Issues

Cracking Creativity

What is creativity?

Creativity is an inherent skill that manifest itself in a variety of ways.  We are all creative in our own way, some people are artistically creative while others are creative in math or science.  We often attribute creativity to the visual arts, but the other disciplines are full of creative people.  Creativity is the manifestation of an idea, put into some form or another.  This is not limited to the physical realm but also the thought realm.  The simple act of thought is often a kick starter to the demonstration of the creative process.

How can creativity be taught?

The key element to discussing whether or not creativity can be taught is how one defines creativity.  If we limit creativity to the artistic disciplines, then to a certain extent creativity can be taught.  Like any thing practice and theory can be learned and a skill generally increased.  Creativity is not something that needs to be taught, as we are inherently creative.  The honing of a such a skill is how we perceive one teaching another the skill of creativity. 

Why creativity NOW?  Why do you think creativity is especially important now?

Creativity is always culturally relevant, but creativity is a destructive controversial thing.  Thinking outside the box is valued but at the same time feared.  Creativity is especially valued in our current culture do to the constant influx of new ideas, and how these ideas take wing in an instant.  The advent of Facebook, Apps, and other media have made idea/creativity generation simple and easily integrated.

How can technology (digital media) be used to implement creativity in learning through the visual art?

 As I stated above, technology has become our driving force in the area of creativity.  Creating Apps, programs, digital art, and video editing have all facilitated and fostered a creative environment.  Visual arts need to take these changes and run with them because the visual arts has fallen behind in the development of new creative media.  We have become stuck in the pencil/paint era of visual expression and the students of today are far more technology based.  

 

Example:

This was a piece of artwork I did for my Big Idea project in an art education class.  This video fostered creativity in myself in how to effectively express both the culture of prison life counteracted with fairy tales.