Creative constructions - a plunge into the mind of the inspired

Abstract

The thesis explores literature on creativity research through separate dialogues with two artists. It links together theories on creativity with experiences from within a creative profession through the participation of a musician and a painter. The background research consists of scientific publications singled out with potential parallels with participant’s everyday life in mind. The intention is to deepen the understanding of creativity as a phenomenon through the discussions as support for the writer’s future profession of art education.

The overview of the literature on creativity is carried out with possible relevance for the dialogues and participants in mind. The dialogue is used as a tool for a deepened understanding of the topics. The participants share their experiences on creative processes and receive information on creativity research. The dialogue as a method is chosen to enable a flow of thoughts that a structured interview might not permit. The quoted dialogues are present within the paper as cut-out side stories with highlighted parts of interesting thoughts. The discussions were carried out in Finnish and English.

The thesis consists of seven main chapters. The first chapter introduces the intentions of the thesis, the participants of the dialogues, and makes the distinction between everyday creativity and innovation. The second chapter locates creativity within the domain, the field and the person, and explores the interaction of these. The third chapter traces back interest in a domain through a childhood experience and explores the characteristics of a creative mind. The fourth chapter dives into different ways of problem solving. In the fifth chapter the process from an idea to the final evaluation of a finished work is presented. The sixth chapter illuminates two areas of positive psychology: intrinsic motivation and the flow-experience. The seventh and final chapter summarises the chosen parts of creativity research, reflects upon the relevance of the knowledge for the writer as a teacher and evaluates the dialogue as a method.

Several interesting approaches to creativity research have been rejected due to the abstract nature and the inability to tie them to the dialogue. The dialogue has been an effective tool but not without difficulties. Exceptions were made in order to cover all of the desired information.

The approach broadened the understanding of the complex topic. It illuminated the creativity research and offered a window into the mind of the participants. The creativity research became approachable and received a position in reality. The deepened knowledge on the subject became a tool for teaching and positioned art education within creativity as a wider phenomenon.