Creativity, the arts, artists' process, aesthetics

Artists Communities: a directory of residencies in the United States that offer time and space for creativity
Intro by Stanley Kunitz
Pub: Alliance of Artists Communities 1996 ISBN 158115044X

Interesting short introductory pieces including what is an artists’ community and accounts of residency experiences, then the main part of the book is a well-laid out directory.

Art & Illusion: A study in the psychology of pictorial representation
By E H Gombrich
Pub Phaidon 6th Edition 2002 ISBN 0714842087

A classic study of image-making. First published in the 1960s, the text applies the findings of experimental science to the understanding of art and in tackling complex ideas and theoretical issues, Gombrich is rigorous; yet he always retains a sense of wonder at the inexhaustible capacity of the human brain, and at the subtlety of the relationships involved in seeing the world and in making and seeing art.

Art Worlds
By Howard S. Becker
Pub University of California Press 1982 ISBN 0520052188

By ‘art world’, the author (a sociologist) means the network of people whose cooperative activity, organised via their joint knowledge of conventional means of doing things, produces the kind of arts works that art world is noted for. From Titian to Comic-Strips, Hollywood film scores and rock and roll tunes as well as Beethoven and Mozart – the scope of his analysis is wide. The focus on the networks breaks from the traditional focus of sociology of art being the art or artist. An important study – well-worth reading.

Art: What Is It Good For? Debating Matters
By David Lee, Ricardo Floodsky, Andre McIlroy
Pub Hodder & Stoughton with the Institute of Ideas 2002 ISBN 0340848375 out of print
A neat little format ' six essays each taking an individual swipe at big issues ' arts for art's sake, or art as an accountable social activity, artists as other or engaged with the real world, conceptual art v traditional art. Interpretation v arts speaks for itself. All focus on the visual arts and its relationship to the contemporary world ' a must read if you are engaged in the management of art now. Review

The Art Box
Pub: Phaidon 2001 ISBN 0 7148 3770 9

A wonderful tool or toy! A smart A5 box that opens match-box style to reveal 100 postcards of famous paintings/visual art images spanning the centuries. Each card has information about picture and artist on the reverse. They can be used for all sorts of purposes – including as a prompt for creative problem solving, and in group activities as a way of contributing to discussions or illustrating a point -(“choose one or two images from the pool of cards that illustrate, reflect or say something to you about…”). See also 20th Century Art Box.

20th Century Art Box: a collection of 50 postcards
Pub: Phaidon 2001 ISBN 0714839477

See The Art Box above. A similar set up – this one has 50 postcards showing different images

But is it Art? An introduction to art theory
By Cynthia Freeland
Pub Oxford University Press 2001 ISBN 0192853678

A fascinating little book about what art is, what it means and why we value it. The author covers a vast diversity of art, starting with present day works, then backtracking to art’s history and finally taking in a global spread. She explains art’s relationship with beauty, culture, money, sex, and new technology. Review

Common Threads Uncommon People
By Jennifer Williams
Pub Centre for Creative Communities 2005 ISBN 095147636X £12 Review
Click here to buy from the publisher

The Creative Age - Knowledge and Skills for the new economy
by Kimberley Seltzer and Tom Bentley
Pub Demos 1999 ISBN 1 898309701 Out of Print.
Creativity is what we need to thrive in the new knowledge economy. It is not a matter of what we know, but can we apply our knowledge creatively, and creatively can be learntt. This book calls for a major overhaul of the National Curriculum as part of its radically different view of education.

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain: How to Unlock Your Hidden Talent
By Betty Edwards
Pub Harper Collins ISBN 0 00 638114 6

Drawing on the Artist Within: How to Release Your Hidden Creativity
By Betty Edwards
Pub Harper Collins 1986 ISBN 0 00 637264 3
The results of an art teacher becoming fascinated by the problem of helping people to learn how to draw and finding out about new brain research into the functioning of the right and left hemispheres of the brain. This book is both an impressive system by which to teach yourself to draw and provides evidence-based arguments on a new look at the art of seeing. The author explores how looking at things in order to draw them accesses a different way of seeing and thinking, and this can then be applied more generally. A classic, very impressive, and beautifully illustrated.

