Professional Artists Research Articles

How Do Famous Artists Write about Their Metacognition, Self-Regulation and Creative Problem-Solving?

Creative metacognition, creative self-regulation, and creative problem-solving are three key concepts stemming from distinct psychological traditions. However, all three involve planning, monitoring, regulation, and self-evaluation in the creative process. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to describe and compare how these three models are exhibited in the cases of five professional artists, as depicted in their autobiographical writings. The artists were selected based on maximum-variation sampling to represent different artistic fields: Stephen King, Salvador Dalí, Patti Smith, Terry Gilliam, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. A theory-driven thematic analysis, using the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory, the Creative Self-Regulation Questionnaire, and Mumford's model of Creative Problem-Solving, revealed both commonalities and differences in the ways these artists apply metacognitive knowledge, and self-regulatory and problem-solving strategies in their creative processes. Furthermore, the study identified several elements not included in these models, such as the need for a psychologically safe environment, the roles of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, and the perceived value of creativity.

Strategies for constructing harmonious colour combinations by art students with autism spectrum disorders

Introduction. The survey discussed in the article represents the first experience of an empirical study of the peculiarities characterising the ways of construction and perception of colour harmony by students with autism spectrum disorders – professional art education learners. The relevance of the study is conditioned by new trends in education related to the need to create an inclusive and favourable environment for people with autism. This environment is necessary for their successful integration and professional training in art specialities that are considered a promising area for professional realisation of people with autism. Methods. The survey was carried out using the experimental method involving 21 participants with autism spectrum disorders (mean age = 20.4 years; SD = 2.4; 9 males, 12 females). The participants’ answers in the experimental group were compared with those of an age-, gender-, and education-matched control group (N=21). The participants’ task was to match two given shades with a third one in the palette, for the colour combination to be as harmonious as possible. The experimental palette allowed to change the hue, lightness and chroma of shades. Results. The participants with autism spectrum disorders were twice as likely to choose yellow (23.8% compared to 12.4% in the control group) and purple shades (16.2% compared to 9.5%); hardly used orange (1.9%) and blue (4.8%) and preferred lighter shades (the mean L value was 67.8 compared to the control group’s 63.0). The chroma of the selected shades correlated with their hue and lightness. The stimulus selection strategy depended on the distance (∆E*00) between the given (upper and lower) shades in the CIELAB colour space and was based on a specific “geometry” (a particular ratio of values characterising the angles and side lengths formed by the given and selected shades, as well as a preference for a particular triangle area and its type). Discussion. The experiment showed that the students with autism spectrum disorders differed markedly from neurotypical students in a number of indicators when constructing a colour harmony. The experimental group participants’ responses showed a “preference for sameness” characteristic of autism. The significant inter-group differences were applied more to the lightness and chroma of the chosen shades than to their hue. The shades preferred by the participants with autism spectrum disorders better matched the conditions of the habitual “chromatic diet” and the colour’s statistics in nature. The observed specificity may also reflect the reduced ability to generalise and average out colours in terms of holistic perception, specific to autism. Conclusion. The survey results make an important contribution to the improvement of the professional training methodology for art students, and for the development of scientifically based educational approaches to teaching people with autism spectrum disorders, primarily in the context of the formation of colour-related competencies; in addition, they may provide new impulses for investigating the fundamental mechanisms of cognitive processing of colour-related information.

EEG-Characteristics of Aesthetic Perception and Evaluation of Artworks During a Museum Visit: А Neuroaesthetic Study

