An artists's approach to studio practice reflects knowledge acquired from a variety of source. Various methods are tried, modified, and re-interpreted, culmination in a studio practice that reflects one's own understanding of process and work ethic. This process is the work and the work practice concealed in the artwork, is rarely framed in verbal language. Martin Heidegger offers a particular philosophy of work practice that is clarified in words, allowing me to place my present understanding of studio practice within the notion of Greek techne. This essay is an explication of two works by the German philosopher Martin Heidegger, namely 'The Question Concerning Technology' and 'The origin of the Work of Art.' Heidegger's notion of authentic production and truth in art, provide a contextual framework within which I place my own understanding of studio practice and creative process. This method of work practice positions the artist as facilitator, co-dependent and co-responsible with the materials and form. The artist responds to the needs of the work allowing the materials and form to interact and ultimately reveal the work's true identity. Inherent in this work practice is the artist's knowledge, technical skill and commitment to process rather than outcome. This method of work practice is used in many cultures, from eastern calligraphy to western action painting, and has influenced contemporary artists too numerous to name individually. I am indebted to them all / Master of Arts (Hons) Visual Arts

The study focuses on the types of cultural practice that are, in the main, generated by the young people themselves (hereafter referred to as youth generated cultures) who fall within the age group of 14-20 yrs of age. The research was undertaken in the Western Sydney region, which is the largest expanding population in Australia, and is regularly defined as a socio-economically disadvantaged region, therefore, an important factor within this study is the issue of class determinants. The paper explores the youth generated cultural practice of graffiti, skateboarding, street machining, and street dancing. These creative practices challenge traditional notions of culture and the arts, however the young people also employ strategies of an aesthetic nature in their creative process. Youth generated cultures are actively engaged in criticism through the use of instrumentalist aesthetics such as Monroe Beardsley describes. The thesis proposes that youth generated cultures have, in a united and structured manner, provided for themselves a framework of economic and pedagogical support that has afforded them a place within the cultural mainstream without the recognition or approval of mainstream cultural establishments. It is argued that these particular youth generated cultures are not rebellious or destructive subcultures, that they are creative in nature and have been established primarily to produce and display their creative cultures. Youth agency is essential to the character of these youth generated cultures and it is this agency that is under challenge from the cultural hegemony. The young people involved in youth generated cultures demand that any account of their cultural practice must also accept the agency of youth as fundamental to their cultural status. / Master of Arts (Hons) (Art History and Theory)

This research study investigates how music technology can enhance and develop the musical ideas of students, focusing on the creative processes involved in computer-assisted composition and multimedia composition. The study investigates the Creative Multimedia Music Project, a module of the Associate of Arts (Music) Degree where students are using computers as music workstations. The aims of the study are (a) to evaluate the use of music technology for composing; (b) to describe the creative process of composing and investigate how the students comprehend this; and (c) to analyze the relationship between the creative process of the musical treatment and the visual image in multimedia composition. The study is conducted in an exploratory, self-directed environment where the students make musical decisions about their compositions. From the preliminary survey, 10 out of 45 music-major students (Year Two) from the Associate Degree Music Program at the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd) were selected. Composition activities took place over 15 sessions. The first phase focused on computer-assisted composition and the second phase focused on multimedia composition. The students attended lectures on alternate weeks. This gave them enough time to compose in the laboratory or at home, allowing them to explore, make decisions, and evaluate decisions. Data were collected from four sources: (1) written reports including a musical analysis of the creative process, (2) one-to-one interviews conducted during and after the creative process (15 questions were asked in each phase), (3) self-reflective journals that students maintained during their creative process, and (4) MIDI file observations after the creative process had occurred. After data collection, commonalities between each of these data sources were analyzed. This highlighted that during the creative process, a developmental pattern emerged that extends Webster's model (2003) of creative thinking in music. The relationships between the findings and the lite rature review were articulated to reinforce the creative thinking model, trends, and perspectives from different sources. Through an analysis of these students' creative processes and the strategies they adopted while composing with music technology, research projects such as this one may provide composers, music technologists, and music educators with insights into how students approach the task of composing using music technology. The findings might prove as a useful guidance to music educators on how to structure computer-assisted composition and multimedia composition programs for different age groups from school to university.

