Philosophical conundrum

[Johnnz]

Hi all,
Please allow me to wax a little philosophically... Well, I take it that if you keep reading you have indeed consented :D...

I'm really just wondering what others think about the question of when an object made by us in a workshop is really "created". Perhaps it all depends on definitions, but I am a little perplexed by this question I have considered lately, of when exactly it is that we actually create something.

Not having done much designing for a while I had a mindset that the creation of something is the sum of all the work done - the drilling of individual holes, cutting of lengths, gluing etc. Then, after using a well known and free computer 3D design program recently to accurately design and render some projects, I realized that what I eventually finished building had, in many ways, already been created in my mind and embodied in the plans & working drawings I prepared before I had even started setting tools to wood and metal.

Even though I haven't answered my own question, it at least makes me realise the importance of making sure that I am happy with the form and appearance of my plan - proportions etc. Assuming of course that one sticks to the plan, but for a complex object (i.e. my last project involved compound angles) that is generally rather necessary.

I'm really only curious. I haven't got any ulterior motives for posting such a thread. I wonder about other things on occasions too such as who exactly gets the interest I pay from time to time on my credit card, etc. etc. ...

[artme]

Interesting points you raise John.

Perhaps we should be looking at the definitions of CREATE and MAKE.

For me creation begins in the mind and the making is done with the physical powers at our disposal.

If you make something from another person's plan I don't really think that is creative in the highest sense of the meaning.

[Rookie]

To be pragmatic, nearly every definition of "create" that I look up involves words like "bring into being", "to cause to come into existence", or "to give rise to or produce".

But all those terms don't define where it starts. I prefer to think that the act of bringing into being, or causing to come into existence, must start in the mind. So would my father, a landscape artist and teacher of many years. He used to say he drew the creations of others. (Never did say who "others" were though. Probably a whole "other" discussion)

So if you make something from someone else's plan, I don't think you create it. I think you just make it or build it.

Just MHO

[underfoot]

Yep, what Rookie said.

if it didn't exist..... then it does.....it's been created.
This process always starts with the concept
If it is someone elses idea and you make it...they are the designer and you are the maker.
the combination of designer + maker = creator

however..I could be wrong :rolleyes: