Materiality, Memory and Imagination: Using Empathy to Research Creativity

Abstract

Based on a paper presented at the sixth Creativity and Cognition conference (13-15 June 2007, Washington, DC), on the theme "Materialities for Creativity," focused on the cultivating and sustaining of creativity.As digital technology becomes increasingly pervasive and embedded into our everyday experience, there is a growing awareness of the significance of physical interaction with the material world [1]. Recent research is providing evidence of the crucial importance of materiality and physical experience in creative cognition and illuminates the ways in which technology might be developed to enhance its usefulness as a creativity support tool [2]. From earliest times, artmaking has involved the manipulation of tools and materials. The physical properties of implements and the response to bodily interaction have always been sources of inspiration to artists and designers, not only in the process of crafting an artifact but also as stimulation for the artist's imagination. As tools, materials and technology have evolved from generation to generation, so creative processes and cognition have been influenced and changed. Investigating the complexity of the workings of the human mind and explaining how creative thoughts develop are not without their difficulties. Observations of art-making, however, can yield insight into creative processes as well as provide a deeper understanding of individual approaches to innovation [3]. Active participation in the creative act as a collaborator provides the researcher with an empathic experience [4], illuminating how it feels to be physically, emotionally and intellectually involved in this process. Through "disciplined noticing" [5] and qualitative ethnographic research methods, a collaborative creative investigation can reveal issues that might escape notice in a more formal research environment [6]. By using the "studio as laboratory" and utilizing the mutual creative experience of artist and artist-researcher, it is possible to make an analysis of observed and experienced creative processes [7]. This kind of active participation in the research provides insight into the creative mind and at the same time generates novel artifacts that exhibit the creative act.This article draws from a research project I undertook using this methodological approach. The investigation has focused specifically on how digital technology influences the creative practice of textile artists and designers and in particular its impact on creative cognition. Considerable changes in the working practice of the artists involved in this study have occurred over the last 10 years. Until recently the process of creating artwork for printed textiles has been constrained by the limitations of the manufacturing and craft processes used to translate visual imagery into printed surface [8]. Recent developments in digital print machinery mean that there is now a significant advantage to the digital development of artwork, and practitioners are beginning to embrace the technology and explore ways of working c...

Envisioning the era of 3D printing: a conceptual model for the fashion industry

“…In addition, product design using complex structures would require the use of 3D computational design, which may involve tools such as the Grasshopper plug-in for Rhinoceros in visual programming. Unlike the traditional design approach where designers rely on intuition and tacit knowledge to solve problems (Treadaway 2009), computational design enables encoding design decisions using computer language and predefines the steps needed to achieve a result (Kilkelly 2016). Fashion designers and product developers will be expected to adapt to the change in the order of operation in developing various garment structures.…”

“…This ultimately eliminates or reduces post-printing processes such as assembly. Moreover, fashion design and product development have traditionally relied heavily on hand-on based practices and intuitive decision making, and a steep learning curve exists in a digital design adaptation for designers who have more training in haptic skills (Danaher 2004;Harris 2005;Treadaway 2009). For 3DP based wearable product design, scholars (Sun and Parsons 2014) have found that traditional fashion designers would need to efficiently apply their spatial visualization ability (Kozhevnikov et al 2010) and their tacit knowledge in order to effectively translate or convert the conventional handon based tools, procedures, and workflow into the 3D CAD processes.…”

“…Previous studies focusing on design cognition in 3D modeling of wearable products has suggested that a designer usually faces a challenge in accurately perceiving haptic and visuo-spatial experience in the virtual prototyping process (Sun and Parsons 2014). Even considering designer's experience in 2D CAD programs, scholar has found the digital crafting process may result in an exhausting experience, and individuals with more training in haptic skills are more likely to deal well with the challenges in the virtual design environments (Treadaway 2009). Consequently, the designer's foremost challenges in this transition may be largely embedded in transferring traditional knowledge into the 3D CAD environment and converting traditional techniques and approaches terminologies into available digital 3D CAD tools.…”

Hand e-craft

“…Tangible interfaces that utilize haptic and gestured responses are being developed largely in response to requirements from the computer games industry for more physical interaction with software. Digital technology used to support routine everyday creative practice, however frequently inhibits rather than integrates haptic and sensory capability [25]. Current knowledge concerning touch and its interaction with other sensory modalities: sight, hearing, smell and taste, is limited due to the complexities involved [7].…”

“…This paper describes research that is part of a much larger case study concerning the use of digital technology to support the creative process [24] [25]. The investigation cited here focuses specifically on hand craft within hybrid digital practice and provides instances from a case study documenting the creative practice of an artist who uses both digital and physical cut and paste to create her artworks.…”