Taylor, Alan (2018) An investigation of the process of artistic creation provoked by the attempt to share it. Doctoral thesis, The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.

Abstract

My research focuses on four theoretical problems which I encountered in my practice-as-research on composers working with other artists. I describe these research problems and my methodology in chapter 1. Chapter 2 concerns the nature of the artistic creative process. I refer to psychological and neurological studies which build on Bakhtin's concept of dialogism, and conclude that art is created from a subconscious dialogue stimulated by all an artist knows. I propose that artistic ideas appear directly from the artist's subconscious, and in the language of their art form. Artists imagine ideas and, separately, make decisions about them. Chapter 3 concerns the ways in which artists can share this dialogic process. I propose a typology of working relationships, and use this in chapter 4 to chapter 4 to examine 131 case studies of composers working with other artists. I identify patterns in working relationships and make recommendations for best practice. Chapter 5 deals with the authorship of art. I question whether an author's intentions can be identified, but dispute the dismissal of the author as irrelevant. I propose that musicians are the authors of the actions required to create musical experiences, and put forward a model of how meanings are made from musical experience. In chapters 6 and 7 I examine whether the way I worked with my artistic partners affected the music written. I perceive my music as communicating a sense of story, and conclude from debates on story-forms in music that music may be experienced as a story-analogue, of a drama or a narrative. I find that where I saw myself as writing for a 'client', I perceive the music as a drama. When I wrote as I pleased I perceive the music as a narrative. In chapter 8 I summarise my argument and identify possible areas for further research.