"The idea man"

We have all heard of the "Idea Man". That is, a man, typically although not exclusively so, who appears extremely intelligent and creative with an endless list of interesting ideas. But will any of them come to fruition, or actually work? Afer all, an idea is only an idea - and the proof of the idea is in its realisation. So, the realisation, or execution of the idea is the challenge for the ideator. A challenge that suggests having both the confidence and resources to pull the idea off - to make it happen. In an interview in The Guardian newspaper*, the "dissident"Chinese artist Ai Weiwei is being asked, against a background of producing artwork with the help of a team of 30, if he is mostly the idea man nowadays: 'I am a very handy person', he replies, 'my hands are always working. If your hands are not working, your brain is not going to function. I am very capable: carpentry, stone, iron. I have also become skilful on social media. Everything is about the continuity of learning, and learning comes from curiosity'. So, Weiwei doesn't seem to be just the idea man throwing concepts in the air but a man who turns his idea into reality, with or without assistance of others. * February 6, 2022