Dear Charles
I agree with everything you say in this mail. The problem here is how to put irony into my original mail without it sounding "smart". My intention was to point to the very limits that you describe. Post modern joy is not one of my things though in the world of poetry, the limits of what can be introduced is vastly beyond the everyday. Part of the game of poetry is find where the purpose is in the object - that is, poetry is the supreme example of creativity because it takes the foundations of creativity to be open to radical re-determination all the time. Obviously each poem is a determination and hence the radical aspect is contingent.
This might be why the Greeks gave the name of maker to the poets.
all the best
keith russell
OZ newcastle
>>> Charles Burnette <[log in to unmask]> 09/24/03 07:40 AM >>>
Dear Keith:
You said in your post:
"my concerns are ALL transactions are inherently
"creative" and ALL acts of consciousness are
intentional. We culturally prescribe "creativity" in
our descriptions - if we treat all texts as poetry
then our willingness to "read" newness into things
expands to the point of post-modern joy."
I think this misses the point that background, intent,
context and interpretation situate and determine the
meaning in a transaction and therefore delimit an
outcome which is assessed and found "creative" or not
by individuals - Individuals who may or may not be
applying shared perceptions, backgrounds, values or
culturally established norms. Except in the very
narrowest sense, everything generated is not
necessarily "creative", and everything judged creative
is not necessarily culturally described as you seem to
imply.
In response to the question "Is design an expression
of art?" Charles Eames famously replied "I would
rather say it's an expression of purpose. It may, if
it is good enough, later be judged as art." To me the
judgment regarding creativity is similar and more
immediate.
I do agree with you that all acts of consciousness are
intentional but with the caveats that within an
intentional frame they may be well formed or less well
formed and more or less contingent or constrained by
perceptions, background, etc. Conscious thoughts
(intentional forms) are also constantly under
evaluation as they emerge. It would be highly unusual
to treat them all as poetry even if you wished to
expand the range of the term to create some
post-modern joy.
A closing thought. Creativity is essentially empirical
in that it relies on evaluation of an experience.
Best regards,
Chuck
Dr. Charles Burnette
234 South Third Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Tel: +215 629 1387
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
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