CHANGE NOTE

Please list the changes you have made to your paper as a result of reviewer comments and feedback. In some circumstances we may return this change note to reviewers.

Reviewer Number 1

Changes Made as a Consequence of Comments and Suggestions

First of all, may I thank my two referees for their painstaking scrutiny of the article. Their comments are much appreciated, andI’m sure the article is all the stronger for them.

1. Thematic Focus and Empirical Grounding

Page 2: More explanation of the examples used to illustrate the paper. ‘Case Studies’ might not be the correct label for these illustrations, my referee suggests that term carries methodological implications I do not intend. The term ‘Examples’ is used instead.

2. Conceptual Model

Discussion of the identified tensions is included under each Example.

3 Explanatory Logic

Page 2: I take the point that my university is mentioned in the abstract but not in the full article, so have included details here.

4 Implications and Applications

I have included more comment in the Conclusion (Page 11) about how these exercises impact upon students’ creativity.

5 Quality of Communication

I have strengthened the Conclusion, and addressed the point aboutwhere the study actually took place. (Page 2).

Suggestions Rejected, With Reasons for Rejection

1. The criticism of my use of the term ‘Case Study’ is valid, coming from a position which recognises that term as relating to specific method. I have amended my terminology to ‘Examples’, since I am not using case study methodology.

Reviewer Number 2

Changes Made as a Consequence of Comments and Suggestions

1 Thematic Focus and Empirical Grounding

The question about how the work relates to to teaching and assessment is now addressed in the conclusion.

2 Conceptual Model

I have taken up the challenge offered by my referee, and attempted a working definition of ‘creativity’ which appears on Page 5, in the last paragraph under the sub-heading ‘Drivers of Creativity’.

5 Quality of Communication

Referencing details amended as recommended.

Drivers of Creativity: How Theory canInform Contemporary Practice in the Art

School Curriculum and Beyond

Howard Riley, Dynevor Centre for Arts, Design & Media,Swansea Metropolitan University of Wales Trinity Saint

David, Wales, UK.Abstract: This paper discusses an innovative strategy for the integration of theory modules, termed Drivers of Creativity, with the studio practices undertaken in the MA portfolio of courses in Fine Art, Photography, Visual Communication and Textiles at the Dynevor Centre for Arts, Design and Media, Swansea Metropolitan University of Wales Trinity Saint David, Wales, UK.

It argues that at the heart of the creative process, there lie tensions which drive much – if not all – creative activity in those disciplines. Such tensions emanate from dialectical oppositions which impinge upon all producers of artworks of all kinds, firstly between notions of individual identity and the “mores” of the social group; and secondly the dialectical opposition between the natural environment and human cultural constructions and interventions.

These two dialectical oppositions inform the structure and content of the two theory modules undertaken by all first year students on the MA Programmes.

The paper is illustrated with a range of visual examples, illustrating both the author’s and students’ practices motivated by the Drivers of Creativity modules. Evaluation of the quality of the project work is informed by a general criterion: the degree of balance evident between two factors, introduced and explained as “conceptual intrigue” and “perceptual intrigue”.

Keywords: Drivers of Creativity, Perceptual Intrigue, Conceptual Intrigue.

Introduction: Tension, Relief, Pleasure, Intrigue

In their seminal work Psychology of the Arts, Hans and Shulamith Kreitler

(1972:6) identify four major theories “…which have served as central foci for psychological studies of the spectator’s experience of art. These are: psychoanalysis, the Gestalt theory, behaviourism and information theory.” This article is not the place to elaborate on thesefour, however it is worth identifying factors common to all of them:

