[MUSIC PLAYING]
SPEAKER: I want to take a
minute to introduce Eric Kim.
He's a good, good
friend of mine.
Just so happened to be my random
roommate first year of college.
[LAUGHTER]
And so Eric started off in
tech, actually, and then
very quickly realized that
he did not want to do that.
And he quickly pivoted to
the much more exciting life
of professional photography.
[LAUGHTER]
So nowadays, he
travels the world
and puts on professional
photography workshops
for aspiring street
photographers and pretty much
any photographers that
just want to learn more
about being creative every day.
He's also a big proponent
of the open source movement,
and so he's released
quite a few of his books
open, free, online.
And he has some books on
Amazon and through his store.
He's also a big entrepreneur.
He's started a photography
social platform
as well as opened up a
physical goods store.
So he's got lots
of things going on.
Thank you so much for coming.
And without further ado, please
help me welcome Eric Kim.
[APPLAUSE]
ERIC KIM: All right.
How's everyone feeling?
Good?
AUDIENCE: Yeah.
ERIC KIM: All right.
So raise your hand if you had
your morning coffee already--
lunchtime coffee.
All right.
So I'm just going to try
my best to make this not as
boring as possible because I
don't want put anyone to sleep.
So first and foremost, thank
you guys so much for coming.
Thank you, Kevin,
everyone at Google,
Cindy for making this possible.
I'm super excited to
be here, because I
think all of you guys--
I met some you guys at the door.
First and foremost, I consider
all of you guys artists,
artists in the sense that
we're all born as artists
as children, like Picasso said.
And according to
his quote, how do
we remain artists
as we get older?
Because I do think that once
you go to school, it's like, oh,
test-taking,
test-taking, test-taking.
So the creativity is kind of a
little bit beaten out of you.
And my goal as a person,
a grown child and artist,
is that as I'm getting
older, I actually
try to become more
childlike as I get older
rather than becoming
more adult-like.
So first and foremost,
everyone in this room--
so we're here about creativity.
So I just wanted
to ask you guys,
so why do you think
creativity is important?
So why do you think
creativity is important?
AUDIENCE: Me?
Oh, no one raised
their hand, so you--
ERIC KIM: Yeah, I'm going to
be one of those bad teachers.
The rule is if you don't
make eye contact with me,
I'm going to call you.
Yeah?
AUDIENCE: Oh, OK.
Is it on?
OK.
So why is it important to
become or to be creative?
Well, that depends on what
you consider important.
I think if you consider
happiness, and joy,
and inspiration to
be important, then
you'll want to be creative.
Because without that
life is just kind of--
you just do what you have to do.
You go through the motions.
ERIC KIM: Raise your hand
if you like to be happy.
[LAUGHTER]
All right.
Who's not raising their hand?
Can you throw the box to
somebody randomly and then
have them answer.
Yeah.
Toss it over.
So why is creativity
important to you?
AUDIENCE: All right.
If you're creative, you get
to have variety in your life
and express something
that you want to express.
ERIC KIM: Is there a certain
something you want to express?
AUDIENCE: Certain
images or a picture--
a nice picture that I want to
capture or something like that.
ERIC KIM: Do you
like photography?
AUDIENCE: I do drawing.
ERIC KIM: All right.
Raise your hand if you like
photography or drawing or--
oh, awesome.
OK, good.
You guys are at the right talk.
Can you toss it to one
more person on that side?
Yeah.
Toss it over.
Kobe.
OK.
AUDIENCE: So the
reason why you want
to be creative every day is
because you consume every day.
And to balance out your energy
and balance out the universe,
you also need to create.
ERIC KIM: Yeah, I like that.
What's your name?
AUDIENCE: LJ.
ERIC KIM: LJ.
And what was your name?
AUDIENCE: Orin.
ERIC KIM: Huh?
AUDIENCE: Orin?
ERIC KIM: Orin
AUDIENCE: Matt.
ERIC KIM: Matt.
OK.
I'm Eric, by the way.
So I definitely think
that that's probably
the most important thing
that I actually was
going to be one of the talks--
the points in this talk.
So sorry, my
presentation style--
I'm a little bit
all over the place.
Is that OK with peoples?
Cool?
So essentially, I'm just going
to drop some tips and ideas.
So one of the big
ideas I wanted to share
is very much something
to your point
is we are consuming
most of the time.
So I'm an American.
I was born and raised here.
I like my Costco hot
dogs and everything.
And I would say I'm the
ultimate sucker for consumerism.
I see-- I'm driving
down the freeway.
I see an Aston Martin, I'll go,
ooh, I would like one those.
Or like I see an iPhone
ad, and I'm like,
oh, I'd like one of those.
And I think the reason--
I think consuming is important
because if I didn't have
my avocado toast, I probably
wouldn't have the energy
to live my days.
However, I'm
proposing this notion
of the opposite of consumerism
which is producerism,
meaning we derive our happiness
from producing things,
from producing artworks.
And I say artwork in
a very general sense.
It could be dance.
It could be poems.
It could be photographs.
It could be drawings.
Anything that you create
is creative and the--
what I'm going to try to
encourage in this talk
is that, first of all,
all of us, we're creators.
And the more we create, the
more creative it is-- we are.
It's not like you're
born creative,
and you're not born creative.
We're all creative in here.
And so I just want to give you
guys some practical and also
some philosophical
talks on the point.
I have one of these.
All right.
So cool.
So I'll just tell you a little
bit about my personal life
story.
So my name's Eric
Kim, 31 years old,
went to UCLA to study sociology.
And the reason I got
into photography was--
I feel that photography
is augmented reality--
is that with a camera
I could actually
experience life richer, fuller.
It's like-- do you remember
when you went from like 540
to like 4K?
It's like the world just
looks so much more vibrant.
And I'm one of those
people that I'm
prone on getting bored easily.
Raise your hand if
you get bored easily.
Yeah, right?
So to me, the world looks
so much more interesting
with a camera.
I'm a big fan of black
and white photography
because it makes the world look
different than what it actually
is.
And studying sociology was
super fascinating for me,
because believe it or
not, I like people.
And the primary interest I
have is street photography.
And it was cool because I
was able to cross-pollinate
my interest in
photography and sociology.
So photography plus sociology,
I discovered street photography.
And that's also another
notion I want to share,
too, is that I
think all of us, we
are "full stack" artists
or visual artists--
so whether you paint, whether
you draw, whether you sketch,
whether you photograph.
It's not like, oh,
I'm a photographer,
I'm an Illustrator,
I'm a whatever.
It's how can you take these
different things that you're
interested in and combine them
to create a new form of art
which is authentic to you?
So for example, I
really like music.
And I started playing
around with Garage Band
to make my own beats because
I would just rip instrumentals
off YouTube for--
from rap music videos.
