Page 109 - Composing Processes and Artistic Agency

98 Orchestrating different forms of knowledge

Situative knowledge
Body knowledge
Knowledge of work processes

Situative knowledge Situative knowledge
Body knowledge Body knowledge
Knowledge of work processes Knowledge of work processes

Figure 3.1 Artistic practical forms of knowledge

Scholarly knowledge Scholarly knowledge
Formal technical knowledge Formal technical knowledge
Local knowledge Local knowledge

Scholarly knowledge
Formal technical knowledge
Local knowledge
Figure 3.2 Formal propositional forms of knowledge

3.3.1 Artistic practical forms of knowledge
Because of the central role we attribute to experience, we have repeatedly
referred to John Dewey and emphasised, as he does, that past experiences
leave traces and have an impact on the way people cope with present-day tasks.
This form of knowledge is revealed, for example, in the way the composers
organise their work processes. Knowledge of work processes as represented in
Figure 3.1 designates the construction of an evolved competence based on
gradually accumulated, past practical experiences. In other words, knowledge
of work processes points to the manner in which composers tackle certain
tasks, the things to which they pay attention while carrying out actions, how
they anticipate critical situations, and what precautions they take to prevent
problems from becoming virulent and uncontrollable. This results in a famil-
iarity with the task, or a subjective confidence concerning creative challenges.
Here, familiarity and confidence are not primarily meant as psychological
concepts but as a kind of “knowledge by acquaintance” (William James,