Twenty-eight people (30–70 years old, 12 men, 16 women, artists and non-artists) participated in a comparative neuroaesthetic study in the conditions of real-life visit to M. Vrubel mono-exhibition (Russian Museum, St. Petersburg). During the visit to the exhibition (usually lasted for around 60 min), EEG of participants was recorded. The subjects were looking at the paintings for 30 seconds to 3 min and evaluated the subjective aesthetic “attractiveness” of the paintings by a series of button presses (from 1 to 10). Were analyzed EEG spectral power in the α1 (8–10 Hz)-, α2 (10–13 Hz)-, β1 (13–18 Hz)-, β2 (13–30 Hz)-frequency bands during viewing the most famous Vrubel paintings (“Bogatyr”, “Swan Princess”, “Swan”, “Sitting Demon”, “Flying Demon”, “Pan”, etc.) and event-related EEG synchronization/desynchronization in relation to the subjective emotional and aesthetic evaluation of these paintings. Professional artists showed lower spectral power values in α1 (leads F3, C3, T4, Pz) and α2 (F3, Fz, F4, C3, Cz, C4, P3, Pz, P4)-frequency bands in frontal, central, and parietal regions. The artists were also found to have lower power values in β1,2-frequency bands in frontal (F3, F4, C3) regions and higher power values in occipital (O1, O2 – β1, β2) and posterior temporal (β2) cortical regions compared to the group of subjects with no special artistic education. Moreover, artists decision-making about the high emotional-aesthetic attractiveness of paintings was accompanied by an increase in event-related EEG synchronization for 11.5–27 Hz in frontal and central cortical areas over 580–360 ms before giving the response, compared to non-artists, whereas low emotional-aesthetic evaluation was characterized by 9–27 Hz EEG desynchronization, which started 60 ms before the giving the response and lasted up to 440 ms after it, in the posterior temporal and parietal regions. The differences in frontal cortical areas may indicate a higher engagement of the reward system during the perception of aesthetically pleasing paintings, and the differences in parietal and posterior temporal areas may indicate a continuing visual synthesis (more sustained visual attention) during the perception of subjectively less attractive paintings in artists compared to non-artists.

Digital and AI transformation in the contemporary art industry in China

This study examines the digital and artificial intelligence (AI) transformation in the contemporary art industry in China. This industry in China is undergoing a distinct digital transition and is “ahead” of other countries, having fully integrated digital technologies and AI (digiAI) into policies, regulations, organizations, and professional practices. A systematic, large-scale national integration of digiAI has led to its widespread adoption by artists and arts professionals. However, little is known about how or when this rapid and extensive integration and subsequent adoption occurred or about its impacts on professional practices. This study draws on research conducted between 2023 and 2024, including 30 interviews with contemporary Chinese visual artists, 23 interviews with arts professionals, a survey of 110 professional contemporary visual artists, and a systematic review of government policy. Findings indicate that the government began integrating digital technology into the contemporary art industry in 2016, further promoted digital technology integration in 2021, and introduced regulations to support AI usage in 2023. The data reveal a significant spike in the adoption of digital technologies by professionals between 2019 and 2020, followed by a rise in AI adoption in 2023. DigiAI has been accepted and now used across different kinds of arts professions, various types of visual artists, and several age groups. Digital and AI tools are now being applied in both creative and non-creative aspects of arts practices.

Characteristics of Curious Minds: Evidence from Interviews with Renowned Experts in Five Curiosity-Dominant Fields

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 50 renowned experts from five curiosity-dominant professional fields (scientists, inventors (high-tech entrepreneurs), artists, explorers, and therapeutic professionals). The five-dimensional curiosity framework proposed by Kashdan and colleagues (comprising joyous discovery, deprivation sensitivity, social curiosity, stress (uncertainty) tolerance, and thrill-seeking) was adopted. The purpose was to explore nuances of curiosity manifestations expressed by the subjects in their own words and related personality and contextual attributes. A directed approach to content analysis was applied to code the interview data; qualitative methods were employed for data analysis, complemented by quantitative ones. Insights gained from the findings regarding the curiosity construct, focusing on differences among the groups in regard to aspects of social curiosity and effects of uncertainty tolerance and thrill-thinking, were discussed, followed by implications for cultivating curious minds.