Coworking is a new type of work model that has been developing rapidly during the 21th century. However, no academic research has been conducted on the subject yet. We have, therefore, decided to study the subject in order to evaluate if and how Coworking has an effect on creativity. The problem with this thesis is that creativity is a broad subject that includes several variables. This has led us to study theories within the field of: innovation, motivation, personal traits, and environment in respect to the Creative Process by Sawyer (2006). These theories have laid the foundation of our theoretical framework and are used to study our purpose and answer the research questions. This thesis is built upon data from individual case studies from semi-structured interviewees with coworkers from The Hub in Stockholm, Sweden. These interviews have then been transcribed and categorized by the Content Analysis in accordance with Hancock (1998).  The data has then been analyzed in-depth by using Eisenhardt’s Cross-Case Pattern Analysis (1989) in order to evaluate the relevance and reliability of the data. The results from our analysis are presented in unity with our method and theoretical framework, this part concludes with a reflection over our purpose and suggestions for future areas of research. The main finding from the results is that Coworking has a positive effect on creativity. But, this is mainly due to the mix of people participating in Coworking. The diverse group of coworkers creates at network of knowledge located in an open atmosphere that simplifies the creation of new ideas. We believe that this thesis has contributed to the academic society as it currently is the only academic paper within the area of Coworking.

The purpose of this paper is to explore group creative processes in a virtual environment to better understand how virtual communication influences creativity. After reviewing literature, a theoretical foundation in creativity was established and with three common themes derived: Task motivation and task orientation, social environment and participation, and communication. This was coupled with a review of current virtual team interaction theories, demonstrating intersections between them. The method used was a qualitative exploration using semi-structured in-depth interviews. The interviews were conducted via VOIP, with notes and recordings taken for further analysis. Analysis was conducted on the three common creative themes viewing virtualization as the mediator. Trends emerged demonstrating that asynchronous communication had a substantial influence on group creative processes. Conversely, virtual teams employing real-time communication found little influence on the creative process. Other anecdotal trends can be seen regarding motivation and social environment. This paper identifies key areas where virtualization influences the group creative process, and provides a base for future suggested research.

This thesis presents an Advanced Placement curriculum for the concentration section of the Drawing Portfolio. It is intended as a teaching tool to encourage and develop creative strategies related to idea generation and refinement based on creative problem solving, which is essential to the development of an effective concentration. One of the most difficult problems faced by Advanced Placement Studio Art students is idea generation for the artwork related to a central topic for the concentration section of their portfolios. This curriculum introduces lessons based on artist research, brainstorming, synectics, and SCAMPER techniques designed to foster creative idea generation for artwork development. It also gives students a tool with which to analyze the ideas generated based on specific criteria necessary to the concentration. This curriculum specifically encourages the creative process in students and provides teachers with a foundation with which to begin a unique and highly personal journey by the individual student.

Syftet med det här utvecklingsarbetet har varit att pröva olika metoder att arbeta med dansimprovisation på gymnasieskolans estetiska program dansinriktningen. Jag har upplevt att detofta har varit svårt i början för eleverna att släppa hämningar och krav och att våga utforskaegna rörelser i tid, rum och kraft. I det här utvecklingsarbetet prövades som metod tre olikauttryck: rörliga bilder, en text eller ett musikstycke. Därför var jag nyfiken på hur elevernaupplevde de olika estetiska inspirationskällorna och om någon kunde öka elevens motivationatt arbeta med dansimprovisation. Samtidigt ville jag knyta ihop några moment ur kursernascentrala innehåll med förhoppning om att eleverna skulle få en ökad förståelse för denskapande processen i dans. För att få en uppfattning av hur eleverna upplevde det härupplägget utvärderades arbetet genom egna observationer och intervjuer av eleverna.Resultatet visade att eleverna upplevde en ökad motivation att improvisera till rörliga bilderoch musik. Eleverna uppfattade även att de hade fått en bredare förståelse avdansimprovisation verktyg för att skapa dans när några moment ur kursernas centrala innehållsamverkade som en helhet. Samtliga elever upplevde arbetet med de olika metoderna som enpositiv erfarenhet. / The aim of this developing project has been to try different ways of inspiration when workingwith dance improvisation at the dance programme in upper secondary education. The sourcesI used in this project were moving pictures, a piece of music and a text. I was interested toexplore if the dance students experienced a greater inspiration from any particular source thatcould result in increased motivation to work with dance improvisation. I also wanted to linkrelevant parts of the purposes of each subjects from the curriculum of the dance programmehoping to bridge the gap between the practice of dance and dance theory and to see if thestudents gained a better understanding of the creative process in dance. The project was assessed through my observations and interviews of the students. The results showed that thestudents felt more motivated to improvise to moving pictures and to music. Students alsoperceived that they had received an increased understanding of dance improvisation as a toolfor creating dance when relevant contents of the different courses interacted as a whole. Allstudents experienced the work of the various methods as positive experience.