And I always get this
copyright infringement.
I'm like, oh, this
is so annoying.
But it was actually a good
moment because I'm like,
oh, maybe I should make my own
beats, open up Garage Band.
And what I did was
I started making
YouTube videos of
slideshows in my photos
and adding my
beats on top of it.
So you could kind
of double dip and--
so cross-pollination
is something
that's very important to me.
So even asking you
guys in the crowd--
so feel free to shout it out.
So what are some passions
or creative interests
everyone here has?
So--
AUDIENCE: Cycling.
ERIC KIM: Cycling.
What else?
AUDIENCE: Sewing.
ERIC KIM: Sewing.
AUDIENCE: Fashion.
ERIC KIM: Huh?
AUDIENCE: Fashion.
ERIC KIM: Fashion.
OK, yeah.
What else?
AUDIENCE: Cooking.
ERIC KIM: Cooking.
Ooh.
Anyone's hobby eating?
[LAUGHTER]
Eating.
What else?
AUDIENCE: Music production.
ERIC KIM: Music production.
AUDIENCE: Roller skating.
ERIC KIM: Roller skating.
Roller skating while cooking.
[LAUGHTER]
This is Eric Kim's
cross-pollination idea--
tech startup idea.
So I would encourage
all of you the best way
to be creative every
day is-- not all of us--
so like, for example, my
passion is photography.
Not all of us have
the opportunity
to shoot photos every
day, or you might not even
have the opportunity
to cycle every day.
But how can you use
every moment of your day
to be creative in a
different type of way?
So this is a thought experiment.
It's the notion of creative
return to every day.
And it's actually the topic of
our book, "Creative Every Day."
Cindy handed out some
copies in the crowd.
The idea is this.
If your morning
to your night time
was put on loop ad
infinitum forever,
would this be your
happiest heaven, or it
would be your deepest hell?
And so you guys ever
watch that Tom Cruise
movie where he kind of gets
killed and he replays his life?
AUDIENCE: "Tomorrow Never Dies."
ERIC KIM: "Tomorrow Never Dies."
Or Lola-- the Lola
running movie.
You guys know that movie?
So the notion is if your 24-hour
chunk of time from the morning
to the night--
how can I just use
that 24-hour chunk
to live eternally for,
like, a trillion years
and be happiest in my life?
So this is the
title of our book.
Yes?
AUDIENCE: "Groundhog Day."
ERIC KIM: "Groundhog Day."
Yeah.
"Groundhog Day."
Yeah.
So imagine your life
is "Groundhog Day."
You are the groundhog.
[LAUGHTER]
But you're the
creative groundhog.
All right?
So the title of our
book is "Eternal Return
to Creative Every Day."
Essentially, I like the
day of all day creative.
And you're making things.
You're learning things.
You're playing things is much
more done in this sense of fun.
So my definition of
creativity-- before I bore you
with my definition, how do
you guys define creativity?
Feel free to shout it out.
What is creativity?
AUDIENCE: Creating
something unique to you.
ERIC KIM: Creating
something unique to you.
I heard someone in the back.
AUDIENCE: Expression.
ERIC KIM: Expression.
What else?
Someone-- huh?
AUDIENCE: Building anything.
ERIC KIM: Building anything.
Anyone like LEGOs growing up?
Oh, yeah.
So--
AUDIENCE: A tendency to create.
ERIC KIM: Huh?
AUDIENCE: A tendency to create.
ERIC KIM: A tendency to create.
I love it.
OK, I'll use some extra
credit points at the end.
So my definition of creativity
is very similar to your guys.
Because I think the problem
about creativity is that--
when most people say,
oh, you're so creative,
I think what they mean to
say is you are artistically
innovative, meaning you create
art forms that no one has
witnessed before, and therefore,
you're different from us
normal peoples.
However, I much prefer a very
much more pragmatic definition
of creativity is a
tendency to create.
A creative person is
somebody who creates a lot.
And this is the analogy
I'll give-- very California.
Have you guys ever
seen an avocado tree?
Do you guys-- did
you actually know
that avocados came from trees?
True story.
[LAUGHTER]
If I had an avocado tree and it
made lots of avocados, that's
a good avocado tree, right?
Or else we wouldn't
have our avocado toast.
It would be a nightmare.
So you are the avocado tree,
and the avocados you produce
are your artworks.
So the more avocados you could
produce, the more creative
you are or the more you produce.
And this is also tied into
this notion of producerism.
The more you produce,
generally, the happier you are.
So this is a picture of my mom.
So to me, my mom is my
ultimate life inspiration.
She's in a field of
flowers with her phone.
And she is the one who I
really find inspiration
from because she's
always smiling,
and she's creative every day.
She's using her phone.
She's knitting.
She's making artworks
which bring her joy.
And she's like in her
60s now, but she's
kind of like a big grown child.
And I really relate with that.
And this is a philosophical
question I have is, why create?
I think a life in which
you're creating all the time,
I feel like this is the
only life worth living.
If you had a life in which
you could not create, to me,
this would be actually
my deepest hell.
And I think consuming--
and this is the way I see it.
Consumerism is important
because you must
consume food, ideas, nutrients.
Once again, avocado
tree analogy.
Your roots need to go
down into the Earth.
And you need to draw nutrition
from the soil, from the water,
from the sunlight.
So you need nutrition.
However, you're
consuming in order
to create, in order to produce.
So the ultimate goal is
for you to create stuff.
So whether you
create a photograph,
whether you create a book,
whether you create a poem--
even I think the
act of conversation
could be very creative is that
you're talking with somebody
and you're sharing ideas.
You're creating
something greater.
And also I think I figured
out the secret of happiness.
It's just creating.
I'm happiest when I'm creating.
When I'm consuming
and being passive,
I'm actually slightly
a little bit depressed.
AUDIENCE: I have a question.
ERIC KIM: Yes, I have answers.
AUDIENCE: So how
do you personally--
ERIC KIM: Yeah.
AUDIENCE: How do you
balance your want and your
need to create versus
also your ego--
ego's need to be good
at what you create?
ERIC KIM: Oh, OK.
So this is a good question.
That's a fantastic question.
AUDIENCE: Can you repeat that?
ERIC KIM: Oh, so I'll
repeat the question.
So we all have this
desire to create.
But then, again,
there's this ego
that tells us it's only
worth creating if it's good.
So if you create an
artwork and it's bad,
it's not worth creating.
And so I'll tell you about
how I feel about this.
So growing up, I always
wanted to be good.
And then you're always--
you're self-censoring
yourself with your ego.
But I think this is
actually something
that you're trained is that
your teachers, your friends
tell you that's good or bad.
At this point, I don't
think there is such a thing
as good or bad art.
I think there's only authentic
art or inauthentic art.
