Acquisitions for creativity: 'Produsage' in the metaverse

In this text I will attempt to delineate my thoughts on how virtual economies impact creative output in online virtual builder’s worlds, particularly by examining their relationship to the principles of ‘produsage’, a term coined by Axel Bruns to describe creative, collaborative, and ad hoc engagement with content in user-led electronic online spaces. While this process can be observed in all types of artistic metaverse output, I am particularly focused upon how it may come into effect whilst creating novel representations of ‘self’ and identity through the avatar. After a survey of the context and the terms related to my inquiry, I will present an example of it by recounting my observations on how the output of my virtual fashion store alpha.tribe is utilized and transformed by my customers whilst pursuing their own creative endeavors

Theater - Kunst - Schule: "I like to move it move it"

Im Jahr 2009 trug die oberösterreichische Landeshauptstadt Linz den Titel „Europäische Kulturhauptstadt“. Teil des reichhaltigen Programmes war dabei das Großprojekt „I like to move it move it“, welches darauf abzielte, die Bereiche Kunst und Schule näher aneinander heranzuführen. Professionelle Kunstschaffende wurden im Zuge der Durchführung eingeladen, an oberösterreichischen Schulen gemeinsam mit Schülern und Lehrern künstlerisch tätig zu werden. 88 Schulen mit 2000 Schülern und 700 Lehrkräfte sowie 75 nationale und internationale darstellende Künstler ließen sich auf dieses Experiment ein und machten damit „I like to move it move it“ zu einem der umfangreichsten und komplexesten Projekte, die im Rahmen von Linz09 durchgeführt wurden. In der vorliegenden Diplomarbeit wird das Projekt „I like to move it move it“ in Hinblick auf seinen theoretischen sowie bildungs- und kunstpolitischen Kontext bearbeitet. In einer Zeit, in der die Themen kulturelle und ästhetische Bildung von Bildung, Kunst und Politik weitläufig diskutiert werden, nimmt dieses Linz09-Projekt aufgrund seiner Projektprogrammatik und der Intention, sich zu einem österreichweiten Vorbild für Theaterarbeit an Schulen zu entwickeln, eine besondere Stellung ein. Die Priorität dieser Arbeit liegt auf der Programmatik von „I like to move it move it“ und im Speziellen auf deren Schwerpunkte „Wertschätzung“ und „Irritation“. Es wird außerdem die Frage nach den innovativen Aspekten des Projektes für die Felder Kunst und Schule aufgeworfen wie auch die Umsetzung der Projektvorhaben in der Praxis beleuchtet. Die Thesen und Ideen des Linz09-Schulprojektes und dessen praktische Durchführung werden durch ein Wechselspiel von theoretischen Texten aus den unterschiedlichsten Wissenschaftsdisziplinen sowie durch Erfahrungsberichte und Interviews mit am Projekt beteiligten Künstlern, Lehrern und Schülern einer genauen Untersuchung unterzogen.In 2009, the Upper Austrian city Linz was designated European Capital of Culture. One part in the diverse spectrum of events in this year was the school-project “I like to move it move it”, which aimed to start an open encounter between the two domains, school and culture. In the course of this project, professional contemporary artists were appointed to Upper Austrian schools and encouraged to conduct and perform art with students and teachers on site. 88 schools with more than 2000 students, 700 teachers and 75 national and international artists participated in this experiment and turned “I like to move it move” in one of the most comprehensive and complex projects of Linz09. In this diploma thesis “I like to move it move it” is analyzed with regard to its theoretical context as well as in terms of its cultural and educational policy background. “Cultural education” and “aesthetic education” are widely and extensively debated terms. Due to its overall goal to become a role-model for theatre works in schools, “I like to move it move it” is considered to play a key role in this ongoing discussion. Here, the focus was laid on the project objectives and in particular on the key aspects “esteem” and “irritation”. In addition this thesis addresses the question which innovative aspects arose for culture and schools and how the project was actually put into practice. The concepts and ideas of “I like to move it move it” and the practical execution of the project are investigated in detail by means of theoretical literature derived of different scientific disciplines and by making use of interviews and personal communications

