{"id":1282,"date":"2011-02-09T21:58:29","date_gmt":"2011-02-10T01:58:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/bjuarez\/?p=1282"},"modified":"2011-02-12T18:27:34","modified_gmt":"2011-02-12T22:27:34","slug":"information-technology-and-creative-practices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/bjuarez\/2011\/02\/09\/information-technology-and-creative-practices\/","title":{"rendered":"A Way Forward: Information Technology and Creative Practices"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"P1020208-rec-600.preview\"

Digital sound and tactile sculpture by Jean-Robert Sedano and Solveig Ory (France). Wikimedia Commons. Public Domain.<\/p><\/div>\n

The National Research Council of the National Academies has published Beyond Productivity: Information Technology, Innovation, and Creativity.<\/em><\/strong>*<\/em><\/p>\n

The full report is available online.<\/a><\/p>\n

A summary is provided below.\u00a0 I invite your comments.<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Information Technology and Creative Practices (ITCP)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Technology and the arts have collaborated for a long time. \u00a0 “In the 19th century, for example, optical, chemical, and thin-film manufacturing technologies converged with the practices of the pictorial arts to establish the new domain of photography.”\u00a0\u00a0 This led to a collaboration between the performing arts and moving photography called film.\u00a0 Though we take movies and photography for granted today, the cultural and economic consequences of these collaborations are difficult to overestimate.<\/p>\n

Information technology (IT),\u00a0 “the technology<\/span><\/a> involving the development, maintenance, and use of computer systems, software, and networks for the processing and distribution of data” (Merriam Webster)<\/span><\/a><\/span>, “has matured to a point where it can now be used to open up new (artistic) possibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Music and graphics have joined forces with IT for many years but other artistic areas lag behind.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Why?<\/p>\n

One of the reasons is that the push to make computers easier to use has also resulted in more constricting software.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026Software tools encode numerous assumptions about the making of art and design \u2013 precisely the sorts of presuppositions that truly creative practitioners will want to challenge.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Proprietary software and closed operating systems also diminish creativity.\u00a0 Open source systems may need to be used instead.<\/p>\n

Another reason is that computer scientists and artist\/designers are often stuck in their respective roles of producer and consumer.\u00a0 The IT scientist produces software for the artist to buy and use.\u00a0 Collaboration between the two is rare because communication is sometimes difficult and each sees his\/her role as essentially a distinct one.<\/p>\n

On the whole, computer scientists are less likely to have a deep understanding of art and design than artists have about computers.\u00a0 The solution might be to train the same person deeply in both fields.\u00a0 This is expensive and time-consuming and may have mixed results.<\/p>\n

Serious training in both fields for more people should be a long term goal but it may be more practical to set up teams of computer scientists working with artists.<\/strong> This model has worked well in the video games industry.\u00a0 Architects have also worked well with IT people in computer-aided-design and computer-aided-manufacture (CAD\/CAM).<\/p>\n

The best known example of a successful team of artists and IT people working together is in the film industry (Avatar, etc.).<\/p>\n

Another way to foster collaboration is to improve communication between existing IT and artistic groups, individuals, and organizations by setting up \u201cITCP clusters.<\/strong>\u201d\u00a0 Europe and emerging Asian countries are ahead of the U.S. in creating ITCP clusters.\u00a0 A local example is the Media Lab at MIT<\/strong>.\u00a0 The Media Lab is housed at a leading research institution utilizing the talent and resources offered there combined with the support and capabilities of industry leaders.\u00a0 It is difficult to replicate the Media Lab however, as it takes major start-up funding.<\/p>\n

In Canada and Europe, standalone government-backed ITCP centers<\/strong> are being built.\u00a0 \u201cSuch centers are typically conceived of as instruments of arts and cultural policy, rather than as equivalents of national research laboratories.\u201d \u00a0But they could be used as both.<\/p>\n

Boston appears to be a highly desirable venue for ITCP clusters<\/strong> to spring up.\u00a0 It has the talent, strong IT and artistic institutions, and potential corporate and governmental support.<\/p>\n

Recommendations for Educators and Academic Administrators<\/strong><\/p>\n

1.)<\/strong> \u201cSupport the achievement of fluency in information technology (IT)\u2026by art and design students through the provision of suitable facilities, opportunities, for hands-on experience with IT tools and media\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

2.)<\/strong> \u201cSupport educational experiences for computer science students that provide direct experience in the arts and design\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

3.)<\/strong> \u201cFoster exploration of information technology and creative practices (ITCP) through incentives and experimentation with a range of informal (workshops and seminars)and formal vehicles (centers, awards, majors, minors)\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

4.)<\/strong> \u201cSupport curricula, especially at the undergraduate level, that provide the necessary disciplinary foundation for later specialization in ITCP.\u201d<\/p>\n

*Publisher: The National Academy Press<\/em>, 2003, Washington, DC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The National Research Council of the National Academies has published Beyond Productivity: Information Technology, Innovation, and Creativity.* The full report is available online. A summary is provided below.\u00a0 I invite your comments. Information Technology and Creative Practices (ITCP) Technology and the arts have collaborated for a long time. \u00a0 “In the 19th century, for example, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1681,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[4845,4848,4849,4847,4846],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/bjuarez\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1282"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/bjuarez\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/bjuarez\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/bjuarez\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1681"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/bjuarez\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1282"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/bjuarez\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1282\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1292,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/bjuarez\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1282\/revisions\/1292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/bjuarez\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/bjuarez\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/bjuarez\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}