Vol. 9 No. 3 (2013)

Creative Industries Special Issue

Stuart MacDonald

pp. 287-291

 

 

 

Beyond the creative industries

Stuart MacDonald

pp. 293-309

 

Abstract

Although Creative Industries as engines of post-industrial economies have assumed an increasing global priority with implications for art education at all levels few studies exist. Nomenclature here is contested, especially when arts’ role appears freighted with alien concepts of industry and commerce. But much of this debate concerns visual and performing arts, only part of a larger cluster comprising, amongst others, architecture, design, fashion and games. And, Creative Industries are now seen as important socially as economically. This article takes classification as least problematic, concentrating instead on people working in the Creative Industries (largely in Glasgow and Scotland), their interactions and networking within a creative ecology, and real-world interactions with education. It presents examples of collaboration, co-creativity and co-design, and cross-disciplinarity, arguing for a strategic role for design and design thinking linked to social and economic innovation, where educational gains are prime, and revisiting earlier debates about postmodern art education.

 

Keywords

Creative Industries, design, design thinking, co-design, creative ecology, cross-disciplinarity

 

 

 

Supporting the creative industries: The rationale for an exchange of thinking between the art and business schools

Gemma Kearney and Paul Harris

pp. 311-326

 

Abstract

Increasing interest in the concept of the ‘Creative Industries’ with emphasis upon the ‘industry’ aspect, presents questions as to how Art Schools can best prepare students. Indeed the industrial aspect encourages consideration of business and entrepreneurship and by adopting a conceptual approach to draw together different strands of literature from art, design, business and entrepreneurship research, this article explores the issues and challenges in supporting students in a creative context. Areas where an exchange of thinking could occur between the Art and Business Schools are identified and where the cross-fertilization of ideas and teaching practices could offer new methods to support students to engage in the Creative Industries. Barriers remain in teaching entrepreneurship, but viewing it as a process, utilizing the Theory of Effectuation and drawing attention to the prevalence of entrepreneurial teams proffers insights.

 

Keywords

creative industries, art school, entrepreneurship, Scotland

 

 

 

UK artists competing against despotic nations? The muddle of enlisting artists to develop a creative workforce

Tyler Denmead

pp. 327-341

 

Abstract

The Robinson Report in the late 1990s argued that the structure and delivery of schools needed to be updated for the United Kingdom to remain competitive economically. The argument assumes that the United Kingdom needed to develop a workforce adept at working in the creative industries to drive economic growth. Required capabilities include generating and delivering intellectual property, symbolic meaning and other goods and services in unprecedented ways. UK education policy from 1997 to 2010 enlisted so-called creative practitioners – workers in the creative industries that include artists, musicians, and performers – to foster creative practices in schools and contribute to their structural change. But this economic rationale and its policy implications for arts education have not been examined in great detail. I argue in this article that the ambiguities and contradictions of creative industries policy rhetoric and its implementation obscure and mitigate artists, musicians and performers’ pedagogies.

 

Keywords

artist pedagogy, creative practitioners, creative industries, creative partnerships

 

 

 

What creative industries? Instrumentalism, autonomy and the education of artists

John Baldacchino

pp. 343-356

 

Abstract

As the narrative of the Creative Industries becomes commonplace, arts institutions are increasingly expected to interface arts practice with business and enterprise. This article opens with a critique of the CBI’s document ‘First Steps’ (2012), arguing how this minimizes the arts’ role in schools. It then provides an analysis of two pedagogies: productivism and autonomism. Following the implications that emerge from the tension between productivism and autonomism in arts pedagogy, and reading these implications from within the contexts of the divergent and increasingly hybrid forms of contemporary art practices, this article then moves on to state that to argue for the legitimation of the arts by gathering what they do under the designation of the Creative Industries would amount to reifying art into an object of mere use, thus distorting both its productive and autonomist possibilities.

