Creative Practice: Investigating the Development of Inter-disciplinary Collaboration in the Creative Arts

This paper examines the process of an action research project to create a multi-campus inter-disciplinary collaborative culture across a number of creative arts faculties at Griffith University in Queensland, Australia. Since 2005, students and staff from the areas of Film Production and Animation at Griffith Film School (GFS), and Music Technology and Composition at Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University (QCGU), have been working to integrate creative practice and artistic outputs in order to foster new multi-platform exegetical artworks. A central goal is to reflect professional communities where the responsibility for knowledge creation is shared or socially constructed among the members rather than just delivered to students by a lecturer. With a total cohort of around 120 students across two campuses, and a sophisticated network of cutting edge technologies and software, the human interactions and supporting technologies are investigated and analysed. This paper includes a brief description of process, project development, successes and shortcomings, discussing how some of these challenges have been met and how they may be taken forward in the future. Outlined within the paper are the inherent opportunities within such collaborations that enable students to develop a deeper understanding of relevant art practice, as well as the outcomes from a focus on the integration of professional traits into the practical aspects of the learning landscape.