Homo Universalis 4.0 As A Creative Specialist Of The Xxi Century

Abstract

The article discusses modern creative education in the context of socio-cultural and technological changes. The sociocultural challenge is presented by peculiarities of the VUCA-world which requires abilities to adapt to a rapidly changing external environment. After getting academic degrees, specialists find themselves in a shock situation not being able to adapt to the real world. It is necessary to train a creative specialist, the Homo universalis. The purpose of the article is to develop ontological foundations of basic competencies that should be implemented into the curriculum to train a creative specialist. The article analyzes ontological foundations of basic competencies which should be implemented in educational programs. The article determines boundaries and features of the creative space between the ideal and the person in which the creative specialist creates. The energy value of the ideal and context when creating works of art and design products is analyzed. The article determines a bifurcation subspace of art design in which works of art are created. They are not outstanding or high-quality. The characteristic of the competence of free movement in the creative space is given. Skills, expressive tools of representation of creative ideas are described. Creative intention without which works can be created is determined. The universal competence, “free will” which allows a creative specialist to perceive the energy of components of the creative space only is analyzed. Examples showing the possibility of transition from a syncretic understanding of the educational process to the formation of system methodologies and methods are given.

Keywords: Artdesigneducationcreative specialistcompetence

Introduction

Since the first art academies (16th century), humanity has wondered about the issue of vocational art education. In the first quarter of the twentieth century, starting with the first artistic and technical workshops (1919 - Bauhaus, 1920 - VHUTEMAS), design learning issues have been discussed. The activities of these workshops showed that challenges of time require correct formulation of the problem of specialist training in the context of historical realities. Today, art and design education faces new challenges (Clarke & Hulbert, 2016; Baynes, 2010).

Problem Statement

The first global challenge is the modern sociocultural space of human existence, the VUCA world (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity). A new world requires competencies to adapt to a rapidly changing external environment. This also affects the education system when programmatic approaches become impossible, since the training program becomes obsolete. The specialist finds himself in a shock situation (Ramneek, 2017).

The sociocultural challenge is aggravated by the technological challenge (Clapp, 2019) manifested in the form of artificial intelligence.

Today, artificial intelligence (various types of neural networks) is able to learn the style of Van Gogh ( Prisma, Vinci ), synthesize musical compositions ( Iamus ) performed by London Symphony Orchestra.

Traditional learning techniques become meaningless, since the machine is able to realize the author's intention.

Research Questions

A creative specialist, an universal man (homo universalis ) should be trained (Subetto, 2010). He should have a competence of “self-education” (Mazunova, 2018).

In antiquity, the " universal man" was an artisan capable of creating works from household items to outstanding works of art .

However, in the Renaissance, this “ universal man” appeared much later. Leon Batista Alberti, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarroti and others can be attributed to this type. Their intellectual abilities were not limited to one field of knowledge or creative activity.

Later, in the era of the Enlightenment, the desire to popularize knowledge caused the emergence of encyclopedias ("full circle learning") designed to preserve human knowledge in science, crafts, technology, society, etc. They formed the image of a new universal human era (Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire, Mikhail Lomonosov, etc.).

A modern universal man, a creative specialist ( Homo universalis 4.0 ) must possess a number of competencies that allow him to create new works that can develop various spheres of culture. He should be able to adapt to the VUCA world, use of artificial intelligence which helps translate the creative concept with various expressive means in the material . “Universality includes professionalism, a holistic world view, a culture of feelings, an ability to communicate and navigate in the modern world” (Talanov, 2000, p. 198).

Purpose of the Study

Thus, the purpose of the article is to develop ontological foundations of basic competencies that should be implemented into the curriculum to train a creative specialist .

The objectives of the article are as follows:

· Determination of a single creative space and a competence of free movement;

· Description of skills required for the representation of creative design;

· Identification of a creative intention, without which works cannot be created;

· Description of the universal competence - “free will”;

· Description of the possibility of transition from the philosophical foundations of creative education to its methodology.

Research Methods

The main research methods are as follows: abstraction, idealization, induction, deduction, ascent from the abstract to the concrete.

Findings

Today, the creative space in which works are created is artificially divided into artistic and design subspaces (Aronov, 2009). Outstanding works of art are created in the artistic subspace, and high-quality design works are created in the design subspace. All other works that do not meet these criteria, can only be considered an intermediate stage to achieve the desired level.

The designation of this quality level is important, since it allows you to move from random creative searches to the methodology for creating outstanding works of art and high-quality design works. Of course, this methodology should be preceded by a philosophy of creative activity determined by requirements of the era in which the artistic, design, scientific and educational processes take place.

