Ambiguity, uncertainty and new realities: perspectives of creative value, utility and authenticity

Abstract

The concept of creativity is synonymous with the formulation of value judgments. Related primarily to the experience of new and unfamiliar ideas, creativity is a subject directly connected to conceptions of adjustment, recalibration, measurement and evaluation. Albeit a subjective term open to considerable flexibility of interpretation, creativity has nevertheless become a capacity and commodity of notionally high social and economic value. Consequently, creativity has never been subject to greater scrutiny and judgement and understanding of creative value subject to greater discussion and evaluation. Exploring aspects of creativity associated with ambiguity and uncertainty through the discourse of authenticity and aesthetics, this chapter positions analysis in the narratives of insight and imagination, the romanticism of discovery and talent, and debates about the increasing virtualisation of creative practice and emerging prospect of artificial creativity. Investigating the potential for what might be described as authentic creativity, notions of forgery and fakery, serendipity, accidental discovery, and the dynamics of positive and negative creative conditions, provide a basis for focused consideration of the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of creative activity and the various ways these relate to the determination of value in the ‘what’ of creative outcomes. Exploring first the nature of creative value and closely related definitions of creativity, consideration is then given to the temporal and cultural dynamics of creative value judgments before focusing more specifically on contexts of creativity and areas of creative ambiguity. Introducing a series of illustrative case studies, discussion focuses on the parameters of creative value judgements to underpin a tentative definition of creative authenticity. Conclusions highlight a range of possible perspectives related to the subjective nature of creativity and definitions of creative value. Creativity and creative value can be determined simply according to the scale of impact on human well-being, progress, fulfillment, security, or other suitable value indicator, the quality of lived human experience, the intrinsic qualities of the object, artefact or activity, or combination of all three. Given the inherent diversity and instability of creation and reception contexts, the search for any form objective measure of creative value may be a fruitless one. However, it is in the very subjectivity of creative experience that creative authenticity is most visible.