A Cage for the Muse and the Limits of Invention

Abstract

This paper explores the notion that creativity in the arts, particularly music, benefits from constraints. Expressive freedom is often fostered within education to encourage the pursuit of artistic individualism, but straying too far from stylistic norms can often engender incoherence. This paper does not challenge the breaking of rules that define a style nor does it denigrate the benefits that may arise from conflicting ideas and unusual combinations, but explores the virtue and benefits of boundaries and suggests that freedom, from a creative perspective, is often an illusory construct; strong creative identities are achievable through and often defined by creative constraints. Conclusions focus on the potential profits of constraints that bind expressive ideas and the function and virtue of intuition within the creative process; theorizing upon whether creative confinement, or the awareness thereof, is ultimately a liberating or inhibiting experience. We determine that artistic creative freedom as a concept may indeed be illusory, but the perception of freedom for some is a necessary ingredient in the creative act.

Divisions: Non-College Departments
Additional Information: © All rights reserved. You are welcome to copy this publication for scholarly or noncommercial use. Otherwise, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without permission in writing from the copyright holders.
Event Title: International Conference on Knowledge, Innovation & Enterprise (KIE 2016)
Event Type: Other
Event Dates: 2016-06-21 - 2016-06-24
Uncontrolled Keywords: Creativity,Invention,Idiolect
ISBN: 978-1-85924-276-6
Last Modified: 08 Dec 2023 12:55
Date Deposited: 09 Jan 2019 12:27
Full Text Link: https://derby.o ... le/10545/618560
Related URLs:
PURE Output Type: Chapter (peer-reviewed)
Published Date: 2016-07-01
Authors: Wilson, Christopher
Brown, Michael

Download

[img]

Version: Published Version

Access Restriction: Restricted to Repository staff only


Export / Share Citation


Statistics

Additional statistics for this record