IS THERE REALLY A PLACE FOR ART IN MODERN SOCIETY?

"The Blessing", handmade collage by Vivi-Mari Carpelan, copyright 2008

Is art important to everyone, and is there a truly positive attitude towards art within the framework of society? I've been giving some though to some of the prevailing attitudes towards art and creativity in general in modern society.

Firstly, there certainly is a lot of art around! In fact, we're truly saturated with images in modern society. The fact that any images we may want are so readily available, and that we're also bombarded with images that aren't significant to us personally, surely has a negative effect on people's perception of the value of images. Secondly, as people have been made redundant or find themselves out of a job for other reasons, or even on disability allowance, suffering the consequences of the recession and the fast pace of modern living, they often turn to arts and crafts. Authorities usually care very little if people make art while they are living off benefits, as it's generally speaking not regarded as work. There may be the illusion that we have freedom to do what we want because basic needs are met, but does it help if the attitudes within society aren't supportive of creative freedom and nobody wants what you do? Perhaps this is one of the reasons why there is such a great flux of creativity within modern society but not a truly deep and overarching appreciation of it.

I would say that neither creativity nor art is being held in great regard because it's usually not supporting the economy in any significant way. In fact many in the higher ranks of society consider it a unnecessary evil that sucks money. I'm not an economist but it's pretty obvious to a lay person like myself that there is a deep seated attitude within society today that pure labour that creates goods that in turn are easy to sell is still more valuable than anything else. Perhaps the future will see a different attitude, where robots have taken over all the labour and people are being given the blessing to be creative in any way they want. I myself have experienced the kind of pressure authorities put on their citizens in order to force them to perform like marionettes in a predetermined reality show. Unless you have independent means of some kind, you will be subjected to pressure. If society gives you anything, you must give back what society wants from you. And it's probably not going to be a work of art.

We often tend to forget that society consists of real people. Some of them are career minded go getters and others are numb clerks who only work nine-to-five because they don't see any other option. What we can safely assume is that most of them were not encouraged to be creative while they were at school. As long as the school system promotes logic and productivity over intuition and inspiration, attitudes aren't going to change. If the foundation of society isn't supportive of the "deviant personality", then art is not going to be considered a necessity. It's quite obvious that the artists who thrive are the ones who are also go getters and have an entrepreneurial mind (for instance Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst). They make millions because they have the talent to make money, not necessarily because they are artists. The rest of us are paddling against the stream.

When Martin started to work out the details for our artistic enterprise "Wow! Look what I got!", we naturally discussed the possibilty of selling the idea to the general public that anyone can become an art collector. Do people want to be art collectors for very little money? Do people prefer to sustain the myth of art as a luxury product that only the rich can afford? Or do people simply not care about art at all? By asking people to share our project with their friends, we were in fact encouraging them to make a statement, to have a standpoint... While we need money in order to make it all happen, and the fundraising campaing is crucial to the business idea, we still feel that checking out the attitudes towards art is our main objective. Obviously, we can't start a business without a state-of-the-art printing press, which we hoped that in these dire times, we could acquire through the support of many, many members of the public. There are deeper questions at stake. What we really want to know is whether the art that we make actually makes a difference, and what manner of consumption we should expect from the audience. Does the general public want our art in the first place? Is it in any way meaningful to them? Is it at least meaningful to some of them? Is it meaningful as a body of work, or are only single pieces meaningful? And finally, are potential friends of our art willing to commit to paying subscriptions in order to get a print every month? 

We knew that market research is of the essence when you're building up a business, but we didn't have the resources for that. Instead the market research has been built into the project. The crucial bit is whether people feel interested and impressed enough to share the idea with their friends. It's a gamble, but we felt that this idea just had to be tried and tested. If we didn't try this then we'd never know whether an alternative to the typical way of selling art through galleries was an option at all. The campaign is still running so there is still time for reactions from the general public. 

We feel that there may be a lot of creativity about, but I feel that it doesn't necessarily involve many deeper, philosophical musings about the nature of art and life. Why would that be? Well, most people's basic necessities in life may well be met (cf. Maslow's hierarchy of needs), but most people are still struggling to survive. Survival may be a relative terms so for some people it means managing on £ 1200 a year while for other it's £ 40 000... Sums are not of any importance in this respect. What matters is the sense of struggle, the sense of not having enough time or energy for the deeper layers in life. People generally speaking live with a sense of dissatisfaction with life's basic set up, are jaded, and will possibly be paying for a Sky TV subscription each month rather than for any kind of artistic product, let alone a subscription for art. I would love to be proved wrong!

