Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
and as users we tend to explore the space that the tool provides, and we tend to
travel the easy and accessible paths first. If you
can
add new modules and connec-
tions, you will. To impose further constraints on this freedom requires discipline and
knowledge, and an understanding of why you would want to lock certain variables.
And sometimes the toolmaker provides that understanding for you.
The idea of a space of possibilities for a specific tool or representation is old, but
it is not enough in itself to give a complete picture of the creative process. Also,
very seldom do we use just
one
tool to create a work of art. We use a whole toolbox
of them, and we switch between them, depending on what is needed at the moment.
To understand the creative implications brought about by the tools, we need to be
able to discuss and compare the different spaces and topologies provided by them.
And equally important, we need to consider the constraints and possibilities of the
material: the medium in which we create our work, such as image or sound. Tools
are the ways we navigate the infinite space of inherent possibilities of the material,
but only along the pathways offered by the tools. Hence, we must introduce the
notion of a
material space
, a larger space containing all possible images or sounds,
and which can be traversed along the topologies provided by the tools at hand.
And if we are going to emulate human creative behaviour, it is not enough to im-
plement the tools. We also have to emulate the structured application of these tools
by a human artist. Such a model thus operates on three levels: a material represen-
tation storing temporary results in simplest possible form, implementations of tools
that provide a means of navigation in the space of possible results, and a model of
how these tools are applied in a structured, iterated process in relation to ideas and
cultural context. In the following section, I will describe a model based on these
ideas.
8.3 The Model
I will first give an overview of the model, including the main concepts, each of
which will be further detailed in separate sections. This is followed by a couple
of real-world examples from composition and improvisation, and a discussion of
how the model relates to existing theories. This is followed by a brief discussion of
related concepts, such as skill, collaborative processes and tools, examined in the
light of the proposed model.
The basic idea is that a creative process is an exploration of a largely unknown
space of possibilities. The exploration follows paths that are not arbitrary. As an
artist, I do not believe in free creation, since we are influenced by many things:
the tools at hand, our knowledge of the tools, our ideas and concepts, what we
have seen before, liked and unliked, and by our view of the world. Each of these
form patterns in the space of possible results, in the form of possible or preferred
outcomes—subspaces, and neighbourhood relations—topologies, which form pos-
sible paths for our search. These topological subspaces, one for each tool, form
networks (or graphs, sometimes trees) in the larger material space, which intersects