Художественно-образные зарисовки Л.М. Поздеевой из экспедиций с Н.И. Воробьевым

The article analyses expedition sketches of professional artist Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pozdeeva from the collections of the National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan and the “Miraskhane” Written Heritage Center of G. Ibragimov Institute of Language, Literature and Art of the Republic of Tatarstan Academy of Sciences, which were made by the master during the expeditions of 1926 and 1927 under the leadership of N. I. Vorobyev. Costume complexes of Tatars of different subethnic and ethnographic groups are analysed. Particular attention is paid to the scientific component of L. M. Pozdeeva’s work, the consistency of the sketches to written sources, museum materials and expedition photographs. The author of the article identified nine watercolours and one graphite pencil sketch, which depict the clothes of men and women of different ages. The pieces were made in the Chelny, Chistopol, Sviyazhsk, and Tetyush cantons, in settlements such as Nizhneye Bishevo, Kainly, Akbulatovo, Stary Tatarsky Adam, Molkeevo, Stary Kurbash, and Bakorchi (Bakrchi). Some images are duplicated by photographs, which became the visual accompaniment to the texts of N.I. Vorobyev’s academic publications. The sketches by L.M. Pozdeeva found by the author of the article fully correspond to the photographic images, which is evidence of the precise reproduction of what she saw during the expeditions. The artist chose different angles of the characters in national clothing, thereby creating not just an ethnographic copy, but an artistic image.

Structural brain correlates of creative personality: a voxel-based morphometric study

ABSTRACT The current study explored the neuroanatomical basis of creative personality using the voxel-based morphometric (VBM) approach. The sample comprised two groups – Creative (CR) group (professional creative artists) and matched controls with no demonstrated artistic creativity (NC) with 20 participants in each group, in the age range of 20–40 years, right-handed (screened using Edinburgh Handedness Inventory) and had minimum average intelligence (IQ > 90 on Raven’s Progressive Matrices). Professional creative artists were selected using the creativity achievement questionnaire, creativity was assessed using the Wallach & Kogan test of creativity, and personality was administered using NEO-FFI. The result indicates that creative individuals have significantly higher openness to new experiences and it positively correlates with the right middle frontal gyrus. VBM analysis indicates increased gray matter volume in the inferior frontal gyrus and anterior cingulate gyrus in the CR group, pointing toward the integration of cognitive and imaginative processes that might be implicated in creative personality.

Komplex nadřazenosti. „Naše“ versus „cizí“ v českém užitém umění mezi světovými válkami

André Gide described Soviet attitudes towards the outside world in the 1930s as a manifestation of a superiority complex. And it seems to me that the proclamations of representatives of architecture, applied arts and professional art education in the Czech lands between 1918 and 1925, when they created a “national” or “state” style, do not differ much from these attitudes in many ways. In the texts of Pavel Janák, Otakar Novotný, Jaroslav Benda, V. V. Štech and others, the pronoun “our” occurs most often, which seems to have been generally accepted without further explanation; the opposite is “foreigners” who have nothing more to offer “us” – as the above-mentioned representatives of the Czechoslovak Werkbund, an organization that has set itself the goal of raising the level of housing culture and the environment of life in general, assure themselves. It manifestly promoted “domestic values and domestic spirit”, which are embodied in Slavic poetic, emotional, melodic works, suitable for the mood of “our people”, who were defined as a small, modest person, an ordinary descendant of farmers and village teachers. He is satisfied with the “provinciality”, the “obsolescence” of “our” art, because it reflects “our” conditions. Although the textual programmes of the representatives of the state, national style come to terms with the position of Czech applied art and architecture on the world stage in an immature way, the actual results of their artistic work no longer have to be evaluated from the modernist perspective as a dead end, but as distinctive manifestations of international modern decorativism, despite the isolationist ideas of the creators at the time.

