Please cite this article in press as: Goldstein, The surprise element: A hallmark of creativity in scientists, artists, and

comedians, Cell (2021),

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Lasker Awards

Commentary
The surprise element: A hallmark of creativity in
scientists, artists, and comedians
Joseph L. Goldstein1,2,*
1Chair, Lasker Awards Jury, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA
2Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA
*Correspondence: joe.goldstein@utsouthwestern.edu
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2021.08.007

Truly creative works of science and art produce unexpected and surprising results—just like the punch line of
a good joke that generates an unfamiliar twist on a familiar idea. Surprise stimulates curiosity, which triggers a
search to reveal the mystery of things unknown.

Introduction Freud liked to tell about a Marquis in the ing entitled Time Transfixed (Figure 1),
Nothing is more thrilling to a scientist than court of Louis XV who enters his bedroom which has been in the permanent collec-
to obtain an unexpected and surprising to find a bishop making love to his wife. tion of the Art Institute of Chicago for the
result—a result that makes us think in After observing them in flagrante, the last 50 years (Sharp et al., 2009). Here,
ways we have never thought before. Marquis calmly steps to the window, Magritte juxtaposes two objects—a fire-
Over the last 75 years, Lasker Awards opens it, and extends his arms, blessing place and a train—that do not normally
have been given for many basic discov- the people on the street below. belong together. The only thing they
eries and clinical advances that came as ‘‘What are you doing’’? screamed his have in common is that both burn fuel.
total surprises. To name a few of these anguished wife. The train is situated in the fireplace so
surprises—there’s the double helix, cyclic ‘‘The bishop is performing my func- that it appears to be emerging from the
AMP, recombinant DNA, gene splicing, tions,’’ replied the Marquis, ‘‘so I am per- mouth of a railway tunnel. Above the fire-
monoclonal antibodies, Helicobacter forming his.’’ place is a tall mirror onto which only a
causing ulcers, prions, in vitro fertilization, The joke works, explains Koestler, clock and a candlestick on the mantel
and drugs that cure hepatitis C. because the Marquis’s behavior is a total are reflected. The blankness of the mirror
Surprise is closely related to creativity, surprise, ‘‘both unexpected and perfectly suggests an empty bleak room, which
and creativity is closely related to surprise logical—but of a logic not usually applied suddenly becomes disrupted by a noisy
(Koestler, 1964; Boden, 2010; Luna and to this type of situation.’’ The listener intruder from the outside world—the train
Renninger, 2015). Anything that is truly expects the Marquis to respond with racing full steam through the fireplace.
creative produces surprise, and surprise outrage, but instead he acts according How did Magritte come up with such a
produces creativity by stimulating curios- to his day-to-day job description. ‘‘It is mysterious title like Time Transfixed? Time
ity, which triggers a search to reveal the the sudden clash between these two Transfixed is the English translation of the
mystery of things unknown. Many such mutually exclusive codes of rules that pro- original French title La Durée poignardé,
mysteries are solved when the scientist duces the comic effect.’’ (Koestler, 1964). which literally translates as ‘‘ongoing time
or the artist—like the comedian—gener- stabbed by a dagger.’’ Magritte much
ates unfamiliar combinations of familiar Magritte: Master of the visual preferred this French title, which evokes
ideas (Asimov, 2014). Successful standup punch line the absurdity of a quiet, still room suddenly
comedians are endowed with a creative The juxtaposition of the familiar with the being stabbed by a train jutting through the
knack for thinking outside the box. They unfamiliar is the essence of the punch fireplace. Magritte produced Time Trans-
can put two and two together to make line that creates the surprise element of fixed in 1938 for one of his patrons whom
five—the punch line of their joke, which a good joke. In the world of art, the master he urged to hang at the bottom of his stair-
occurs suddenly when the comedian of the visual punch line is the surrealist case so that the train would ‘‘stab’’ into the
abruptly changes course, steering the painter René Magritte (Sylvester, 1992; subconscious of his guests as they made
audience to a totally different context Hughes, 2002). During his 45-year career their way up to the ballroom. Ironically, the
(Koestler, 1964; Rosenfield, 2017). in the first half of the twentieth century, patron hung the painting over his fireplace
The theory that the structure of a good Magritte produced more than 1,500 paint- (Sharp et al., 2009)!
joke depends on creativity and surprise ings that evoke unexpected surprises by One of my favorite works by Magritte,
was advanced in a 1964 book The Art of juxtaposing familiar objects in unfamiliar entitled Eternity, does not involve smoke
Creation by Arthur Koestler (Koestler, settings. His surprising juxtapositions and mirrors like Time Transfixed, but it
1964), one of the most influential intellec- challenge us to think in different ways. epitomizes Magritte’s surreal ‘‘smoke and
tuals and authors of the twentieth century. One of Magritte’s most widely viewed mirrors’’ style and illustrates how he uses
Koestler analyzed a joke that Sigmund and critically discussed works is a paint- the element of surprise to shake us out of