 

Keywords

creative industries, instrumentalism, productivist aesthetic, autonomy, CBI, pedagogical aesthetics

 

 

 

The mechanics of managing the Cultural and Creative Industry ParkCultural and Creative Industry Park in National Taiwan University of Arts

Mei-Hsien Huang

pp. 357-368

 

Abstract

In response to the trend of creative economy and in support of the national education policy of university-industry links and the mission of cultivating talents, National Taiwan University of Arts established the first Cultural and Creative Industry Park in Taiwan in 2007. This also qualifies National Taiwan University of Arts as the only university affiliated with a cultural and creative park in Taiwan. This paper aims to explore the mechanics of managing the Cultural and Creative Industry ParkCultural and Creative Industry Park in National Taiwan University of Arts. Through document analysis this article reveals the six operational characteristics of this park, including renovating the old paper mill factory, planning the multifunctional space, inviting excellent cultural and creative manufacturers to station in, establishing a specialized management unit, utilizing university academic and administrative resources, and striving for the government subsidy and industry reward. There are five objectives of the operational content of the Cultural and Creative Industry ParkCultural and Creative Industry Park, including teaching and internship, consultation for starting an enterprise, research innovation, industry incubation, and life aesthetics promotion. Finally, the paper points out three concerns regarding current operations.

 

Keywords

educational strategies, academic-industry collaboration, the Cultural and Creative Industry ParkCultural and Creative Industry Park, National Taiwan University of Arts

 

 

 

Illuminating creativity with cultural engagement: Colour inspiration in cooperative learning through reflective action

Tsen-Yao Chang

pp. 369-385

 

Abstract

Colour plays an important role in the physical and aesthetic learning environment. A major element in basic design training, colour affects student performance and creativity. Cultural colours, closely connected with stories from time immemorial, are topics that inspire student creativity. As instructor and researcher, I based this study on action research and used in-class, cooperative learning to engage colours and their corresponding stories in unique cultures with freshman students from the Department of Creative Design of National Yunlin University of Science and Technology. Two teaching formats – traditional and creative – were used to understand the difference between active and passive learning and to determine whether colour could be applied within a cultural context. The investigation suggests that introducing cultural issues in colour studies develops both aesthetic and cultural awareness, and creative activities help students apply colours to their lives and future creations.

 

Keywords

cultural colour, action research, colour application, cultural observation

 

 

 

New creative product design industries: International Young Designers Exhibition, Taipei, 19–21 May 2012 – a visual essay

Mary Stokrocki and Han (Sandrine) Hsiao-Cheng

pp. 387-398

 

 

 

Portfolio as a topological tool to define a professional profile in the area of creative industries

Aldo Serra Passarinho, Ana Velhinho de Sousa, Tiago Caldas Nunes, Viviane Silva

pp. 399-410

 

Abstract

The main goal of this visual essay is to explore visual data mapping and mining of an Art and Media B.A. Portfolio as means to define a professional profile in the creative industries. As artists, researchers and teachers with a multidisciplinary background, we intend to focus our research in art-based methodologies that allow us to explore dialogical and processual methods to envision and improve our art practice and teaching as reflective practitioners. A/r/t/ography was identified as a valuable methodology for this purpose. Furthermore, Portfolio was also identified as an insightful tool to map topographic and topological paths within the B.A. curriculum. Through a visual thinking process we explored and discussed several means of representation translated in this visual essay. This experimental framework will allows us to proceed with the professional profile definition informed by the outcomes obtained through visual mapping of the B.A. Portfolio.

 

Keywords

portfolio, creative industries, higher education, art-based research, a/r/t/ography, visual mapping

 

 

Reviews

pp. 411-417

 

World Art: An Introduction to the Art in Artefacts, Ben Burt (2013) London and New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 272 pp., ISBN: 978-1-84788-943-0, p/bk, $29.95, £17.99
David Carrier

Zeichnen: Wahrnehmen, Verarbeiten, Darstellen. Empirische Untersuchungen Zur Ermittlung Räumlich-Visueller Kompetenzen IM Kunstunterricht, Edith Glaser-Henzer, Ludwig Diehl, Luitgard Diehl Ott, Georg Peez (2012) München: Kopaed, 201 pp., ISBN: 978-3-86736-133-0, p/bk, €18.80
Folkert Haanstra

Künstlerische Kunstpädagogik. Ein Diskurs Zur Künstlerischen Bildung, Carl-Peter Buschkühle (ed.) (2012) Oberhausen: Athena Verlag, 482 pp., ISBN: 978-3-89896-514-9, p/bk, €29.50

Diederik Schonau