Negotiating the Paradox of Creative Autonomy in the Making of Artists

Abstract

This article reports the findings of a longitudinal study of the making of artists within an Australian university art school. It investigates the ways in which creativity is conceptualized and expressed by art students. The study makes use of Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus, field, and capital to theorize the development and maintenance of students’ creativity and emerging identities as artists within the institutional constraints of the art school and the competitive stakes of the field of artistic production. Through a detailed analysis of structured interviews, the article reveals the double paradox of students’ practice: despite their belief in the ideal of creative autonomy, they repeatedly make compromises to improve their competitive advantage in the struggle to be creative and to be recognized for their artistic achievements. At the same time, the art school does what it can to regulate and perpetuate this belief.