MyCreativity Reader A Critique of CreAtive industries edited by GeeRt Lovink And ned RossiteR
The MyCreativity Reader is a collection of critical research into the creative industries. The material develops out of the MyCreativity Convention on International Creative Industries Research held in Amsterdam, November 2006. This two-day conference sought to bring the trends and tendencies around the creative industries into critical question.
The ‘creative industries’ concept was initiated by the UK Blair government in 1997 to revitalise de-industrialised urban zones. Gathering momentum after being celebrated in Richard Florida’s best-seller The Creative Class (2002), the concept mobilised around the world as the zeitgeist of creative entrepreneurs and policy-makers.
Despite the euphoria surrounding the creative industries, there has been very little critical research that pays attention to local and national variations, working conditions, the impact of restrictive intellectual property regimes and questions of economic sustainability. The reader presents academic research alongside activist reports that aim to dismantle the buzz-machine. GeeRt Lovink And ned RossiteR edited by GeeRt Contributions by: BAVO (Gideon Boie and Matthias Pauwels), Danny Butt, Alex Foti, David Hesmondhalgh, Brian Holmes, Michael Keane, Aphra Kerr, Geert Lovink, Toby Miller, Monika Mokre and Elisabeth Mayerhofer, Max Nathan, Sebastian Olma, Marion von Osten, Merijn Oudenampsen, Matteo Pasquinelli, Andrew Ross, Ned Rossiter, Joost Smiers, Christoph Spehr, Annelys de Vet.
Institute of Network Cultures, Amsterdam 2007
ISBN 978-90-78146-04-9 MyCreativity Reader MyCreativity
4 MyCreativity Reader a critique of creative industries 5
MyCreativity Reader: A Critique of Creative Industries Editors: Geert Lovink and Ned Rossiter Editorial Assistance: Sabine Niederer Copy Editing: Michael Jason Dieter Design: Katja van Stiphout Cover image and design ‘The Creativity’: Hendrik-Jan Grievink Printer: Veenman Drukkers, Rotterdam Publisher: Institute of Network Cultures, Amsterdam 2007 MyCreativity ISBN: 978-90-78146-04-9 Reader Contact Institute of Network Cultures phone: +3120 5951863 A Critique fax: +3120 5951840 of Creative email: [email protected] web: http://www.networkcultures.org Industries Edited by Geert Lovink and Ned Rossiter
Order a copy of this book by sending an email to: [email protected]
A pdf of this publication can be downloaded freely at: http://www.networkcultures.org/archive
Download a pdf version of ‘THE CREATIVITY: a free accidental newspaper dedicated to the anonymous creative worker’ at: http://www.networkcultures.org/mycreativity
Join the MyCreativity mailing list at: http://www.listcultures.org
This publication is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial No Derivative Works 2.5 Netherlands License. To view a copy of this license, visit: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/nl/deed.en
No article in this reader may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means without permission in writing from the author.
