I have to admit I felt the same ostracism when I left the theatre.
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-----Original Message-----
From: Ken Friedman <[log in to unmask]>
Sender: "Aesthetics, Creativity, and Organisations Research Network"
<[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, 20 Apr 2016 19:34:17
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Ken Friedman <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Harsh critics of embodied leadership?
Dear All,
The question of identity is profound. It's not simply a matter of whether being known as an artist is problematic in the world of the academic disciplines -- though it is.
What's interesting is the degree to which artists, composers, and the rest look down on those of us who take on an identity outside art. Long ago, when I started my life in Norway, I was an artist, and artists treated me as a member of their community. They were puzzled about the fact that I gave up New York for Oslo, but Fluxus people always made odd choices.
When I accepted a post at the Norwegian School of Management, it was as though I had gone over to the dark side in a Star Wars episode. People stopped talking to me. When an artist from Poland I had known for twenty years began teaching in Oslo, he invited me for coffee. Another artist joined us. When the other artist found out what I did for a living, he gave me a look of utter disdain, and proclaimed, "You're not an artist. If you want to do something for art, you should open a gallery to help real artists." My Polish colleague never spoke with me again, either.
While I could say more, it would simply be another slice of the layer cake.
One of my favorite web sites is that of Ellen Langer, the psychologist who has done so much with mindfulness. Langer is also an artist. Wonderful work ... I don't know how (or whether) she deals with the identity question, but I'm not sure that it matters, at least not to her
www.ellenlanger.com
Yours,
Ken Friedman
Sent from my iPad
> On 20 Apr 2016, at 15:55, Taylor, Steven S. <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> I think identity is a tricky issue, and one that I have little control
> over. When I dip into the art world, I am generally identified by others
> as an academic. In the academic world, some identify me as an artist (or
> perhaps a second-rate playwright). But my general contractor identifies me
> as the home owner. And I identity myself as a tourist, trying to enjoy and
> make sense of this strange world I am visiting.
--
> On 4/20/16, 3:22 AM, "Aesthetics, Creativity, and Organisations Research
> Network on behalf of Hatch, Mary Jo (mjh9d)" <[log in to unmask] on
> behalf of [log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> Dear all,
>>
>> I too have been listening in for some time. On this new topic of artist
>> or academic I have a few thoughts based on my personal experiences that
>> might be of interest to some.
>>
>> I have been for the most part serial in my commitments to artistic and
>> academic pursuits. First I studied to be an artist (architect then
>> poet/writer), then became an academic researcher (and writer) but only
>> after working in a marketing job and doing an MBA in finance. Now I am
>> now pursuing a second career as an artist (oil painter this time). The
>> red thread academically was that my research always had an aesthetic
>> interest for me (organizational architecture, managerial humor, jazz as a
>> metaphor for organizing, the development of genres of painting as a
>> source of insight into how organization theorizing changes over time). So
>> in a way I guess I wasn't that serial, having mixed my research with my
>> artistic interests and imagination.
>>
>> On reflection, however, and as someone who worked (academically) on
>> organizational culture and identity as well as branding issues, I propose
>> the following:
>>
>> 1) that culturally artists and academics typically diverge considerably,
>> 2) identify is tough to maintain in an in-between (liminal?) state, at
>> least I find my artistic identity easily destroyed by my academic one
>> 3) as far as branding is concerned, I can so only one reason why anybody
>> would want to brand themselves an academic artist (to get or keep their
>> job in a university), though an artistic academic has quite a nice ring
>> to it
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Mary Jo
>>
>> Mary Jo Hatch
>> C. Coleman McGehee Eminent Scholars Research Professor of Banking and
>> Commerce, Emerita, University of Virginia
>> Visiting Professor, IEDC Bled School of Management, Slovenia
>> International Research Fellow, Centre for Corporate Reputation, Said
>> Business School, Oxford University
--
>> On Wed, 20 Apr 2016 09:58:56 +1000, Ralph Kerle
>> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Aacorners,
>>>
>>> I have followed this conversation with really great interest. It has
>>> been most informative. As I was kayaking this morning on Sydney's Middle
>>> Harbour practising my photographic art, a thought bubble popped into my
>>> consciousness.
>>>
>>> Can an artist be an academic?
>>>
>>> Can an academic be an artist?
>>>
>>> I couldn't find an answer and seek this august bodies thoughts.
>>>
>>> Kind regards,
>>>
>>> Ralph
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