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 Intrinsic is Enough

Contrary to popular belief, the intrinsic is essential. 

It forms our individual and collective compositions, yet in political and economic discussions on the arts and culture, we diminish that which makes us whole. 

As we explored in last week’s post, we are overly reliant on the quantifiable.  We revere that which is separate from ourselves simply because it generates visible results.    Since it is not seen but felt, the intrinsic is considered less significant, or even meaningless, by market forces (and therefore the political sphere).  These beliefs lead many artists and culture bearers to, in their fundraising efforts, clumsily yoke their work to extrinsic benchmarks that can never convey their power and influence. 

What do we search for most ardently in life, if not meaning and feeling?  It is the arts and culture’s rooting in sensation that makes them meaning full. The intrinsic holds the ultimate significance.

After the recent passing of artists David Bowie and Natalie Cole, the discussions that bubbled up had little to do with “the numbers”.  Their art weighted trillions of moments for people across the globe, across generations and across sensibilities.  Bowie and Cole’s lives’ work formed the foundation of billions of stories that, when shared, healed, buoyed and connected their mourning fans – and created new ones posthumously.  The music business may promote extrinsic benefits, but the greatest value of its products is intrinsic. Its current crises may be resolved by an industry-wide deference to this reality.

Management guru Dr. Nancy J. Adler has written often on the arts and leadership in the 21st Century.  In her work, she implores business leaders to uncover beauty, to seek direction from artists if they desire to succeed in ways that benefit the world broadly. Acknowledgment of the intrinsic’s primacy to our fundamental selves and our collective sense of community, will facilitate the development of an economy that is accountable.

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

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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.

Think Like a Poet

If we all begin to think more like poets, contemporary communication will be transformed.

I don’t mean to say that texts should rhyme, nor that Instagram captions should be written in meter.  What I mean is that before writing anything, we should pause briefly to reflect on the moment and choose the right words to convey what we really mean.

The poet is a shape-shifter whose work can be approached as imagery, song, story, performance or even a sort of science (scansion analysis).  Above all, though, the poet’s work is personal – to the poet him or herself and to the reader.  This multiplicity lends itself naturally to the complexities of the modern identity

Poetry is, like say, Facebook, a social media. It records an instant, can spur people to action, bridges vast geographic areas.  Unlike say, Facebook, poetry – even bad poetry – is viscerally evocative. Its power is in the poet’s pause, in the poet’s vocabulary – things that we can cultivate easily.

Perhaps if we thought more like the poet, even our mundane conversations would mean more.

Perhaps if we thought more like the poet, even ugly moments would be infused with a little beauty. Perhaps if we thought more like the poet, if we expanded our sensibilities in similar ways, we would find more reasons to create and edit in our daily lives. 

Perhaps if we thought more like the poet, the weight of our carefully chosen words would bring us light.

Perhaps if we considered our words more carefully before putting them out in the world, we would stop taking for granted that we are not listening to one another.  That we are not listening to ourselves.

Design Thinking: On the Importance of Unity (STEAM)

The concept of the gestalt should be at the forefront of all design thinking.   The gestalt principles acknowledge the importance of a “unified whole” to successful innovation.   Adherence to these principles encourages cohesion and connection, and ultimately the creation of products and services that are, in their usefulness and beauty, designed to elevate the human experience. 

It is often said that we inhabit a connected era, but I believe that these (hyper) links are largely superficial.  Neither our society nor our workforce is unified and, in spite of the myriad methods of communication available, we are fundamentally disconnected.   This disconnect is exacerbated by the artificial threads woven by technologies that exclude the perspectives of the arts and the humanities – fundamentally people-centric perspectives – from business innovation.  

The prioritization of one perspective (STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) has led us into an unhealthy system. Businesses do not operate in a vacuum, and the shortsighted prioritization of STEM skills over others has created an imbalance that, if it is not mediated, may lead to disastrous results.  These skewed ideals have led to a proliferation of content without content: like so many artisanal donuts, its appearance belies its lack of substance.  While the perspectives of the arts and humanities are suppressed, their fruits are emptily replicated to achieve questionable ends.  We require a unified approach to best solve the problems of the present and establish a thriving future.

The elevation of the arts and broad humanities into the contemporary, STEM-dominated dialogue will not only empower us to connect meaningfully, it will help us to solve many of the issues that perplex us.  At last, the arts and humanities are finding allies in STEM culture and businesses, who recognize that systems must be complete to function well.

The triple bottom line is dependent on the health and safety of people and planet, and a unified economy will help us to innovate and advance sustainably.  A workforce which equally incorporates perspectives from the sciences, the arts and the humanities will encourage balance and reciprocity, which can deepen comprehension and propel innovation and creativity in ways that are best for culture, commerce and community.

Adapting the gestalt to our commercial sector will facilitate the plurality of skills and perspectives that will advance the triple bottom line of sustainability.  It will help us to repair the fractures and fortify our futures that, though inevitably imperfect, can be continually improved upon.

WÆRK is rooted in the gestalt, and brings people, ideas and products together in ways that encourage a thriving triple bottom line.  We provide the missing pieces to organizations who understand that the processes of business as usual are incomplete.  We encourage our clients to adopt a new way of working, of building and of thinking, so that they may provide the people who buy their products and services with the experiences they want and need.

A lopsided economy will ultimately collapse.  An economy that is a unified whole of many modes of thought and practices will flourish, by developing understanding in the present to advance sustainably in the future.

Photo by Ingram Publishing/Ingram Publishing / Getty Images

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