its original context, did not concern genius (a word that has been argued
over many times) but creativity. The core argument is that creativity is not
a quality or function of the individual alone but of social relationships
and groups. That is, creativity can be regarded as the expression of social
dynamics, something like the dark matter that constitutes our social
relationships and therefore ourselves. It could be argued, for instance,
that language, as both the means of communication and often the object of
communication (as in poetics), is a collective creation and something
instantiated and manipulated collectively. It is manifest as a process of
exchange. Each language act is therefore creative in and of itself and in
the process of exchange. Thus we create ourselves through the process of
exchange (in the performative).
Best
Simon
Simon Biggs
Research Professor
edinburgh college of art
s.biggs@eca.ac.uk
www.eca.ac.uk
www.eca.ac.uk/circle/
simon@littlepig.org.uk
www.littlepig.org.uk
AIM/Skype: simonbiggsuk
From: teoman madra <namoet2@gmail.com>
Reply-To: YASMIN DISCUSSIONS <yasmin_discussions@estia.media.uoa.gr>
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 2009 14:14:07 -0700
To: YASMIN DISCUSSIONS <yasmin_discussions@estia.media.uoa.gr>
Subject: Re: [Yasmin_discussions] collective genius
YES it may be an unusual way that takes a good deal of efforts
at random decided directions of contemporary focus variations...
When it is art to deal with, one gets acquainted with all
possibile intense incidences as parts of ones own concerns...
then things are not ingeniuities, but one same storiy with
real variations in the group
On Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 1:43 PM, Jack Ox <jackox@comcast.net> wrote:
> Roger
>
> MMMM very interesting about genius in group. I don't think genius is
> something which is a gift- it is something that one has had to work for. It
> includes native ability- but maybe part of that ability is to apply oneself
> in rapt attention for distinctive time periods. If that is so- then genius
> in a group would be members applying themselves in the same way, and having
> an ability to communicate between themselves in a complex, nuanced way.
> Genius is something that one can achieve, and it would be rare indeed where
> it is not the product of enormous effort.
> Jack
>
> On Aug 10, 2009, at 2:24 PM, roger malina wrote:
>
> nina
>>
>> thanks for responding my suggestion that we discuss the issues around
>> creativity
>> and collaboration-triggered by simon biggs post below where he challenges
>> the
>> idea that collective or collaborative teams can display 'genius"
>>
>>
>> "Simon Biggs" <s.biggs@eca.ac.uk> wrote:
>>
>> Which brings us to your point about genius and the jump of creativity.
>>> Whilst I agree that creativity does not work in straight lines or as a
>>> coherent progression I do not think there is such a thing as genius. As I
>>> have already indicated, I have a lot of time for Newton's idea of
>>> team-work.
>>> I regard individuality as a contingent characteristic, preferring the
>>> Foucauldian notion of the distributed self or Latour's of expanded and
>>> diffused agency. In these models the individual is regarded as an
>>> instance
>>> of the collective and enabled through that context, drawing on and
>>> defined
>>> by the resources within and without them (there is no notion of an
>>> essential
>>> or irreducible self - the self is more like a construction). In a sense I
>>> find it difficult to identify what is in and what is out. As such, all
>>> our
>>> activities are more or less distributed and collective in nature. I do
>>> not
>>> see how genius can fit in that model.
>>>
>>
>> I think that in this yasmin discussion I want to push the question of
>> whether
>> work done in collaboration can display "genius" and I think it can- if we
>> mean
>> by genius major work that is not incremental in nature but in some way
>> recasts
>> and raises entirely new solutins and questions whether in the arts and
>> sciences
>>
>> what are the best examples we can cite of really interesting
>> art/science/technology
>> collaboration which displayed genius or really excellent work
>>
>> there are for example some very prominent 'couples' in our field where the
>> work
>> is really first rate,but could never have been accomplished without the
>> team of
>> the two people- these probably dont rise to the level of 'genius' but
>> i think could
>> be one line or argument
>>
>> for instance;
>>
>> woody and steine vasulka
>> helen and newton harrions
>> christa sommerer and laurent mignoneau
>>
>>
>> can any one name other exceptional couples whose creative work
>> would be unthinkable without their collaboration ?
>>
>> roger
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