Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 7.1
The central
feedback loop of the creative
process. We iteratively
generate
creative acts, and
evaluate
how they fit into the
work in its entirety
McGraw and Hofstadter (
1993
) describe this very cycle as the “central feedback
loop of the creative process”:
Guesses must be made and their results are evaluated, then refined and evaluated again,
and so on, until something satisfactory emerges in the end. (McGraw and Hofstadter
1993
,
p. 16)
Reducing this to its most abstract form we are left with two elements which
repeat until we are satisfied with the outcome. These two elements are:
•
generation
(of the guesses that are made), and
•
evaluation
(of their results)
During the creative process composers switch from one to the other, alternat-
ing between the generation of new elements and the evaluation of the piece in its
entirety.
The underlying goal of many of the computer-aided compositional strategies de-
scribed above (Sect.
7.2
) is to tinker with the makeup of these generate/evaluate
activities, artificially expanding or warping the typical creative trajectory (Fig.
7.2
).
As we amplify the pool of material available for generation, we increase our creative
scope. If we constrain the pool, we free up our decision-making faculties in favour
of a deeper exploration of some particular conceptual subspace. Likewise, impos-
ing a particular creative event enforces a radically new situation which demands an
appropriate response, potentially introducing unanticipated new possibilities.
Generation by the computational system needs to be externalised, typically as
sound or score, for our response. However, much of the human “generation” is in-
ternalised, a product of the free play of our imaginative faculties. By considering a
collection of stimuli in the context of a given project, we can assess their potential to
be incorporated. Disengaged browsing and creative foraging throw new (material)
elements into our perception, enriching the pool of generative source material.
Imaginative stimulation is often assisted by reflective questioning. The likes of
Oblique Strategies (Eno and Schmidt
1975
) and Pólya's heuristics (
1971
) perform
these types of operations as a way to provide lateral cognitive stimulus. Examples
drawn from the Strategies include
Change ambiguities to specifics
;
Don't avoid
what is easy
;
Remove a restriction
; and
Is it finished
?
These directives advocate a change to the parameters that we have tacitly adopted
for our generation/evaluation routines. Some serve to highlight hidden, potentially
