Constructing Artistic Integrity

This study explores the concept of artistic integrity. A historical foundation for artistic integrity is laid to provide a context within which eight artists' constructions of the concept can be placed. To date, little research has been conducted to discover how artists feel about artistic integrity, despite the fact that the concept is used frequently in the popular media, and in arts and creative industries policy. Secondary research into European Romanticism, and the growth of the creative industries, traces the development of artistic integrity through to the contemporary New Zealand arts environment. The multifaceted nature of the history of artistic integrity is mirrored in the complexity of the responses from the artists involved in this research. Key themes did emerge, but opinions offered on these themes by the artists were often very different from each other, and occasionally even contradictory. The artists' responses illuminate how differently artistic integrity could be interpreted throughout the creative community and question the validity of current uses and definitions of the concept.