Jun Hu

-1: Subtractive Creativity of Art and its Pedagogy in AI Era

Jun Hu – HangZhou Normal University, China

Abstract:

Laozi wrote 2500 years ago: “To learn is to increase (what is known) day by day; To study Tao is to subtract (what is known) day by day. Subtract it and again subtract it, till one arrives at a point of inoperation. Having arrived at this point of inoperation, there is all the operative inoperation that one can operate.” In this quote, Laozi has made a distinction on two different ways of knowledge acquisition. However, “to increase” has been a common sense in pedagogical study, but “to subtract” is not, and has been neglected. In the era of AI, “to increase” is no longer human vantage, thus it is all the more necessary that we revive “to subtract” as an alternative knowledge process, which should be critical to creativity that opens up solutions to emerging problem. With course examples of “subtractive creativity”, such as blind print-making, unpronounceable text writing, mosaic art making as speechless social skill training for the autistic, it is argued that to teach “subtractive creativity,” an alternative pedagogy is necessary, which is the “studious drift”, in comparison to “summitting” and “browsing” (Hyland & Lewis, 2022).