Rewriting the Space of the Possible Recursive Creativity as Object–Space Coevolution

Creativity is ordinarily assessed through the novelty and value of an output. This article develops a cumulative theoretical extension in which recursive creativity is defined as a traceable relation between produced objects and the design space that governs their generation, evaluation, and reproduction. A creative system is represented as St = ⟨Vt, Et, Rt⟩ (variation, evaluation, reproduction), with evolution St+1 = Φt(St, Ot, Xt). The framework distinguishes degree-0 activity within a substantively fixed space, degree-1 transformation of V, E, or R, and degree-2 transformation of the rule Φ by which the space is itself transformed, under explicit safeguards against self-validation and unbounded meta-regression. It introduces five proposed diagnostics: effective diversity or coverage (H), external evaluative independence (εE), reproductive resistance (μR), correctability (K), and maturity (M). The theory is operationalized for artificial-intelligence retraining through a provenance-based Recursive Creativity Record (RCR), which makes explicit how outputs become evidence that changes training procedures, evaluation criteria, or reproduction conditions. Within the General Theory of Technology, recursive creativity is formulated as Ti → Cr → Tj, a mechanism of technogenesis. Eight propositions with falsification conditions and a minimum three-condition empirical design are stated. The article does not claim empirical validation; its contribution is a disciplined, auditable architecture linking object–space coevolution, second-order design, technological reproduction, and AI retraining.