Weekly Links
“This change puts people at the center of the equation, where they belong. It acknowledges that companies don’t have a purpose; they aren’t innovative; they don’t even exist — people do.”
This week, our interest was piqued by a watercolorist, a call-to-action for workforce change and a poet's meditations on remembrance:
This NEA interview with painter Debra Cartwright illustrates the arts' influence on social evolution, and the reality that a day job doesn’t negate one’s identity as an artist
We are enthusiastic about Forte Labs’ People-Centric Equation for Modern Work
This poem by Joy Harjo inspires our exploration of familiar territories
Next: Lessons From the Past For a Thriving, Art Full Future
Online and off millions of voices are joined in a dirge lamenting the decline of street culture, accessible culture, in-your-face culture, immediate culture in North America’s metropolises. The New York City of the recent past is particularly prone to idolatry of this sort.
“Grittiness” is a word that’s usually thrown around, to articulate the appeal of the metropolis in the 70s, 80s and 90s. But it’s not grit that makes the cultural artifacts of those eras so powerful. It’s that cultural expression was elemental, unencumbered by the superficial forces of branding that package and sell superficial notions of coolness. We’ve allowed culture to be broken down into benign “content”. The culture wars have been waged for over 20 years, and only now do we seem to be aware of what was lost.
I think it’s worth examining some of the forces that nurtured a fecund arts and culture sector at the close of the 20th Century, to empower it once again.
PUBLIC FUNDING
Federal mechanisms for funding the arts and culture were considerably more robust than they are now, which meant that reliance on private or corporate donors was significantly less. In the absence of these public resources, while rallying the government for more support, the arts and culture sector must look beyond the limiting resources that come from private funds and explore alternate means of generative fundraising.
DEPTH OVER SHEEN
Although there has always been posturing in art, a lot of the creation (and much of the consumption) of art today is distinctly self-serving. Too many people are enthralled by the reflected surface sheen that can be derived from associations with the arts and culture, instead of allowing their worlds to be expanded by the examination of art work. Concerted shift toward a focus on communication and the varied iterations of community can counteract the self-serving behavior that stifles the arts.
AFFORDABLE LIVING/WORK SPACES
Arguably the most powerful force that once enabled the arts and culture to flourish was the affordability of urban spaces, which can be attributed to a number of forces – many of which stretched the limits of human rights to the brink. Today, the idea of the cosmopolitan dream vs the suburban nightmare pervades popular culture. Suburbs and exurbs are rampant with empty spaces that may represent opportunities for creative placemaking. Perhaps the abandoned office parks can become bastions of creativity and expression, where artists, culture bearers and communities unite to bring what we so love about the past into the present.
The future is in our hands. Instead of ringing them over what’s missing, let’s create the experiences we desire.
Image by Danny Lyons via Business Insider
The Truth About Datastan
We are in a state in which data reigns supreme. In “Datastan” (to use a term coined by the brilliant Arlene Goldbard) data is king and queen, though the kingdom is propped up by falsehoods. This misinformation prevents the widespread development of generative, empathetic commerce, inhibits culture and strains community cohesion.
So, what’s the antidote? Many of us believe it’s the arts.
The inclusion of artistic perspectives in public and private sector discourse could help us to solve our most pressing issues, on both individual and societal levels, and create the future our children and grandchildren deserve. But first, we need to drop the following delusions about Datastan:
Data is Objective / Reveals the Truth
Human intervention, even if passive, is required to make sense of data. Therefore ambiguity is diffused throughout the processes of data quantification, because it is shaped by each interpreter’s experiences. The “data as objectivity as truth” perspective is rife with flaws, but it illustrates that there is validity in subjectivity. Acknowledgement of imperfection leads the way toward authenticity, and it is the inclusion of the artist’s intuitive perspective that wholly illuminates human truths.
Numbers Provide the Purest Evidence
Numbers are a form of evidence, but not the only form. Evidence in its most potent form cannot be quantified. It’s the provenance of memory, sensation, emotion. It’s the provenance of the artist. The storyteller has just as much skill, if not more, than the scientist when it comes to deciphering human realities and laying them at our feet for inspection.
Data is Hard (and Therefore Reliable). The Arts are Soft (and Therefore Unreliable).
The idea that because something is "hard", that because it is scientific or technical it epitomizes truth is short-sighted and incorrect. That which is hard may be strong, but it also acts as a barrier, may be brittle, and is inflexible, rigid and stiff. That which is soft can also be very strong, and is permeable, adaptable, enjoyable and pliable. There is truth in ambiguity. Artists' work veraciously acknowledges the universal ambiguity of our individual human experiences. So you see, when important decisions are being made, there are considerable advantages to going soft.
The reality is that everything humans touch is open to human interpretation. It only makes sense that human information, or information that affects humans and the world we inhabit, should be viewed through human-focused lenses. It is the artistic perspective that courageously retains clarity of vision, it’s the artist who hones intuitiveness, it’s the artist who is able to jump levels to see many truths at once, it’s the artist’s perspective that adds significance to fact.
Artists Will Hold The Most Important Design Jobs of the Future
Earlier this week, Fast Company published predictions for The Most Important Design Jobs of the Future. Designers from iconic organizations identified 18 jobs that will develop in the years to come. Among them, there are at least four that require the presence of artistic perspectives and skills: Conductor, Cybernetic Director, Fusionist and Interventionist. All of these roles require the ability to cultivate cross-disciplinary understanding, bridge seemingly disparate forces, communicate the complex with simplicity and perceive all that is essential – in the culture, not just in the marketplace.
Artists* retain a wholeness of perspective that eludes those in most other disciplines. Designers and architects work in similarly holistic ways, but there is a remove at which much of their work holds humanity. Though function is always a priority, feeling is not necessarily so.
Artists’ exploration of emotion, of universal, fundamental feelings will protect us – by asserting the primacy of humanity and the world around us – as technological advancement hurtles forward. Without nature there is nothing.
Many emergent creative people, especially those who identify as artists, limit themselves by crafting professional identities that are tethered exclusively to their crafts. But it’s through embracing their full selves that the spectrum of their talents can be revealed. This will have not only positive implications for the creation of art, but the business community as well.
The future is always unknown, but we can work toward ensuring one that is beautiful and sustainable. Conductors, Cybernetic Directors, Fusionists and Interventionists, who are also artists, will help us to get there.
*Our definition of "artist" is liberal and includes visual artists, filmmakers, performing artists, literary artists, multimedia artists, digital artists, artisans, craftspeople and many more.
Game Changers: BRIC House
We’re inspired by BRIC House in Brooklyn, New York. It provides a home for anyone on the creative hustle: from citizen artists to professionals at all stages of their careers. BRIC House’s open door policy encourages neighbors to drop-in and artists to take up residency, and offers the community a platform for inspiration and innovation.
Photo credit: Thomas Leeser
Friday Food for Thought
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