Feynman And I’m Doing It For The Fun Of It

“The Brain changes with every flicker of experience.” ~Deepak Chopra

Inspiration can come from the most unlikely places. The inspiration for my painting came from watching a video of Richard Feynman, one of the scientists belonging to the Manhattan Project, and the inventor of the atomic bomb. After the destruction in Hiroshima, Feynman had such a strong negative reaction that he found it very difficult to go back to work.  He felt what is the use everything will be destroyed anyway. 

Feeling stressed and doomed he realized that he was going to change his approach to life and work.  He was going to “do things for the fun of it”, for no reason, no purpose at all.  As soon as he started playing and doing things for the fun of it, he said, “it was like a cork came out of the bottle and everything poured out.”

Richard Feynman recounts: “I was in the cafeteria and some guy, fooling around, throws a plate in the air. As the plate went up in the air I saw it wobble, and I noticed the red medallion of Cornell on the plate going around. It was pretty obvious to me that the medallion went around faster than the wobbling. I had nothing to do, so I start figuring out the motion of the rotating plate. I discovered that when the angle is very slight, the medallion rotates twice as fast as the wobble rate—two to one. It came out of a complicated equation! I went on to work out equations for wobbles. Then I thought about how the electron orbits start to move in relativity. Then there’s the Dirac equation in electrodynamics. And then quantum electrodynamics. And before I knew it… the whole business that I got the Nobel Prize for came from that piddling around with the wobbling plate.” A replica of the Cornell plate is now part of an exhibit marking the centennial of the Nobel Prize.

 I was having difficulty going into the studio to paint. By listening to Feynman’s words it allowed me to go into the studio, just play and “do it for the fun of it”.  I realized that one of the fastest ways to stifle creativity is to be stressed.  My attachment to the outcome was more overwhelming then the need to create.  By playing and letting go, it allowed me to explore and create in an uninhibited way. I love this approach and hope the cork will come out of the bottle for me as well, but I guess I can’t get attached to that either 😉 

*ART20K footage completed 13,462 square inches

*Above painting~ “No One’s Home”, 30″ x 40″, acrylic on museum wrapped canvas, price $3000

*All art from Janet Vanderhoof’s Fine Art Gallery, maybe seen in Janet’s studio at Morgan Hill, CA.   You may purchase through contacting my email jvander51@msn.com or phone (408) 460-7237.  Thank you!