We would like to thank all the authors for their fantastic contributions, and Michael Jason Dieter for his careful copy-editing. A special thanks to our director, Emilie Randoe, School of Interactive Media, Hogeschool van Amsterdam, for supporting our research program, and to the Centre for Media Research, University of Ulster, and Sandberg Institute for supporting the MyCreativity event. 6 MyCreativity Reader a critique of creative industries 7
Contents
Geert Lovink and Ned Rossiter Proposals for Creative Research: Introduction to the MyCreativity Reader 9
Andrew Ross Nice Work if You Can Get It: The Mercurial Career of Creative Industries Policy 17
Toby Miller Can Natural Luddites Make Things Explode or Travel Faster? 41
Marion von Osten Unpredictable Outcomes: A Reflection After Some Years of Debates on Creativity and Creative Industries 49
David Hesmondhalgh Creative Labour as a Basis for a Critique of Creative Industries Policy 59
Matteo Pasquinelli ICW – Immaterial Civil War: Prototypes of Conflict within Cognitive Capitalism 69
Geert Lovink and Christoph Spehr Out-Cooperating the Empire? 81
The INC Reader series are derived from conference contributions and produced Michael Keane by the Institute of Network Cultures. They are available in print and pdf form. Re-imagining Chinese Creativity: The Rise of a Super-Sign 97 The MyCreativity Reader is the third publication in this series. Aphra Kerr Previously published INC Readers: From Boston to Berlin: Creativity and Digital Media Industries in the Celtic Tiger 109
Katrien Jacobs, Marije Janssen and Matteo Pasquinelli (eds), Max Nathan C’LICK ME: A Netporn Studies Reader, 2007. Wrong in the Right Way? Creative Class Theory and City Economic Performance This anthology collects the best material from two years of debate from ‘The Art and in the UK 123 Politics of Netporn’ 2005 conference to the 2007 ‘C’LICK ME’ festival. The C’LICK ME reader opens the field of ‘internet pornology’, with contributions by academics, Elisabeth Mayerhofer and Monika Mokre artists and activists. The Creative Industries in Austria: The Glories of the Past vs. the Uncertainties 141 Download a free pdf from www.networkcultures.org/netporn. of the Present
Geert Lovink and Soenke Zehle (eds), Annelys de Vet Incommunicado Reader, 2005. Creativity is Not About Industry 151 The Incommunicado Reader brings together papers written for the June 2005 conference ‘Incommunicado: Information Technology for Everybody Else’. The publication includes BAVO (Gideon Boie and Matthias Pauwels) a CD-ROM of interviews with speakers. The Murder of Creativity in Rotterdam: From Total Creative Environments Download a free pdf from www.networkcultures.org/incommunicado. to Gentripunctural Injections 153 8 MyCreativity Reader a critique of creative industries 9
Merijn Oudenampsen Back to the Future of the Creative City: An Archaeological Approach to Amsterdam’s
Creative Redevelopment 165 A PUBLICATION BY SANDBERG INSTITUTE, INSTITUTE OF NETWORK CULTURESA AND PUBLICATION CENTRE FOR MEDIA BY THE RESEARCH, SANDBERG UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF ULSTER / FALL / FALL 2006 2006
Brian Holmes Disconnecting the Dots of the Research Triangle: Corporatisation, Flexibilisation THECREATIVITY and Militarisation in the Creative Industries 177 A FREE ACCIDENTAL NEWSPAPER DEDICATED TO THE ANONYMOUS CREATIVE WORKER
CREATIVITY IS ALL WE HAVE LEFT PLEA FOR AN UNCREATIVE CITY Joost Smiers BY KOERT VAN MENSVOORT P A G E 2 B Y B A V O PAGE 13 THE IMAGE OF OTHERS OF LOFTS AND LATTE What if We Would Not Have Copyright? New Business Models for Cultural BY MIEKE GERRITZEN PAGE 5 BY MAX NATHAN PAGE 14 THE END OF THE CRE ATIVE CLASS CALIFORNIA ÜBERALLES Entrepreneurs 191 BY THEO PLO EG PA G E 6 BY TOBY MILLER PAGE 15
Danny Butt Craft, Context and Method: The Creative Industries and Alternative Models 207
Annelys de Vet Strange 219
Alex Foti The Pink Rebellion of Copenhagen: Danish Youth Revolt and the Radicalisation of the European Creative Underclass 221
Geert Lovink and Andrew Ross Organic Intellectual Work: Interview with Andrew Ross 225
Appendices – Program of MyCreativity conference 239 – Summary of the ‘Arts & Creative Industries’ Debate: MyCreativity mailing list 247 HAVE WE – Wikipedia entry of Creative Industries 253 – Sebastian Olma: On the Creativity of the Creative Industries: Some Reflections 261 BEEN CREATIVE YET? iTUBE.YOUSPACE.WECREATE. List of Contributors 267 ■ BY GEERT LOVINK & NED ROSSITER The Tragedy of the Suits NETWORK CULTURES #RITIQUE SHOULD AIM TO CHANGE POLICIES Conferences on ‘creative industries’ have become a &ROM