And so the way I say authentic
is you are the author.
So if you make something
that you feel like is you
and it brings you
joy, it's authentic.
If you're making something
to please the audience
or please other people, I
consider it inauthentic.
And whether it's
authentic or inauthentic,
no one else could
judge this but you.
And so, for example, let's
say I'm getting into cycling.
And the question is,
OK, it's authentic
if I'm cycling because
it brings me joy.
But if I'm just cycling because
I could get some like swole ass
calves and show off with
my sweet biking gear
to my buddies, then maybe
that's an inauthentic purpose.
And this is also
one of the reasons--
I had about-- maybe a
year and a half ago, I
had about 60,000
followers on Instagram.
I actually deleted my Instagram
because I realized in myself
the reason why I was
doing photography
was very inauthentic
because I wanted the likes.
It's kind of that dopamine
drip of social affirmation,
social affirmation.
So I feel good, but I
started realizing I didn't--
I no longer made
photos to please myself
but to please other people.
So now I think what's
actually helped
me is that don't think
about the good/bad binary.
That doesn't exist.
Just think of authentic
or inauthentic binary
and how that applies to you.
Because even if you look
at Matisse or Picasso,
their earlier works were very
photo-realistic good paintings.
But the older they got
and the more experienced,
they actually became
more childlike.
Even Matisse doing
the little cutouts--
I actually consider
that his best work.
So I would say, yeah,
just think about--
don't worry about
the good or bad part.
Just think about the
authentic or inauthentic part.
And yeah, thank you.
Please feel free to interrupt
me as I go through the talk,
because I think it's all good.
So another thing
that's actually helped
me be more creative every day--
so a lot of us we're working
in the office all day.
It's hard for us to always
go out and make photos.
Another way you could
be creative is--
I'm very much into
this idea of remixing.
So this is one
photograph that I shot.
And one of the tips I'll give
you guys as photographers is--
a good tip is in
Photoshop or Procreate--
any of those tools--
inverse your images.
Because as you
inverse your images,
you could actually understand
your photos in a different way.
And to even take photos
you've already shot
and remixing them different,
that itself is also
a creative act.
And some other
things I like to do
is I like to add
different color overlays.
And the more I remix
my images, the more I
feel connected with
it, and the more I
can understand
the ways to do it.
And so raise your hand if you're
looking at a computer all day.
Raise your hand.
You don't have to
raise your hand.
But-- [LAUGHS] I
was going to say,
raise your hand if you
would prefer not to be
in front of a laptop all day.
But I'm not going to put
anyone in that position.
So and also feel free to
write down notes or put notes
in your phone.
So another tip I have in
photography is the Gaussian
blur, so G-A-U-S-S-I-A-N blur.
I think it's this German guy.
His name was Gauss or something.
It's a certain
algorithm to add a blur
to your photo which looks nice.
Does anyone actually have
a technical definition
of Gaussian blur?
All right.
So this is the tip.
Take photos that you
like that you've shot
or when you're analyzing
other people's photos
and apply a Gaussian blur.
Another tip what
you guys could do--
so for us people who have
glasses, take off your glasses.
Take off your glasses
and look at the image.
That's like your real-life
Gaussian blur test.
For those of you guys blessed
with good eyes, what you could
do is you could close one eye--
cover one eye and
squint until you
make your eyes look invisible.
And one of the best ways
to do the Gaussian blur
test, especially when
looking at images,
is that it helps you better
abstract images and better
understand composition.
So even one thing I
like to do in Photoshop
is apply the
Gaussian blur filter.
You could change the slider
however much you want.
And then you start
to fill in the image.
And then what I'll do is
I'll hide the back image.
And so this initial
composition we saw earlier--
abstracted-- that's actually
kind of the visual impact
that you're getting.
And doing this kind
of stuff in Photoshop,
you could be in the office.
You could be on
your lunch break.
You could just be playing
around with your images.
And also you could
be playing around
with other people's images.
So this is actually
with the Gaussian blur
test inversed to better
even understand the images.
And I just like it because
in photography there's
this tendency that a
photograph is sacred.
You're not allowed
to mess with it.
But I'm all for--
I love hip-hop music,
too, and I love sampling.
I think being able
to sample, remix,
is able to help us
all thrive creatively.
So back to my previous point--
no such thing as
good art or bad art.
I think about it as
authentic or inauthentic.
So looking at this photo,
how does it make you feel?
AUDIENCE: Weird, but good.
ERIC KIM: Weird, but good.
How so?
AUDIENCE: Because I
feel good because she's
smiling and that--
I kind of feel that energy.
But then it is kind of weird
looking at her [INAUDIBLE]..
I like it.
ERIC KIM: OK.
Can I actually
bring you on stage?
Yeah, come on.
Come on.
[LAUGHTER]
Yeah.
You guys didn't know if
you signed up for the talk,
you'd be called on stage.
All right.
We got Travis Scott
in the building.
How you doing, Travis?
[APPLAUSE]
All right.
Come on.
Come up on the stage.
So this is my camera.
You [INAUDIBLE] it.
All right.
I'll put it into color for you.
So look at the photo, Travis.
AUDIENCE: Yeah.
ERIC KIM: How close do you think
I had to be to photograph her?
So imagine I'm the lady.
AUDIENCE: I mean,
you're kind of close.
[LAUGHTER]
ERIC KIM: OK, so what
I want you to do is--
so imagine me.
I have a nice pearl
necklace, red lips.
It's New York City.
I want you to take
that same photo--
AUDIENCE: Of you.
ERIC KIM: --of me.
So ha, ha, ha, ha.
[LAUGHTER]
All right.
Take the shot.
Get close.
See how close you got to get.
See how close you got to get.
AUDIENCE: Oh, gosh.
ERIC KIM: Ha, ha, ha.
AUDIENCE: This camera?
ERIC KIM: Yeah, this camera.
Ha, ha, ha.
You got to get closer, man.
AUDIENCE: What do you--
ERIC KIM: No, zoom.
Foot zoom.
Foot zoom.
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha,
ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
Ha, ha, ha.
Ha, ha.
Ho, ho, ho, he, he, he.
Ha, ha, ha.
All right.
So everyone looks at how close
Travis had to get to me, right?
So let's see how did you do.
Oh, yeah.
You did good.
You did good.
So let's give
Travis a golf clap.
Thank you, Travis.
All right.
So this is also--
as I'm going through this talk--
a lot of us are interested
in photography--
I'll give some tips
on photography.
So there's also this strange
notion in photography
is that we're not allowed to
interact with our subjects.
Is that it's a pristine scene.
You're not allowed to interact.
But I like-- this is my thought.
Whenever you make
artworks or photographs--
and I consider all
photos artwork as well--
you're embedding a little
bit of your own soul
and your own personality
into the images.
