How Does a Stone Carver Create? A Participatory Case Study

Abstract

Art and design involve divergent creative processes. Design is a more constrained domain than art. While creativity in some specific domains, such as painting, sculpture, and music, has been widely studied, some have as yet been little explored. One example is stone carving. What characterizes stone carving, as a creative occupation? What is a stone carver's creative process? We set out to answer these questions by interviewing a stone carver about his profession, his process, his productions, and his place in society. In this case study, we examined the stone carver's discourse using a combination of three content analysis software tools. Taken together, the results highlight and detail 3 of the 7 Cs of creativity: the stone carver as creator, his creating (creative process), and his creations (productions) on which the interview focuses. The results of this participatory case study were validated by the stone carver himself. They reveal that stone carving sits at the intersection between handicraft, design, and art.