The studio as laboratory: combining creative practice and digital technology research

  • Authors:

  • Ernest A. Edmonds;Alastair Weakley;Linda Candy;Mark Fell;Roger Knott;Sandra Pauletto

  • Affiliations:

  • Creativity and Cognition Studios, Faculty of Information Technology, University of Technology, Sydney, NSW, Australia;Creativity and Cognition Studios, Faculty of Information Technology, University of Technology, Sydney, NSW, Australia;Key Centre of Design Computing and Cognition, Faculty of Architecture, Design Science and Planning, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia;Key Centre of Design Computing and Cognition, Faculty of Architecture, Design Science and Planning, University of Sydney, NSW, Australia;Department of Computer Science, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK;Media Engineering Group, Department of Electronics, The University of York, Heslington, York, UK

  • Venue:
  • International Journal of Human-Computer Studies - Special issue: Computer support for creativity
  • Year:
  • 2005

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Abstract

Creativity research is a large and varied field in which the subject is characterized on many different levels. The arrival of digital media and computational tools has opened up new possibilities for creative practice. The cutting edge in the digital arts is a highly fertile ground for the investigation of creativity and the role of new technologies. The demands of such work often reveal the limitations of existing technologies and open the door to developing new approaches and techniques. This provides the creativity researcher with opportunities to understand the multi-dimensional characteristics of the creative process. At the same time, it places new demands upon the creators of the technological solutions and pushes forward our understanding of the future requirements of creative technologies. This paper is concerned with the nature of creativity and the design of creativity enhancing computer systems. The research has multi-disciplinary foundations in human-computer interaction and creative practice in Art, Design, Science and Engineering. As a result of a series of studies of creative people and the associated developments in technology, a strategy for practice-based research has evolved in which research and practice are interdependent activities that have mutual benefits as well its distinctive outcomes. This paper charts the development of that co-evolutionary process from the foundation studies to recent outcomes of a major project in art and technology collaboration. The notion of the Studio as a laboratory in the field is introduced and a new methodology for systematic practice-based research is presented. From the results of the investigations that took place, opportunities for the development of technology environments for creative collaboration are proposed.