Structure and play: rethinking regulation in the higher education sector

This paper explores possible tactics for academics working within a context of increasing regulation and constraint. One suggested tactic is to move outside of a creativity-conformity binary. Rather than understanding creativity and conformity as separable, where one is seen as excluding the other, the authors consider the potential of examining the relationships between them. The theme of 'structure and play' illustrates the argument. In the first part of the paper, using various examples from art and design - fields generally associated with creativity - the authors explore the interrelatedness of creativity and conformity. For example, how might design styles, which are generally understood as creative outcomes, constrain creativity and lead to conformity within the design field? Is fashion producing creativity or conformity? Conversely, the ways in which conformity provides the conditions for creativity are also examined. For example, the conformity imposed by the state on artists in the former communist bloc contributed to a thriving underground arts movement which challenged conformity and state regulation. Continuing the theme of 'structure and play', the authors recount a story from an Australian university which foregrounds the ongoing renegotiation of power relations in the academy. This account illustrates how programmatic government in a university, with its aim of regulating conduct, can contribute to unanticipated outcomes. The authors propose that a Foucauldian view of distributed power is useful for academics operating in a context of increasing regulation, as it brings into view sites where power might begin to be renegotiated

Teaching creatively, teaching for creativity : QUT’s Creative Industries Faculty Showcase Panel

In this panel, we showcase approaches to teaching for creativity in disciplines of the Media, Entertainment and Creative Arts School and the School of Design within the Creative Industries Faculty (CIF) at QUT. The Faculty is enormously diverse, with 4,000 students enrolled across a total of 20 disciplines. Creativity is a unifying concept in CIF, both as a graduate attribute, and as a key pedagogic principle. We take as our point of departure the assertion that it is not sufficient to assume that students of tertiary courses in creative disciplines are ‘naturally’ creative. Rather, teachers in higher education must embrace their roles as facilitators of development and learning for the creative workforce, including working to build creative capacity (Howkins, 2009). In so doing, we move away from Renaissance notions of creativity as an individual genius, a disposition or attribute which cannot be learned, towards a 21st century conceptualisation of creativity as highly collaborative, rhizomatic, and able to be developed through educational experiences (see, for instance, Robinson, 2006; Craft; 2001; McWilliam & Dawson, 2008). It has always been important for practitioners of the arts and design to be creative. Under the national innovation agenda (Bradley et al, 2008) and creative industries policy (e.g., Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2008; Office for the Arts, 2011), creativity has been identified as a key determinant of economic growth, and thus developing students’ creativity has now become core higher education business across all fields. Even within the arts and design, professionals are challenged to be creative in new ways, for new purposes, in different contexts, and using new digital tools and platforms. Teachers in creative disciplines may have much to offer to the rest of the higher education sector, in terms of designing and modelling innovative and best practice pedagogies for the development of student creative capability. Information and Communication Technologies such as mobile learning, game-based learning, collaborative online learning tools and immersive learning environments offer new avenues for creative learning, although analogue approaches may also have much to offer, and should not be discarded out of hand. Each panelist will present a case study of their own approach to teaching for creativity, and will address the following questions with respect to their case: 1. What conceptual view of creativity does the case reflect? 2. What pedagogical approaches are used, and why were these chosen? What are the roles of innovative learning approaches, including ICTs, if any? 3. How is creativity measured or assessed? How do students demonstrate creativity? We seek to identify commonalities and contrasts between and among the pedagogic case studies, and to answer the question: what can we learn about teaching creatively and teaching for creativity from CIF best practice

What counts as creativity in education? An inquiry into the intersections of public, political, and policy discourses