1 Experiences of art explained in terms of concepts which have a psychological validity.

2 A reliance upon a homeostatic model of behaviour.

3 An assumption that tension and the relief of such tension are integralto all experiences of art.

To paraphrase the Kreitlers (1972:13), the homeostatic model of motivation assumes that all organisms strive for optimal conditions for their existence and survival. The optimal condition is defined as an equilibrium between internal and external processes as well as among theinternal processes themselves. Any imbalance disturbing equilibrium triggers tensions in the organism, tensions which are relieved through actions designed to restore balance. Interestingly, such restoration of equilibrium need not necessarily lead to the prior state of balance, butthe establishment of new states of equilibrium rather akin to the way

that resolution between thesis and antithesis can result in a new state of synthesis. Even though the Kreitlers’s argument is applied to spectators of art, it would appear equally relevant that the need to resolve tensions can be manifested in the practice of makers of artworks. The article goes on to elaborate how:

The Kreitlers (1972:14) enumerate several examples of balance-disturbingfactors, such as “…facing an unresolved problem…the perception of an unbalanced figure…being prevented from concluding an interrupted task…”

This article argues that such examples are singular examples of the twofundamental dialectical oppositions within which the potential for disturbing psychological equilibrium exist:

1 The dialectical opposition between our need for individual identity and our need for acceptance within the social group.

2 The dialectical opposition between the natural environment and our culturally-motivated compulsion to make representations of, and interventions within that natural environment.

Within the Master’s degree programme, these two oppositions are identified as potential sources of tension leading to a general imbalance of psychological equilibrium, and it is argued that the stimulus to resolve the subsequent tensions is the driver of human creativity.

The homeostatic model adumbrated above, essentially based upon a rise intension followed by a reduction in tension, is, in both psychological and physiological terms, concomitant with the experience of pleasure (Kreitler and Kreitler 1972:13). Specifically in the context of the visual arts, such pleasure can be defined in terms of the degree of intrigue experienced by the viewer encountering the artwork, an intriguewith two components, perceptual intrigue, and conceptual intrigue, derived from aninsight of Hegel, who identified a space for art which still seems tenable: halfway between sensual experience and intellectual understanding. For Hegel, (in Graham 1997:174), the distinguishing feature of art is the “sensual presentation of the idea”. I’d like to extrapolate from Hegel’sposition, and develop this pair of criteria with which to assess the validity of artwork, regardless of medium, regardless of context:

Firstly, the notion of perceptual intrigue: the degree to which the manipulation of the material qualities of the work and its environmentalcontext might stimulate perceptual experiences which cause the gaze to linger, and perceptual complacencies to be challenged; and secondly, thenotion of conceptual intrigue: the degree to which a work affords viewers fresh intellectual insights on the theme or concept to which the work alludes. These two linked ideas become the criteria by which students are able to evaluate artwork in the complex context of an MA course.

Drivers of Creativity

The rationale of the two theory modules, as stated in the course document for the Masters programme delivered in the Faculty of Art & Design, Swansea Metropolitan University of Wales Trinity Saint David, validated in 2011, explains:

The relationship between theory and practice permeates the teaching strategies of the whole MA portfolio. (The portfolio consists of four pathways: Fine Art; Photography; Visual Communication and Textiles.) In particular, the two dialectical relationships which define us as human, and which generate the tensions that we believe drive all human creativity, form the underlying structure of the whole course – the practical modules and the taught theory modules. Those two dialectical relationshipsare:

The opposition between the need for forming an individual identity and the need to conform to the conventions of the social group.

The opposition between the need to engage with and manage interventions within our ecological relationship with Nature, and our drive to develop what might be termed ‘Culture’ – ways of sharing and otherwise communicating our experiences of that ecological relationship.

As well as addressing these two fundamental sources of creativity,the two ‘Drivers’ modules address issues pertinent to theeffective channelling of the creative tensions: issues such asmethods for gathering and collating necessary information andother data, and issues to do with the materiality of ourpractices, and the relationship between such materiality andphilosophical aesthetics.

