Creative Collaboration as a Means to Disrupting Dogmatism

Abstract

This research investigates the ontological exchange in creative collaborative settings. Creativity in a collaborative context requires cocreation of an output (artwork) that is not predetermined, as distinct from co-operatively achieving a specified goal. If a creative work by an individual artist is an actualisation of self-expression informed by the artist’s reality, then cocreated works might be considered expressions of ontological exchange. It is proposed that this exchange is greatest when collaborators’ inherent differences are embraced (Giles Deleuze’s difference-in-itself), broadening the field of possibilities and optimising the potential for unexpected and creative results, than if they were to just focus on what they have in common. Furthermore, relinquishing the need for a defined output or solution can encourage creative thinking and help break through dogmatic thinking patterns.