A Question of Research

четвъртък, 15 декември 2016 г.

References

References mentioned in the presentation:

Teresa Amabile, How to kill creativity, Managing creativity

Morris I. Stein, Stimulating creativity: Individual procedures, Preface, Page XIII

CKGSB Knowledge, Juliet Zhu, How the environment impacts creative thinking, link to the experiment discription

Adam Price, Ted talk, TedxUniversity of Nicosia, Space matter- using space to stimulate creativity, link

Synopsis

Question of Research

Synopsis

What methods can be employed to develop our creativity in relation to

technology and studio practice

PETROVA Tsveta MA Illustration

First thing I did when in the beginning of my research, was deconstructing the question. Even though I know the meaning of the words, actually writing down their definitions and researching them a bit more in depth, they turned out to hold so much more to them than I expected. That made the question even more vast, and also challenging. Basically, I was in front of three key words: creativity, technology and studio practice. I wanted to find a concrete sub-question in order to make my research area a bit more specific. I was interested, at first, in how technological development can help stimulate the creative process.

The first step I took, was researching the scientific and philosophical side of the question, finding theories, studies, quotes etc. I stumbled upon a lot of sources that I find intriguing, one of them being Teresa Amabile theory on the 3 components of creativity (domain-relevant skills, motivation and creative-thinking skills). This is where my sub-question changed direction- the motivation component in Amabile's theory is highly influenced by the environment. There is a quote by Morris Morris as well stating that environment has a huge impact on creativity. From this point on, I decided to continue my research exploring that. I found some interesting studies on how physical surroundings can actually have an influence on our creative process. Although sometimes I've been quite going quite distant from my question during my research and thinking process (as seen on my blog) I think I filtered well enough my information for the presentation unit.

On the next stage, after I had defined my sub-question and researched the theoretical side of how environment can stimulate creativity, I decided to conduct a few interviews. Instead of making it as a survey for random people on the internet, I decided it would make more sense for me to choose a few creative practitioners and to speak to them about their experience. I had the luck to speak to a few successful creatives about their ideal working space, which I feel makes it easier both for me and my the people I presented my research to, to illustrate the theoretical part of it. I received some quote different answers but the main point all these people made when explaining why these are the perfect condition for them, was on avoiding distraction. They all had their own strategies, including self- discipline on how to work best avoiding getting distracted, and shared with me what they find motivating about their working space. Turns out, the same things that can be motivation, can be a distraction at the same time. The easiest example- the internet. It is an amazing source of information and opportunity for visual research that can be stimulating for the preparation process, but also offers all kinds of distractions that can keep us away from the drive to create.

What I like about this unit is that we all had to do our research the way we wanted- this is why we all got such different presentations and everyone had treated their question differently, which I find amazing. Being given this freedom also put me in an awkward position in the beginning- as a weakness, I admit of being quite indecisive during the first stage of my research. I changed directions a few times, but as much as I worked on my research methods, it was all becoming more and more clear with the time. I think part of the problem in the beginning was the overly critical thinking of mine, believing that most of my ideas aren't good enough, that made me limit myself to a certain point. Quickly I became aware of this, and took it to another extreme, where I was getting too distant from my question during my reflections. This is the first time I am working on such a vast research question and in the beginning it was quite challenging for me to get the balance of working with that kind of freedom and the idea that there aren't wrong or right answers.

At the end of the unit I feel content with my work, I believe I have presented a coherent presentation, even though my blog posts might seem all over the place in direction of thinking. I feel like exploring different directions of the questions before choosing the right one for me was an indispensable part of the process. The unit has definitely enriched me as a creative practitioner and had given another opportunity the explore the theoretical and social part of the creative process.

Presentation slides

Distraction

The ideal creative working space should not distract us from the drive to create, it should be a stimulating environment.
But sometimes same things could be both distraction and motivation.

The same way the Internet could offer us so much information, the opportunity to see and read so much inspiring materials and keep us motivated, it could also bring us in front of so many distractions, such as social media, random articles, videos etc. The key here is self- discipline and it is necessary to keep up with the drive to create. Sometimes we need to make ourselves work even if do not feel particularly inspired at the moment, and find a motivation ourselves.