This thesis explores the creative processes of intercultural performance in an Asian context, through projects undertaken with Vietnam Opera Ballet Theatre, the national dance company in Hanoi. Background research to the study has enabled previously elusive research areas to be made available to English-language scholars and artists - namely, contemporary preservation of Vietnamese dance traditions and professional practice of Vietnamese dance in the đổi mới (open door policy) period. This contextual background highlights the importance of cultural specificity in intercultural performance practice, revealing insights into how and why artistic and aesthetic sensibilities shift when choreographic processes are transferred from an Australian to a Vietnamese setting. The study began with a premise of intercultural performance practice as an equitable sharing of ideas and has ended with the experience of intercultural collaboration as a transforming process, involving cultural translation to and by the local context - in this study through a process of Vietnamisation. Transformations are seen to occur via alteration of professional practices and the metamorphosis of meaning, metaphor and myth, providing substantially new readings of the original ideas. Importantly, the study points to the body as the central site of cultural difference, cultural commonalities and complex intercultural sensibilities. A dual methodology for the research combined artistic practice with theoretical reflection, resulting in a polyphonic text of written, visual and kinetic data. From the extant practice of the researcher/choreographer, a model of intercultural performance was devised which was refined as the two research projects of the pilot and case studies progressed. Reflective analysis of the model was undertaken through the framework of intercultural performance theories, parallel to the artistic practice. Throughout the research process, privileging the voices and bodies of the Vietnamese artists in both their practice and their perceptions of that practice have been fundamental to the outcomes of the study. This is the first in-depth study of contemporary professional dance practice in Vietnam and of intercultural performance practice between Australia and Vietnam.

This essay documents a year of exploring how to continue to be creative, experimental and intuitive within an art institution. It provides a context and thus academic shelter for a non-linear, experimental process of making drawings, sculpture and site-specific work. The essay has three layers; the contextual document, images which show the process of making, as well as a narrative written in experimental poetry which describes the embodied process of making through collaged journal writing. The images are interspersed through the essay, while the poetry provides an alternative narrative and is printed on the back pages of the essay. ‘Building’ is used as an active metaphor for the creative process, as well as buildings as sites for research and installation of adaptive sculptures. Building as a metaphor for unchanging narratives will be contrasted with artists whose work challenges the unitary nature of a functional building through their interventions. Using the body to make meaning is discussed in a feminist context, as an alternative this model to linear, rational thinking. This also questions and problematizes the heroic male artist body. Performing the making through a female body will be discussed and issues of privacy and proximity covered. A potential solution to these issues will be explored in using abstraction to create active meaning, thus implicating the body of the audience as well as the artist.

Esta pesquisa propõe uma reflexão sobre a produção da imagem fotográfica e seus desdobramentos num processo artístico. Busca investigar a presença de procedimentos adotados por artistas que pretendem ampliar o conceito de imagem fixa, propondo alterações formais e conceituais com uso de materiais diversos. O texto apresenta análises sobre obras de artistas contemporâneos em relação com os procedimentos adotados no meu processo artístico. Desta maneira, instaura-se um campo de interação entre vários modos do fazer artístico. Durante a construção desta tese, foram identificados núcleos de análises que norteiam a organização do pensamento sobre minha conduta criadora, constituindo assim, categorias de ações e reflexões sobre imagens transitórias e as dinâmicas interativas entre o real e o imaginário nos procedimentos fotográficos. As operações poéticas, aqui apresentadas, envolvem experiências com uso de imagens fotográficas que retornam ao tipo de material ou situação que lhe deu origem, assim como o uso de materiais que se associam de maneira metafórica ou metonímica. Tais escolhas, por consequência, promovem alterações nas qualidades visuais das imagens produzidas, fator importante para discutir o “valor” da imagem no cotidiano e seu estado transitório. Assim, os desvios produzidos nos registros fotográficos foram fundamentais para ampliar o conceito da fotografia documental e da fotografia artística, discutido aqui, a partir de uma articulação prática e reflexiva das “marcas do visível”. / This research aims at a reflection about the production of the photographic image and its unfoldings in an artistic process. It tries to investigate the presence of procedures applied by artists who intend to enlarge the concept of steady image, proposing formal and conceptual changes with various materials. The text presents some analyses about works of contemporary artists in relation with the procedures applied in my artistic process. Hence, it is established a field of interaction among various kinds of art making. During the writing of this thesis, it was possible to identify nucleuses of analyses that guide the thought organization about creating conduct, constituting this way, categories of actions and reflections about transitory images and the interactive dynamics between what is real and what is imaginary in photographic procedures. The poetic operations, here presented, involve experiences with use of photographic images that return to the type of material or situation from which it originated, as well as the use of materials that are associated in a metaphoric way. Such choices, as a consequence, generate changes in the visual qualities of the images produced, an important factor to discuss the “value” of the image on a regular basis and its transitory state. Therefore, the deviations produced in the photographic registers were fundamental to enlarge the concept of the documental photography, discussed here, beginning from a practical and reflexive articulation of the “marks of visible”.