Hi all:

Here's a perspective from the education community:

The organization of our school exclusively uses teachers who are also
"specialists" in the arts (ie, they ARE practicing artists).  We work in
collaborative "pods" to plan our educational program for various age groups.
The collaboration is not always easy, as each teacher-artist has their own
ideas and projects that they want to pursue.  This has created significant
tension, which in the end is actually a good thing.  The cement and the
commitment that keeps the teacher-artists together is the fact that our
school is unique in our community, and that we all are passionate about the
arts.  If they were to go to another school, the support/passion for the
arts would not necessarily be there, and they might experience isolation and
resistance to their ideas.

Like Phillipe, my job is to try to support/manage this collaborative
process, allowing the teacher-artists to do their thing together without
killing each other.  What is most interesting to watch is the different
emotional natures and collaborative skills from artists in various
disciplines (dance, drama, visual art, music).  I don't dare stereotype, but
there are some patterns...

Is there value, then, in creating organizational units of workers who are
themselves artists, to forge their own definitions of collaboration and
social creativity within their organizational framework?  To get to this
point of skilled artist-workers would mean, of course, an emphasis on
liberal and fine arts in all levels of education: primary, secondary,
tertiary, and grad school.  Every doctor should also be a practicing
dancer/musician; every CEO a practicing painter/sculptor; every lawyer an
actor.....(if they aren't already...)


John

John Churchley
Principal
Beattie School of the Arts
492 McGill Road
Kamloops BC V2C 1M3
Ph: (250) 374-0608
Fax: (250) 374-4351





-----Original Message-----
From: Aesthetics, Creativity, and Organisations Research Network
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of philippe mairesse
Sent: October 31, 2005 9:22 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Commitment and social creativity


Dear  Ken, John, Jürgen, and all Aacorners, who happened to read this
stream:

First thank you all for these fruitful inputs !

As Ken wrote, it will take me some more time to be able to tell more
(clever) things on the subject... ;-)

About the "weakness" and "pathology" of artists, my point is slightly
different : having to manage collaborative relationships among artists
for now five years...I know a bit about what you call "pathological
reactions"...But the creativity and the commitment to the projects
being strong and efficient, I came to a different conclusion : rather
than criticizing this systematic avoiding of asked commitment, I tend
to analyse it in term of responsibility (ability to response). The
more powerful responses being given to questions that you ask yourself
to yourself; and artists having to develop this strange skill in order
to create their art (that no one never asked for). So couldn't it be
the begining of an understanding of commitment and trust in new
terms : we could derivate from the "pathological2 artistic behavior
(and highly...creative by definition)some "rules" like : "don't ask
for a commitment that you want to get, implement instead a
collaborative structure of a kind that avoid any demand for
commitment"....them you'll get ther strongest commitment you'd ever
dream of ...Strange and odd? but what allows artists to collaborate
AND feel free of any intrusion within their sanctified privacy (!!!)
might be a deep shared organisation of inner capacities to create,
innovate, collaborate, with joy...????or not???

People who know me will recognize my old battle horses, as we say in
french...
We also say : fighting mills, refering to Don Qujote.... ;-)))