Interviews with creative practitioners

I wanted to include a social part in my research, such as a survey or interview. It didn't made much sense to me to make an anonymous internet survey for random people, so I interviewed a few creative practitioners that are quite succesfull in what they are doing, including a musician, an illustrator, and a group of filmmakers.
They all had some interesting responses and strategies on how environment stimulates them and how to beat distraction- such as moving changes places around the table, or working in different outside spots. For some the comfort of their home is the ideal working space, but for some it is a distracting environment. What I found out is that even though a lot about it comes to personal preference, there are some universal factors as we found out in professor Julien Zhu's experiment I referenced before.

The interviews
I will not be sharing the names of the people I interviewed on the Internet as some of them asked me to.
The illustrator shared with me that she prefers to work either outdoor, or in a coffee shop as she find the comfort of her own home too distracting. Another point she makes is that her apartment space is quite small and always looks messy, which adds to the distraction. (another reference to Juliet Zhu- people working in an organised environment tend to perform much better than those working in clutter)

The musician has turned his own home in his ideal working space- quite the opposite of our previous interview. He had covered the walls and even the ceiling with his own sketches, notes and illustrations, which is what motivates him. There he can isolate himself and work without being interrupted in his little world he had created for himself.

The filmmakers are a quite interesting example. As they are supposed to work as a team, distraction is often a problem. But they are aware of that and have a certain strategy- every meeting they have, first 1-2 hours are completely useless, until they get it all out of their system. After that, they can work on their full potential. Another strategy they shared with me- when writing a scrip, they would change spots every hour so that would keep them motivated, giving them to possibility to change the angle- physically and mentally.

неделя, 27 ноември 2016 г.

Architecture for our minds

After listening to a speech by Adam Price on using space to stimulate creativity, he had put some interesting thoughts in my head.
Price talks about modern workspaces, endless rows of desks and computers, and even compares them to Dante's Inferno- where everyone has an assigned spot and no privacy whatsoever.

Such environments are missing out on the three big factors he claims are most important for group creativity- comfort, openness, connection. After seeing that, I immediately thought of an opposite example, such as the work environment that Google offers to their employees in order to stimulate their creativity and keep them happy at work.

That is just a simple example on how environment can have a huge impact on our work.

Even though everyone's perfect work space is based on their own personal preferences, that keep an individual motivated, there are some creativity-encouraging factors that can be immediately spotted as a common point.

Environment stimulation

Creativity occurs in a social context and is a function of the transactional relationships between the individual and his environment—the creating individual is both affected by and affects his environment. (Morris Stein 1953)

In my previous post, we met Teresa Amabile's theory that creativity needs 3 components:
-the person needs to have learned sufficient skills in his own domain
-the person needs to have developed a passion for his work
-the person needs to be intrinsically motivated

(Intrinsic motivation refers to behavior that is driven by internal rewards. In other words, the motivation to engage in a behavior arises from within the individual because it is intrinsically rewarding.source)

Intrinsic motivation is sensible to environment- the same environmental conditions that increase motivation, also increase creativity. That means, the person needs to work in an environment that is not distracting them from the drive to create.

A personal safe space is key in stimulating creativity. Inspiration and/or motivation can be provided from a perfect environment/ studio space- this is why a lot of people prefer to clean and tidy before starting to work on a project. Tools. Sometimes "tricking" ourselves into inspiration by buying a new tool can help. Visual research - seeing great examples of artworks increases the inspiration and will to create.

I also stumbled upon a very interesting study by CKGSB Professor Juliet Zhu on how environment impacts creative thinking. Basically she conducted a series of lab and semi-field experiments to examine the relationship between environment and creativity.
A lot of the factors influence us on an unconscious level, so we don't really realise how they affect us. The first factor Professor Zhu explored is Noise. The results were that people are most likely to think creatively in a moderate noise environment which I personally did not find surprising as I always prefer it when I work. Next factor is Light- what she found out was that people are actually more creative in a dim- light room. She also conducted a Color test, in which people had to design toys, looking on either red or blue parts. The results were drastically more succesfull for the blue team- the reason is that blue generates associations with ocean or the sky, so people are more likely to reach a more open-minded mindset. And another one of the test was about Clutter. People in an organized room perfomed much better than those set in a disorganized one.