LECTURE EIGHT//CREATIVE RHETORICS//OUGD501

LECTURE SEVEN: CREATIVE RHETORICS

• Introduction The blank sheet project
  
• Genealogy a history of the term creativity
  
• Aesthetics philosophy of creativity
  
• Education facilitating creativity
  
• Contemporary global discourses and practices 
  
  
  
  

  ‘Different artists often have quite divergent conceptions of what they are doing’  -  Harrison-Barbet, 1990, p287 

  
  

  Illustrated; The Blank Sheet Project

  
  

  • Rutger Hauer
    
  • Sir John Hegarty
    
  • Renzo Rosso
    
  • Neville Brody
    
  • Kati Howe 28/11/12 
• Creative flow:
  
  
  
  Renzo Rosso's Creative Rhetoric  
  
  D&AD : The blank sheet project, Renzo Rosso:  Diesel creator, made first pair of jeans when 15.  'The best must be the next.'  response when someone asks him what his favourite design is.  History of Diesel advertising, is it a pure reflection of diesel itself or has the advertising helped diesel to evolve? 
  
  
  Beginning talked about school of fashion, talking about facilitating creativity.  He talks about his best ideas always being the next one, notion that creativity itself is dynamic in some way.  Creativity is always moving.  Notion of being stupid, using the head not the heart.  Possibly a 'romantic genius'
  
  
  • Practice-based beginning (School of Fashion) studio- pedagogy (supports creativity) Arts & Crafts/Bauhaus
  • Best idea – always next creativity 'dynamic' George Dickie (1971) art is beyond definition constantly changing (history of aesthetics)
  • Be Stupid – using heart not head expressionist theory – linked to Romanticism idea that creativity is a knowledge-obtaining activity opposition to rational sciences
  • Rosso Romantic Genius?
  • Work in teams – creative process Diesel – collaborative 
   Mimesis
  • Plato’s (427 BC - 346 BC ) problem with creativity
  • Republic – ideal society (critique of democracy)
  • Metaphysics – forms
  • Physical world mimics the real
  • Art imitates an imitation
  • Art mimics the sensory world
  • Creativity merely a technical skill - techne (GK)
  • Denied creativity's knowledge-producing capability
  • Dichotomy physical not mental activity 
    
    
  • BLACK ATHENA 

• Gombrich (1950) The popular view is that Western civilization
  begins Ancient Greeks
  
• Bernal (1991) argues Classical civilization has deep roots in Afroasiatic cultures - history
  suppressed since 18c.
  
• Classical Greeks, did not see their philosophy, as original, but derived from the East and Egypt.
  
• Whats left of ancient Greek art?
• Striving to imitate nature better:
• Archaic
• Classical
• Hellenistic 

CLASSICISM:

Roman Art (315 AD) Constantine

•Republic period realism (after Gks) Imperial period stylized
•Art followed spirit of Greeks
•Suggesting Greeks reached some sort of apex.
•Sentiment found in histories of art Gombrich 

Academics talk about Creativity as...

• Complex and dynamic concept

• Subjects of history of art and aesthetics

• Evidenced in Banaji et al (2006) Nine ‘rhetorics of creativity' contemporary review of the literature

• Theoretical framework of lecture 

Banaji et al (2006) Nine ‘rhetorics of creativity’

Creative genius
Democratic & political creativity
Ubiquitous creativity
Creativity for social good
Creativity as economic imperative

Play and creativity
Creativity and cognition
The creative affordances of technology

The creative classroom

ROMANTIC GENIUS 

Found in aesthetics •Area of philosophy
•Term originates in mid 18c
•Derived from the aesthesis (perception)
•Involves looking at how judgements about art and creativity are made.

•Immanuel Kant

•Critique of Judgement (1790) is still hailed as the most influential writings on aesthetics.

ROMANTICISM:

•Kant wrote about artistic movement
•18c literary and visual
•Redefined the role of the artist
•Creative genius

TRANSFORMED:

•Movement changed ideas and language
about art & creativity
•Rejecting Platonic theory, Nietzsche and Schopenhauer (German philosophers) posited art as the most important knowledge-generating discipline.

