Notes from Contextual Studies Level 3 Tutor Group session on 16th July 2021 with Ariadne Xenou:

  • The relationship between research and creativity – one is in a void without the other
  • Keep asking – what is the relevance to my practice? – only work when you have clarity about what you are pursuing
  • The problem of looking too much…
    • reflection
    • discussion
    • making sense for yourself
  • A3 pivotal assignment 
    • when things start to take shape
    • frequently does not come until feedback for A5
    • in order to achieve clarity – keep on keeping on, even if you are not sure what animal it is. Going through drafts, we discover (the more you write and engage)

What is creativity?

  • Value, comparison, judgement (Bakhtin?)
  • Communication to someone else – how is the work valuable to others?
  • has value
  • just making stuff
  • Fulfilling some sort of desire
  • Imagination, inner life, fulfilling fantasies – the desire to communicate
  • Why do we need to communicate to others? personal, authentic, say something personal and hopefully will resonate with others
  • Need to be open 
  • Even if something seems unique it is borrowed from somewhere else
  • We need to be able to contextualise work through research 
  • Creation does not happen in a void – all creativity comes from something else

Is creativity and research fundamentally different?

  • Essay itself is also a creative act
  • CS is about contextualising and understanding your own thoughts and development of thought 
  • Discovering things that make rise to the new
  • CS is about the creator understanding the depth of the work 
  • Although secondary sources are good ways into the subject, you must go to the primary sources
  • You need to get strict with the sources – damage control, what is the output? how much can be fit in reasonably? depth through word count  – not about the interesting alone but the relevant
  • Research is time consuming, opens so many paths – but eventually you need to choose your path
  • Assume no one is reading the blog…use it to synthesise info – only do things that are relevant – has to serve a purpose

AX recommendations  –

Bow and CS worth considering as 2 sections in a novel – although fundamentally different 

both are about telling stories, ultimately they will meet in some way – not to become the same but some different 2 other parts