activate the parts of the brain involved in executive
functioning, improving creative confidence. Es’s feelings
align with these findings: “Because [drawing] is a physical
17 
process, it just releases you a little bit from this mental
process that we’re always so busy with in this front part of
our mind, just takes you back to something a bit more
ancient: a connection between hand, graphite, and paper.”
THE SURREALIST TRADITION
To take Es’s hand-graphite-paper connection even further
(or simply add some variety to your sketching regimen),
you can try shutting off your brain altogether and letting
your writing instrument guide you. This technique, known
as automatic drawing, involves allowing a pencil or pen to
rapidly travel across a piece of paper without consciously
trying to influence its path. By removing intent from the
process, avant-garde artists during the 1920s aimed to
plumb their deepest creative impulses, allowing ideas to
flow directly from their psyche onto paper. The French
painter André Masson famously formed beautiful and
bizarre images inside nests of interlocking lines by utilizing
automatic drawing.
 ASSIGNMENT

Develop a Sketching
Practice
Keep a small sketchbook in
your back pocket, periodically
taking it out to draw sketches of
notable people or things in your
environment. (Each time you
want to reach for your smart-
phone, consider reaching for
your pen and paper first.) If con-
ceptualizing new illustrations
feels too daunting, Es recom-
mends trying to trace a design
that you like using a pencil.
Even when you’re attempting to
imitate, you will inevitably add
something new, infusing your
drawing with originality.

Clockwise from top left: A sketch of the 2012 London Olympics

closing ceremonies; a sketch of the cube created for American
pop icon Beyoncé’s Formation World Tour; a sketch of the cube
created for British singer Adele’s World Arena Tour; a sketch of
the stage design for English band Take That’s Progress Stadium
Tour (2011) and Circus Stadium Tour (2009).

18
19 
 Model-Making:
An Introduction
WANT TO START BRINGING YOUR SKETCHBOOK CONCEPTS TO FRUITION?
ALL YOU NEED IS A FEW HOUSEHOLD ITEMS

The idea of turning your idea into a model can seem
intimidating. According to Es, it’s actually simpler than you
think; if you can fold a piece of paper in half and prop it up
on the table, congratulations, you’ve successfully moved
from two dimensions to three. Regardless of how simple
(or intricate) a prototype ends up being, the goal remains
the same: exploring how this added dimension might im-
pact your concept.
“What you’ll find is that your mind starts to think in a dif-
ferent way,” Es says of making the leap from paper to pro-
totype. “You start to think about space sculpturally rather
than just graphically.”
Making a model is, quite literally, an opportunity to see
your original concept from a new angle.
BIG IDEAS, SMALL SCALE
In the Middle Ages, traveling masons used scale models to
advertise their handiwork; similarly, Es sees architectural
models today as communication devices, articulating a
specific vision to potential clients and collaborators. These
miniature scale representations can also help you work
through complex ideas, figure out what’s feasible, tinker
with proportion, and explore new dimensions—all while
being able to see a potential design from multiple per-
spectives at once.
Perhaps when you think model, you think corporate
skyscraper feasibility study, or something else ultra-pro-
fessional and unattainable. But models come in all shapes
and sizes. Concept models can be used to explore abstract
ideas like shadows and light, while section models slice
through a building to reveal their vertical organization. Ar-
chitects tend to use both types of models to generate po-
tential ideas.

ASSIGNMENT

Make a 3-D Model

Take an idea from your sketchbook and translate it into a three-dimensional model. You’ll need scissors, glue, a steel rul-
er, straight pins (which are exactly what they sound like), and a matte knife (switchblade). If you want to get fancy, you
could also invest in spray adhesive (used for attaching paper surfaces that would buckle under glue), a vinyl cutting mat
(so you don’t scratch up your table), and/or a set of tweezers (for rearranging dainty elements). Many models are con-
structed with plain white cardboard, but Es recommends experimenting with different materials—clay, metal, even
found objects—to see how they influence your train of thought. You can saw Styrofoam at an angle to alter its shape or
cut plastic packaging into an airy, translucent design. Don’t worry about being perfect when you’re tinkering: By making
a mistake, you might even stumble upon an entirely new vision.