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Commentary

on the left, the head of Dante on the right, have now created over 100 large public
and in the middle is a block of butter. The sculptures that juxtapose familiar objects
conventional interpretation of this unusual in unfamiliar settings much the way
painting is that the eternal truths of religion Magritte did in painting. Their work is
and poetry will remain forever and never compelling, provocative, beguiling, and
melt away. The more maverick interpreta- full of wit and surprises, which stimulates
tion is that religion and poetry are not us to think creatively (Smith and Rashid,
eternal and will melt away with the pas- 2018; Arnold and Iannacchione, 2019).
sage of time just like the block of butter. In 2005, Elmgreen and Dragset made a
A major challenge for committees that cross-country tour of the United States
select science prizes, like the Lasker and were especially intrigued with a coun-
Jury and the Nobel Committee, is to try road in the west Texas desert leading
choose winners whose work passes the from El Paso to the small town of Marfa
‘‘Magritte eternity test,’’ i.e., work that (Figure 3A). In a desolate setting devoid of
will stand the test of time and never melt any urban context, they erected a sculp-
away like butter. ture, entitled Prada Marfa, that emulates
During his 45-year career, Magritte pro- the style and displays of Prada’s signature
duced more than 1,500 paintings but less luxury boutiques (Figure 3B). But the one
than a dozen sculptures. I think it’s harder difference between Prada Marfa and Prada
to be original in sculpture than in painting, shops in large cities around the world is
especially if you want to create provocative that Prada Marfa is not open for business.
sculptures that produce surprise and ques- For the last 16 years, Prada Marfa has
Figure 1. Time Transfixed
René Magritte (1938). Oil on canvas. 30 3 26 in. Art tion traditional thinking and perception. become a pilgrimage site that attracts
Institute of Chicago. ª2021 C. Herscovici/Artists thousands of fashion fans, most of whom
Rights Society (ARS), New York. remain totally oblivious to the absurdity of
The Magritte of sculpture: The duo branding and consumerist culture.
the habit of conventional thinking team of Elmgreen and Dragset Trafalgar Square in London is one of the
(Figure 2). Here, Magritte paints a scene Twenty-six years ago, two Scandinavian great tourist spots in the world and is sur-
from a museum. Behind the velvet rope artists, Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Drag- rounded by four large pedestals, called the
stand three sculptures: the head of Jesus set, began working together, and they Four Plinths. One of the four plinths carries
a sculpture of King George IV on horse-
back, and the second and third plinths
are occupied by sculptures of famous mil-
itary men. The Fourth Plinth, an imposing
slab of marble erected in 1841, remained
bare until 1999 when the City of London
decided to showcase large contemporary
sculptures on top of the empty pedestal
(Perry and Vasconcellos, 2016). Each
selected sculpture adorns the base slab
for a period of 1.5 to 2 years. In 2012, Elm-
green and Dragset won the competition for
a spot on the Fourth Plinth.
They displayed a sculpture of a playful
young boy on a rocking horse, elevating
the child to the status of a historical
hero, although there was no history to
commemorate (Figure 4). Instead of prais-
ing the past heroism of the powerful, the
work celebrates the potential heroism of
growing up and questions the English
tradition of building monuments predi-
cated on military victory or defeat.

A modern rendition of Van Gogh’s

ear and the biblical Moses
Figure 2. Eternity
René Magritte (1935). Oil on canvas. Museum of Modern Art, New York. ª2021 C. Herscovici/Artists Elmgreen and Dragset’s most recent
Rights Society (ARS), New York. large public sculpture was installed in

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Commentary

Figure 3. A Prada Boutique in the Middle of the West Texas Desert

(A) Map of Texas showing location of town of Marfa near El Paso.
(B) Prada Marfa. Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset (2005). Permanent installation located 26 miles northwest of Marfa, TX (population 1981). Adobe bricks,
plaster, aluminum frames, glass panes, carpet, canvas, Prada shoes and bags. 16 3 25 3 15 ft. ª2021 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VISDA.

2016 at Rockefeller Center on Fifth come up with something really cagy and pool on its side. They titled it Van Gogh’s
Avenue. Since it’s hard to surprise the so- intimidating. They installed an upright, Ear (Figure 5).
phisticated New Yorker who knows it all 66-foot tall sculpture shaped like an At one level, the sculpture was de-
and has seen it all, the artists had to empty swimming pool and turned the signed as a comical homage to Van
Gogh’s infamously separated body part.
Van Gogh’s Ear was also meant to poke
fun at the frenetic behavior of New
Yorkers and visiting tourists who rush
down Fifth Avenue but who would be
much better off relaxing by the pool.
Although virtually all of the Elmgreen-
Dragset work provokes and teases the
viewer’s mind, none has evoked more sur-
prise and shock than the sculpture entitled
Modern Moses (Figure 6). This artwork fea-
tures a wax baby in a cot abandoned at
a non-functioning ATM machine (Arnold
and Iannacchione, 2019). As we were
taught in Sunday school, the biblical story
of Moses took place 3,000 years ago
when Moses’ mother hid him in a basket
next to a river so he would not be harmed.
When Modern Moses was first exhibited in
London in 2006, it was interpreted as a
critique of the British government’s failure
to fund social programs to help needy chil-
dren. When shown in the United States
several years later, the artwork took on a
more poignant and direct meaning, refer-
ring to the ‘‘Baby Moses Safe Haven’’
laws in most states, which allow parents
to leave infants at any hospital or fire station
Figure 4. Boy with no power amidst powerful historical heroes in London’s Trafalgar Square
Powerless Structures, Fig. 101. Elmgreen and Dragset (2012). Bronze. Exhibited on the Fourth Plinth at with ‘‘no questions asked.’’ Then, in 2016
Trafalgar Square, 2012–2014. 14 3 6 3 15 ft. ª2021 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/VISDA. when Modern Moses was shown in Beijing,