THE CREATIVE:

•Romanticism redefined the status of the artist
•Valued the originality of work, in terms of reflecting a subjective vision of artist
•Artist a creator – not imitator
•Artist should stand aside from rules
•The artist is rule breaker & definer

Through creating, artists create new rules
Own master & owner of the discipline
Romantic model of the artist empowers the artist and creativity
Through creativity the borders and boundaries of art itself are visualised and transcended
Expanding the discipline
Dynamic

THE CREATIVE CLASS ROOM:

The Survival of Creativity (2000)

• Traces history of state-funded Art & Design Education.

• First Academies of Art in Italy 14c

• Classical rules perspective, orders of architecture etc.

• Scholarly activity ‘fine’

• 16c French Academy & Atelier

• 19c British Art Schools, Arts & Craft: LCA 

ART AND DESIGN EDUCATION CHANGED:

• Brown (2012) digital
  technology, event horizon
  
• Epistemological shift.
  
• Global community created the cloud single body of knowledge.
  
• Ownership of content has changed implications A & D Education
  
• One- to –many outmoded
  
• Inverted many-to-one
  
• eStudio
  

ABSTRACT 
Evidence that teams are expanding online, working online and collaboratively, also evidence that it can empower the worker.

• Art & copy teams (collaborative) concurrent practice-based
  orthodox UK Art Schools 50s.
  
• For some, new media prompting changes at the heart of the discipline; models of creativity -evidence teams are expanding in volume & online
  
• Facilitating students working online and collaboratively facilitates a type of creativity of value to industry Bennett (2003)
  
• Empowers learner online flattening/equalising effect traditional f2f roles tutor/learner Master/apprentice.
  
• Study explores such claims
  
  primary sources:
  
  
  • 49 completed/valid questionnaires
    
  • 32 learners and 1 tutor – ascertain impact
    
  • 16 Professionals - 7 top ten UK agencies 

 Findings - 

• 75% (P) agreed that that new media has given
  rise to a new type of collaborative creativity.
  
• 81% (P) agreed that discussion forums and chat rooms are supportive to idea generation.
  

87% (L) and 93% (P) agreed that working online in teams was a valuable skill for undergraduate creatives to practice. 

LITTLE C CREATIVITY BANAJI:

Creativity as a basic skill to find solutions to problems in 21st life, being resourceful, flexible – contributing to society.
Society (crowd) made up of online Communities of Practice VCOP Group(s) of people, which have an interest in the same topic and are engaged in an activity of sharing their opinions on this topic (creating the cloud).
Website Wiki Blogs Social Networks Micro-blogging

SUCCESSFUL VCOP

1.Experts / facilitation plays important role 
2.Stimulus when discussions cooling off

3.Provide meaningful dialogue to sum up debate

4.Presence of experts doesn’t = success

5.Level of engagement e.g. story telling important aspect (enjoyable, entertaining) way of sharing knowledge 

SHOWstudio

...a way of being creative
Est: 2000
Inspired by the ... verb 'to show‘...opens up the studio of designers and artists, allowing everyone to not only witness the creative process, but to respond and contribute creatively’ SHOWstudio blog (2012)

1.Interdisciplinary
2.Need to update the blog list of collaborators 
3.John Galliano, Kate Moss, Rick Owens, Comme des Garçons and Alexander McQueen... SHOWstudio has also worked with pop culture icons and creatives from the world of art, music and film including Tracey Emin, Björk, Brad Pitt and Lady Gaga. 

SHOWstudio FINDER

Nick Knight (Fashion photographer) has worked with the world’s most sought-after filmmakers, writers and cultural figures to create visionary online content, exploring every facet of fashion through moving image, illustration, photography and the written
word. 

Creativity for social good Only The Brave Foundation

Brave Actions For A Better World (2008)
‘mission to fight social inequality and to contribute to the sustainable development of less advantaged areas and people throughout the world.'  

