Being an artist
When I was young, I had a very narrow conception of art. It was something one could find in museums and galleries. It was elitist. When I was studying economics and business, art was almost a derogatory term. Once a fellow human said that my PhD thesis about degrowth and business was activism rather than scientific work. Some other fellow humans see my autoethnography as a work of art rather than science. In my early 20s it was more difficult for me to embrace these labels, to feel good about being called an activist and an artist. I think it's especially difficult for women in business schools that are dominated by male professors and masculine values, manifested into life by humans of different genders. I was brought up to be polite and avoid confrontation, especially with those who were in positions of power. One of the humans I mentioned above was in fact my internal examiner, though they were later replaced by another one. That human being was in a position of power in relation to me, especially in England where the academic system is hierarchical. At least in my experience.
Recently, as I was revising an article, I began to think about the self and art. In my autoethnography, I investigate my mode of being, being of deep transformations, that opposes consumerism and conventional definition of success. I lived without furniture, I wear the same outfit every day. I resigned from my position at a Finnish university as an act of resistance to violence in academia. I use the self to experiment with a different way of relating with the self, human and non-human others, with nature, and the cosmos. By different I mean loving, caring, kind, empathetic, and so on.
Alexander (2017) spoke about it in an article that I will reference in the end of this entry. I want to share this quote: "the artist must help people see or feel more clearly, not merely the violence too often hidden in our cultural practices and economic and political institutions, but perhaps, most importantly, show that there are forms of flourishing and liberation that lie beyond consumer culture; forms of flourishing founded not upon affluence, growth, competition, and technology, but upon the visions and values of sufficiency, moderation, permaculture, community, cooperation, and self-governance. In short, an art for degrowth, first and foremost, must expand the collective imagination."
When I read this quote, it resonated strongly with me. I do not think that "the artist" is only a human being who professionally identifies themselves as an artist, or who received certain education, or attended a certain school. I attended an art school when I was young. My mother and stepdad encouraged me to attend it, though it felt utilitarian to me. It felt as if I had a talent (I could paint), then it was to result in something concrete such as paintings produced regularly or a diploma from an art school. I realised that for me painting was a means of relaxation. What I wanted to do was to use my own life as something to create (naturally within given social structures).
Reference
Alexander, S. (2017) Degrowth as an
‘Aesthetics of Existence’. MSSI Monograph Series, Melbourne Sustainable Society
Institute, The University of Melbourne.