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In this chapter I propose a spatial model of the artistic creative processes, which
combines the conceptual aspects of a work with the implications of the artistic tools
we are using and the material in which the work is created. I take a process-based
perspective, founded primarily on introspective study of my own artistic creative
processes, but also on experience from artistic collaborations and extensive artistic
teaching and supervision.
The model combines key concepts such as ideas, tools, material and cultural
background, and views creativity as a dynamic, iterative process that navigates the
space of the theoretically possible (in the chosen medium) following paths defined
by what is practically possible (by the tools at hand). The process is guided by a con-
tinuously revised conceptual representation—the changing ideas behind the work.
The model also involves phenomena such as self-interpretation, coincidences and
reformulation of the concepts behind a work, which are crucial in human creative
processes. Both real-time creativity (e.g. improvisation) and non-linear processes
(composition) are included in the discussion, as well as collaborative creative pro-
cesses, such as group improvisation and larger collaborations.
I believe the presented model can help us understand the mechanisms of artistic
creative processes better, and it provides a framework for the discussion and analysis
of artistic creativity. And it can form the basis for experiments in computational
creativity.
8.1.1 Background
Spatial models of creativity have been presented before. Perhaps the most well
known is Margaret Boden's concept of exploration and transformation of spaces
(Boden
2004
), and the ideas presented here may be considered an extension of her
ideas, primarily through the introduction of a material space in addition to her con-
ceptual spaces, and the implications of the interplay between these two forms of
representation.
The model is based on observation of my own creative work during more than
two decades of artistic activities as a composer, improviser, programmer and sound
artist, from collaborations with other artists from many genres, and from extensive
artistic teaching and supervision in music and technology-related art. I have con-
sciously observed my own creativity and creative processes since my early teens, up
to the present. In the last ten years, I've pursued research into computer-aided cre-
ativity, primarily based on evolutionary algorithms, in parallel with and overlapping
my work as a composer. From these two related fields, a number of originally un-
connected observations have fallen into place, forming a coherent view of creative
processes, as I see them unfold in my own daily artistic practice. Hopefully, it is also
more generally applicable. The model was presented in a more preliminary form at
the Computational Creativity Dagstuhl Seminar (Dahlstedt
2009a
).
Being both researcher and professional artist/composer, I have a peculiar advan-
tage, because I have access to a level of information about my creative process that
