ABOUT THE FOUNDER

Alex is a dedicated educator with a robust foundation in both music and information technology. Having been a classically trained pianist since the age of five, Alex achieved distinction (top 5%) in the AMEB Associate Diploma in Music Australia in 2006, at the age of seventeen. In 2015, he successfully completed a Bachelor of Education with a minor in Music and Information Technology at Griffith University, earning the university's Award for Academic Excellence on two occasions.

As a registered teacher since 2015, Alex has garnered valuable experience teaching across a variety of subject areas in both primary and secondary schools throughout the Greater Brisbane area. Currently, he is working as a Systems Administrator at a prominent Registered Training Organisation within the Healthcare sector. Feel free to check out Alex's current CV for more details.

Apart from his passion for teaching at Permuted Studios, Alex applies his expertise to support small businesses through technology consultancy services. If you're interested to explore how Alex can elevate the efficiency of your small business operations, please click here!

IN THE NAME OF CREATIVITY: PERMUTED STUDIOS UNMASKED

The name Permuted Studios is a reflection upon the idea that everything in existence is a permutation or subset-permutation of a singular source of truth. To illustrate, consider the following:

• An individual person is a permutation of approximately seven octillion (7 x 10²⁷) atoms that make up the average human body.
• English literature are permutations of letters from the ISO Latin alphabet and so it is theoretically possible to generate an accurate historical text prior to those events transpiring (akin to the Infinite Monkey Theorem).
• All computer programs are ultimately permutations of 0’s and 1’s. As an example, have a look at this "Hello World!" webpage.

This perspective holds profound significance when contemplating the nature of creativity. Creativity is ultimately an exploratory journey of discovery rather than an act of creation. Nothing is truly original, as every conceivable expression already exists as a permutation woven into the fabric of existence.

MUSICAL COMPOSITION

Consider this a musical composition. Let’s take the notes C, D, and E, along with a moment of silence denoted by the letter Z, each assigned a quarter-beat (crotchet) in duration. By calculating the permutations of C, D, E, and Z we uncover 65,536 unique two-bars-of-common-time melodies. Within this vast array lie familiar openings to well-known tunes such as:

• Au Clair De La Lune (C C C D E Z D Z)
• Frère Jacques (C D E C C D E C)
• Go Tell Aunt Rhody (E Z E D C Z C Z)
• Hot Cross Buns (E Z D Z C Z Z Z)
• Mary Had A Little Lamb (E D C D E E E Z)
• Rain Is Falling Down (E E D D C Z Z Z)

And many more! Intriguingly still is the potential for undiscovered openings to future popular melodies, waiting to be embraced by our collective human consciousness.

Such a perspective on musical composition alleviates the pressure often tied to the notion that creativity demands the generation of entirely new ideas. Instead, it encourages individuals to embark on a journey of exploration and discovery. Similar to an archaeologist acquiring the necessary tools and skills to uncover ancient artifacts, this perspective recognises that the tools and skills to unearth pre-existing creative expressions can be learned and cultivated. It emphasises that creativity is not an exclusive, innate talent reserved for a select few but rather a skill that can be acquired, honed, and refined over time.

CORE TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

Permuted Studios aims to nurture capacities and mindsets conducive to fostering students’ creativity through our core teaching philosophy:

1. Inspiring Possibilities: By increasing students’ awareness of what is possible, students develop motivation, become inspired, and find their own purpose and meaning in their learning experiences. Students are led into the world of possibilities through scaffolded learning experiences that project students into their Zone of Proximal Development, ongoing exposure to and engagement with a diversity of ideas and creations from other people within a variety of disciplines, and exploring the astounding implications and applications of the Infinite Monkey Theorem.
2. Developing Technical Capacities: Technical capacities provide the medium through which students are able to engage with discovered possibilities and manifest consequential creations and interpretations into shareable products. These capacities encompass practical and theoretical skills and knowledge pertaining not only to music but also across a variety of other disciplines including literature, science and technology. Permuted Studios is guided by established teaching and learning frameworks, incorporating TPACK, SAMR, and Bloom's Taxonomy. This approach ensures a comprehensive process in fostering the development of students' technical capacities.
3. Sharing Creations and Interpretations: Sharing creations and interpretations instigates a positive feedback cycle whereby products produced and presented by students invoke responses from viewing audiences. Audience responses could involve anything from direct feedback to inspired new works by other creators and producers. Students are able to draw upon feedback to help inform ongoing development of their capacities as artists and even find inspiration for new possibilities. It is important to note that emphasis is placed on the necessity of utilising feedback mechanisms as a constructive tool to assist in the development and enhancement of their creative confidence and as a source of further inspiration.

LOGO DESIGN

It’s worth noting that the logo of Permuted Studios incorporates the three subtractive primary colours:

• Cyan [hex #00FFFF / rgb(0,255,255)]
• Magenta [hex #FF00FF / rgb(255,0,255)]
• Yellow [hex #FFFF00 / rgb(255,255,0)]

Each colour code is a permutation of ‘FF’ and ‘00’ or ‘255’ and ‘0’. This design choice visually underscores the interconnected nature of existence, where everything is a permutation or subset-permutation of a fundamental truth.

IN A NUTSHELL

Permuted Studios is founded on the philosophy that perceives creativity as the exploration and discovery of existing expressions. This guiding principle shapes its teaching approach, inspiring possibilities, developing technical abilities, and facilitating the sharing of creations. The logo, featuring subtractive primary colors representing permutations, invites individuals on a transformative journey, acknowledging creativity as an acquirable skill.