Okay, this is a long one, but it can't be done in a sound bite format.
After reading some of the posts generated on this topic I started
wondering how I would define "art." That seems to be a common factor in
many of the different thoughts that have been expressed. Let me try to
express these thoughts and then others can comment.
As I mentioned in the original post, we most commonly think of artists as
people who paint or sculpt or play music. I think there are other groups,
though, that can be said to contain artists. It all depends on how you
define the terms art, artist, and artistry.
To me, artistry is all about communication. The painter places his/her
emotions and experience on canvas with paint in order to convey that
emotion and experience. Those whom we enjoy are able to touch something
within us that evokes a similar emotional response. The same is true for
a sculptor or musician. Surely Michaelangelo wasn't just making a
semblance of a friend named David or just painting dirty pictures on the
Sistine Chapel ceiling. Surely Beethoven and Mozart weren't just making
up little ditties when they wrote their symphonies. There were "bread and
butter" works that put food on the table, but these aren't what they are
remembered for.
So, if artistry is about communicating, the idea of art must be about
communicating through a particular medium. That medium may be painting or
sculpture, or music. It may also be through speaking or writing or
computer programming or business activity.
Consider, for a moment, that a senior manager had to be trained in order
to get to that position. Often that training is through business schools.
Just as often, that training is through experience. When that manager
starts to conduct business, s/he is communicating their understanding of
how business should be. This communication gains expression through their
actions which are seen by others and interpretted according to their
experience. In this sense, the medium for artistic expression may be
business.
The artist is the communicator, the master technician. Sometimes we only
see the technician. Sometimes we don't see the art because we are caught
up in the technical aspects of that expression. Art students learn to
analyze brush strokes and stylisitc differences. Music students learn to
differentiate between a number of musical genres. But does learning to
appreciate the medium really allow the appreciator to become an artist.
Again, those whom we consider great artists didn't spend time learning all
about other variations on their media, they simply expressed themselves.
Consider, for a moment, the prodigy.
So, someone who is in business can spend time learning all about teams,
P&L statements, analyzing markets, and so on. This doesn't mean, though,
that they can express themselves through their business activities. On
the other hand, an intuitive-level understanding of how systems work and
interface, how people think and feel, and how various factors drive
business activities can allow someone to express their philosophy of
business through their actions. It can allow them to inspire others to
work hard and achieve great things without having that same
intuitive-level understanding. The end result is an organization that is
valued and enjoyed by its membership, regardless of the results.
Great painters did portraits by method: they had pre-painted canvases with
bodies, all they had to do was paint in the face. This paid the bills.
Mozart gave piano lessons and wrote somgs by request. This put food on
the table. Business people have to achieve certain results. This allows
them to survive. In the end, though, it is the way in which these and
other activies are done that is the communication of what is within. It
is this expression of self that constitutes artistry, regardless of
medium.
It is this that can also allow artistry to exist within an organization
regardless of level or medium.
Is this making any sense?
--Clyde Howell orgpsych@csra.net
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>