And anyone want to
guess how many photos I
shot to get this photo?
Raise your hand if
just one, two shots.
How many shots you
think I shot, Travis?
AUDIENCE: 30
ERIC KIM: Huh?
30.
OK.
Can everyone give me
a drum roll, please?
[DRUM ROLL]
All right.
So this is something we
call a contact sheet.
Anyone remember
the days of film?
So how many shots
did I have to shoot
to make the one good photo?
AUDIENCE: 29.
ERIC KIM: 29.
Hey, you guys cheating?
[LAUGHTER]
AUDIENCE: I see the number.
ERIC KIM: All right.
Oh, you see the numbers.
OK.
[LAUGHTER]
So did I just go down the
block and see a laughing lady
and photograph her?
How do you think I
provoked this photo?
AUDIENCE: You talked to her.
ERIC KIM: Talk to her.
You guys want to know the story?
AUDIENCE: Yes.
ERIC KIM: All right.
So I'm walking
around New York City.
And there's this
beautiful woman.
She's just walking.
I'm like, oh my god,
miss, you look so amazing.
And this is actually
another tip, too,
is when you're
photographing people,
you're interacting with people,
start off with a compliment
or why you find them beautiful.
Because most people
are self-conscious.
They're like, oh, you know, I'm
a little bit older of a lady.
Is he trying to make fun of me?
Whatever.
Oh my gosh, you
look so beautiful.
And she's like,
I'm 86 years old.
And I'm like, you look amazing.
And so I go up to her, and
I start to take photos.
And when I'm taking
photos, I'm actually not
good at talking so I'll
ask open-ended questions.
Oh, where you coming from?
She's like, oh, I'm just
kind of hanging out.
I go, click, click, click.
Oh, sorry.
Let me set up, change it.
Click, click, click,
closer, click.
And then obviously
very awkward, right?
And then she's
like, you're crazy.
Ha, ha, ha.
And then click, click.
I didn't know I got the shot.
So you-- this is
also another tip
is-- at least in
photography when
you think you got the shot,
you don't always have the shot.
Try to shoot 25% more than
you need to shoot because you
want to milk the scene.
Because you're never going
to see this ever again.
But what I love most
about it is that you
can inject your own soul
into the photographs
and make scenes that
are interesting.
So another thing I like to do
when I'm bored in my office
or whatever, I'll take
photos I've already shot
and I'll deconstruct the photo
and try to simplify, simplify,
simplify.
This is another good tip
about any form of art,
whether it be writing,
whether it be poetry.
I'm a big fan of Zen
haiku poetry, too.
Simpler is better.
And like we all know from Steve
Jobs, simple is very complex.
To achieve optimal simplicity is
very, very difficult and very,
very hard.
But what I'm always
trying to do is
when I'm shooting in the scene,
when you're making photos,
always look at the
background and try
to position yourself to simplify
the background and the scene.
And generally one of
the best ways to do that
is actually to get
closer to your photos.
Anyone here like to write?
Cool.
What do you like to write?
AUDIENCE: I like to--
I like to journal, actually,
to express how I feel.
ERIC KIM: You want to
give her that thingy?
AUDIENCE: I like to
journal sometimes
at the end of the day.
Just write out what
happened and how I felt.
And I find that therapeutic.
But I can sometimes
be a little creative
if I feel like adding
a little extra to it.
ERIC KIM: Well, I love it.
It's like a two for one.
AUDIENCE: Sure.
ERIC KIM: It could be the
therapy as well as the--
AUDIENCE: Yeah.
ERIC KIM: And then
we had a [INAUDIBLE]..
Right, right here.
Yeah.
AUDIENCE: I just
write short stories.
ERIC KIM: Nice.
I love it.
Anyone else from this side like
to write-- writers, bloggers,
texters, emailers.
[LAUGHTER]
I actually think that email
could be a creative act too.
Oh, Cindy, you
like to write too.
Well, why don't you
give her the little box.
AUDIENCE: What's your question?
ERIC KIM: Oh, I said,
why do you like to write?
AUDIENCE: I like the
challenge of forcing
all of my hectic thoughts
into fragments or sentences.
ERIC KIM: So some of
you guys got this book.
And one of the things I really
encourage you guys to do is--
this is what people don't
realize about books.
Books are meant to be used,
worn, and torn, and abused.
I'll show you something
that you're not
allowed to do to a book.
[GASPING]
Oh, no, I-- oh--
oh, my god.
Did you see that?
I folded the page.
God forbid you write in it.
So you open it up.
Your name here is
"Creative Every Day."
And so I feel that
one of the best ways
to be creative every day is
not to just trap yourself
within a box.
Let me see the box.
This is not you.
You are outside, beyond the box.
And do you know
why everyone always
tries to put you inside a box?
I'll tell you why.
And this is a little--
knowing a little
bit about my wife,
who just got her PhD, knowing
a bunch of people in academia--
so I think I have
this figured out.
People who are art
historians or people who
try to classify people,
they're all a bunch
of nerds who like to put
people into boxes because it
makes them feel superior.
It's like, oh, you're
a post-modernist writer
on neo-Freudian slips.
Or you're a black and white
pre-modern, post-modern,
inter-modern, black and white
monochrome visual artist
photog--
So people are trying
to put you into a box
because it makes you
understandable by them.
Some people might be confused.
Like, wait, he's a powerlifter,
he does yoga, and he cycles,
and he's also an artist?
Most people don't
understand this notion.
And I think that all
of us, whether we
be writers, whether we
be photographers, we
could cross-pollinate and
mix all these things too.
And I think that all
of us-- so once again,
everyone in this
room is an artist.
I said it.
If I anyone says that, oh--
let's say you're
at a dinner party
and say, oh, what do you do?
I'm an artist.
They say, no, you're not.
Say Eric Kim said I was.
[LAUGHTER]
So you could blame
it on Eric Kim.
The ultimate apex of
an artist, I think,
is the one who combines both
the art and the technical.
So anyone here know how to
code or do computer stuff?
Yeah.
Even coding is--
it's an act of art.
Have you ever seen
a piece of code
which is so sublimely
beautiful and precise?
And you're like, that's just
like looking at the Sistine
Chapel.
Yeah?
I had a friend who he studied
English literature and poetry.
And he just picked
up coding as a hobby.
And he's one of the best coders,
because even the way triple
tabs-- triple spaces or tabs--
which one's better?
AUDIENCE: Triple spaces.
ERIC KIM: Triple spaces?
Tabbers?
Oh, those guys, get
out of the room.
Huh?
AUDIENCE: Quad spacers.
ERIC KIM: Quad space.
Oh, this guy's going hard, man.
You got to take this
guy out of the room.
He's out of control.
