We need creativity: which one?

Theory & Psychology, 2019

… the demand to be creative is more unpredictable than other demands, since it is contingent on the fickle whims of the audience. Andreas Reckwitz (Kindle location 7603) Contemporary western society is now organized on principles quite different from those which brought us modernity. Expectations for ongoing creativity and affectivity have overtaken expectations for dispassionate, predictable, productivity central to the functioning of modern factories and bureaucratic institutions. Recognizing these expectations and how we got to them is the genealogical project of The Invention of Creativity, and its author, Andreas Reckwitz, a German sociologist. Creativity, of course, is not a recent "invention"; but its functioning as a primary organizing and animating principle for western society is portrayed as the case, by Reckwitz. This is a challenging yet rewarding book for those interested in well-argued links between macro-and micronotions of social constructionist theorizing, to how these might apply in social and psychological ways to our contemporary circumstances. For readers familiar with Foucault's genealogical projects (e.g., Birth of the Clinic, 1974; Madness and Civilization, 1988), Reckwitz's volume provides a related hermeneutic focus on being historically downstream from the cultural effects of particular ideas and practices. The social constructionist element of such genealogies is how much they rely on and develop from somewhat arbitrary and changing cultural meanings and values. The emotionally sterile rationality associated with the modernity premised on enlightenment science, for Reckwitz, never erased human needs for the affective spaces and experiences marginalized to spheres of life often associated with religion and art. In this book, Reckwitz turns particularly to art and creativity, tracing how it increasingly took centre stage to bring us what animates and organizes our personal experiences and contemporary western life. Central to Reckwitz's thesis is a story of how cultural aestheticization (i.e., how western culture came to put aesthetic values, activities, and experiences as primary) shifted

The Journal of Creative Behavior, 1997

Because of misperceptions about the nature of creativity, many creative children are misunderstood in and out of their classrooms. Based on a close association with creative adults and childrenn, the authors postulate that creativity is a state of being that is challenged by the socialization process in Western civilization. The authors envisage two differing states of being namely, a n essential and a conventional. These states represent end points on a continuum. Creative adults speak of their struggle to try and regain something of their original state of being. Understanding creative children who are closer to the essential state is important for their emotional wellbeing and the nurturing of their creativity.

2016

Sue Gollifer has been the Art Space Editor for Digital Creativity since it's conception in 1998. An artist's space that includes the work of practice-based artists who use digital technologies significantly in their artistic work. Recent featured ‘Art Spaces’ includes work from the curated Exhibitions: ISEA2011 ‘Uncontainable’, Istanbul; the Alan Turing touring Exhibition ‘Intuition and Ingenuity’ celebrating 100th anniversary of his birth of Alan Turing, and the SIGGRAPH Art Gallery ‘Acting in Translation’ 2014. Sue is the Director of the ISEA International Headquarters and the Chair of the ACM SIGGRAPH Distinguished Arts Award. She is an artist a curator and a Principal Lecturer and the Course Leader for Digital Media Arts MA and a researcher at the University of Brighton, UK. Digital Creativity has a new look. The page layout for Digital Creativity will follow an updated design that responds to the overall update at the publisher and hopefully increase readability online ...

THE PHILOSOPHY OF CREATIVITY, 2014

reativity pervades human life. It is the mark of individuality, the vehicle of self-expression, and the engine of progress in every human endeavor. It also raises a wealth of neglected and yet evocative philosophical questions: What is the role of consciousness in the creative process? How does the audience for a work for art influence its creation? How can creativity emerge through childhood pretending? Do great works of literature give us insight into human nature? Can a computer program really be creative? How do we define creativity in the first place? Is it a virtue? What is the difference between creativity in science and art? Can creativity be taught? The new essays that comprise The Philosophy of Creativity take up these and other key questions and, in doing so, illustrate the value of interdisciplinary exchange. Written by leading philosophers and psychologists involved in studying creativity, the essays integrate philosophical insights with empirical research.

