Creative affects: affective phases in creative work processes

ABSTRACT The paper investigates the wide spectrum of affects characteristic of creative practice. It is centred on an empirical case study of the different creative phases that characterize the work of a group of professional newspaper cartoonists. The study explores the analytical possibilities of an object-oriented and affect theoretical approach to creative practice. It is loosely inspired by the phenomenology of affect developed by British-Australian feminist and cultural scholar, Sara Ahmed. After a short sketch of the lacunae of traditional sociological theories of action as regards creativity, and an explanation of my selective adaption of Ahmed's work to cover these lacunae, I move on to the empirical section. I begin by analysing the typical affects of the work phase in which the cartoonists struggle to choose what to draw. Next, I delve into the affects belonging to the phase of the actual drawing, a phase characterized by longer moments of intense affective immersion. I then attempt to map some of the means by which the cartoonists preserve affective strength and freshness (of the drawing) during their work processes. Finally, I investigate the collective side to the work of the cartoonists and how collective and creative affects may intensify or reinforce each other.