Categories: uncategorized
Date: 20 March 2008 09:58:59
The first day of Spring heralds its arrival with overhanging clouds and rain bouncing off my window sill. My new found status as a self employed person means I don't have to get up hurry to the bus stop and receive a soaking. At the moment I'm doing R&D for an animation company and trying to start a fledgling record label (whilst wasting my life playing Scrabulous). Since I am now a paid up member of what are laughingly called "The Creative Industries" it got me wondering - What exactly is creativity?
Nowadays it seems to exclusively refer to The Arts (particularly digital arts). If you asked someone what they did and they told you they worked in the aforementioned industry and you then asked them specifically what they did and they replied "I create Excel spreadsheets" you'd dismiss them. I wonder why it is that we feel creativity has to have such a narrow specification. Have we commodified creativity like this? Where are the creative programmers, managers, politicians, tech support, doctors or accountants? (actually scratch that last one - most creative accountants are in jail).