We will consider art and design without specifying a type, a direction, and a genre. This generalized vision will reveal their fundamental, ontological foundations.

Creative space. Before describing the competencies of a creative specialist, it is necessary to identify features of the creative space. Its main characteristics are as follows: synthetic nature, poles (an ideal and a man), a bifurcation subspace and a context.

The synthetic nature of the creative space is due to the interconnection of the artistic and design subspaces. Their unity is determined by genetic affinity (Boychuk, 2013) leading to the enrichment of design with the achievements of art. There would be no Swiss style in graphic design without Cubism, Suprematism, Futurism.

On the other hand, one cannot say that in the old days there was only high art, and design did not exist. The ancient Greeks understood "techne" as a synthesis of art and craft. The master created works of high art and things used in everyday life.

The main source of “inspiration” for art is an ideal revealed in a new way depending on the mutual influence of the era, author, material, method, technique, manner, style, etc. High art is designed to reflect being and reveal the problems of humanity, summarizing and presenting them in a figurative form.

The design solves practical problems of the target audience (or individual); it uses a simple, intuitively understandable language of communication. This understanding of art and design makes it possible to define the ideal and the person as the two poles of the creative space (Figure 01 - a) which is an analogy of the spiritual and material dimension of culture.

The amount of the “ideal’s energy” (Figure 01 - c) determines the point between the two poles where the work will be created (Figure 01 - b). The energy of an ideal is a system of values of humanity, as it moves from an ideal to a person, it gradually decreases, turning into a system of values of a people, an ethnos, a group, and an individual. We are aware of the fact that the model is simplified and mechanistic, but it demonstrates the relationship between art and design, the ideal and the techne - the world of cultural objects created by the person. For example, humanism is represented in many paintings through images of war, showing consequences of neglecting it: “The Apotheosis of War” by V.V. Vereshchagin, “War (Horsewoman of Discord)” by A. Russo, “Guernica” by P. Picasso, etc.

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The values of the target audience are basic needs satisfied by the design product: self-confidence, self-realization, comfort, health, safety, freedom, creativity, love, sex, ecology, striving for spiritual improvement, etc.

Subspace bifurcation. At the junction of the artistic and design subspaces, there is a subspace of bifurcation (Figure 01 d). An outstanding work of art and a high-quality design product lose their essence, merging into a new integrity. This new subspace of bifurcation is represented by art design.

Art design imitates the pursuit of the ideal and the desire to solve utilitarian problems. Art design is always just a hint of an ideal, but it does not have a direct connection with it. That is why, the outer beautiful shell prevails, and the ideal and the person recede into the background, i.e. Art products are neither outstanding works of art nor high-quality works of design.

It may seem that the subspace of art design is divided into two parts, where the idealistic part belongs to the traditional artistic space, and the utilitarian one – to the traditional design space. In fact, it is not. This is due to the fact that in the bifurcation subspace, any work of art retains a functional aspect, i.e. it will be in demand. The same applies to poor-quality design works positioning as an ideal but remaining a bad design product.

Context. The influence of an ideal, when moving to the opposite pole in the direction of the values ​​of an individual or target audience, decreases. However, this does not cause the emergence of emptiness in the creative space. The energy of the ideal is replaced by the energy of the context, i.e. the greater the influence of the context, the less the influence of the ideal on the work resulting in another type of work - a quality design solution that needs the energy of the context (Figure 01 - e). A quick and constant change of context causes the need for a continuous change in design products.

The situation is completely opposite with an outstanding work of art, which arises only when the ideal energy prevails and the context energy has a minimal influence (Figure 01 - a). Nevertheless, the context is always present, reflecting peculiarities of the epoch, since there is no work that fully represents the ideal. For example, “Guernica” revealing the problem of renunciation of humanistic ideals, simultaneously conveys pain of the residents of Guernica, a historical and cultural center of the Basque Country who were killed during the bombardment by the Luftwaffe unit.

The predominance of the ideal determines timelessness of an outstanding work of art which allows it to remain valuable for centuries. While a quality design product is limited by the time of its consumption.

The features of the synthetic creative space allow us to designate the first competence of a creative specialist. He must be able to move to any point of the creative space and direct the different potential energies of the ideal and context to the work, while becoming the conductor of this flow. The conducting (retranslational) essence of the artist is described in the “Antinomies of Adequation” by Losev (1995): “The artist’s creative will is great passivity and endless self-giving” (p. 359). On the other hand, the very choice of position in space is nothing but a manifestation of subjectivity of a creative specialist which determines originality of the work.

