The flexible mould: creative projects as individuating creatures pages

RESEARCH BACKGROUND The need to more effectively approach and support open ended, undetermined, lightly programmed or un-programmed, generative interactions is being registered internationally in research occurring across diverse cultural fields. The articulation of clear methods of approach and support remain difficult and elusive, because these kinds of interactions/events rely on highly complex relations and qualities. RESEARCH CONTRIBUTION The essay 'The Flexible Mould: creative projects as individuating creatures' describes, through example, a qualitative 'method' or armature referred to as 'a flexible mould' as a way to approach and support open ended, undetermined, lightly programmed or un-programmed generative interactions. This method overcomes the barriers to explication (referred to above) through outlining an armature that can be described in simple terms while still being intrinsically generated via complex means. It offers a simple but non-reductive answer to a complex problem. The essay draws upon a week-long creative practice workshop, which aimed to explore the issues described above, run in Montreal, Canada, in 2011. RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE The significance of this workshop, and the essay theorising the experience of that workshop, is that it offers a way of understanding and articulating methods for approaching and supporting open ended, undetermined, lightly programmed or un-programmed generative interactions through empirical research (the experience and knowledge gained for the workshop) and theoretical reflection on that empirical research. Value is attested by the calibre of workshop organisers, internationally renowned philosophers Brian Massumi and Erin Manning, and the fact that this workshop contributed significantly to gaining a successful seven year partnership project grant through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) - a very high esteem Canadian granting body. RMIT is a partner on that grant with many others.