All of us-- and this is why
I think photography to me
is one of the coolest art forms.
It's the most technological
nerdy thing we could do,
but also one of the most
artistic, creative things
we could do.
If Leonardo da Vinci
was alive today
and you gave him an iPhone,
he'd be like, what is this?
He'd just be out taking
all these photos.
Even if-- in photography,
if Henri Cartier-Bresson was
alive, he wouldn't be
using a film camera.
He'd be out shooting with
an iPhone or something else.
And so Leonardo da Vinci was
a great artist, individual,
whatever, because he mastered
both the art and the technical.
He was an engineer
and an artist.
Even Steve Jobs, I think the
reason why he was so great
is that he combined the
humanities and the art.
So I feel that all
of us, we could
cross-pollinate both of these
to become the most epic version.
So ars is Latin for art.
Techne, which is technical.
You become the
ultimate synthesis
of both art and the technical.
So this is a photo of my
beautiful wife, Cindy.
That's her there.
Photography is fantastic.
All right?
I'll give you guys
some practical tips.
So in modern life, you can't
go to a dinner party and say--
OK, what do you do?
That's the question.
Being in LA, what do you do
and what car do you drive?
Those are the two
questions, right?
So let's say you
go to dinner party
and be like, oh, what do you do?
And what are you
supposed to say?
AUDIENCE: I work at Google.
ERIC KIM: I work at Google.
I was like, oh, what
do you do at Google?
AUDIENCE: I work with start-ups.
ERIC KIM: You work
with start-ups.
So you're not-- you can't be a
dinner party and you're like,
I'm an artist.
Because what would you
really think about that guy?
Pretentious D-bag, right?
[LAUGHTER]
I've been informed I'm
not allowed to curse,
so I'm going to try my best
to not shut the front door.
So when I was in Kyoto,
I met this guy who is--
he used this phrase, which
is super fascinating to me.
The notion is visual artist.
So I think all of us,
obviously we're visual people.
We're artists.
And to tack the term visual
artist in front of it,
it's a good strategy.
Because if you just
say, I'm an artist,
it just sounds a
bit pretentious.
And people are like, he thinks
he's an artist or whatever,
just because he
has silver glasses
and wears a white t-shirt.
No, I'm just kidding.
[LAUGHS]
So but if you're a
visual artist, then
you could use a camera.
You could use your iPad.
You could use your phone.
You could use anything to
create visual art forms.
Are you all cool if I show
you guys a quick demo?
You guys like demos?
AUDIENCE: Yeah.
ERIC KIM: All right, cool?
You sure?
[LAUGHS]
Sorry, I'm, like, totally
trolling you guys.
So can you turn on the iPad?
All right.
Raise your hand if you
have one of these things
somewhere at home in
the bathroom somewhere.
I feel like at this point,
we all have an iPad,
but we haven't figured
out how to use it good.
It's like, oh, you're watching
Netflix on it or whatever.
I think the iPad is one of the
most underrated creative tools
which have been created
that no one is actually
able to figure out until now.
[LAUGHS]
So this is my tip.
You could also do
it on your iPhone.
I'm not going to ask who has an
iPhone because of something--
so the iPhone is fantastic.
Google Pixel is fantastic.
All the cameras are fantastic.
But I really like the
iPad because there are so
many different forms of visual
art you could create with iPad.
So I'll just show you guys a
few apps that I like to do.
So one of them is
called Zen Brush 2.
You open it up.
And essentially, it's
actually pretty cool.
So you could just
do little sketches.
And whenever I'm bored,
instead of watching Netflix
or whatever, I'll
just sit on the couch,
and I'll just start to
sketch images that I like.
And even if I wanted to show
you what my view of the room
looks like--
oh, there's some chairs here,
there's some chairs here,
some lights.
And that's just
kind of how I feel.
And so to me, calligraphy
is really fascinating to me
because it's the
ultimate Zen way
to distill an image
into its purest form.
And also other tips that I have
about using the Zen Brush tool
or whatever is one
thing you could do
is you could look at
images of photos you shot.
So this is a photo of Cindy.
We're at some art
museum exhibition.
There's this big
apple in the room.
So what I'll do is
I'll look at the image,
and I'll try to remember
the image as best I can.
I'll double-tap it, open up
Zen Brush, and from my memory
try to actually
sketch the same image.
So I remember that
thing and Cindy walking.
And someone might look at this,
like, oh, but that's not good.
It's not even a matter
of being good or not.
It's a matter of
me being creative.
So then now I could look
at this side-by-side view.
I'm like, OK, that kind
of looks like that.
I'm like, oh,
that's kind of cool.
So this is really awesome
to me because it's
a good way that I could create
some sort of forward momentum.
Another tool that I really love
is this app called Procreate.
It's on the iPad, and
it's also on the iPhone.
So what I usually do is
I just open up photos.
I scroll through the images.
And if I like this photo,
in the top right corner,
I'll press the--
I know it's not showing up here.
But I'll essentially open
up the Procreate app,
and I'll import the image.
So I'm just going to
do this from fresh.
So I'm in the Gallery View.
And I pick up this
image of Cindy.
So the way I do it is in the top
right corner, I press Layers+.
In the top left corner where
it says S is the Lasso tool.
I'll draw parts of
the image I like.
I'll press the Layers again.
Left click that side.
Press Fill Layer.
That's cool.
And I'll add a new layer,
and then I'll add cyan.
I'll fill in Cindy
here real quick.
I fill in that layer.
And the background color,
I'll turn this black.
And what I'll just do is
I'll hide the initial layer.
And I'm like, well, I
did that in two seconds.
And so this, I think,
is a fantastic way
to be a visual artist regardless
of what situation you're in.
And there's so many
different versions of this
that I've done.
Even looking at photos
that I've shot of shadows
and being able to
draw out the images,
breaking it down,
breaking it down.
Looking at other photos
I shot of Cindy here.
So this one here, this here.
And I think one of the
most important things
is us, as visual artists, for
us not to be traditionalists.
I think it's really
important for us
to use all the
different tools we
have at our disposal in
order to create images.
And a simple idea that
you can all do, too, is
you have a photo, what
do you do with it?
You can upload it to your
own website or your own blog.
I think that's one of the
most important things.
And I'll talk a little bit
about that in a second.
Oh-oh.
This is-- all right, nothing.
So once again, don't be
traditionalist with images.
You could do whatever
you want to your photos.
People say, oh, you can't
Photoshop your photos,
whatever.
Do whatever you like.
You can do whatever you please.
And take all the
images and what you--
And this is us thinking about
this from a computer sciencey
perspective is that you
can inverse the images,
you could fill the images,
you could blur the images.
Do whatever you want with it.
So this is one point I
really want to talk about.
Is it OK if I share
a Jay-Z quote?