THE ROLE OF TEACHER TRAINING IN FACILITATING THE ADOPTION OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES IN ART EDUCATION

As technology plays an increasingly prominent role in education, the undeniable need for training programs aimed at equipping teachers with digital technology skills in art education becomes evident. This case study, conducted within the Abai Kazakh National Pedagogical University framework, examines teacher training programs, the challenges teachers face in integrating technology, and art faculty members' learning motivations andpreferences. The research employs a descriptive survey, utilizing a questionnaire to collect data. Participants included 25 art professors from the Art Education, Graphic Design, and Visual Arts departments, who responded to questions about teaching methods across three areas: experientiallearning, self-directed learning, and institutional learning. The results indicate that the teachers' level of self-directed learning, with an average of 3.7, was higher than experiential and institutional learning. Thissuggests that teachers are making considerable personal efforts to improve their skills. Additionally, they rated the necessity of institutional training programs as 4.0 (very high), though the challenges they face when using technology were rated at 2.9.The findings reveal that teachers' academic rank influences their perspectives on digital technologies. These insights can help pave the way for educational institutions in Kazakhstan to develop more technology-driven curricula in the future.

Psychobiological responses to choir singing and creative arts activities in children and adolescents with mental disorders: results of apilot study.

Children and adolescents living with mental health problems often experience stress and poor mood states, which may influence their quality of life and well-being. Arts interventions may improve mood and well-being and reduce physiological stress in this vulnerable population. Acohort of patients in child and adolescent psychiatry (N = 42; age range: 12-18years) participated in one of four arts activities including choir singing (n = 11), textile design (n = 9), drama (n = 16), and clownery (n = 6). They were led by professional artists and delivered through five consecutive 90-min daily afternoon sessions over the course of 1week. Questionnaires of mood and saliva samples before and after each session served to assess short-term psychobiological changes. In addition, patients reported their quality of life and well-being at the beginning and at the end of the 1‑week program. Results showed that alertness was significantly enhanced after textile design (∆post-pre = 4.08, 95% CI [0.77, 7.39]) and after singing (∆post-pre = 2.20, 95% CI [-0.55, 4.94]). Moreover, mood tended to be positively affected by textile design (∆post-pre = 2.89, 95% CI [-0.39, 6.18]). Quality of life increased significantly after singing (∆post-pre = 5.49, 95% CI [1.05, 9.92]). Arts participation except singing was associated with significant reductions in salivary cortisol (sCort) (textile design ∆post-pre = -0.81 ng/mL, 95% CI [-1.48, -0.14]; drama ∆post-pre = -0.76 ng/mL, 95% CI [-1.28, -0.24]; clownery ∆post-pre = -0.74 ng/mL, 95% CI [-1.47, -0.01]). No significant changes were observed for well-being over the whole program and salivary immunoglobulinA (sIgA) after any of the arts activities. These results suggest that arts participation can improve mood state and reduce stress in young people with mental disorders, but there is aneed for further studies.

Library and Bibliographic Classifications of Art Literature in the Documents of the M.I. Fabrikant Archive

The professional art history interests of professor M.I. Fabrikant (1887—1966) in the field of book studies, bibliography, library and museum studies are reflected in the documents of his personal archive in the Department of Rare Books and Manuscripts of the Scientific Library of the Lomonosov Moscow State University. Based on his extensive experience, the scientist drafted in the 1920s a scientific classification of art literature. In addition, working in the 1930s in the scientific libraries of major Moscow museums (the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, the State Tretyakov Gallery), he drafted the structures of branch catalogues. M.I. Fabrikant also participated as a consultant in the development of projects for the organisation of departments and catalogues in the new building of the Lenin State Library of the USSR in 1936.

How arts-based adult community learning transforms community well-being: from isolation to belonging

ABSTRACT This paper explores the pivotal role of arts-based adult community learning (ACL) in the UK, highlighting ACL’s broader impacts on well-being, including social, emotional, and mental health, and belonging for diverse groups of adult learners. ACL has a social role at individual and group levels; future research might tackle the latter potential in more detail. ACL in the UK is an alternative provider of adult education, usually for learners aged 19+, often delivered by local authorities, or general further education colleges. ACL faces underfunding, and its benefits remain largely unexplored. The study is based on interviews of 17 artist-teachers in ACL. Data collection was carried out between 2021 and 2022, online, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Artist-teachers in ACL are understood as professional artists and teachers, who are dedicated to both, and have the competencies needed to work in and through art and ACL. The paper highlights ACL’s distinctive qualities, challenges, and its impact on community well-being, and makes comparisons to global ACL contexts. The paper concludes by recommending that access to ACL may be improved through increased funding and better access to ACL centres for learners.

