Todd Siler

Todd Siler
Todd Siler in Tartu (2011)
Born	(1953-08-23) August 23, 1953
Nationality	American
Awards	Leonardo da Vinci World Award of Arts (2011)
Website	toddsilerart.com

Todd Siler, PhD (born August 23, 1953) is an American multimedia artist, author, educator, and inventor, equally well known for his art and for his work in creativity research. A graduate of Bowdoin College, he became the first visual artist to be granted a PhD from MIT (interdisciplinary studies in Psychology and Art, 1986). Siler began advocating the full integration of the arts and sciences in the 1970s and is the founder of the ArtScience Program and movement.

Creativity research

In the early 1980s, Siler made an extensive study of genius across numerous disciplines to see what, if anything, such highly creative people as Einstein and Rachmaninoff have, or more importantly do, in common. Although such inquiries are standard, Siler's work went further than any work before or since in examining how methods used by highly creative people might work on the neurological and cellular level. "Creativity is any unconditioned response," is typical of Siler's approach, which both validates and challenges the work of luminaries in the field such as Howard Gardner, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Robert Root-Bernstein (Encyclopedia of Creativity, 1999). These theories were elaborated in two books, Breaking The Mind Barrier: The ArtScience of Neurocosmology (Simon & Schuster, 1990; Touchstone Books, 1992), which is largely intended for scholars, and Think Like A Genius (Bantam Books, 1997; Transworld, 1998) written for the general reader. Siler has developed these theories into proprietary programs which are used extensively in schools and corporations.

Visual arts

The son of an aspiring concert pianist and bio-medical researcher, as a child, Siler was a prodigy in the fine arts, often using highly detailed drawings to express his ideas on integrating the arts and sciences. He studied art as an undergraduate, spending a year "apprenticed" in the studio of American artist Leonard Baskin. In his 20's Siler was part of the same SoHo art scene which launched Julian Schnabel, Francesco Clemente and David Salle. Today, Siler's artworks are in numerous public collections including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (20th Century Collection), The Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow, and The Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

Fractal Reactor

In 2006, Siler used a multimedia exhibition at New York's Ronald Feldman Gallery to present his proposal for the nature-inspired "Fractal Reactor," which offers an environmental-friendly, alternative method of using controlled nuclear fusion for energy purposes. While the actual processes used by the fractal reactor, rely on highly sophisticated physical and mathematical formulations, its principles re-examine the hypotheses behind nuclear fusion in novel ways. This proposal has been taken up by the International Atomic Energy Agency for further study.

Education and invention

As an artist who has championed the study of science, Siler worked with the Cherry Creek School District (Colorado) to pioneer experiential learning methodologies based on the understanding and creation of systems of metaphor. These methodologies have since spread to both public and private schools in America and abroad. Siler was instrumental in developing the interdisciplinary curriculum for one of the world's most respected schools for the gifted, The Israel Arts and Science Academy (IASA) in Jerusalem.

These programs have become popular with Fortune 500 companies as a way of promoting out-of-the-box thinking. Siler has unusual credibility in the corporate community as in addition to being a successful artist and scholar, he holds a number of patents on a wide range of inventions, including a widely used computer-graphics input device and textile printing machinery.

Awards

In 2011 he became the recipient of the Leonardo da Vinci World Award of Arts in recognition for his extraordinarily creative and innovative contributions to contemporary and visual arts, for stimulating creativity, inspiring innovation and uniting art and science to enrich the experience of creative learning.