'It is music and dancing that makes me at peace with the world, and at peace with myself.' Nelson Mandela.1 Every day and every moment of our waking lives we live with the creativity of the past. It surrounds and envelops us in all that we do whether it is a cultivated garden or park, the architecture in which we live or work, the clothes we wear, the food we cook, the furniture we use, the social and economic expectations we have or the language we speak. Most of the time we do not perceive it – it is just what it is, but we can also focus our minds on it and then a stream of new questions arises. When we ask ourselves what effect does this space have on me, and why? Why do I use this particular word to describe something I feel? Why do I prefer this picture for my wall? Why are some actions acceptable in one culture but are not considered proper in another? These questions are creative in themselves. They take us into new realms. In human history there has always been creativity and this capacity has had a determinative influence on how we lead our lives, but what really changes over time is how we think about this capacity for creativity and make it conscious. In human history there has always been creativity and this capacity has had a determinative influence on how we lead our lives, but what really changes over time is how we think about this capacity for creativity and make it conscious. The contemporary vibrant discussion on the value of creativity and innovation and their connection to our emotional life is not new. However, it is different. Utilising the powers of fire, developing the linguistic skills to communicate, creating the first wheel or clay pot, the discovery of metallurgy, building houses for habitation leading to larger and larger communities, finding ways of coordinating social endeavours and aspirations, have all deeply affected human evolution. The inventions and innovations of today should be measured against the discoveries of the past with certain humility. It is all too easy to have hubris about our present state compared to the achievements of our ancestors. Creativity, from the invention of knitting needles to the manufacture of iPads, is synonymous with our continuously evolving sense of identity. " … never before has the pace of innovation accelerated so dramatically, filling our lives with new fashions, new electronics, new cars, new music, new architecture … And even now a new crop of artists gaze at the Mona Lisa with an eye to turning it into something fresh and dazzlingly creative. The human chain of invention remains unbroken and in our superbly connected world, our singular talent to create races ahead of us. " 2 (Pringle, H. 2013) In this age of frenzied newness we also need an anchor lest the 'race' exhausts us and the 'unbroken chain' is snapped. To find our bearings we need more than ever the salutary thought that someone, somewhere, somehow created this, and what they created becomes, as it were, 'spellbound' in time and material. Then we can create the connectedness between the past and the present that we need. '… our lives increasingly require the ability to deal with conflicting messages, to make judgments in the absence of rule, to cope with ambiguity, and to frame imaginative solutions to problems we face.'3 (Eisner. 2002) '… our lives increasingly require the ability to deal with conflicting messages, to make judgments in the absence of rule, to cope with ambiguity, and to frame imaginative solutions to problems we face.' (Eisner. 2002) The question of 'how " something is created or invented is usually answerable in some form, at least in terms of what has been created since the Renaissance, which was a time when art became self-conscious and a more alert attention began to be paid to an individual's innovative attainments. Those who embarked on a creative career at that time became celebrated for their work, hence overturning St. Augustine's authoritative and stern edict " Creature non potest creare " (a creature should not presume to create). In contrast, Alberti in 15 th century Florence likened the painter's work to that of 'another God' 4(On Painting. 1435). A battle was begun for the human soul and in many ways the battleground is the same now as it was then. This was the starting point of the early modern age in European history of which we are the heirs. We speak about " disruptive technology " when contemplating the changes wrought upon our lives in the last few years but in the longer term the real disruptive technologies are the arts. They cause us to see and experience the world and our fellow human beings differently, and our ways of perception fluctuate with the influence of our times, our changing cultural and natural environment and our sense of selfhood. We speak about " disruptive technology " when contemplating the changes wrought upon our lives in the last few years but in the longer term the real disruptive technologies are the arts. The Ancient Greeks well knew with their theatrical concept of 'catharsis', whereby immersing ourselves in the art of the theatre and the tragic god-given destiny of mythological characters, we are able to find new depths and strengths in ourselves to face the challenges within our individual biographies. They celebrated creativity in their exuberant poetic hymns to Pallas Athene, who combined the interconnected capacity of the hands to produce craftwork and that of the mind that lead to clarity of thought. Human creativity is actually a complex continuum of activity, relationships and inner change. It meanders, flows, doubles back on itself, offers up contradictions, requires nurturing and concentration,

Educational Philosophy and Theory, 2006

Filosofija. Sociologija, 2018

The article analyses the development of creativity concepts. Notions of creativity transformed historically from uncontrolled divine inspiration and non-reflected artistic inspiration to the targeted work resulting in commercially successful creative products. The analysis begins with Plato’s discussion that a poet should be overtaken by divine inspiration, that human beings do not create by themselves, they are dictated to by the Muses. Renaissance, Rationalism and Romanticism are analysed including their reflections in recognised artists of 20th century. Today’s notions of creativity are reviewed including ones important for creative industries and consumer society.