Dear All



In 2010 I have been in touch with some of you regarding my book about "Wirtschaftsästhetik" (Gabler Publishers: May 2011). It is in German and gives on overview of Organizational Aesthetics, with an emphasis on national practice, the subtitle being: "How companies use art as an instrument and inspiration". The book aims to better establish the field in the German research context, since I would want to secure a larger national research grant following my current maternity leave. 

As you know, in Germany there are promising new research projects, e.g. on arts-based interventions from the WZB, there are works and publications by artists like Henrik Schrat and others, there are new initiatives at Zeppelin University, and extant works on theatre in organizations - but there is still a lot of research to do.



I am writing because I was wondering what you think about the ROLE OF ARTISTS which do NOT work WITH organizations, but decided to do "artistic interventions" WITHOUT BEING ASKED.



Do people feel that this should be part of the Organizational Aesthetics "field"? 



So far, I have included chapters about

1 Theory & Methods

2 Aesthetic Phenomena (aesthetic and emotional labour, products & design, architecture)

3 Metaphors (manager as an artist, music: orchestra & jazz, theatre, storytelling)

4 Arts-based interventions (paintings, theatre, poetry, literature, music, sculpture and symbolic methods)

5 Artists' Resistance



- I did not find literature about "dance" as an arts-based intervention (I only cited one book, Denhardt&D. 2005, and spoke to Katrin Kolo)



- and I have not yet read about suggestions to include "Artistic Resistance", and did not find much literature about such interventions



I realized that not only organizations use art, but artists are increasingly dealing with business issues and are putting trends of economic aestheticization (such as theatrical environments, emotional labour, storytelling, etc.) at the centre of their work.



-You will probably know Reverend Billy and the Church of Life after Shopping Gospel Choir who, with semi-ironic preacher performances, invade Starbuck branches and Disney stores, criticizing them as "theatrical environments" which make forget about exploitation and unfair trading practices.

-There is another example from Berlin: Rimini Protokoll, a group of theatre directors, used Daimler’s 2009 Annual General Meeting as a ready-made and constructs it as a theatre play entitled "Hauptversammlung". Two hundred theatre spectators were channelled into the carefully staged event via the purchase of shares. Against the will of the company. There was high media awareness. 

-The painter Verena Landau has created an edition of works illustrating herself stealing one of her art-works that was bought by HypoVereinsbank - without her being aware of it until she saw it in the press. She was critical towards this as she felt her work was instrumentalized for corporate PR.



Some of these phenomena are discussed in academic literature, e.g. in theatre studies (Reverend Billy), and in other disciplines. But not yet from an organizational studies or management studies perspective. 

Do you know about articles or books which reflect these topics in the context of OA? 



I think there is a lot to learn from these artistic interventions re critical reflection, the use of art in organizations, and for OA research as well (use of artistic forms for organizational inquiry). Do other people share this opinion or do you see this as a distinctive phenomenon which is not informative for OA researchers? What will the OA field make of this trend?



Your comments are very welcome, since I may be able to integrate thoughts into my book, and use ideas for a future research project.



Best wishes



Brigitte 



Dr Brigitte Biehl-Missal

 

Visiting Researcher

School of Management and Business

Aberystwyth University SY23 3DD

Wales, United Kingdom



Südwestkorso 74

D -12161 Berlin 

Mob. 0049-1511-499 48 71