References

• Todd Siler, Neuro-Impressions," The Freedman Gallery, Albright College, Reading, PA. Art exhibition, August 23 – September 18, 2011 (catalogue)
• "Pointing Your Way To Success in Business Development," by Todd Siler in Ted Buswick and Harvey Seifter (Eds.), "Creatively Intelligent Companies and Leaders: Arts-based Learning for Business," Journal of Business Strategy (July–Aug 2010):
• Q Emerald Group Publishing Limited, "Making sense of ideas: The model route to innovation,” in Strategic Direction Vol. 26, No. 11 2010, pp. 25–27; ISSN 0258-0543
• Mary Lee Grisanti, "Fractal Reactor: Re-Creating the Sun,” NYArts Magazine (January 1, 2007).
• Lilly Wei, "Fractal Reactor," Art In America (February Issue, 2007); pp. 141,142.
• Joy Overbeck, “Local Artist Goes Nuclear As He Fuses Art and Science…And Who Knows,Maybe He’ll Win the Nobel Prize,” in Colorado Expression (Oct./Nov. 2007); pp. 72–74.
• Todd Siler, “Fractal Reactor: Re-Creating the Sun,” Leonardo Journal of Art, Sciences & Technology Vol. 40, No. 3, pp. 270–278 (The MIT Press, 2007).
• Todd Lael Siler, “Fractal Reactor: An Alternative Method and Apparatus for Plasma Fusion,” Proceedings of the Fourth Symposium on Current Trends In International Fusion Research: Review and Assessment, (pp. 411–426) edited by Dr. Emilio Panarella (Ottawa, Canada: NRC Research Press, National Research Council of Canada, 2007).
• Todd Siler, “Think Like A Genius Process,” The Change Handbook: Group Methods for Shaping the Future, 2nd Edition. Peggy Holman, Peggy, Tom Devane, and Steven Cady (Eds.) (San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 2007).
• “Metaphorming” Your Life: Using Your Creativity To Achieve Your Goals and Realize Your Potential, in Informal Learning Review 2005
• Todd Siler, New Horizons in Learning 2005
• Nora Caley, "Think Like A Genius!" Colorado Company Magazine (November/ December 2004) Issue, Vol. 2, No. 4, pp. 46–48.
• Nick Nissley, The "Artful Creation" of Positive Anticipatory Imagery in Appreciative Inquiry: Understanding the “Art of Appreciative Inquiry As Aesthetic Discourse,” in Constructive Discourse and Human Organization Advances in Appreciative Inquiry, Volume 1, 285–309. (New York: Elsevier Ltd., 2004.) Note in particular: “Proposition 3: Artful Creations Serve as Symbolic Constructions that Act as Metaphorical Representations of Organizational Life,” pp. 294 & 299–303
• "Search for Genius in All the Unexpected Places to Stimulate Innovation,” in Arthur VanGundy, Ph.D. and Linda Naiman (eds.) Orchestrating Collaboration at Work: Using Music, Improvisation, Storytelling, and Other Arts to Improve Teamwork (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer; A Wiley Company, 2003)
• “Metaphorming Your Company: Leading with the Next Generation of Brainstorming Tools,” essay in Leader To Leader magazine of the Peter F. Drucker Foundation, Hesselbein & Company (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass / A Wiley Company) Spring 2002, pp. 15–19
• “A Formula for Genius,” Metaphorming Workshop for Technology Pioneers Programme, World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland, Annual Meeting 2001, January 25–30; Summary Report.
• “Twelve Keys That Open Our Treasure Chests of Creativity and Civil Society,” Keynote Address published in Hand to Hand journal, Association of Youth Museums (AYM) Conference, Interactivity 2000, May 11, 2000.
• Robert Lawrence Kuhn, Closer To Truth: Challenging Current Belief. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000); Chapter 13: “Can You Learn To Be Creative?” and Chapter 16: Why Do We Make Music and Art? Book companion to the National Public Television Series.
• Robert and Michele Root-Bernstein, Sparks of Genius: The 13 Thinking Tools of the World’s Most Creative People (New York: Houghton-Mifflin Company, 1999); pp. 156–158.
• Elise Pettus, “Find Your Creative Self: Thoughts dried up? Ideas slowed down to a trickle? Take this quiz and learn how to open the floodgates...,” Mademoiselle, June 1998, pp. 93–95
• Irene T. Sanders, Strategic Thinking and the New Science, Planning in the Midst of Chaos, Complexity, and Change. (The Free Press/ A Division of Simon & Schuster Inc., 1998), pp. 105–106.
• Jay Ambrose, “Thinking Like A Genius,” Scripps Howard News Service (December 23, 1997).
• Colleen Smith, “In ‘ArtScientist’ Todd Siler’s Palette, Gray Matters,” Colorado Expressions (December 10, 1997); pp. 44–48.
• "Envisioning the Future of Education," in Walling, D.R. (ed), Under Construction: The Role of the Arts and Humanities in Postmodern Schooling. (Indiana: Phi Delta Kappa, 1997); pp. 243–272.
• Garry Massaro, “This genius opens minds,” Rocky Mountain News, Friday, December 6, 1996; p. 50A.
• Think Like A Genius: Use Your Creativity In Ways That Will Enrich Your Life (Bantam Books, 1996; Transworld, 1998); translated into Brazilian Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, German, Indonesian, Romanian, and Spanish.
• Freeing Your Mind: The ArtScience Program (Englewood, Colorado: ArtScience Publications, 1996); 250 pp. 80 illus., with applied exercises.
• Todd Siler, Metaphorming Worlds(The Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan,Republic of China,1995). Introductions by Dr. Robert Root Bernstein, distinguished physiologist and science historian, ad Marilynne S. Mason, art writer, 72 pages with 45 full-color reproductions.
• Todd Siler, "ArtScience: Integrating the Arts and Sciences To Connect Our World and Improve Communication," Keynote Addresses in National Art Education Association, 35th National Convention Houston, Texas, April 11, 1995, p. 27.
• Alan Dumas, "Learning to Think Like a Genius: Rethinking How We Think; Colorado artist/scientist Todd Siler has new ideas for creative learning," Rocky Mountain News, Denver, Colorado (July 2, 1995); Feature article in Sunday Spotlight section; pp. 49A and 62A-64A.
• "Metaphormers: Connecting Our Work and Our World Through Metaphorms," R&D Innovator, July issue, 1994; pp. 1–4.
• Owen McNally, "Todd Siler's art is mindful of science: In Siler's mind, art, science entwined," The Hartford Courant. (Wednesday, March 6, 1991); Cover page + p. 2.
• Patricia C. Philips, "Todd Siler at Ronald Feldman Fine Arts Gallery" Artforum(May 1987); p. 147.
• Michael Schrage, "Painting – The Arts," OMNI Magazine (October 1982); pp. 38, 193.

External links

• Official website
• Siler's works at Feldman Gallery
• Website for his book Think Like A Genius