AUDIENCE: Yeah.
ERIC KIM: Yeah.
We all like Jay-Z?
I'm sorry, Beyonce.
So sad.
OK?
So there's a Jay-Z quote I love
is, "Until you own yourself,
you can't be free.
Until you own yourself,
you can't be me."
And the basic notion is this.
If you're an artist,
you're an individual,
you like to make stuff, you
must own your own platform,
website, whatever.
Don't just upload everything
to Facebook and Instagram
because--
I call this notion
digital sharecropping.
When you're taking your
artworks and just uploading
to Facebook or Instagram,
you have no control.
You have no autonomy over
what you're creating.
And probably one of
the easiest things
is to create your own website.
I started my blog 2010
with wordpress.org.
I'm all about the open source.
So you can sign up on
101.com bluehost.com.
Build your own website
because one thing that's
really hurt me a lot
as a photographer
is this social media treadmill.
So the notion of the social
media treadmill is this.
And I'll speak from
my own experiences.
You start off.
You're told to use Facebook,
Google, Instagram, whatever.
And you upload a
photo, and someone
likes it or follows you.
And you're like, wow,
that feels so good.
Somebody likes me.
How do I get more
of these likes?
So you upload another image.
Oh, this time I got five
likes, not one likes.
Hmm, what did I do differently?
It looks like people like
black and white photos.
So you start to upload more
and more black and white photos
because people like the
black and white images.
And while this is happening,
you're training the algorithm,
and the algorithm is
also training you.
Well,
That's pretty good.
I didn't even stretch.
Oh, by the way.
I'm really into "John Wick."
This is my "John Wick" outfit.
No.
Keanu Reeves.
And so what actually
happened was--
I had, like, 100,000 followers
on Facebook whatever.
It kept tweaking the algorithm.
So at this point,
I upload something.
Five people might like
it out of 100,000.
And so one of the benefits
of having an open platform
like your own
website or your blog,
you could do certain
things that you
can't do on Facebook
or Instagram, which
is disable comments,
disable stats.
And one of the things
that's actually helped me
in terms of my
personal self-esteem
as a photographer visual artist
is turning off the stats.
So even though I know
my blog is probably
one of the most popular
blogs on the internet,
I have no idea how many
people visit my blog.
Because with numbers-- I'm
very emotional about numbers.
You guys ever look at
your stock or your 401(k)?
And it went up, it's
like green, yeah.
The next day it goes down.
And you're like, oh, I'm
going to kill myself.
This is so sad.
So I don't know about
you guys, but I'm
so emotional with numbers.
I'm all about
demetricating my life.
So there's actually-- if you
go on the Google Chrome store,
there's a Demetricator app
where you could actually
turn off the metrics on
Facebook, your email, and stuff
like that.
Because numbers kind
of give me anxiety.
I don't know about you.
So I'm trying to demetricate
my life as much as possible.
And so even for my website--
simple tips-- you're
designing a website,
just have three things
in the menu bar.
And keep your website full
screen, super, duper clean.
And we all know what
happened with sharecroppers.
You thought that the land
belonged to you, but it didn't.
So essentially you want
to build your own website,
build your own platform.
All right.
So this is not an ad for Nike.
Oh, you guys want to
see something cool?
Oh, can he do it?
Can he do it?
[LAUGHTER]
Oh, I can do the left leg, too,
but that will cost you extra.
So I like this notion of Nike--
"just do it."
Just share it.
It doesn't matter if
it's good or it's bad,
it's authentic,
inauthentic, whatever.
I just want to distill this.
Just share it.
You make something.
Just share it preferably to
your own website or your blog.
You could email it
to your friends.
You could do a group text
with your family, whatever
it may be.
And knowing that
you are creative--
as long as you created
it, it's worth sharing.
So I'll just give
you guys some--
we all like the
creativity hacks, right?
So creativity hack one,
creative constraint.
I think that creativity is
actually born from constraints,
not unlimited options.
So this is just
the phone option.
For an entire day, only use your
phone, walk around the block,
and make photos.
And I think a lot of
us have a lot of stuff.
Just toss that in
the drawer at home.
Two-- this is a
very practical one.
Any other coffee addicts here?
Have a triple shot of espresso.
If you cannot create art after
a triple shot of espresso,
come talk to me, I'll
give you some cold brew.
I really do think that
drinking coffee does actually
help stimulate me
to be more creative.
Another practical one
is I'm actually really
big into intermittent fasting.
I don't eat breakfast or lunch.
And actually, this is my theory.
Our desire to create
actually quite literally
comes from physical hunger.
So after I have all-you-can-eat
Korean barbecue,
I just want take a
nap for 10 hours.
I have no motivation to live on.
If I'm hungry-- [LAUGHS]
this guy is crazy, right?
So if I'm hungry, it
motivates me to move.
Because if you think about it,
we're all hunter-gatherers.
You only move
because you're hungry
and you want to hunt something,
or find an avocado tree,
or whatever it may be.
So try to experiment.
I mean, follow your own gut.
But allow yourself to go
a little bit more hungry.
So try to fast from
breakfast to lunch.
I usually break my fast
around 4:00 or 5:00 PM.
And during those days-- and
I'm just drinking coffee
and water--
I'm so much more
creatively productive.
Also, another tip about
blogging and writing--
whenever I start a blog post,
what I do is I put in a title,
I'll do an intro.
And before actually even
writing the content,
I just hit publish.
This guy is crazy, huh?
He hasn't even written
it, and he's published.
That's crazy.
But then what I do is I'll write
the blog post title-- so let's
say, why creativity
is important?
And then I'll do the body text.
Oh, I've been thinking that
creativity is important
because to be human is to
create-- blah, blah, blah--
and I'm going to tell you why.
Before I tell you why,
I already hit Publish,
and it goes to the internet.
I'm like, ah, it's
on the internet.
I need to really quickly write.
And so I feel that
some ways having
a little bit of that creative
pressure is a good thing.
And also because I don't
have stats or anything,
I don't really know how anyone
is looking at it, I do it.
So what I would recommend
as a blogger or artist,
publish works which
are in progress.
I think one thing that's
really cool about this book
is it shows you that
everything is essentially
a work in progress.
And there's actually
this really nice picture
that my sister Annette made.
And it's this page here.
You guys might be
able to see it.
So do you see the
outline of the heart?
She just sketched
it in Illustrator.
And it's really
nice to show people
behind the scenes, the
making of-- like BTS,
Behind the Scenes, videos are
really popular on YouTube.
You don't need to put
on this false impression
that everything you create just
magically came into production.
Share with people
your creative process.
And also, this is
one thing that I
think is really
important is that we're
all in a state of becoming.
We're all in a state of flux.
There is no ultimate
destination or version of you.
So is it OK if I use
the Pokemon analogy?
