Abstract
In this doctoral research programme, I propose a set of three thematic research projects to investigate the influence of algorithmic curation on artists’ creative processes and viewers’ subsequent creative perception. In the context of the burgeoning “creator economy,” I first review evidence of algorithmic impact on creator’s outputs. Considering the role of process in creative output evaluation, I bring an embodied, situated perspective to online creativity. Based on these discussions, I propose three research streams: first, I tease apart the consid-eration of process from the consideration of embodiment, asking how each (process & embodiment) influence creative perception in the context of algo-rithm-made versus human-made art. In this workstream, I also consider the im-pact of the art viewer’s embodiment (physical versus digital). Next, I construct an algorithmically-curated website of visual images which controls information about the artist, their process, and their output, using the website as an experi-mental sandbox to interrogate the role of these variables in online creative per-ception. Finally, I supplement these findings through ethnography with artists and curators, examining the role of algorithmic considerations in their process. Simultaneously, I prompt artists to imagine the possibility of a co-designed algo-rithm that prioritizes creativity over existing metrics for engagement.