Art as a Process of Revision:The Audience and the End Product

In this paper I focus on the artistic process, rather than just its end product. Whether we are talking about literature, music, painting, or drama-interest, judgement and criticism surrounding creative activity generally address only the end product, and not the process of production. One example of an end product would be a radio play that has been edited for broadcast. The broadcast version of the play does not reveal any of the other versions produced by the cast, nor that it is part of a whole process, from which it has been separated. One reason for the general preoccupation with the end product is that it is often the only surviving or perceptible part of the process. Little is known about the earlier stages of that process. In this paper I set out to investigate precisely this little known aspect of creative activity, the process of production, with particular reference to spoken art (such as drama, radio play, film or opera productions). The approach I use is a combination of genetic criticism (critique génétique) and discourse analysis. I present an extract of the work between a director and actors/actresses.