The implication here is that creativity itself, within the context of the visual arts, can be understood as a process driven by the psychological need to resolve tensions, and resulting in a visible, material form which offers viewers fresh and original perceptual experiences and conceptual insights into the nature of the subject matter represented. The examples presented below serve to illustrate howan understanding of the underlying tensions which drive creativity can materialise in visual form.

Example of Response to Identified Tensions: 1

As illustration, Example 1 addresses the author’s practice, driven by the opposition between the unpredictability of natural processes, and our need to develop cultural codes through which such chaos may be ordered. Language itself is one such cultural code, the written forms ofwhich are made up of what Ferdinand de Saussure (1916) termed arbitrary

signs (alphabets) and structured by cultural conventions (rules of grammar and syntax). Where did the capacity for writing come from? Anthropological research by Iain Davidson and William Noble (1989) explains the capacity developed from our earlier capacity for depiction:the facility for inscribing marks resembling the appearance of the things we notice, and which hold importance in our lives, on surfaces capable of retaining such markings for long periods of time, thus becoming a repository of shareable information. Of course, once the notion of depiction is grasped, the idea that meaning might be given to a non-depictive sign – a symbol – is viable.

Figures 1, 2 and 3 may be read as metaphors for the evolution of writtencodes made up of arbitrary symbols: in the background, a randomness of mark-making representing chaos. In the middle-ground, the square, its visual stability and solidness representing the human capacity for ordering, structuring. Through this capacity emerge the written symbolsin the foreground, the universal, cross-cultural possibilities of written codes of communication:

Figure 1 Howard Riley 2012 Depiction Precedes Writing 1. Oil pastel, graphite onSaunders Waterford 300gsm paper. 29x38cms

Figure 2 Howard Riley 2012 Depiction Precedes Writing 2. Oil pastel, graphite onSaunders Waterford 300gsm paper. 29x38cms

Figure 3 Howard Riley 2012 Depiction Precedes Writing 3. Oil pastel, graphite onSaunders Waterford 300gsm paper. 29x38cms

Example of Response to Identified Tensions: 2

The work of MA student Laura Reynolds illustrates how a material practice can evolve through the attempt to resolve the tensions within the field of gender representation: how individual notions of gender identity can be challenging to the accepted mores of the social group. Her many-layered garment – a dress never intended to be worn but displayed - includes the delicacy of an underlay made of tissue paper, printed repeatedly with the word glimpse, associations of femininity exposed to the male gaze. Overlayering this is a skirt of canvas upon which are secured many bows of fragile paper,

Figure 4 Laura Reynolds 2013

Figure 5 Laura Reynolds 2013

each obscuring from view an image of a male, naked except for an enigmatic, Magritte-like bowler hat and sock-suspenders, and carrying a briefcase, metonymic of the mainly masculine world of city business. Thevulnerability of these naked figures clashes with their attributes of male power.

The artist says of her work that “…it has a multi-layered approach, everything feeds into the influence, news, TV, radio, conversation, memories, everyday occurrences, you often start with a very clear idea of what you want to say, but then the aesthetic comes into it, and decisions are made on that basis. Looking at the work retrospectively it’s often easier to see what was at work at the time, influencing thosedecisions. For me, the empty dress is less a symbol of loss, however prevalent this may be in all our lives, but more as a vessel for dialogue, a container for thoughts and ideas.”

Example of Response to Identified Tensions: 3

MA student Christina Rowlands’ practice is ceramic-based, driven by the tensions produced when cultural interventions affect the natural world. Such a natural, earth-bound material seems suitably ironic as the means to express her despair at the way our society legitimises cultural interventions within the sphere of nature, condoning experimentation on live animals in order to improve the lot of our species at the expense of others.

