Olympic Ceremony Design vs Lateral Thinking: Spectacular Creativity
Design Principles and Practices: An International Journal, Volume 4, Issue 4, pp.11-20. (2010)
The Olympic Games’ Opening Ceremony has always been a challenge among practitioners in media and installation... more The Olympic Games’ Opening Ceremony has always been a challenge among practitioners in media and installation industries. In every four year cycle, it draws a lot of international attention. The creativity and preparation of the opening ceremony must be complex, elaborate and innovative; it results in a uniqueness in each ceremony. Therefore, the ceremonies are usually unpredictable. Significantly, the ceremony is broadcast live through international media networks; however, there is only one chance to exhibit it. Mistakes can occur in the presentation, but they will not be anticipated. In order to generate this spectacular ceremony, creative thinking must be involved. I propose to apply the Lateral Thinking (Creative thinking technique), invented by Edward de Bono, as a research metaphor to analyse the Athens 2004 Olympic Games’ Opening Ceremony as a case study. It is anticipated, the results of this study will illustrate whether or not de Bono’s lateral thinking technique is applicable to approach this mega-tainment ceremony.
Download (.437)The Origins of the Olympic Games’ Opening and Closing Ceremonies: Artistic Creativity and Communication
The Journal of Intercultural Communication Studies, Volume 19, Issue 1, pp.103-120 (2010).
Nowadays, the Olympic Games’ Opening and Closing Ceremonies contribute greatly to, and draw from, the different... more Nowadays, the Olympic Games’ Opening and Closing Ceremonies contribute greatly to, and draw from, the different cultures in the various host cities. This paper will explore the origins of the Olympic Games’ Opening and Closing Ceremonies (OGO & CCs). The extent to which theories concerning artistic creativity and communication are utilized will specifically be examined. Historically speaking, the modern Olympic Games were adapted from the ideology of the ancient Olympic Games, which originally treated sporting competitions as a form of religious ritual. Greek people used the games as a means to communicate with their Gods; games included music, dance, and art. Interestingly, only the victory ceremonies are present in historical records; no evidence of the OGO and CCs can be found. The hypothesis that this paper will test is the notion that the OGO and CCs began with the modern Olympic Games. This study aims to answer this by conveying the initial ideas and purposes of the OGO and CC through discourse analysis. The primary data used includes the minutes of the 1906 International Olympic Committee Congress in Paris and Baron Pierre de Coubertin’s biography. The results significantly illustrate that the OGO and CC were initially associated and influenced by personal interests and cultural patterns.