A general point of agreement amongst highly productive creative artists is that inspiration is for amateurs. To be disciplined, to be available for the next big thought requires a routine and a willingness to get down to work. Underneath that means that a certain amount of work is not going to lead to a new creative output.
What is the purpose of creativity? I know that I sustain higher energy levels when I am tapping in to my creative work stream or pool or whatever it is that gives me new thoughts or the desire to express something in a new format. I simply feel I'm a whole being when my creative thoughts come together into realized work. I also feel more successful when I have chances for collaboration.
Recently there has been a lot of writing about collaboration in the business press. For many years mercantile processes involved either highly hierarchical (read uncreative) productivity or downright poor labor conditions to produce commodity related products. Are we now in an era where new concepts and services might only be possible if collaboration in support of creativity and innovation is the way forward? I hope so.
I would like to think that a framework of process that supports artistic creativity. Think of it as scaffolding when working on the construction of a new form. New forms are the products of creativity. I have found that a framework I developed for being able to dance and later to sing (starting with learning) has worked also for learning and producing in less traditional creative environments. I believe this is born out if we look at highly productive artists who switch media (check out performers who produce wonderful drawings or paintings). How does productivity in the plastic arts produce fine chefs? Does craftmanship play a role?
Craftmanship is only a part of the creative process, but beginning with that basis can be freeing when proper constraints are in place. Knowing how to produce a fine work, as a craftsman, provides keys for when to continue burnishing a piece and when to let the work stand. This relates back to the big middle where constraints can provide wonderful opportunities for new outlets.
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As usual this is another interesting entry. So here goes....
1. What is the axle/hub that turns the wheel of creativity? Better yet, what is its motor? Is it a working faculty called imagination?
2. As for the purpose of creativity--it it to put one in an energized state? Feed the desire for expression? Generate new and/or original products? Grant a sense of wholeness or well-being? Affirm a sense of success? How many of these things relate to the actual purposes of creativity, and how many are the results of exercising a creative agenda? What in fact makes something creative? What hinders it? Given my own interests, I could use a bit more definition and/or example here.
3.On hierarchy. It is fashionable today to kick hierarchy around. So I am wondering what does "highly hierarchical productivity" actually look like as a negative? What goes into the "highly" part?
4. Framework of Process. It seems to me this idea goes to the fruitful heart of a post on creativity. When a "process" frame is in place, and one goes to work within it, I suspect that some of the subjects in this entry will relate more closely, and thus reinforce each other--which in turn builds more creative energy. I also suspect that freedom of/for experimentation will be a key player inside any process frame geared to creative action. Of course, making frames can be heavy handed, and this will often kill creativity [too much of the wrong kind of hierarchy]. Just a note: For me, process is a is a very delicate dance.
5. Craftsmanship. Is this the "hammer and nails" work that the previous framework of process needs in order to become productively operational? This would tie into some other things you mentioned like discipline.
More to come. I think this is a big and important topic.
I have now returned to this post several times, finding with each visit some wonderful phrases that actually engage the juices of my own creativity and process.
1. "Being available for the next big thing." In terms of myself, I ask what does it mean to be actively "available" so that creative action can set in? How do I do that? How do I set myself up for such action? What sort of inner life/disposition helps all this along? As you effectively pointed out, routine, discipline, craftsmanship, and the skipping of inspiration are all an essential part of the picture--but what else helps to nurture creativity? I am thinking that perhaps some of the elements long associated with the traditional spiritual disciplines [whatever the religious tradition] could have a role to play in this "availability" dynamic. I am not meaning here some romantic nonsense that often goes with the "inspiration school." And how interesting--that I never thought of this potential connection until now, even though the spiritual disciplines have been a longstanding interest. Ah something creative just happened--a potential linkage clicked. So how did that occur?
2. [When in a creative state] "I feel I am a whole being." This sense of "wholeness" is pure gold in what seems an ever fragmenting society of fragmented persons. It's my view we were created whole and are destined for wholeness. So what is there in the "scaffolding" of creativity that affirms these holistic ends? What in the scaffolding of life? At the same time, what interferes with our thirst for wholeness?
3."The big middle." I am heading back to that post because from my viewpoint, creativity has everything to do with the "big middle," especially at a certain time in life [another connection made]. But that's for a later comment/exploration.
As you can see/read, I have come to appreciate your post more and more, and in a new and more creative way. In a sense I've turned my own creative corner--less analysis more discovery. In other words, I want to approach my blog comments with a fresher, more stimulating kind of "collaboration." So thanks to your invitation to collaborate, I am beginning some new journeys of my own.
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