In this essay, the authors examine the varied public, everyday, and academic discourses of creativity that combine to influence our current educational goals and policies, particularly in North America and Europe. From Sir Ken Robinson’s (2006) cutting remark that “Schools kill creativity!” to the Action Canada Foundation’s (2013) assessment that creativity is one of the seven core learning competencies required in the 21st century, this article portrays the compelling push and pull of creativity in education today. The authors found themselves in search of this seemingly crucial, yet increasingly undersupported aspect of their work in teacher education and research. Coming from literacy and arts education, the authors were called to question what they had always taken for granted. This article contextualizes creativity amid everyday, public, and academic discourses. Through engaging in this inquiry, the extent to which creativity is the recipe for success, as it is so often deemed to be, is assessed and a conceptual framework for creativity in action is proposed

Is Creativity Lost in Translation? A discussion of the cultural underpinnings of creativity

Abstract In the interrelated knowledge economy the fostering of creativity is key and as such is the focus of many government initiatives internationally. But is an international definition of creativity achievable or even desirable? Comparisons of different cultures’ propensities for creativity are problematic when we consider that most creativity research has taken place in Western cultures, with Western measures; and when creativity is defined as revolutionary this has often presented a dichotomous view of creativity that equates Westernisation with modernity. As a form of communication, creativity is open to mis- translation across cultures and despite some consensus between the West and Confucian heritage cultures on the desirable attributes to facilitate creativity, misunderstandings of creative practice based on cultural general tendencies such as individualism and collectivism remain. This paper reviews the literature on the development of concepts of creativity in Western and Confucian heritage cultures as well as reporting on a qualitative research study into the understandings and practice of creativity in a London art and design college in order to comment on the existence of a cross-cultural creativity divide and suggest that rather than be set against each other, creativity is enhanced by cultural creativity exchange and cross-cultural collaboration

The designer's self identity - myths of creativity and the management of teams

This paper describes recent research conducted at Sheffield Hallam University in which practicing designers reported on their experiences of working in a cross functional team. The survey related these experiences to the designers’ attitudes to their creativity. Two models for creativity are proposed - one based on the romantic stereotype of the creative genius, the other taking creativity to be an attribute posessed by all human beings in some measure, which can be enhanced by personal effort or by training. Identifying features of cross functional teams which are likely to demand certain personal qualities in designers, the paper notes that these are at odds with the qualities of a ‘romantic - type’ creative person. The link between these qualities, and notions of personality as a set of fixed attributes is pointed out. Several theories of personality which describe mechanisms for change in self identity are described. It is noted that the results of the survey suggest that in many cases designers have a pragmatic attitude to their creativity, despite the prevalence of the romantic stereotype for creativity in the literature of both management and education. Principles are suggested for design education, to enable designers to reflexively re-evaluate creativity as a component of their self identity to enhance their performance as teamworkers

The rise of the comics künstlerroman, or, the limits of comics acceptance: the depiction of comics creators in the work of Michael Chabon and Emily St. John Mandel

The künstlerroman is a genre with a long and celebrated past. From Bret Easton Ellis’ Lunar Park (2005) to John Irving’s The World According to Garp (1978) and Saul Bellow’s Humboldt’s Gift (1975), the genre has occupied a prominent place in bestseller lists and awards shortlists. The enduring popularity and continued critical celebration of the künstlerroman makes it all the more striking that, since the turn of the millennium a new kind of author-protagonist has emerged — the graphic-novelist-protagonist. This move not only inducts graphic novelists into this existing — and prestigious — literary genre, it also draws them into the same struggle for recognition in which other novelist-protagonists have long been involved. Drawing on the recent examples of Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (2000) and Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven (2014), in this article I argue that there is a clear move toward the serious discussion of comics and comics creators in contemporary literature, an increasing willingness to talk about comics and their makers that is marked by a surprising faith in the fitness of comics as a mode of self-expression and a recognition of the clear kinship between prose authors and graphic novelists.N/