It shows my age, right?
You're a Charmander right now.
We all want to
become the Charizard.
But what if I want
to stay a Charmander?
I don't want to
be the Charizard.
I'm like Pikachu, right?
I don't want to--
don't evolve me, Ash.
Don't evolve me.
[LAUGHS] You guys--
anyone watched the episode?
Really sad.
Go on YouTube, watch it.
It was really sad.
So I want to stay
Pikachu forever.
I don't ever want
to become a Raichu.
I don't want to evolve into
that other final destination.
It's kind of like
adulthood maybe.
And so we're always in a
constant state of flux.
We're always changing.
We're just always in beta mode.
And this is one
thing that I think
is a very important thing.
You will never be good.
You'll never be great.
And that's not even the point.
The point is for you
to just keep creating.
In beta testing, in
our tech, nerd talk,
it's like Gmail was a
beta product for what,
like 10 years?
How did-- is it still beta?
Is it?
I don't know.
Huh?
AUDIENCE: Not anymore.
ERIC KIM: Not anymore.
So us-- we're
always in beta mode.
So even if I'm cycling and
I'm cycling up the hill,
the question isn't for me to--
I want to be faster as a cyclist
today than I was yesterday,
or maybe a year ago.
I might not be ever as fast as--
who's the guy who did
the scandal thing?
AUDIENCE: Lance Armstrong.
ERIC KIM: Lance.
Yeah, Lance.
I'll never be a Lance Armstrong.
But that's OK.
And so realize that you're
always in beta testing mode.
And that's good.
Share your artworks while
you're in beta testing mode.
And this is a picture of Cindy.
And I'm just going
to skip around.
So if I could distill why
I do what I do is this.
Each and every one of
you guys in this crowd,
you guys have a
unique life story.
You have a unique
set circumstances.
You have this epic
power within yourselves
to create great artworks.
But I think a lot of us have
been trained not to do that.
And also sometimes as
photographers, artists,
you go out and make photos.
You have images.
So what do you do
with your photos?
Just dump it to
Facebook or Instagram.
So I'm like, I believe
in Gandhi's quote,
"Become the change which you
wish to see in the world."
So I essentially created
a platform with my friend.
It's called arsbeta.com.
You upload.
Images and you actually
give constructive critiques
to people's photos.
Because I think one of the
big problems with social media
is you upload a photo to
Instagram or Facebook,
and if someone likes
it or follows you,
and it's like a pat on the back.
But no one ever gives
you constructive critique
on how to improve your artwork.
Or this is also the cool thing.
You could go on arsbeta.com,
and you could actually
leave constructive critiques
to other people's photos.
So you're actually
helping people.
To even help somebody or give
someone constructive critique,
I think that is also a
creative act as well.
So you could just
check it out if you
have time later-- arsbeta.com.
And so that's essentially
the nitty-gritty of my talk.
Thank you very
much for listening.
We'll just switch it to
Q&A. Thank you very much.
[APPLAUSE]
SPEAKER: Does anybody
have any questions?
AUDIENCE: Hi.
Yeah.
I love the tips, especially the
one about the starving artist.
I can definitely
empathize with that.
So if everyone is
tapping into what
seems to be your ideal heaven,
and just create, turn off
the metrics, just kind of
shouting into the world,
isn't that going
to mean that like--
I mean, I think we already are
flooded with artworks, music.
The amount uploaded to
YouTube and Facebook,
it's much more than
anyone could possibly
consume in a lifetime--
like, every second.
So I want to go back to your
first question of why create?
Is it purely just a selfish act?
Because when I first started
out in music, I thought--
I was very inspired by
works like Bach, things
that have lasted for centuries.
And when I was very
young, I had a delusion
that I might create
something that lasts.
But now I have zero expectation
of creating something
that lasts, yet I'm
much, much happier
in the creation process.
I don't care about my metrics.
But in a way, it feels selfish,
which children are inherently--
ERIC KIM: Can you
give me the box--
AUDIENCE: Yeah
ERIC KIM: --for your response.
So I'm just going to talk
into this because it makes
me feel more like I was here.
[LAUGHTER]
I can't believe you
they made a microphone
that looks like a box.
All right.
Now I have a mic.
That's a fantastic question.
So what's the purpose of making
artwork if most likely you're
going to be swept into
this ethereal cloud,
and it's just
going to dissipate,
and it's not going
to last-- whatever.
So this is my--
I figured this out.
I got your answer, OK?
First and foremost, selfish
is not synonymous with evil.
All right?
So I love philosophy.
Nietzsche is my best friend.
I think in some ways, as
an artist, being selfish
is the most selfless
thing you could do.
So this is my thought.
The more selfish you could be
in focusing on your own artworks
and making yourselves
happy or whatever,
and then sharing
that with others,
it's one of the best
things that you could do.
And also, the notion of
making something timeless
is very tricky.
Do you want it to last five
minutes, 10 minutes, 10 years,
100 years, 1,000
years, 10,000 years?
I mean, we still read Homer.
But I don't think anything
is meant to last forever.
In terms of durability,
there are certainly
some things which will
last longer than others.
But who knows?
Let's say you make some
music, and I listen to it.
And then my best friend is
Kanye West, and I tell Kanye,
oh, I was talking to
this guy at Google
and he told me this beat.
And na na na na na na.
And then he turns into--
so anything you
create and you share--
interact with other humans,
in some ways it actually
does live on eternally
through people's memories,
through their actions, whatever.
And this is just my philosophy
is that if you do it,
and you like it,
and it's good, just
share it with other people.
If you share your artwork
and even if it has a 0.0001%
chance of changing
someone's life,
I think it's kind of worth it.
Or even if it has a 1%
chance of making someone
smile a little bit for
the day, that might have
these huge butterfly effects.
I listen to your music.
It put me in a good mood.
I was happier to--
I was nicer to my wife.
My wife was nicer to
her friends and they're
nicer-- so it becomes
like one of those movies
where it's like the
butterfly thing.
So keep making your music.
I think it's awesome.
Yeah.
AUDIENCE: But didn't we say
consuming brings you down?
So we're just creating
for others to consume?
ERIC KIM: And that's
a good question.
So I think it's tricky.
OK, this is my theory.
I think my ideal is 90% of
the time we're producing
and 10% of the time
we're consuming.
So I love to listen to music.
I love listening to Kanye.
I like watching motivational
videos on YouTube, whatever.
So I think that we
still need to consume.
If you'd never consumed
any food, you would die.
So I feel like the
same is with artworks.
You create music.
You share with other people.
They consume it.
And if it makes them
feel better, it's good.
I mean, obviously, not
everyone's going to like it.
But even if 10 people listen
to your music and one of them
was like Bach's
grand-grand-grandson,
I feel like that's
the right audience.