20
 Designing
Sustainably
A SHORT PRIMER ON CONTEMPORARY
CREATIVE ETHICS, COURTESY OF ES

E s is particularly interested in new de-

signers who “really want to try and use the
skills we’ve developed with audiences, with
performance, with theater, to now push forward and try to
communicate ideas…in order to combat the climate crisis
+ Before buying new materials, consider how you could ac-
quire them secondhand. Explore possibilities at estate
or yard sales, thrift shops, and the local recycling center.

+ Alternately, try reusing material that you’ve already

and to stave off extinction for as long as possible.” In her purchased, perhaps for a different project. Pushing
eyes, the central conflict in many designers’ lives now is yourself to reuse materials can lead you to fresh, inven-
reconciling their creative imaginations with a world of tive ways of presenting a familiar concept. After all,
things that are destined for the landfill. eco-conscious design is a relatively new discipline.
However, zero-waste approaches to stage design are There’s room for you to stake your claim with one seri-
possible. In 2013, the Austrian-born stage designer and ously radical idea!
“ecoscenographer” Tanja Beer built the world’s first “liv-
ing stage” at the Castlemaine State Festival in Australia.
Composed of portable garden beds, the physical struc-
tures were used by locals to grow plants, while the waste
was used as compost. Her show was quite literally edible.
As immersive, interactive storytellers, stage designers
have the opportunity to “amaze people into changing
“Many of us look at
their behavior,” as Es puts it, rather than merely telling the situation we’re in
them what to do. With that in mind, here are some ideas
for building sets that take sustainability into account:
regarding the climate
crisis and we feel
+ Know that 80 percent of the ecological impact of a
product is locked in at the design phase. In other words, powerless.… I want to draw
your thoughtfulness at the outset of a project greatly in- our attention to all those
fluences the environmental impact.
moments where human
+ Whenever you’re building something—a statue, a model, beings have actually
a backdrop, a lighting rig—think about what will happen
after it’s dismantled. Can any of it be composted? Do- changed course.” - Es
nated? Repurposed for another job?

21 
ECO-
FRIENDLY
DESIGN
MATERIALS

BAMBOO
With its exceptional flexibility,
durability, and strength, bamboo
is a stellar choice for set builders.
This flowering plant can be found
in the wild anywhere outside of
Europe and Antarctica, and it con-
tinues spreading and growing
without having to be replanted af-
ter harvest. In fact, it’s one of the
fastest-growing plants in the
world. The only downside? Bam-
boo sets are vulnerable to insects
and moisture.

RECLAIMED
METAL OR WOOD
Reflective materials like metal can
create striking set pieces, but they
take a lot of energy to mine, heat,
shape, and transport. Better to use
metal that’s already been extracted
from the earth, like the kind you’d
find at a scrapyard. Wood, too, can
be recycled and purchased for a
reasonable price in many cities
around the country; check your lo-
cal home improvement shop and
see what’s available.

BOTTLES OR OTHER
RECYCLED MATERIALS
Admittedly, a plastic bottle might
not be the easiest object to incor-
porate into your designs. What it
lacks in serviceability, though, it
more than makes up for in novelty
and ethereality. Similar whimsicali-
ty can be found in other recycled
materials like old cases, wooden
pallets, and cardboard tubes.