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Commentary

Figure 5. Van Gogh’s Ear

Elmgreen and Dragset (2016). Fiberglass, stainless steel, lacquer, lights. Exhibited at Rockefeller Center, New York, NY, 2016. 30 3 16 3 8 ft. ª2021 Artists Rights
Society (ARS), New York/VISDA.

its meaning shifted in a different direction, will be fascinating to learn how Modern year’s Lasker Awardees illustrate how sur-
namely to the concern among the Chinese Moses is perceived when it is exhibited in prising and unpredictable findings stimu-
that a professional career is considered the Holy Land of the real Moses. late new insights and ideas. In an interview
more important than having children. It several months before his death in 2020 at
The Elmgreen-Dragset rules for age 96, the legendary physicist/mathemati-
judging Lasker nominations cian and immensely creative thinker
One of Elmgreen and Dragset’s sculp- Freeman Dyson expressed his views on
tures is relevant to the way the Lasker the origin of scientific discovery: ‘‘The
Jury deliberates in choosing its awardees beauty of science is that all important things
(Figure 7). The artists created a real judi- are unpredictable. The optimistic view in
cial wig out of horse hair and hung it on me is that nature is designed to make the
a steel hanger with the outline of the universe as interesting as possible,’’
judge’s head and face taking shape in (Mack, 2020). In keeping with Dyson’s
the void (Smith and Rashid, 2018). Elm- views on unpredictability, the discoveries
green and Dragset are reminding us that of this year’s Lasker winners began as
the headless wig offers a way for deper- surprise findings that no one could have
sonalizing the wearer who writes the rules imagined would turn out to be important.
by which we all must abide. Moreover, not to disappoint Dyson, the dis-
So when our Lasker Jury convenes to coveries have also made the world a more
evaluate nominations, the members of beautiful and interesting place.
the committee are instructed to follow Basic Award
the rules implied in the sculptures of Elm- The 2021 Lasker Basic Medical Research
green and Dragset—namely, (1) discard Award honors three scientists, Dieter
your biases; (2) focus on originality, bold- Oesterhelt (Max-Planck-Institut für Bio-
ness, and impact; and (3) pay special chemie, Martinsried), Peter Hegemann
attention to the element of surprise. (Humboldt University Institute of Biology,
Berlin), and Karl Deisseroth (Stanford Uni-
Figure 6. Modern Moses 2021 Lasker Awards: Unexpected versity), for the discovery of light-sensitive
Elmgreen and Dragset (2006). Baby carrycot, wax surprises spur scientists to new microbial proteins that can activate or
figure, baby clothes, stainless steel cash machine.
visions silence individual brain cells and for their
Baby Carrycot, 6 3 28 3 15 in. Cash machine, 38 3
25 in. ª2021 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New Like the art of Magritte and Elmgreen and use in developing optogenetics—a revo-
York/VISDA. Dragset, the accomplishments of this lutionary technique for neuroscience.

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Commentary

enabling rapid development of the combinant DNA, the AIDS epidemic, and
highly effective vaccines for COVID-19 human gene editing?
disease. For a detailed account of the discov-
Who would have imagined that a sim- eries of this year’s Lasker Awards, please
ple and subtle chemical modification in refer to the Lasker website at https://
a synthetic messenger RNA molecule laskerfoundation.org/and to the articles
would make it possible for two biophar- in this issue of Cell.
maceutical companies to develop and
distribute—within 1 year—a safe and REFERENCES
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Special Achievement Award
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The 2021 LaskerKoshland Special
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Achievement Award in Medical Science
Boden, M.A. (2010). Creativity and Art: Three
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Roads to Surprise (Oxford University Press).
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Hughes, R. (2002). The Portable Magritte (Universe
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Figure 7. Heritage more (California Institute of Technology)
Koestler, A. (1964). The Art of Creation (Pen-
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on a steel hanger. 48 3 14 3 14 in. ª2021 Artists guin Books).
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Mack, K. (2020). Freeman Dyson’s quest for
sensitive, rhodopsin-like protein—con- hundreds of scientists, many of whom eternal life. The New York Times, March 2,
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