Research on Innovation and Entrepreneurship Teaching in the School-Enterprise Cooperation Model for Art Majors in Vocational Undergraduate Institutions

With the development of vocational education and the changing market demands, innovation and entrepreneurship education has gradually become an essential component in the training of art professionals. The school-enterprise cooperation model provides an effective educational approach to meet the practical needs and career skills development of art students in vocational undergraduate institutions. This study explores the challenges and countermeasures within this teaching model, and conducts an in-depth analysis of aspects such as resource allocation, alignment between education and industry demands, faculty development, student motivation, and policy support. The findings indicate that although the school-enterprise cooperation model faces various challenges in innovation and entrepreneurship education for art majors, strategic adjustments and optimizations can significantly enhance educational quality and students' entrepreneurial abilities.

Matteo Farinella: Illustrated Science Communication & Visual Science Storytelling

Professional visual artists and cartoonists can produce detailed graphic narratives that deliver scientific insights, messages and meanings in a relatable way to a wide range of audiences. Nowhere is this more evident than the increasing use of comics material in science communication in every field. In our first interview of this series, we ‘pick the brain’ of visual artist, passionate neuroscientist and science communicator, Dr Matteo Farinella. Matteo’s career as a science artisan and cartoonist began when he connected the visual study notes and diagrams he created to help him understand his studies with his passion for drawing, and points out how comics he read as a child likely influenced his approach to both. He emphasises that science communication is the core of the creation of his educational comics and information-rich visuals, but he also completely embraces the undefined, informal nature of the comics medium to do this effectively. Exquisitely-detailed illustrations and warm visual narratives throughout this interview are testament to his extraordinary technical skill.

Alternative payment models in the music streaming market: A comparative approach based on stream-level data

Music streaming platforms’ models for sharing revenues with content providers have been the subject of intense debate for nearly a decade. The dominating model involves pooling platform revenues and allocating these funds to songs based on a song's share of the total number of platform streams. Since this model has several controversial consequences, alternative models have been proposed. This paper uses a novel approach to assess the two most discussed models – the “user-centric” and the “artist-centric”. Our approach relies on a unique data set of 154,505 streaming platform users (890 million streams) and simulates how a large-scale implementation of these models may reallocate revenues across different songs and rightsholders. We disentangle the static effects of a transition to a “user-centric” or an “artist-centric” model across each of six different song characteristics. We then compare the results of the two models. We show that contrary to its objective, an artist-centric payment system does not significantly improve remuneration to professional artists while the user-centric payment system would generate more significant changes in revenue reallocation, mainly at the expense of Rap & Hip-hop songs, superstars and new releases. Finally, we analyze the positions of the various stakeholders with regard to each of them.

A Collaborative, Interactive and Context-Aware Drawing Agent for Co-Creative Design.

Recent advances in text-conditioned generative models have provided us with neural networks capable of creating images of astonishing quality, be they realistic, abstract, or even creative. These models have in common that (more or less explicitly) they all aim to produce a high-quality one-off output given certain conditions, and in that they are not well suited for a creative collaboration framework. Drawing on theories from cognitive science that model how professional designers and artists think, we argue how this setting differs from the former and introduce CICADA: a Collaborative, Interactive Context-Aware Drawing Agent. CICADA uses a vector-based synthesis-by-optimisation method to take a partial sketch (such as might be provided by a user) and develop it towards a goal by adding and/or sensibly modifying traces. Given that this topic has been scarcely explored, we also introduce a way to evaluate desired characteristics of a model in this context by means of proposing a diversity measure. CICADA is shown to produce sketches of quality comparable to a human user's, enhanced diversity and most importantly to be able to cope with change by continuing the sketch minding the user's contributions in a flexible manner.

