The 'Impossible' Innovation Triggered by Unexpected Situations
Last time, I talked about how when developing products, it becomes more innovative to include elements of 'impossible' or 'unknown' rather than just 'it would be nice to have'. However, what kind of process is necessary to create something 'impossible'? In this article, through the examples of artist Yasumasa Morimura and Apple's iPhone, we will explore the importance of creating a chemical reaction between unexpected events and your own theme.
The Path of Creation Shown by an Artist: Yasumasa Morimura's Napoleon Work
The artist Yasumasa Morimura is known for his self-portrait works (self-portrait-like works) where he dresses up as figures from art history or movie actors. Morimura created a photographic work dressing up as the Napoleon from Jacques-Louis David's 'Napoleon Crossing the Alps'. It depicts the heroic figure of Napoleon as he crosses the Alps to invade Italy, but it is said to be different from reality. In reality, he was riding a mule when crossing the Alps, and Napoleon himself was not that tall. In other words, it was an 'impossible' painting, but the fact that it is a fiction is the charm of this work.
Morimura received an offer for an exhibition at the Kyoto Racecourse, and chose famous paintings featuring horses as his subject. He actually used a racehorse for the shoot, but when it tried to stand on its hind legs, its legs would stretch out, and it wouldn't match the painting. So, he used a technique of photographing the front and hind legs separately and compositing them. Also, for Napoleon's cape, no matter how much the wind blew, fabric would not look like it did in the painting, so he created a urethane resin cape and staged the way it fluttered in the wind.
Since he was trying to recreate an impossible painting with realistic photography, he had to use techniques. For the viewer, it has become a mysterious work that makes you want to know how it was shot.
Morimura says the following:
I happen to have an encounter, and that chance encounter stimulates something in me, and then something changes in me. I truly feel that this 'self' is made up of a series of coincidences of uncalculated stimuli and changes.
Unexpected encounters, like an exhibition at a racecourse, are the point that makes the production of impossible works possible.
The Secret Story of the Birth of the iPhone
The development of the iPhone is also an example of an 'impossible' innovation born from an unexpected situation. Originally, Steve Jobs was negative about developing a mobile phone. This was because he thought the power of carriers was strong and there was almost no room for terminal manufacturers to innovate. However, Apple was researching the Japanese mobile phone market and learned that they were equipped with cameras and could play music. Realizing the possibility of threatening the iPod market, they decided to create a mobile device.
However, Apple is a company that does not follow conventional mobile devices. Steve Jobs did not like devices full of buttons. Initially, he considered a wheel type similar to the iPod, but this method did not work well. It just so happened that Jony Ive's team took over a previously canceled project and continued research on multi-touch screens, and this became the savior.
At the iPhone product launch, Jobs emphasized introducing three new products: a 'widescreen iPod with touch controls,' a 'revolutionary mobile phone,' and a 'breakthrough internet communications device,' and that this was one device, the iPhone. Steve Jobs' desire to make the PC a personal thing and the unexpected events in Japan caused a chemical reaction, which gave birth to the iPhone.
Facing Unexpected Events
Even if you think in your head about creating something impossible from the start, it tends to be just an extension of existing ideas. Innovative ideas are born when a chemical change occurs with your original theme while facing unexpected events.
Morimura's Napoleon work and the episode of Apple's iPhone development show that the power to face unexpected events with all your might and connect them to your own vision is important.
In modern business, things rarely go according to plan, and unexpected events occur frequently. An attitude of not fearing these coincidental events, but rather actively incorporating them, is the key to creating true 'impossible' innovation.