22
Rethinking
Productivity
MAINTAINING CREATIVE OUTPUT IN THE HECTIC DIGITAL WORLD
PRESENTS UNIQUE CHALLENGES—OR DOES IT?
E s is constantly investigating how to live
and work at the same time. She describes her
process as one of endless calibration—some
days, she feels like she’s progressed in her career but ne-
glected her home life; other days, she feels the opposite.
As long as you’re prepared to fail sometimes and forgive
yourself, then “you’ll be okay,” she says.
In other words, that mythical über-productive-yet-fun
day where you accomplish every creative task under the
sun—while also exercising in your target heart range,
cooking your spouse a romantic dinner, and reading bed-
time stories to your child—is just that: a myth.
Here are a few healthier ways of envisioning the bal-
ance between your obligations and creative pursuits,
whether you’re designing stages or seating areas, light-
ing or literary plots.
A MODERN CONUNDRUM
Despite a raft of new technologies that claim to optimize
every facet of our lives, productivity has only experienced
marginal gains in the past decade. You might chalk this up
to the very tools meant to help us work more efficiently:
Our brains are hardwired to react to new stimuli, making it
difficult to avoid internet rabbit holes. That’s to say nothing
of the constant distraction from email correspondence,
push notifications, and nonstop news updates. What can
our social obsession with (and failures to increase) produc-
tivity teach us about fruitful creative labor?
ART AND WORK
Since time immemorial, renowned creatives have worked
in fields tangential to (or entirely disconnected from) their
craft. Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci was a cartogra-
pher and architect, American artist Mark Rothko was a
23 
schoolteacher, the Indian writer Sujatha Gidla continued
to work as a subway conductor even after her memoir
was published to widespread acclaim. For many artists,
engaging in creative work is something squeezed into
whatever free time the day allows.
That approach might not work for you. But the notion
that artistic invention is simply incompatible with modern
work life appears to be a fallacy. Many artists find that a
day job can help ground them in reality. Others find that
some degree of distraction helps them think up new
ideas. In one study, conducted by the University of Min-
nesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 2013, test subjects
who were asked to invent new uses for the Ping-Pong ball
came up with more creative ideas when working in messy
rooms than in spotless ones. The long and the short of it?
How and when you fit creativity into your life is up to
you—there are no rules.
WHAT WE DO KNOW
The brain works best when you give it a break. After all,
while the end result of creative labor may appear entirely
novel, the process tends to involve synthesizing research
and ideas to create something new. (See page 9 for more.)
In order to do so, you need time to think in a relaxed yet
mildly stimulating environment. Occupying a portion of
your mind with some type of low-level input can help the
rest of you to contemplate.
In other words: Carving out time to be unproductive can
be great for your productivity. So go for a walk, listen to
music, play a video game, take a shower, clean the kitchen.
Disengage and allow the ideas to rise to the forefront of
your noggin. Let your brain go into default mode—a neural
state that allows for daydreaming—and perhaps your next
big idea will come when you’re unclogging the sink.
24
25 
Es’s Tips for
Living a More
Creative Life
INDISPENSABLE WISDOM FROM ONE OF THE WORLD’S
MOST INVENTIVE CONCEPTUAL DESIGNERS
SEE THE BIGGER PICTURE
Throughout her decades-long career, Es has learned
when to modify her work, when to push back, and when
to move on. And because she’s often working with
sprawling teams and complex budgets, she’s also learned
how to adapt to changing circumstances. It’s okay to
swap materials or alter the aesthetics of a work, “so long
as it communicates the same gesture.”
OWN YOUR IDEAS
When working with teams, Es finds that people are willing
to trust her if she trusts herself. Accordingly, she always
approaches her team with a strong conviction in her
ideas. “They smell confidence and uncertainty and fear,”
Es says of creative collaborators. “If you’re scared, it’s re-
ally hard to take anyone with you. Present what you really
want to do. There will be enough people who want to di-
lute your idea; don’t do it to yourself.”
SOLVE PROBLEMS LIKE AN ARTIST
When Es was designing a 65-foot-high mechanical figure
for the English band Take That, she was told by three en-
gineers that the set piece was technically impossible to
build. Undeterred, she eventually found a hydraulic ma-
chine specialist who could breathe life into the ambitious
animatronic using a long hydraulic spine. The only catch?
The figure was controlled by electronics that had to re-
main intact and thus had to be intricately folded onto a
flatbed truck before it could be transported beneath mul-
tiple bridges across continental Europe—including one
with an annoyingly low clearance in Hamburg, Germany.
In the end, though, the set piece was one of Es’s most
technically dazzling: an animatronic wonder that wowed
thousands of people.
USE FAILURE AS A MOTIVATOR
Disappointment is inextricable from the work of an artist.
Es even describes the uncomfortable feeling as one of
her prime motivators. “You can feel, when you sit in the
audience, when the audience is getting it or not getting
it,” she said in an online lecture for the London Design
Festival. “There’s nothing worse than having made a
piece of communication for an audience and the loud
sound of them failing to understand what you were trying
to communicate. The humiliation of that is one of the
main drivers of my practice.”
REMAIN CURIOUS
A beginner’s outlook can help you view potential set-
backs as learning opportunities while driving you to im-
prove your craft. As you get better, remember that you
can only know a fraction of what’s possible and that im-
mersing yourself in something new is a reward unto itself.
“You can never research enough,” Es says. “Your life will
be an endless, fruitful journey of not knowing enough.”
26