Creative Theories of (Just About) Everything

Creativity has been hailed as the driving force and most important skill of the twenty-first century–a power to be taught, understood and deployed on all levels of society. Debate concerning the origins and potential of creativity is mostly confined to the realms of the natural and social sciences, with insights ranging from neurology to theoretical physics to psychology and educational sciences. Here, using insights from these fields, and also delving into the ideas of Parmenides, Spinoza, Goethe, Emerson, Nietzsche, Freud, Benjamin, Bergson, Deleuze, Spivak, and many others, Jeroen Lutters argues that creativity should be explicitly enforced in education and society, to open up new perspectives. The book represents a search for the potential of creativity in the twenty-first century. By re-thinking the origins and meaning of creativity today, the author explores the origin of creativity, the knowledge of creativity and the politics of creativity – taken together, these themes express the history of creativity as an evolutionary process of a new tradition in thinking about creativity, which can be described as: creative materialism. Creative Theories of (Just About) Everything explores and defines a ‘possible world’ in which creativity is part of everything in nature. Knowing and using this creative source should be a formative force, not only in the arts and in education, but in rethinking our society at large. The book serves as a source of inspiration for critical and creative thinkers, artists, art historians, philosophers, literary researchers, cultural and social scientists and anyone who is interested in the subject of creativity. uthor: Jeroen Lutters with art works by Ina Meijer Design: Sam de Groot Series: vis-à-vis Valiz, 2020, vis-à-vis series | in collaboration with ArtEZ University of the Arts, Arnhem–Zwolle–Enschede | paperback | 208 pp. | English | 23,5 x 16 cm (h x w) | ISBN 978-94-92095-74-9 | price € 25,00 Jeroen Lutters is an art and cultural analyst and educational designer. He concentrates on the central role of the arts and humanities in the contemporary curriculum, the need for artist educators as wandering teachers and the theory and practice of art-based learning. He is professor at ArtEZ University of the Arts, researcher at the UvA/University of Amsterdam, fellow at UCI/University of California Irvine and curator at Museum Jan Cunen, Oss (NL). Ina Meijer is a visual artist and designer, co-founder of Studio Inamatt. Ina focusses on basic concepts such as the inherent qualities of a space, tactility, crafts, tradition, colour schemes, and how technology can contribute new forms of use. Lutters’ text is accompanied by Ina Meijer's art works: tapestries that play with two-dimensionality, tactility, scale, texture and structure.