Some comments on the formalization of an environment-based creative

methodology.

Mauricio Pérez Jiménez

La Laguna University

ABSTRACT Here I propose within a theoretical-practical framework, an analysis of the

creative process and how it resorts to the opportunities that environment offers.

It is a proposal addressed to the formalization of a particular methodology

based on personal experience as both an artist and a professor. I aim at

presenting rationally the aspects that nurture the idea which will later trigger the

real materialization of a set of pieces of art. It is not an attempt to propose a

new creativity model but instead to bring out a process of analysis that

establishes some decision-making criteria for all those aspects that are involved

in the flourishing of productive thought. Environment, in this particular case is

circumscribed to a spatial-temporal context with a particular set of

environmental features. This aspect together with two vectors of analysis- one

that tackles environment as a rather physical reality and the other that together

with the subjective and perceiving creative subject makes it its own- constitute

the core of analysis that will ultimately lead to the creation of a piece of art.

Key words: creativity, methodology, artwork, education

Mauricio Pérez Jiménez works as a lecturer teaching Photography and

Audiovisual Methods at the Department of Drawing, Design and Aesthetics at

the Arts Faculty of the University of La Laguna.

My main areas of work are developed under the analysis of the main principles,

procedures and processes of photography and the techno-graphic image as

well as their connection with other traditional art disciplines (sculpturing)

ARTICLE

The work here present is a consequence of the ideas that were brought about

during our daily discussions about our creative practice in the last two years.

We have given this creative practice of ours some form through a personal

project related to both our teaching background and personal interests. This is a

proposal that leads to the establishment of a methodology that on a theoretical-

practical basis analyses the relationship between the creative process and the

artist’s environment.

Our aim is to explain the aspects on which thought is based when producing a

piece of art. In fact our aim is not to propose a new creativity model but just to

mention an analytic process whereby we can establish some criteria when

making decisions in the area of productive thought.

We are proposing a creative methodology, in other words, a process constituted

by a sequence of operations. Following the pair idea-intention, any creative act

is based on a series of successive steps that let us give shape to any artwork.

The creative process pursues the ultimate goal of giving birth to the artwork and

of taking into account all previous proposals by other authors1, this implies the

1 See Gunther Regel, (Extracted reference from “Principles of Pictorial

Composition” Blanco/Gau, Dirección General de Universidades e Investigación

del Gobierno de Canarias, Tenerife, 1996. 220]. There are a series of different

stages in throughout the creative process:

1.- Pre-creation stage or stage for the acquisition of necessary

experience for the creation of a piece of art.

2.- Confrontation stage where the artist conceives and struggles the

creation process and decides to “fight it off” not always consciously.

3.- Creation stage or moment to clarify real expressive intentions.

4.- Performance or verification stage where the idea is physically

expressed, given shape. A process of keeping form and content at stake

is maintained until real intentions are captured.

culmination of two clearly different sequences2: On the one hand the one

determined by a conceptual process called sequence of creative conceptual

production and on the other hand the one determined by an icon-linguistic

procedure called sequence of artistic expression. And so, we take into account

both mental operations that stem from the creative conceptual stage and

practical operations which stem from the expression stage.

The creative conceptual sequence has to do with the several steps an artist has

to follow once the creative intention or idea is stated. It is in this particular

moment where our proposed methodology is unfolded. Our methodology

reinforces the idea that there is a complex intellectual mechanism whose

ultimate goal is to give expression to an idea which in turn will be the core, the

essence of the future artwork. This first conceptual sequence is composed of

two clearly distinctive stages: First, an initial starting one - the idea put into

words according to Vigouroux3 -, that aims at finding " a central topic or issue"

and secondly a symbolical creation stage- that is the draft according to

Vigouroux’s terminology-, whose goal is "the achievement of a remaining

structure along any artwork.

The artist begins with an idea based on pure intuition which however needs to

be specified through a long-hard making process. This making process is not

subjected to just one single initial idea but instead “it demands a string of

intuitive phenomena that give necessary responses to the multiplicity of

questions when giving ultimate expression to the artwork”4.In this way, we find

that during the process of giving expression to the artwork, many confirmation

processes take place and they will be in charge of rejecting inadequate results

and preserving adequate ones.

5.- Post-creation stage. Here the artwork is finished and is shown to the

public. From this moment on the work will come to have a life of its own

independently from its creator. 2 Sanz, Juan Carlos. El libro de la imagen, Alianza Editorial, Madrid, 1996. 3 Vigouroux, Roger. La fábrica de lo bello, Editorial Prensa Planeta, Barcelona, 1996. 4 Idem, p. 271.

