Tag

Philosophy

Art: Sharing the Soul of Another

By | Art & Social Change, Of Love and Concrete | 4 Comments

I did not expect Bill Drayton, the “father” of Social Entrepreneurship, to describe empathy as the product he most wants to deliver in the twilight of his career. Reducing poverty certainly. Decreasing recidivism sure. Changing campaign finance, maybe. But to hear the squishy idea of empathy be the focus of an enterprising change maker, was surprising.

As I reflect, the disruption of my perspective was the sort that drives meaningful change. It was probably like the experience of hearing the Gatesian/Jobsian vision for home computing in the 1970’s. It feels wrong yet it is just jarring and crazy enough to be right. With a focus on empathy, Drayton is looking at the root of many of the serious problems in a social setting. Empathy is a powerful component of justice. And three years ago I had not heard anyone reference it with regard to societal change.

Empathy, according to Merriam Webster, is the the feeling that you understand and share another person’s experiences and emotions. It is not a solution to the problem being experienced by another or even a projection of one’s own concepts of how someone feels. It is connecting to another person as a human. The pursuit of justice begins with understanding another’s condition.

So what does art have to do with empathy?

And what can the promotion of art do to foster empathy?

Art is a natural place to explore the philosophy of another human. Art is the expression of self, it is a window into the rich experiences of being. Art translates feelings into tactile, visceral material that is shared through sight, sound, touch, taste and all of our senses. Art is the perfect tool to share the highs, the lows and everything in between that encapsulate life. For periods of time, art allows us to live life beyond our own body and with the mind of someone else. Art gives us the soul of another. Art gives us empathy.

Institutions and individuals that work to make art accessible have a profound opportunity to use the power of art. To harness that power, barriers between the person who expresses and the audience must be removed or sharing will not be possible. The primary barriers to accessing the other is context. The intermediaries must translate the contextual differences of our genetics, and our environment. They must be sensitive to the origin of a work, knowledgeable of the present circumstances, and able to provoke thought about the future. As the conduit, the promoter can not project themselves onto the concept or the audience. They must only be open and working to open up the relationship between creator and the person who experiences in all ways. This may include removing physical barriers, financial barriers, cultural barriers, educational barriers and anything else MAN has put in front of fellow man to prevent the sharing of life. Promoters of art must see the opportunity they have to expose ALL human experiences.

IMAGE CREDIT. [RSA Shorts].

Look Out TED, The Art Museum Is Coming For You

By | Art & Social Change, Of Love and Concrete | 4 Comments

A significant part of any business plan is to identify the target market and the players who will compete for that target market. In the art world, and particularly the art museum world, the conversation about competition is challenging.

Art institutions are typically organized as non-profits and often focus on development for revenue – development being defined as developing relationships with people who already value the product being delivered. In a development-focused institution the competition is of course other museums and cultural institutions. This myopic view hinders growth (i.e. pursuit of greater accessibility to the institution and thus mission) AND it leaves a lot of money on the table. It would be like google only considering Yahoo and other search engines as its competition.

The alternative to development driving revenue is marketing. Marketing is certainly retaining people who value your product, but more importantly it is expanding market share by enticing people who do not already demand your product to start desiring your offerings. Really good marketing is about finding people who share a company’s values but do not necessarily see how the product delivers on those values. In marketing, who a company considers competition moves beyond vendors peddling similar product. Marketing is why Google builds its strategy with Apple on its mind.

SO, WHO IS THE COMPETITION FOR ART INSTITUTIONS?

A business needs to clearly know its product to know its competition. Let’s start with some basic questions. What is an art museum composed of? In condensed form, museums are: buildings, objects, curators and programming. What does an art museum do? A museum thoughtfully designs exhibitions that combine objects and knowledge to engage ones intellect. What is the product of a museum?  A museum creates platforms for delivering beautiful and provocative content. Museums are a medium for the exchange of ideas.

Museums sound a lot like many other institutions. Competition for market share still includes other museums and cultural organizations like schools and libraries. But it also includes just about any other medium of sharing information. The market opportunity of museum includes people interested in publications, podcasts, lightning talks, TED Talks, even the local watering hole. There are many “places”, well beyond what I have listed, where people find opportunity to engage in philosophical experiments.

Once the competition or market prospects have been identified, business typically wants to determine where the greatest opportunity exists. Market opportunity is calculated by two things: the size of the market, monetary value and/or delivery on mission, that could be gained; and the ease with which the market could be redirected. In this case I think one of the best organizations for museums to look at as competition is TED Talks and other sources of infotainment that society is enamored with right now.

With an identified opportunity, good businesses knows how to utilize their assets to pursue those gains. Museums have a wealth of assets to enhance their own idea sharing platform and distinguish themselves from anyone. Who else sits on billions of dollars of art and other valuable pieces of history. If I were TED I would be looking over my shoulder.

 

IMAGE CREDIT. [Wikimedia Commons].