Creative Practice as Research

Kristina Niedderer and Seymour Rowoth-Stokes wrote a paper named 'The Role and Use of Creative Practice in Research and its Contribution to Knowledge'. Within the abstract, they seem to suggest creative practice is presented as research, in particular, practice-based or practice-led research. Much like what Archer discussed in 'The Nature of Research' they discuss the difficulty of using creative practice as research due to the uncertainty of whether the research was conducted to retrieve knowledge.

The whole paper itself is not entirely relevant to what I wanted to uncover however I have noted some key points.

Retrieved from: http://niedderer.org/IASDR07SRS.pdf

I also discovered an article called 'Creative Practice as Research: Discourse on Methodology' by Lyle Skains. In my previous post, I noted that White mentioned that some practitioners regard all aspects of their practice as creative practice. This second paper seems to back up that theory as it discusses creative practice as if the research aspect is included within.

Despite the fact, much like the other paper, that I didn't find what I was looking for within this paper it did get me thinking. I made notes throughout with regards to my thought process at the time of reading. Skains is a creative writer, and due to the way he discusses his field, I wondered if creative writing as reflective practice could be useful within in other creative fields. Earlier in the module, we were asked to complete a piece of creative writing or an illustration to tell a story of how we were feeling in the project so far. I wrote a story about my battle with procrastination, which can be found in another blog post. I thought maybe this could be an interesting way of subverting my refelctive practice.

I noticed from reading the paper that I would normally research and then create. In terms of the iterative process, I only come back to research during creation when I am stuck and need further knowledge. This has made me consider whether I should work in other ways. Many of the potentially 'subversive' designers allow there work to lead the research, maybe I should try this?

I refer back to an earlier question I battled within my notes. Can pushing boundaries of my practice and trying new things be considered subversive? It is also mentioned that interruptions and disruptions can prevent a fluid method of creation. As I am currently moving house over the past few weeks my work environment has regularly been disrupted. I also struggle with distractions anyway. I regularly zone out and find difficulty concentrating for long periods. I wonder if there is a way I could change this? Adopt a new working method that helps me to prevent these interruptions in my workflow.

I also made a note, as a result of reading the paper, that it may not be a subversive practice that develops my creativity but some other change to my work process. My research could enhance my creativity for example. I need to keep in mind these outside factors.

Bibliography.

Niedderer, K. Roworth-Stokes, S. (2007, November 12-15). The Role and Use of Creative Practice and its Contribution to Knowledge [Paper Presentation]. IASDR, Hong Kong. http://niedderer.org/IASDR07SRS.pdf

Lyle Skains, R. (2018) Creative Practice as Research: Discourse on Methodology, Media Practices and Education, 19(1), 82-97. https://doi.org/10.1080/14682753.2017.1362175