Thoughts on Creativity: An interview with Tadao cern

Most creatives don’t struggle with ideas. They struggle with expectations.

That was one of the threads that came through clearly in our conversation with artist TADAO CERN last month.

After Inspiration X Vilnius, we asked him a series of questions around creativity, process, and what shapes the work we put into the world. And very quickly, the focus shifted away from “how to create,” and toward what gets in the way.

One of the biggest traps, he explained, is audience expectation.
“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘱 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦? 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘦? 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧.”

It’s a subtle shift, but one that changes everything. Because once the work starts being shaped by expectation, something gets lost; not just for the creator, but for the audience as well.

“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦-𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦.” Instead, he points back to something much simpler, and much harder to trust.

“𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵- 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦.”

That idea of trusting your own direction comes up again when he talks about his own path. Before photography, he spent years studying and working in architecture. A field that, in theory, is creative, but in reality, is often shaped by constraints. “𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘴- 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸.” At a certain point, the decision became clear. “𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘐 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥: 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐’𝘮 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘚𝘰 𝘐 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵.”

What followed wasn’t a carefully planned transition. It was exploration. Trying different things until something clicked. “𝘗𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘐 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘕𝘰 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘭- 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘣𝘣𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.”

It’s a bold way of thinking, and a reminder that stepping away from expectations, even briefly, can shift how we approach not just our work, but our lives. More from the conversation soon.