Making a living moment more resonant: an exploration of the role of the artist in co-creative work with people living with dementia

Background Despite a growth in interest in recent years in the benefits of working co-creatively with the Arts for people living with dementia, little attention has been given to understanding the role of the professional artists within this context. Our main question here is ‘How do professional artists apply their skills and knowledge in co-creative arts groups with people with dementia?’ This paper has been informed by the insights gained from a series of conversations, observations and journals that were kept by four UK based artists (two musicians and two dancers) who reflexively interrogated what they were doing during the course of an 8-week co-creative arts project with people living with dementia. Methods The research used an empirical case study methodology, with the authors adopting a thematic approach to the analysis of the data. Results Thematic analysis resulted in three main themes: Authenticity, Enabling Risk and Togetherness. These themes characterise the skills, techniques and specialised knowledge used by the artists during the co-creative sessions. Conclusions Following this analysis, the article argues that the beneficial effects for people living with dementia of co-creative art-based work come about through the conscious application by the artists of their shared skills and knowledge, acquired through training and ongoing artistic practice. Rather than an assumption that ‘The Arts’ are in themselves beneficial for people living with dementia, we must consider the active role played by the artists who are so integral to the process.

«Приключения Ходжи Насреддина в Татарстане»: история и современность на театральных подмостках

The folkloric character Khoja Nasreddin is widely known in different countries. A cheerful and resourceful hero for many centuries has become an expression of feelings and sentiments of the eastern peoples, their wit, freedom and rebellion. Currently, numerous examples of not only folk, but also professional art are dedicated to him. The image of Khoja is presented in them in different aspects and sometimes transforms under the influence of the creative individuality of its authors. This article is devoted to various interpretations of the classical history of Khoja Nasreddin on the stage. The article examines dramatic performances of G. Kamal Theatre, a puppet show of the National Theater, which became a continuation of the sketch created at the theatre laboratory in Sviyazhsk, a musical production of the Opera Studio in cooperation with the Tatarica Orchestra of the Kazan Conservatory.

Implementing Arts on Prescription at Home for People Living With Dementia: A Hybrid-Effectiveness Feasibility Study.

Arts on prescription at home (AoP@Home) is a participatory art-based approach involving a professional artist engaging a person with dementia (and their family carer) in art-making in their own home. This study evaluated the implementation of AoP@Home within a real-world community aged care context. A hybrid effectiveness-implementation design was used to simultaneously test both the AoP@Home intervention and the implementation process. AoP@Home program outcomes included person with dementia and family carer (dyad) health and wellbeing, and personal goal attainment. Implementation outcomes were evaluated according to feasibility, fidelity, acceptability, uptake, and costs via routinely collected data, artist notes, and interviews with program managers, artists, and participant dyads. Four dyads completed an AoP@Home program during the study period. All participants with dementia reported improvements in their overall health and wellbeing, and wellbeing scores improved for all carers from baseline to post-program. Implementation was feasible using existing government funding mechanisms, and programs were acceptable to all stakeholders. It is possible to deliver participatory arts programs for community-dwelling people with dementia and their family, in their home, using sustainable and available funding models. Programs such as AoP@Home should be made more accessible alongside broader allied health and care services.

Digital Ectoplasm and the Infinite Architecture of the Fulldome

AbstractSuggesting a curious comparison between the Victorian séance and the contemporary world of immersive virtual environments, Mike Phillips, Professor of Interdisciplinary Arts at the University of Plymouth, and Director of Research at i‐DAT.org, describes the new capabilities of the fulldome, which uses notions of the automatic movements of the planchette, the wooden token that traverses the alphanumeric surface of the notorious Ouija board, as a model for the development of a quasi‐participatory audience interface he dubs the ‘phage’. Clusters of phage can be manipulated by the viewer‐occupiers of the dome to instigate all manner of formal, scalar and conceptual transpositionings.