These confirmation processes “order all activities and establish necessary

strategies that will be followed and that will also assess final results”5. It is

important not to forget that the creative intention also entails factors that are not

conscious to the artist’s immediate worries such as sensory, conceptual,

abstract, and emotional representations. These referents or representations are

subjected to multiple changes and combinations whether conscious or not. The

artist’s underlying idea crystallizes in clear opposition to the repertoire of the

artist’s past aesthetic concepts. Furthermore, we should also take into account

the context of the contemporary form, that is, “the contributions of course

observation so as to make a clear proposal to the problematic of doing”6

In this way, in the initial starting stage, “the artist organizes in his/her mind facts

and concepts that are retained after experience. He/she shows his/her own

knowledge over individual and social reality putting into use a series of symbolic

meanings, icons and customs. In this way, all these different concepts meet

together and constitute an underlying main idea that determines later creative

stages of the image”7.

During the symbolic creation stage there is a fusion of mental components. The

author creates a specific remaining structure through a series of composition

and constitution processes. The shaping of the idea will depend on the topic

chosen. The artist has to work in different directions looking for the right

symbolic structures and shapes. In order to do this, he/ she has to resort to a

set of mental and practical elements and procedures such as iconic contents

from several aesthetic theories, from the artist’s personal chromatic,

iconographic and symbolic inventories that important for the production of the

piece of art. We also find here that the artist brings into the image his/her deep

emotions and intuitions in a very personal way. Furthermore, there are some

important steps that have to do with the artist’s gestures and personal

movements such as movement impulse, hand, gesture, instrument, materials,

techniques, and image’s productive procedures which altogether interact

5 Idem, 271. 6 Ibidem. 7 Sanz, Juan Carlos. Idem. 91,92.

portraying some specific iconographic signs. However all this also takes place

using optical, mechanical or computing media8.

Any methodology implies not only some planning and organizing but also the

performance of a series of operations. Reasoning and action go hand in hand.

Any method should be limited to be faithful to daily practice and logic reasoning

so that the ultimate goal is attained. However, the creative process trips over a

continuum of circumstances related to the unspeakable, the indescribable, “No

method should aspire to turn any creative act into a structured operation, the

creative moment in itself cannot be structured into a methodology”9.

In turn, the artist’s surrounding considering from a physical perspective, is

perceived by a sensitive individual. Both elements, the physical reality and the

sensitive individual constitute the basic axis of our analysis.

The artist’s environment, a referential reality.

An artist’s environment is circumscribed to a spatial and temporal context that

has some specific qualities. Our example is one which works on a natural

environment and which possesses a series of specific geologic, climatic and

morphologic features which portrays a direct and simple reality devoid of the

complexity of social components. Our project has attempted to show the

excellent opportunities that a volcanic environment offers in the Canary Islands

from the point of view of its natural materials, the senses and the artwork itself

as an objective reality.

According to Wagensberg10 reality is constituted by objects and phenomena.

The former have to do with space and the later have to do in with time. Objects

are defined as spatial distributions of material, energy and information.

Phenomena are defined as the temporary changes of objects. However reality

is defined by a high degree of complexity. In turn, on the one hand we find

8 Idem, 92,93. 9 Ricard, André. La aventura creativa. Las raíces del diseño, (Ariel, Barcelona, 2000), 104. 10 Wagensberg, Jorge. La rebelión de las formas. Tusquets Editores. Barcelona, 2005.

objects where material stands out such as a stone and on the other hand we

find objects where energy stands out such as a beam of sun or objects where

information stands out such as a poem. All of them with no exception, appear,

change and disappear being part of the “big catalogue of the world’s objects

that are part of reality”

The category of object is acquired when the object’s features are such that they

can be distinguished from any other object within the catalogue. Here we are

dealing with a complex issue that involves interpretation and reasoning, in fact

choosing one specific observation environment or another implies choosing a

particular reality or another.