I saw some some questions here.
Yeah.
AUDIENCE: So I see
you remixing your art.
At what point do you
know when to stop?
Or do you make
multiples and keep them?
And how do you decide
which one's the one
you want to present?
ERIC KIM: Oh, that's
a very good question.
So when do you
know when to stop?
Very simple thing.
Stop when you're bored.
[LAUGHTER]
It's very simple.
For me, only artwork
that you make
that's made in the spirit
of fun and play, I think,
is actually worth it.
So for me, I just
keep remixing it.
And then once it feels good
or I like it, it's done.
It's a very simple metric.
And once I get
bored, I just stop.
It's also like writing, too.
I know when to stop writing,
because the second I get
bored with it, I think other
people will get bored with it.
So that's when I stop.
So I also like the Jay-Z
song, "Onto the Next One."
I make something.
I share it.
I don't dwell on it too long.
I'm more interested
in the thing I'm
going to create next than
that thing afterwards.
Great question.
AUDIENCE: And I
wanted to ask how
do you present it when you
are remixing so many things
and you like multiples.
Do you show multiples of it?
ERIC KIM: Oh, that's
a very good question.
So one thing I like to do--
this is a very practical thing.
So on WordPress.org or
WordPress.com, whatever,
there's this function
called Tiled Gallery--
T-I-L-E-D Gallery.
And essentially, it makes
a collage of all images.
So actually what I'll do is
I'll upload the tiled collage
within the blog
post and it'll show
10 versions of the same thing.
And to me, I
actually really like
that because I like it when
Chef Gordon Ramsay takes me
into his kitchen.
He's like, this is how
you make the best waffles
or-- does he make waffles?
So I like the making of.
So it's almost like I like
to share with other people
my creative process.
And to me, it's
actually very empowering
because sometimes I look
at artists and I'm like,
oh, I can never be that
good because this guy's
like a demigod and I'm
just like a nobody.
But then you see how much
work they had to put into it.
Even this book and
the front cover--
this book took me, Cindy,
my sister Annette, and also
my other sister Jennifer-- it
took us 360 hours combined.
All of us-- we rented Airbnb
for two weeks in Kyoto.
We drank 20 million
cups of coffee,
and we produced this book.
So it's just realizing that--
so you as an artist,
when you create things,
share with other people, hey,
this took me a lot of time.
It was difficult. These
are my iterations.
I think it's good to
share your iterative--
we talk about
iterations-- iterate--
Silicon Valley--
iterate-- pivot.
So sharing with people
your iterative process,
I think, it's empowering to
you and also your viewer.
Mhm.
AUDIENCE: Can you
talk a little bit
about your process for
productivity when it comes to--
for me, it seems like creativity
is something that drags me away
from being able to do my work.
It's all those little
threads spreading around.
I just wanted to see how
you organized your thoughts,
and how you at the end of the
month, you get something done.
ERIC KIM: Oh, OK.
So I'll give you some
very pract-- can you--
the laptop.
So this is actually
very, very good.
So this actually might be the
most useful part of this talk.
So I'll give you some
practical productivity tips
because I'm really
obsessed with this.
So I'll give you
some practical tips.
Tip one, every single day
on your iPhone, iPad, phone,
laptop, whatever, try to
uninstall one app a day.
This will really
help you Zen down.
And to me, the best way
to become productive
or to create more is actually
to eliminate distractions.
I don't know what it
means to "be productive."
But I know what
distracts me, and I
know how to get rid of it.
Even like in my Mac--
can you guys see it?
I don't actually show the clock.
I don't even know
what time it is.
I have this app called
Bartender to hide all
the icons on my computer here.
For all my writing, I use
something called iA Writer.
And it's this
minimalist typing app,
and I could turn
this to full screen.
So hey, Google guys,
here is Eric Kim.
And I am going to share
my thoughts with you.
So you could focus on
one thing at a time.
So 10 ways you couldn't
believe that talking at Google
can totally transform your life.
Not clickbait.
[LAUGHTER]
And I use this tool in
writing called Markdown.
Markdown is fantastic.
It's super lightweight.
It keeps me writing.
And there's also this focus
mode, so I could stay focused.
So 10 tips-- one, be Eric Kim.
No, I'm just-- [LAUGHS]
this is what [INAUDIBLE]..
So you can type whatever
nonsense you want.
Subheader one, subheader two.
So iA Writer is
a fantastic tool.
Another very practical tip--
I don't know how you guys
could do this at Google.
But I really like this
idea that the first thing
you do in the morning
don't check your email.
Because this is the problem
with creativity is that--
I think the best way
to become creative
is you want to empty your mind.
You want to like Zen zone,
no distractions, whatever.
And if I was put in
school, I'm sure they
would put me on Ritalin
and ADHD or whatever.
And so sleep with your
phone in a different room.
Charge it in a different room.
Wake up and when
you first wake up,
use that time in
the morning when
you're totally empty to
create whatever it may be.
And you don't have to
actually share everything
that you create.
I think that's really important.
Also, with photography,
I'm a big fan
of the new Photos app on the--
I used to use Lightroom
a lot, but I'm
starting to drift more and
more away from Lightroom.
And then just using
Photos and just
keep everything
in the favorites.
This is my little
four-year-old niece taking
photos of my [INAUDIBLE].
So use the simplest
tools possible.
And yeah, I would say
try to get into Zen zone.
If you could wake
up in the morning--
also, this is another
very practical thing--
I'm really into
powerlifting-- so
doing one rep max deadlifts
and squats and stuff.
When I wake up, and
I go lift weights,
and I have that adrenaline
rush after working out,
that's actually when I
feel the most creative.
I just want to go home
and write something.
So I actually think
that creativity--
this is my thought.
This is actually kind of cool.
I think creativity might be more
of a physiological, physical
thing than a mental thing.
So if you want to become
more creative as an artist,
maybe just increase
your deadlifts.
[LAUGHTER]
No, seriously.
Can you imagine, right?
If you could deadlift 400
pounds and you're a painter,
shouldn't you make
much better paintings?
And also, that's why I think
intermittent fasting is good,
too, because if I
went to Olive Garden
and I had 10 bowls of salad--
not salad-- pasta, am I
going to have any motivation
to create artwork afterwards?
So I would actually think
about the physiological side
of things.
So you probably know your body
better than anyone else does.
So whatever foods which
actually nourish you
in a way that gives
you energy-- like,
I probably drink 50
cups of coffee a day.
That works for me.
It might not work for you.
You might have to get the EKG--
that thing.
So I would actually think about
focus on your physical health.
SPEAKER: All right.
Well, thank you
everyone for coming.
Really appreciate it.
We're out of time.
So please take a moment to
thank Eric Kim for coming.
[APPLAUSE]