Figure 6 Christina Rowlands 2013 Diseased Monkey (detail) clay tablet 33x26cms

Figure 7 Christina Rowlands 2013 Tiger clay tablet 27x19cms

Figures 6 and 7 illustrate a monkey and a tiger, each image engrained inthe natural material context of clay, reminiscent of the images made at a time when humans were in a much more symbiotic relationship with theiranimal neighbours, but here representing both as animals made to suffer from human-induced diseases in the name of medical research. The gashes in the clay, made by scratching and scraping on the soft surface with a hard stylus, carry connotations of an angry urgency as well as physical damage, a statement full of shocking immediacy that such behaviour couldbe tolerated in a so-called civilised culture. The intentional simplicity and crudity of the marks gouged in the clay are in stark opposition to the still widely-held self-image of our technologically sophisticated culture. These pieces refute such self-deception, and graphically communicate the reality of our attitude towards the natural world as a source of exploitation for our own ends, a perception held even long after Ernst Haeckel introduced in 1866 the notion of ecology – the understanding that we cultural sophisticates are an integral part ofthe planetary household.. We hurt ourselves when we hurt our fellow inhabitants, these panels scream.

Example of Response to Identified Tensions: 4 MA graduate Paul Woodford’s installation and accompanying soundtrack were inspired by the the understanding that we encode our individuality through the systems of objects (Baudrillard 1988) we acquire over time: each item within the installation and each clip of the soundtrack become metonymic of a period of time or a series of personal experiences. He plays on the irony that although each item is selected on the basis of individual choice for personal reasons, they are in fact products of thesocial organisation we all share.

Figure 8 Paul Woodford 2013 Installation

He explains his installation with accompanying soundscape:

The installation was inspired by the Drivers of Creativity MA seminars onsemiotics and the research for the essay ‘The cultural artefacts we produce may confirm or challenge the social values of the society in which they are produced. Explore…’ The objects used for the installation were carefully chosen, metonyms for aspects of our material culture. The audio mixes codes to parallel  the mixed state of the world and the mixed state of our consciousness. I was constructing an 'open work/text', I was providing a means of navigation, clues, signposts so that the viewer is positioned alongside the artist. After wandering those intertextual pathways perhaps both, at the end of the walk, might have something to talk about in the pub.

Conclusion

The examples presented in this article illustrate the potential for creative practices across a range of activities and media, when those practices are driven by an understanding of the underlying human need toresolve tensions brought about by the basic human dilemmas identified inthe Introduction. Studio practices such as illustrated in the examples provide students with opportunities for gaining more insight into their own identities, and the ways that identity recognition can often have animpact upon individual’s creativity. The drive to resolve those tensionsoccurring between the need to be seen as an individual and the need to be accepted within the social group becomes itself a source of creativity. Moreover, the quality of work produced may be monitored throughout the process of production by a constant assessment of the balance between those two criteria of quality: conceptual intrigue and perceptual intrigue. Within the context of a Masters teaching programme, such accessible criteria for the judgement of quality empower students’ abilities in assessing their own work and that of others.

REFERENCES

BAUDRILLARD, J. 1988 "The System of Objects". In Selected Writings. Cambridge:Polity Press. 10-28.

DAVIDSON, I. and NOBLE, W. 1989 "The Archaeology of Perception". Current Anthropology. Vol. 30 No. 2. 125-155.

GRAHAM, G. 1997 Philosophy of the Arts. London: Routledge.KREITLER, H. & KREITLER, S. 1972 Psychology of the Arts, Durham, NC: Duke

University.SAUSSURE, F. de 1916(1974) Course in General Linguistics. Glasgow:

Fontana/Collins.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Howard Riley: Professor of Visual Communication, and Head of the School ofResearch & Postgraduate Studies at the Dynevor Centre for Arts, Design and Media, Swansea Metropolitan University of Wales TrinitySaint David, Wales, UK. He studied at Hammersmith College of Art, Coventry College of Art and the Royal College of Art and holds a doctorate from the University of Wales in the practice and pedagogy of drawing. He has taught at art schools in the UK, Malaysia and Australia. His drawings have been exhibited in Finland, Malaysia, Australia as well as the UK.