Infrastructures for Inspiration: The Routine Construction of Creative Identity and Inspiration

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Simpson, Ellen, Semaan, Bryan
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Simpson, Ellen
Semaan, Bryan
author_facet Simpson, Ellen
Semaan, Bryan
contents Online, visual artists have more places than ever to routinely share their creative work and connect with other artists. These interactions support the routine enactment of creative identity in artists and provide inspirational opportunities for artists. As creative work shifts online, interactions between artists and routines around how these artists get inspired to do creative work are mediated by and through the logics of the online platforms where they take place. In an interview study of 22 artists, this paper explores the interplay between the development of artists' creative identities and the, at times, contradictory practices they have around getting inspired. We find platforms which support the disciplined practice of creative work while supporting spontaneous moments of inspiration, play an increasing role in passive approaches to searching for inspiration, and foster numerous small community spaces for artists to negotiate their creative identities. We discuss how platforms can better support and embed mechanisms for inspiration into their infrastructures into their design and platform policy.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_07999
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Infrastructures for Inspiration: The Routine Construction of Creative Identity and Inspiration
Simpson, Ellen
Semaan, Bryan
Human-Computer Interaction
Online, visual artists have more places than ever to routinely share their creative work and connect with other artists. These interactions support the routine enactment of creative identity in artists and provide inspirational opportunities for artists. As creative work shifts online, interactions between artists and routines around how these artists get inspired to do creative work are mediated by and through the logics of the online platforms where they take place. In an interview study of 22 artists, this paper explores the interplay between the development of artists' creative identities and the, at times, contradictory practices they have around getting inspired. We find platforms which support the disciplined practice of creative work while supporting spontaneous moments of inspiration, play an increasing role in passive approaches to searching for inspiration, and foster numerous small community spaces for artists to negotiate their creative identities. We discuss how platforms can better support and embed mechanisms for inspiration into their infrastructures into their design and platform policy.
title Infrastructures for Inspiration: The Routine Construction of Creative Identity and Inspiration
topic Human-Computer Interaction
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.07999