Reality at a macroscopic scale behaves totally different from that at a

microscopic or atomic scale, and the artist’s attitude toward the way of seeing

the environment has a direct impact upon the way reality is perceived. Some

artists have an attitude that doesn’t put limits to things and objects whereas

others prefer to have a more detached attitude that tend to rationalize whatever

is observed in the environment. In this way, “some artists look for shapes and

images able to stimulate their imagination such as a stone polished by the sea,

a wooden log worn away by wind storms, or the remains of consumerist

society”11 whereas others consider that a rational vision allows for a better

attitude towards the creative process and storming of ideas which lead to

finishing a piece of art. Following this pattern, André Ricard states that “while

creative ideas don’t sprout out of a merely rational and build-up process it is

true however that they require the help of understanding which according to

Kant “ is the faculty of rules” which in turn allows the ordering of the sources of

pure sensitivity. Man needs the help of all his mental abilities in both creative

action in itself as well as in the ideas that come after creative action. The

innovative spark cannot come by out of the void, but thanks to an intuitive

ground that is fertilized by knowledge”12.

11 Vigouroux, Roger. Idem p. 265. 12 Ricard, André.Idem. p. 105.

Any object is immediately related to three main concepts13: its interior, its

exterior, and the boundaries that separate both and it is important to pay

attention to their qualities and properties. In the interior of objects we can notice

structure and nature and in the exterior we can notice frequency, intelligibility,

diversity or function and ultimately in the boundaries of an object we can

perceive form or size. Among all these qualities I would like to point to the form

of objects. They are structured in complete harmony with their own origin and

evolution. Form is therefore the consequence of a succession of principles and

it helps us to understand the object is such a way that it can be classified in

three ways:

1. Main forms: They are explained under physical and chemical principles

and rules.

2. Natural forms: They are explained under biological principles and rules.

3. Cultural forms. They are explained under cultural and social ideas or

thoughts.

So the depiction of reality is just a mere option among all possible options that

any artist can resort to. Therefore reality is a compilation of possible choices or

other realities, in this sense “all that is and exists is just the result of a choice”14 ,

and when this choice is inclined to give privilege to a certain object, it does to

give it a place against the uncertainty of universal laws. Thanks to intelligence

we grasp reality, in Marina’s15 words: “reality spreads out due to the possibilities

that intelligence makes up in its framework of action”.

Creating is about discovering some other possibilities, since objects bear in

themselves real properties where we can find new and interesting possibilities

that can be framed within a sensible project. Nevertheless, creating is also

about selecting an action that head towards breaking up with probabilities.

Environment is subjectively perceived.

13 Wagensberg, Jorge. P. 20. 14 Idem. 60. 15 Marina, Jose Antonio. Teoría de la inteligencia creadora, (Anagrama, Barcelona, 1993), 21.

Any individual that possesses a certain creative disposition undertakes a

dialectal process that heads towards the perception of reality and which relies

on discovering and selecting new possibilities so that the conditions for the

basis of creation are outlined. Everything begins when distal stimuli in order

words the objects of physical environment stimulate the artist’s perceptive

organs leading to a feeling that will turn into a broad consciousness that will be

the basis for perceptive knowledge.

It is remarkable to point out that man constitutes an open system that gathers

signs and information from his surroundings. Through the senses, an individual

captures an image in their mind. Due to perception and memory, an individual

integrates all the elements of knowledge in his /her mind. This is a rather not a

passive act, it is understood as a structuring process that discriminates

perceived stimuli. Outside reality is not arranged own its own, instead it is man’s

attitude the main responsible for its arrangement, structure, and organization.

Man is the one that gives reality an order and a sense whenever he perceives it

and thinks about it. Here we should make a clear distinction between form and

context, body and background. In this sense, the artist’s sight is attracted to

their own personal interests, internal patterns and expectations so that the way

they look into things will be determined by those personal interests and

patterns. This portrays the personality and capacity of the individual. Any aspect

that is perceived by the artist is interiorized and made subjective. In this way,

according to Kant, sensitivity is “the ability to receive the representations of

objects in relation to the way objects affects us”, sensitivity helps us chose and

understand and interpret reality in its enriching possibilities as well as when it

comes to using the necessary media to give form to any artwork.

Here we include the following chart with the ultimate goal of clarifying our

proposal and making our ideas clear with examples.

References

Marina, Jose Antonio. Teoría de la inteligencia creadora. Anagrama, Barcelona, 1993.

Ricard, André. La aventura creativa. Las raíces del diseño. Ariel, Barcelona, 2000.. Sanz, Juan Carlos. El libro de la imagen. Alianza Editorial, Madrid, 1996. Vigouroux, Roger. La fábrica de lo bello. Editorial Prensa Planeta, Barcelona, 1996. Wagensberg, Jorge. La rebelión de las formas. Tusquets Editores. Barcelona, 2005.