Paper short abstract:

How to capture the complex entwinement of inner and outer worlds in the creative process? This paper explores this question in relation to a collaborative virtual exhibition, curated with contemporary Japanese artists.

Paper long abstract:

Creativity appears to require both creative engagement with the outside world and a withdrawal into interiority, or a relatively solitary space of focused engagement and immersion. Both featured prominently in the descriptions of their creative process offered by the Japanese artists with whom I have been working since 2013. How then might we capture and represent this productive intersection between inner and outer worlds? This paper reflects on an attempt to address this question through a collaborative 360° virtual exhibition. In moving beyond the conventional white-walled gallery space, 360° photography allowed artists to arrange their works in the inner and outer spaces they themselves selected and captured, in collaboration with me. Their works, and glimpses into their creative process, are offered as links in these captured virtual spaces, utilizing video, sound and images.