The Effective Use of Role-Play: Practical Techniques for Improving Learning
By Morry van Ments
Pub Kogan Page 1999 second edition ISBN 074942799X

Role–play is a powerful and effective learning tool if used well. This comprehensive study, now in its second edition, is based on a sound theoretical understanding and provides valuable practical guidance on the place of role-play in teaching and training, types of role-play and their strengths and weaknesses, how to allocate roles and brief participants, running role-play sessions and debriefing.

Engineers of the Imagination: The Welfare State Handbook
Ed by Tony Coult & Baz Kershaw
Pub Methuen Revised & Updated Edition 1990 ISBN 0413528006

A wonderful book that is both inspirational and very practical. The book records the work of the enduringly successful company Welfare State International and is fascinating as a historical account of street and participatory arts. It is also crammed full of practical information. In the core techniques section, it covers lanterns, puppets, bonfires, big towers, scaffolding, flags, puppets on cars, costumes and ceremonial food.

Handbook of Creativity
Ed Robert J Sternberg
Pub Cambridge University Press 1999 ISBN 0521576040

This book aims to provide the most comprehensive, definitive and authoritative single volume review available in the field of creativity. 22 chapters, written by a wide range of leading behavioural scientists, are accessible to all those interested in creative thinking in both the arts and sciences. The first part sets out the major themes and reviews the history of thinking about creativity. Subsequent parts deal with methods, origins, self and environment, special topics and conclusions.

Hare Brain Tortoise Mind: why intelligence increases when you think less
By G Claxton
Pub Fourth Estate 1997 ISBN 1857027094

The human brain will do a number of unusual, interesting and important things - if given time. As described in this book, there is evidence from cognitive science and elsewhere that it will learn patterns of a degree of subtlety which normal, purposeful, busy consciousness cannot even see, let alone master; it will make sense out of hazy, ill-defined situations which leave everyday rationality flummoxed; and it will sometimes come up with solutions to complicated predicaments that are wise rather than merely clever. The book explores these slower ways of knowing and explains how we could, or should, use them more often and more effectively.

House of Games: Making theatre from everyday life
By Chris Johnston
Pub: Nick Hern Books 1998 ISBN 1854593099 Out of Print.
A valuable source book for drama leaders, facilitators and theatre directors.
The techniques which are discussed draw widely from the very best contemporary theatre practice. The book follows on from Keith Johnstone ’s Impro and Augusto Boal’s Games for Actors and Non Actors. It includes contributions from several leading facilitators. The three sections cover Foundations – the essential understandings which underpin drama work. Facilitation – the responsibilities and challenges of facilitating a group. Animations – games and exercises for impro, narrative, imagework, movement and devising performance.

On Creativity: Interviews Exploring the Process
By John Tusa
Pub Methuen 2004 2nd edition ISBN 0413773485

What do we mean by creativity? Can we define it, or at least say what its distinguishing features are? Whey does it matter? What separates the genuinely creative artist from the rest of us? These questions are explored in interviews with some of the greatest creative minds of our time: Howard Hodgkin, Anthony Caro, Elliott Carter, Eve Arnold, David Sylvester, Nicholas Grimshaw, Milos Forman, Paula Rego, Harrison Birtwistle, Frank Auerbach, Tony Harrison, Muriel Spark. There is also an interesting piece by John Tusa himself on Creativity. To be reviewed.

Ultimate Book of Business Creativity: 50 Great Thinking Tools for Transforming Your Business
By Ros Jay
Pub Capstone ISBN 18411 20669 £12.99 Sold here at SAMs
After a short and interesting introduction to creativity, the rest of the book is a toolkit of 50 neat ideas to develop creative thinking. Each idea is clearly explained in practical terms ready for use. There is a huge range, from the well-known to unknown, from the esoteric and to the wacky.

Artful Making: What Managers Need to Know About How Artists Work
By Robert D. Austin, Lee Devin
Pub Financial Times Prentice Hall ISBN 0130086959

This book suggests managers should look to collaborative artists rather than to more traditional management models if they want to create economic value in this new century. We call this approach artful making. "Artful," because it derives from the theory and practice of collaborative art and requires an artist-like attitude from managers and team members. "Making," because it requires that you conceive of your work as altering or combining materials into a form, for a purpose.