cheers u all
philippe

> Dear Ken,
>
> I am so glad to hear your thoughts on the question of commitment
around
> creative activities.  The exchange with Philippe and Jürgen has
elicited
> many of the shades and shadows of my own experience as a creator and
> collaborator.  Much rang true, but your particular thoughts around
> commitment, empathy and trust sounded the deepest resonance for me
both in
> terms of what we do within our creative team and what we do for
other
> organizations/corporations on commission or part of project
assignments.
>
> The relationships within our creative team have always felt primary
and can
> surely energize or deflate most any assignment.  Of couese, the
relationship
> with the client also plays itself out powerfully.  I am very
fortunate to
> work within a tremendously positive, deeply empathetic creative
team.  It is
> one of the great joys of my life.  Commitment is there because love
and
> trust and joy are there.  Client relationships can and do fall
anywhere in
> the spectrum and building trust is definitely the name of the game.
There's
> no side-stepping integrity and authenticity in these relationships.
>
> But I think there is another factor which can turn the heat up on a
creative
> team's commitment to a project and that's the inherent joy in the
work or
> the special nature of a particular topic/project: the theefold
opportunity
> to immerse ourselves in a subject that fascinates or inspires us, to
create
> together and then to share that creation importantly with others --
> importantly because, perhaps, it holds the possibility of insight,
joy or
> transformation for someone else.   Creating a special event for the
fire and
> rescue crews at Ground Zero elicited immediate and unquestioned
commitment
> from our team.  But commitment also soared in a project we did for a
major
> commercial coffee company.  We were treated respectfully and paid
well, but
> the key here was our particular topic: "servant leadership".
Immersion in
> this topic opened doors for us that connected us creatively with our
deepest
> values.  We were able to merge creative passion with passion for
social and
> personal transformation.
>
> We all have observed the "pathologies" that mingle with the
mindframes of
> independence and freedom -- among creative types and a dozen other
types
> too.  They're out there and often loom large.  But, as you say,
that's not
> health and that's not a beacon to move toward.  Trust, empathy and
love are.
> And whether a person yields to the pathologies or chooses a
healthier
> alternative, seems to me less a function of our artistic natures,
than our
> spiritual natures and simple maturity.
>
> I look forward to more discussion.  Best regards.
>
> John
>
> John J. Cimino, Jr.
> President & CEO
> Creative Leaps International
> The Learning Arts
> Icarus Musicworks
> Associated Solo Artists, Inc.
> 88 Hardscrabble Road
> Chester, NY 10918
> 845-469-7254 0ffice
> 845-216-0607 Cell
>
> In our world, the arts are no longer some parallel experience
> you have along the way,but rather a powerful source of insight and
> transformation
> feeding directly into the thinking, feeling and acting of daily life
> -full of possibility, truth and optimism.    John Cimino
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ken Friedman" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Monday, October 31, 2005 1:55 AM
> Subject: Commitment and social creativity
>
>
> > Dear Philippe and Jürgen,
> >
> > Thanks for your thoughts. I have puzzled on this for many years.
It's
> > clear that this phenomenon describes the actual behavior of
artists. What
> > is less clear to me is that this should be so. I'm not
asking "why" this
> > is so. I know why it is so. I am asking, rather, whether it is
necessarily
> > so. I do not believe that this kind of behavior is necessarily an
aspect
> > of creativity or artistry.
> >
> > One of the interesting research streams for a group such as AACORN
> > involves asking what kinds of systems can function as robust
artistic
> > networks. So far, I have managed to identify more questions than
answers.
> >
> > This is an important issue for artists who hope to generate social
change,
> > to influence organizations, or to function in expanded frames of
art that
> > transcends the boundaries of a specific physical work. It is also
> > significant for artists who hope to develop or work in
organizations --
> > nonprofit organizations and art organizations as well as
businesses. This
> > applies to most artists who do not inherit wealth or have a
generous and
> > undemanding patron.
> >
> > I was wrestling with the issue again in a chapter for a recent
book from
> > MIT Press titled _At A Distance: Precursors to Internet Art and
Activism_.
> > For that chapter, I borrowed a line from Adam Smith to write
about "The
> > wealth and poverty of networks."
> >
> > It seems to me that refusing commitment as a conditioned reaction
does not
> > demonstrate personal independence or artistic freedom. As a
conditioned
> > reaction, refusing to accept any commitment simply because one is
> > requested to make a commitment is a pathological symptom. I'm
leaving for
> > Taiwan in a couple of hours, so I will have to think on this for a
while
> > before posting again. My intuition, however, is to say that there
must be
> > some form of healthy commitment that involves the right balance of
social
> > cohesion and personal freedom.
> >
> > Think about some of the great liberation movements of the 20th
century --
> > Hind Swaraj and satyagraha in India, the American civil rights
movement,
> > the anti-war movement that finally ended the Viet Nam War, the
Velvet
> > Revolution in Czechoslovakia, Solidarity in Poland, the anti-
apartheid
> > struggle in South Africa. They worked because human beings asked
for
> > commitment and other human beings responded by committing
themselves.
> >
> > These movements involved social artistry and social creativity,
not
> > entirely in the direction that we think of when we speak of "art,"
but
> > very much in the direction we hope for when artists move toward
similar
> > kinds of goals. Consider, for example, Joseph Beuys's movement for
direct
> > democracy or the Free International University. The directions
were
> > similar, but these artistic networks functioned without
commitment, and
> > failed, therefore, to achieve their stated goals.
> >
> > As social sculpture, I'd have a hard time arguing that the
movement for
> > direct democracy was more successful than Solidarity in Poland or
SNCC
> > (the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee) in Alabama. In
contrast,
> > I have observed significantly higher levels of organizational
pathology in
> > art organizations than in creative social organizations.
> >
> > The evidence of organizational learning suggests that commitment,
empathy,
> > and trust have a great deal to do with creativity. If this is so,
it
> > follows that refusing commitment is not a necessary condition of
artistic
> > creativity, but a factor that inhibits creativity in some
circumstances
> > and defeats the possibility of artistic achievement in others.
> >
> > Much to think about here.
> >
> > Yours,
> >
> > Ken
> >
> >
> >
> > Philippe Mairesse wrote:
> >
> > Ken,
> > It works!
> > and I must say that receiving, as a test, such a beautiful thing
as this
> > catalogue-artwork of yours... is great!
> >
> > I loved your comments about the strength-weakness of networks...it
> > reactivated my thoughts about commitment and volunteering, as seen
in art
> > activities: my observation is that artists commit themselves only
when
> > they
> > are totally free of any commitment...it could explain the no-feed
back you
> > got : since people were ASKED to return the books... they precisely
> > didn't...The difficulty is : how to get what you want without
asking for
> > it.
> > This seems to be a necessary condition for collaborative working in
> > art...and maybe everywhere else (love)
> > (breeding)(teaching)(caring)(living)(dying?)
> >
> > --
> >
> > Jürgen Bergmann wrote:
> >
> > Hi Philippe,
> > you got it!
> > This is exactly the reason
> > why it is so difficult
> > to realise real artwork
> > within the business context.
> >
> > The result is in general
> > nothing else as follows:
> >
> > " Le projet sera d'un caractère unique à travers un projet d'art
> > exceptionnel que réaliseront des artistes de renommé. En
collaboration
> > étroite avec les architectes, les paysagistes et les maîtres
d'ouvrage
> > l'aménagement prendra un aspect sans pareil."
> >
> > This kind of artistic commitment
> > is not soustainable
> > and dilutes conscience
> > in commercial opportunism.
> >
> > The lack of futur
> > now
> > is the decadence
> > of a value system
> > without values.
> >
>
>

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