[-empyre-] Creativity as a social ontology

[Eugenio Tisselli]

Davin,

I would like to add to your contribution.

> this consciousness outside of language.  Situated in
> our own personal
> archive (individual memory), we reach into the collective
> archive
> (culture).  Thinking of our individual futures
> (self-determination),
> we move into a commonly held future (politics). 
> (Here, my thinking
> really breaks down...  my imagination fails.... 
> maybe our language
> fails?)

This is an interesting portrayal of the mechanics of desire. I agree that desire is a motor for creativity, both individual and collective. But how do we actually move together into these commonly held futures you mention? A quick view on history may show that such moves have seldom been made without ruptures and conflicts. We could try to focus on the expression and actualization of collective desires from the viewpoint of complex systems, in which local interactions generate large scale changes. Politics, then, would emerge from a creative construction of the social actors, with all their common / opposed desires.

> To get back to Tisselli's expressed wariness with
> creativity.  I will
> try to get my hands on Steiner's book.  I think that
> your wariness is
> merited, if society insists that we operate from a skewed
> definition
> of creativity.  If creativity has to follow the
> paradigm of pure
> originality....  then we are telling tales.  And
> those of us who are
> artists (or critics) working under this paradigm, are being
> dishonest.
>  However, if creativity is a human process of desire, an
> expression of
> our consciousness, consistently repeated, using what's
> available to
> reach into the social beyond the limited position of the
> individual....  then I think creativity is,
> ultimately, something more
> powerful.

Yes, my wariness comes largely from this oppressive mandate for originality. How many times have we heard the words "creativity" and "innovation" used as if they were siamese twins? I have seen creative people discard brilliant ideas for art projects because "someone has done that before"... but if every process of desire is unique because of the synthesis of our individual life experience, how can we possibly be un-original if our work is honest? It is no secret that "creativity" has been co-opted by contemporary capitalist, which ultimately thrives on innovation: the constant renewal (even creation) of all sorts of desires.

Eugenio.