The percentage of creativity is 3%, according to Virgil Abloh

This article was originally published on Domus 1060, september 2021. 

3%. It’s a theory. Developed in practice. Evolved over time. Gradually. Not seen from one day or year to the next; only to be studied over gross periods of time. It’s a ploy, more specifically. I once read, the greatest way to reduce genius is to immediately recall what something you see reminds you of. 3%, in my canon, is a figurative term in one direction and a literal term in another. 3% is intentional. 3% is experimental. 3% is a luxury handbag laden with holes. I call them meteors. To design and truly think one can exist in a vacuum is linked to humans’ desire to exist outside the timeline of other humans. 3% is a doorstopper accent for Ikea. 3% is effective. 3% “the theory” is a perception tool against racial bias. See: the hidden assault that hides between or behind words. It’s a parting from the structures designed to inhibit or constrain. 3% gave us Picasso in his African period. In the same way that it gave us J Dilla and the hip-hop movement that raised me. It’s the black canon – a collection of ideas meant to remain just so.

3 % is applicable across practices and fields, different media,eras of our history. Our future. A series of 3%’s brings the classics to modernity. Connects iconsto burgeoning talent. Original style and invention are two different things. Origin stories varybut methods are universal. It’s a cheat code. 3% is packaging, 3% is marketing. 3% is a single sneaker with Nike, executed 50 different ways. 3% is ultimately self-endowed freedom. Freedom and 3% are mutually beneficial. One fosters the other, equallyworking hand in hand to add depth to culture, society, policy. 3% is slippery.

The 3% ideology has its advantages. It recalls an eye-to-emotionconnection in the brain and adds an alternate voice. 3% expands ourworld view, without pushing our zones of comfort to the brink. We’reexposed to “new”, but not eccentric or disconcerting. What the larger ecosystem doesn’t understand is sampling theready-made to make anew. It’s a crystal sipping cup with Baccarat. A concept car with Mercedes-Benz. A deadstock flannel, screen-printed with Pyrex 23 and resoldfor an astonishing mark-up. 3% hinges on conceptual art and theoretical foundations.Something more than profound happened when a urinal was placedon a plinth. This ripple effect extends past the 4 walls of art, extendspast the age of its beginning. 3% is a shorthand phrase. It’s a canon of primitivism. See: Picasso, Donald Judd. It’s moving design forward, which sometimes means taking a stepback. Caravaggio on a hoodie. It’s the pre-rationalisation to frame post-rationalisation. Don’t be confused – 3% is situational. 3% itself is a prototype, just the beginning. 3% is continuation. 3% is change. 3% is social justice, racial equality. 3% is a new status quo.