In fact, I would suggest that people are fleeing the deeper questions in life, whether they be religious/spiritual, moral or artistic. From this point of view, it's not about the money, i.e. it doesn't really matter what art costs. In this kind of setting, art is definitely a luxury product that people only pay for because it raises their status within a particular peer group, or because their inner longing for something more soulful becomes strong enough to put them on course for an exhibition of some kind. I would like to think that the soul's yearning will gradually override a lot of the kind of "noise" we are subjected to in today's world... I would like to think that there are already a lot of people out there who feel this yearning and who realise that hanging on Facebook all day or watching X Factor or Eastenders every day is not satisfying a hunger that stems from deep within a human being, on the level of what I would call essential humanity. I like to believe that there are infinite dimensions within us all that call out from the deep, with persistance and pure passion for that which sustains human life through art, culture and other expressions of creativity. This is where art comes from, and also where it goes to. 

WHO IS OPEN FOR COMMUNICATION? IS THERE A PLACE FOR DEEP ART?

FRIDAY, JULY 15, 2011

Vivi-Mari Carpelan: "Bad Communication", abstract digital photo 2010

In this post, I will talk about the doubts I am having regarding the importance of art for a humanity that on the whole is not interested in the deeper layers of life, and how I think that amateurs should be gentile enough make room for those with something to say. 


It is now fashionable to be an artist, and whether one is a professional artist or someone who is not able to go past the level of amateur ship, everyone is fighting for the same position in society. In general, we all crave recognition. We all want to communicate and tell about ourselves. It is an age of individualism - in fact, we may already have reached the peak. The problem is that everyone has something to say but are so busy and often self-preoccupied that they do not have time to listen to others. I think people are becoming more and more overwhelmed by the never-ending flow of information,  it becomes harder and harder even for normal healthy people to filter the information and to make decisions about what is worth to giving attention to. There is a lot of negative stress.

To counteract this, I don't think there is any other solution than to take time to think and consider one's priorities. Firstly, it may be worthwhile asking oneself whether one wants to be self-centered and selfish or compassionate and generous. How should one proceed? You have to decide how you want to express who you are. As for artistic expression, it may be that you need to be really honest about yourself and see if  it might better to keep creative pursuits as a hobby and not enter an already overcrowded market. It is generous to provide space for those who really have something to say and who have the required talent. I know it seems like an impossible task to even decide who is truly a good artist, but see it as a thought experiment. If you do not want to be totally self-absorbed, you must also be able to receive from others; this is an important part of the soul's development. On top of this, you need to be able to support and encourage those who have something important to give. 

"Bla bla bla ... I need a rest," handmade collage 2008

Especially here in the UK, I feel that  one is not being taken seriously if one mingles with amateur artists and exhibits in spaces that you get for free. On the contrary, you have to present a list of all the commercial galleries you have exhibited in, and on top of this you should ideally have a social message and be prepared to work with socially-oriented projects in schools and nursing homes. It's demanding a lot of an artist and if you do not meet all of these external criteria you may receive no grant money, either. To top it all, you need time and effort to market yourself (in practice there are many who elbow their way and it is the extroverts who are getting anywhere), and you will easily be seen as arrogant if you are not very communicative with everyone you come in contact with.

If you use the Internet, generally speaking you get attention only if you give it to others (and in practice it usually means giving energy to groups of mutual admiration or offering bland comments about pictures that are more than mediocre - this type of exchange is often quite useless). It is not always the will that is the problem,  the problem is to be physically able to be deeply creative while managing all these threads. We need help, not demands!

No matter how talented you are, it is not enough if you do not have a lot of money to spend on exhibitions at prominent galleries and energy and interest to engage the body in social projects. I have neither the money nor sufficient health and strength for all this. My husband also feel that there is no place for him because he "just" wants to paint pictures. Yet we have much to say. It's as though we are standing and crying out while nobody hears us. I do not mean that everyone needs to like what we do, but we are serious and tech savvy enough to be able to express what we have on our hearts. I think there should automatically be room for us. Though there is of course the possibility that it is only we who think that our message is of importance. If so, then we might as well just stop trying to reach out and be content to keep creative expression as a hobby.

It's no use trying to communicate with the outside world if nobody wants to listen. I wonder who really is sufficiently coherent, centered and interested to have the receptive faculty for deep and meaningful communication? Who are able to be thoroughly present for this to be possible, and not divided and distracted by the fatal combination of "stress and entertainment"?  Who even has curiosity that goes beyond the old and ingrained thinking? Currently, I am quite disillusioned. However, I invite others for discussion if there is anyone out there who wants to chat about art and the meaning of life.

"Hallååå ..?" copyright 1998