Six Thinking Hats
By Edward de Bono
Pub Penguin 1985/revised 1999 £7.99 ISBN 0140296662

A powerful little book that is a best-seller and a classic worldwide. Six different coloured hats are used to symbolise six different modes of thinking. A simple and practical method of using these modes introduces “parallel thinking” instead of argument and allows groups to develop better ideas and reach better decision in a fraction of the usual time. Based on an understanding of how the brain works, the six hats method allows the fullest use to be made of everyone’s intelligence, experience and information. Well worth reading – and implementing.

Strange and Charmed: Science and the Contemporary Visual Arts
Ed Sian Ede
Pub Gulbenkian ISBN 0 903319 87 X 2000

Why should visual artists turn their attention to science? Because of its new materials and techniques, its strange metaphors, its controversies. An examination of science forces us to view our lives from new perspectives. The book begins with an analysis of the great divided between the two cultures of art and science and goes on to consider the peculiar and uncertain condition of contemporary art. Specialist areas covered include exploring the development of the visual image in science and its potential for influencing new art and looking at neuropsychological explanations for the ways in which artists and viewers see, order and make associations. The book concludes with an investigation into the ways in which artists are addressing the impact of science on society. Review

Art Not Chance: Nine Artists' Diaries
Ed Paul Allen
Pub: Gulbenkian Foundation 2001 0903319942

This book has grown out of the Gulbenkian Foundation’s grants programme ‘Time to Experiment’ to encourage professional artists (from all art forms) to set aside time simply to test new concepts. Nine artists were asked to keep a regular record of how they make their work and here are the results in diary form. They make fascinating reading, provide insights into artists’ processes, and much food for thought. Review

The Tastemakers UK Art Now
By Rosie Millard
Pub: Scriber UK 2001 ISBN 0743231635

A funny and irreverent survey of the current British art scene by the BBC Arts Correspondent Rosie Millard. Mostly visual art, with some coverage of theatre, design and architecture.

Eyes on Stalks
By John Fox
Pub Methuen 2002 ISBN 0413761908

This delightful book tells the stories of two families – the author’s family and the Welfare State International family. (See also Engineers of the Imagination). John Fox provides a vivid account of the company’s working practices over the last thirty years. There’s humour, there’s politics and local planning issues, there’s funding challenges, fire structures, the building of their Lantern-house home and on a more serious note, naming ceremonies and funerals. Illustrated with photos and the author’s own drawings.

Passage
By Andy Goldsworthy
Pub Thames & Hudson 2004 ISBN 0500511918

Silent Spaces
By Chris Drury
Pub Thames & Hudson 2004 ISBN 0500284830

Crash Course in Creativity
By Brian Clegg & Paul Birch
Pub Kogan Page 2002 ISBN 0749438339

The Art of Looking Sideways
By Alan Fletcher
Pub Phaidon 2001 ISBN 071483449

Visualizations: The Nature Book of Art and Science
By Martin Kemp
Pub Oxford University Press 2000 ISBN 9780198564768

Private Views: Artists Working Today
Ed by Judith Palmer
Pub Serpent's Tail 2004 ISBN 185242821X Sold at Sams and at Amazon.

Interviews with and essays by, a wide range of contemporary artists - across all art forms. "And they said you’d never make it… celebrating Britain’s top artists". There are moving personal stories and humorous observations that confound many of the received myths about the life of the artist, and show shared patterns of experience and outlook across disciplines and generations. To be reviewed.

Managing The Mavericks: Nurturing creative talents
By Kaye Thorne
Pub Spiro Press 2003 ISBN 1904298486

It is likely that many of those who browse SAM’s Books website will recognize something of themselves in this intriguing book. Whether you are either managing mavericks or are one yourself – or both - this will offer ideas for unleashing the creative potential for all those who are able to think ‘outside the box’. It comes with case studies and ideas to enable the fostering of entrepreneurial talent which can be used for both personal growth and to enhance and develop your organisation through innovative people.

Inspirational Leadership: Timeless insights from Shakespeare’s greatest leader
By Richard Olivier
Pub Spiro Press 2004 ISBN 1904298214 £10.99 Sold here at SAMs
Henry V is Shakespeare’s greatest leader – inspired and inspiring, visionary yet pragmatic, powerful yet responsible. The book draws on Richard Olivier’s intimate knowledge of the play and its absorbing central character, to unmask the secrets of inspirational leadership and reveal the timeless lessons it holds for managers and leaders today.

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