The driving force in artistic creation: From idea to object in wood

Abstract

Introduction: This article presents the theoretical, methodological, and practical foundations of a new pedagogical approach to teaching design in the Arts and Humanities: the driving motive as the narrative genesis of the creative process. Based on the identification of a real need related to environmental impact—the lack of trash cans in the university environment—a methodological sequence grounded in projective research was designed and implemented. Through this sequence, a group of students translated an initial concern into a tangible object with aesthetic intent: an artistic trash can crafted from wood. Materials and methods: The process employed Gestalt theory (law of proximity and closure) to generate a symbolic, emotionally resonant, and formally coherent product. Results and discussion: The results show that narrative, when incorporated as a preliminary stage to construction, enhances aesthetic freedom, creative heuristics, and the formal configuration of the object, creating a tool that can be replicated by artists and designers. Conclusions: Ultimately, this research invites us to reimagine the designer as a "weaver" of social processes. The guiding principle allows the pedagogy of design to start from listening to the story that the object seeks to tell, balancing beauty with utility in a transformative process.