The second key competency is skillfulness. This is a skill of using an expressive means to transform the material. Let us introduce some key definitions to describe characteristics of the competence:

· A material (paper, clay, information, space, etc.) which is in a state of rest and chaos (disorganization) (Zhukovsky, 2011).

· An expressive means (tool) allows you to transform the material (methods, programs of action)- allowing you to get the most beautiful embodiment of the plan. Each expressive tool has unique expressive energy. For example, energy of a brush is different from energy of a pencil, and energy of a piano is different from energy of a violin, etc.

The creative specialist aims to direct energy of the ideal and the context to transform the material. As a result, the product is created: initially lifeless material perceiving creative energy of expressive means comes to life. As a result, expressiveness of the material manifests itself.

Traditional art and art-design education pays great attention to the ways and methods of working with the means of material conversion. This raises the problem of the amount of funds that need to be studied by a creative specialist. This problem is solved within the existing education system.

However, modern art does not accept the use of programmed expressive means. For a creative specialist, everything should be an expressive tool.

The artist needs energy of expression means. The more energy of the expressive means he receives, the better the material will be processed. However, the more he consumes from the same sources, the harder it is to switch to the new ones. The sources suppress his will. For example, constant training of the drawing technique causes difficulties in finding own expressive means. The result is a skilled artisan rather than a creative specialist.

This approach was justified in the era of imitation of nature and realistic perception of reality. Later, the ideal was understood as a second-natural phenomenon. For example, the ideal of beauty, love, eloquence, color, humanity, etc., are created by man rather than by nature.

It is obvious that energy flows of the creative space and expressive means complement each other. Retransmission of only one type of the energy flows will not allow the creative specialist to “revive” the material and create the work. As a result, we have a new kind of energy that penetrates into anyone who decides to perceive it.

This is the second competence of the creative specialist. He should be able to perceive the energy of various expressive means and direct them into the necessary material. In practice, this should be implemented in the form of a quick, holistic study of expressive means of any kind which the creative specialist will consider most suitable for the transfer of energy of the ideal and context.

The third competence is an ability to become a conductor of energy flows. It is the ability to activate the desire (intention) to create an outstanding work of art or a high-quality design work. This is not the embodiment of e egoistic needs of the individual. It is a sincere desire to perceive the energy flows.

Thus, activities of the creative specialist can be represented in the form of four stages which require relevant competencies:

· Activating the intention (desire) to create a work;

· Connecting the energy flow of the creative space;

· Choosing expressive means and perceiving its energy;

· Directing energy flows into the material.

The actor's intention is represented by a sincere desire to know the character. Appeal to the ideal is realized by the art of representation. The means of expressiveness and the birth of the work are an ability to use ready-made stamps that are understandable to the viewer, and the birth of the image “here and now” born on the stage.

The competencies described above are universal. It is necessary to separate them from the most important universal competence - “free will”. The creative specialist must be able to manage energy flows.

This competence is the ability to disconnect from any energy flow, to move to the state of targeted selection of new energy flows. Otherwise, it will suppress his will.

Modern creative education begins to understand the importance of “free will” of the creative specialist. This is manifested in the movement from software education to project education, development of free educational trajectories. After all, each individual work is a project reflecting human existence.

Training a creative specialist is a challenge to philosophy, art history, cultural studies, pedagogy, psychology (Beghetto & Kaufman, 2007) and a number of other disciplines directly or indirectly influencing formation of creative competencies. The answer to this challenge should be a method developing the above competencies.

The design developed appropriate methods, a common methodology, and set the task of designing design studies. Implementation of the above-described competencies is presented in the methodology of semiotic discursive modeling developed by Lola (2016).

The artistic subspace is more challenging. It is difficult to develop a method for creating outstanding works of art. Nevertheless, it is possible to give examples of transition from intuitive creativity to purposeful achievement of a desired result in the education system.

For example, color studies deal with color perception using the tools of physics, mathematics, chemistry, psychology, psychophysiology, aesthetics, art history, theory of composition, archeology, ethnography, and cultural science. During the pre-scientific period, attitudes to color were based on the most important phenomena. It was a mythologically-symbolically-practical perception of color and color harmonies.

The scientific period of color studies began with the experiments by Newton who proved that white light is a mixture of various colored rays. In the 21st century, color harmonies are based on learning appropriate methods.

Conclusion

This scientific approach should be applied while creating methods that allow for development of creative competencies. Otherwise, a problematic situation can arise and we will not be able to teach art (Elkins, 2015).

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