Corporate Social Responsibilities:

-Only The Brave Foundation can be seen as CSR
-David Jones CEO Havas(2012) Brands today find creative ways to be socially responsible
-In this sense CSR fits with the Rhetoric of creativity as a social good;  
‘involvingco-operative activity and as socially and personally empowering’ (Banaji et al, 2006 p25)
-Why? What society wants and demands.
-D&AD Student Awards:Uni lever open brief link campaign of brand to a social or environmental issue 

CREATIVITY AS ECONOMIC IMPERATIVE:

• Digital Britain (2009) Report
  
• Creative skills particularly important to UK economy
  
• Facilitating creative skills particularly important to economy
  
• Today’s most innovative companies... succeed by designing their organisations to maximize collaboration’ (Sawyer, 2008 xiii)
  
• Google & Ideo(dominant creative models)
  
• Creative teams practice improvisation (on & offline)
  

Good improv involves deep listening skills–working as one, idea goes places wouldn’t as an individual 

CREATIVITY AND COGNITION:

Csikzentmihayli(1990)Flow

• Psycho-cultural perspective of creativity:

• Refers to psychological condition of being creative.

• Enjoyment changes perception of time ‘loose-one’s-self’

• Occurs when challenges & skills are high

• Sawyer(2008)posits flow essential ingredient to creativity

• Most common place flow experienced is when one is in conversation.

• Creativity is (and always has been) collaborative 

Flow illustrated by working methods Studio Ghibli:
Director Hayao Miyazaki talking about how narrative award winning film Spirited Away (2001) collaboratively & incrementally 

"a principle that I adhere to when directing is that I make good use of everything my staff creates... animation is a fundamentally developmental process for Miyazaki, it is also, no less crucially, an eminently collaborative effort"

(Cavallaro, 2006, p134) 

THE CREATIVE AFFORDANCES OF TECHNOLOGY:

Covered
OCC new model of creativity(industry)  
Influenced creative curriculum (9) Creative classroom 

Flattening social hierarchies, empowering and connecting creatives. 

Communities of practice across disciplines & geography asynchronously or synchronously 

New initiative launched next summer ‘connect’ D&AD community ‘richer deeper engagement education and industry’ 
New and exciting opportunities for creatives   

CHI expands global network with Bates Asia joint venture (2012)

•Article about ad agency merger, a new structure
•Links to Rhetoric (5) Creativity as economic imperative
•Johnny Hornby global executive chairman (CHI) ‘new model network with deep roots in Asia and world class creative credentials".

Hornby also said "This new model network will use our big ideas process to put together bespoke multi- disciplined teams across geographies. It will be a nimbler, faster, more modern alternative to the big networks." 

Beattie (BMB) ECD

•Internet is the biggest idea since the wheel

•Enables lots of small ideas to circulate

•‘that combination of a trillion little ideas is in itself the biggest idea there is...I think we are at the most interesting point of communications history ever...’

•Digital media enabled convergence on a scale not seen before opens up opportunities for creatives.

•E.g Moon 

Visualising Creativity 
• Creative affordances / possibilities technology;
• Capturing creativity in real time SHOWstudio Carine Gilson's Flora LiveStudio (5th Dec, 2012)
• Creativity is now massive,open and online
• The Blank Sheet project–objectives to expose creativity
• D&AD new initiative Making Your Mark similar thinking
• VC topic commission at Liverpool Biennial 2012(largest contemporary arts event in UK) The Source Doug Aiken
•Installation help to summarise the threads of the lecture 

TALKING ABOUT CREATIVITY 

•What is the source of a creative idea?
•Installation collaboration with David Adjaye
•Visitors enter a pavilion with screens projecting artists; Jack White, Tilda Winton (actress) and others discussing the roots of their creativity with Doug Aiken. 

HOW DO YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR CREATIVITY?

Residues of Mimesis may remain.
•Contemporary literature suggests creativity is spoken about by creatives as a thinking and knowledge- generating activity.
• OCC sits in opposition to the Creative Genius rhetoric, where creativity is an innate aptitude for individuals.
• This has led to a dualist perspective of real individual creativity against a communal other.
• Consequences; any form of collaborative creativity is considered of inferior value to independent practice
• Sawyer (2008) and others argue the opposite that collaborative creativity is a superior type that increases innovation and suits the contemporary networked economy. 

YOU ARE NOT A GADGET:

Practicing OCC could potentially diffuse the dualisms that have existed in the rhetoric of creativity.
•Creative practicing does not necessarily entail replacing a focus on the creative sovereignty of the individual. As Lanier explains, ‘You have to be somebody before you can share yourself’ (Lanier, 2010, p.1).