A Creative Process in the Art of Costume Design

Abstract

An empirical study of the psychology of creativity carried out over a period of more than 20 years has identified a specific creative operation called "homospatial process. " This process has been shown to have an important function in various types of creative activities in the arts and sciences. As defined, the homospatial process consists ofactively conceiving two or more discrete entities occupying the same mentally represented space or spatial location, a conception leading to the articulation of new identities.

A technical method for facilitating homospatial thinking in costume design is described. This method involves the use of slide transparencies superimposed on a projection screen from two separate light sources and reproduces the effect of discrete entities occupying the same space. Specific examples demonstrate the feasibiltiy of using such a technique to facilitate the creative process of costume design.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

DeLong, M.R. (1987). The way we look. Ames: Iowa University Press.

Galton, F. (1883). Inquiries into human faculty and its development . London: J.M. Dent.

Harris, J.P. , & Gregory, R.L. (1973). Fusion and rivalry of illusory contours. Perception, 2(2), 235-247.

Hastorf, A.H. , Osgood, C.E.G. , & Ono, H. (1966). The semantics of facial expressions and the prediction of the meanings of stereoscopically fused facial expressions. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 7, 179-188.

Ross, J. (1976, March). The resources of binocular perception. Scientific American, 234, 80-86.

Rothenberg, A. (1976). Homospatial thinking in creativity. Archives of General Psychiatry, 33, 17-26.

Rothenberg, A. (1979). The emerging goddess: The creative process in art, science and other fields. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Rothenberg, A. (1986). Artistic creation as stimulated by superimposed versus combined-composite images. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 370-381.

Rothenberg, A. , & Sobel, R.S. (1980). Creation of literary metaphors as stimulated by superimposed versus separated visual images. Journal of Mental Imagery, 4, 77-91.

10.

Rothenberg, A. , & Sobel, R.S. (1981). Effects of shortened exposure time on the creation of literary metaphors as stimulated by superimposed versus separated visual images. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 53, 1007-1009.

11.

Rubin, M.L. , & Walls, G.L. (1969). Fundamentals of visual science. Springfield, IL: C. C. Thompson.

12.

Singer, A.S. (1971). The perception of facial expressions singly tachistoscopically fused from photographs. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Stanford University.

13.

Sobel, R.S. , & Rothenberg, A. (1980). Artistic creation as stimulated by superimposed versus separated visual images. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 953-961.