Imagination in Action: Thoughts on Creativity by Painters, Sculptors, Musicians, Poets, Novelists, Teachers, Actors . . . (review)

Creativity is a much used and abused word in the twenty-first century – as it always has been. Psychologists and sociologists, pedagogues and aestheticians are equally obsessed with what the word can possibly mean when it is deployed to describe the process of producing everything from children’s fingerpainting to Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel frescoes, from Mozart’s earliest compositions to advertising jingles, from Dante’s La Divina Commedia to your favourite blog. Editor and writer Carol Malyon has gathered together the thoughts on this topic of forty-four Canadians who are creative in more than one field – and, as the book’s subtitle suggests, the range is wide: from poetry to cooking, from needle-work to choreography, from teaching to sculpting. Prompting them all with questions about things such as how they began their creative work, what audience they assume as they work, how they decide on a subject or form, Malyon elicits a wide variety of responses that, in their sheer diversity, point to something central about creativity: its individuality.

Some of the short responses in this collection are academic, complete with scholarly apparatus, while others are poetic or simply cryptic. Some are succinct and straightforward; others are convoluted and rambling. Some wax philosophic and general, others give us specifics. Some deal with the pragmatics of creating, others with the theory. Most are anecdotal and personal, but that alone cannot account for the diversity of not only content but even the reactions to this invitation to talk about their creative process. For each one that appears to enjoy the chance to explore the sources of their creativity there are others who cannot bear investigating or even articulating what they do or how they do it.

There are recurring ideas in the forty-four sections, nonetheless; for instance, the sense that creativity involves knowing what to leave out as well as what to put in returns in many guises. Sometimes it is expressed as a need to leave things for the reader/viewer/listener to think about (David Peacock); at other times, the reasons given are more personal and private. Audiences are obviously crucial to all the arts (and crafts), yet some of these creators stress that they create only for themselves, while others insist that one ‘has to project over the footlights or the communication won’t work’ (Rod Anderson). Creative people need – and fear – feedback, it seems.

Many contributors stress that art does not come out of nothing, out of thin air – as the Romantic ideology of an earlier time suggested it could. Instead, it comes out of ‘the mud, blood, chaos and joy that surround us,’ as Deborah Stiles puts it. Anatans Sileika further reduces that Romantic ideology of genius in a particularly vivid manner: ‘“Creativity” as a concept is a whore – it attaches itself to every activity to give it panache, to give it status. I am far fonder of craft, which is less pretentious.’

From what these short pieces tell us, creativity is sometimes solitary, sometimes social; it can be a matter either of withdrawal or of ‘receptivity’ – being open and having your antennae up (Kathryn Collins). For some, creating is a matter of control; for others, improvisation and letting go are the only way. It may depend on the medium, of course, but it seems to depend even more on the person. For some, creating is a profound joy; for others, a necessary suffering. It can be playfully easy or painfully difficult. Creativity is seen as both innate and teachable, as both special and part of everyday life. Art is deeply physical and corporeal for some artists, utterly intellectual for others. In short – and this is the important message of this very readable and sometimes intriguing book – the creative process would appear to be as individual, as highly personal as the person experiencing it.