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vital inquiry has been an
increased interest in discovering valid means of self-fulfillment at all
age-levels. The largely analytical and philosophical inquiry into the nature
of the abstract concept "man" is being replaced with experimental
and discovery modes of inquiry through meditation and body activity such as
yoga, dance and body movement.
Let me diverge for a moment
and draw on the insights of Willis Harman and his associates at the Stanford
Research Institute. In a recent article on "The Coming
Transformation," (Harman, 1977), he underlined a conclusion derived
from their research: "The industrialized world is simultaneously
undergoing a conceptual revolution as thoroughgoing in its effects as the
Copernican Revolution, and an institutional revolution as profound as the
Industrial Revolution." Following an account of his "lead
indicators" for making such a forecast, he outlines a post transformation
paradigm which includes as a basic goal of life "aware participation in
individual growth and the evolutionary process; individual fulfillment
through community; integration of work, play, and growth." The
indicators are everywhere-in the Britannica 1978 Medical and Health Annual
(Unit 15 Report on Yoga for Health and Happiness), there are reportedly
"over 3,000 Yoga instructors in New England alone." The
Minneapolis telephone directory lists six centers for the study of Yoga
alone, not to mention six or seven new meditation and inner-awareness
centers. And there is an active interplay between these centers, rock music
lyrics, theater and dance. Even our language is changing with words such as
"personal space."
2. Relation to Others. Second,
these modes of inquiry are gradually displacing the moral and ethical codes
of formal religion and rationalism as a means of discovering self-realizing
ways of relating to spouse, family and society in general.
In effect, prescriptive modes
of behavior are being displaced by experimental modes whereby couples, and,
in some instances, "communes" seek behavior and relational
patterns which they find mutually complementary and fulfilling. The rule or
measure of behavior is not an "ideal" or a "concept" or
what ought to be-but rather an experiential seeking for what works in the
concrete here and now to draw the human potential to greater realization.
For example, a couple choose to live together outside of the traditional
family structure. They work out a relationship on the basis of what works
for them.
3. Relation to
Environment. Third, our perception of the relationship of the human
person to the man-made and natural environment is undergoing radical change.
This is a natural consequence of this same emerging consciousness that
places a high value on the development of human life and, on the basis of
experience, rejects the idea that possession and consumption of goods or the
exploitation of nature to acquire such goods, will contribute to fulfilling
human life.
In a provocative article on
Voluntary Simplicity as an alternate life style, Duane Elgin and Arnold
Mitchell suggest: "In the years ahead, millions of Americans may move
beyond materialistic values and choose an outwardly more simple and inwardly
more rich life-style. This phenomenon could foreshadow a major
transformation in Western values, with wide implications for future
developments in business, technology, and society at large" (Elgin and
Mitchell, 1977). I would like to quote briefly from the author's description
of Voluntary Simplicity:
The essence of voluntary
simplicity is living in a way that is outwardly simple and inwardly rich.
This way of life embraces frugality of consumption, a strong sense of
environmental urgency, a desire to return to living and working
environments which are of a more human
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scale,
and an intention to realize our higher human potential-both psychological
and spiritual-in community with others.... Historically, voluntary
simplicity has its roots in the legendary frugality and self-reliance of
the Puritans; in Thoreau's naturalistic vision of Walden Pond; in
Emerson's spiritual and practical plea for "plain living and high
thinking"; in the teachings and social philosophy of a number of
spiritual leaders such as Jesus and Gandhi.
While
we may not experience a societal shift to the extent suggested by the
authors, we do recognize a growing consciousness of a societal need to move
in these directions.
Salvation and
fulfillment, in this perspective, are achieved through a balanced and
harmonious relation with nature. One strives to find, as it were, an optimal
relationship recognizing that we are not a primary resource for life on
earth but absolutely dependent on other life. From this perspective, we
discover that we cannot exploit other life because our survival depends on
the well being of other life.
The
consequences for the future designer are significant. There will be less
concern for visual impact in a future society whose attention will be
focused on conservation and reduced energy consumption. Redundancy in
packaging, which wastes material and proliferates visual junk, will be less
and less acceptable. We will value, and I trust with ever more demanding
aesthetic sensitivity, the designer who can package and distribute goods by
consuming less energy and eliminate the crass abuse of cutting down forests
to add one wrapping around another. In effect preservation of life and
relation to nature become aesthetic considerations in designing our world. I
will return to this - let us look at the consequences in each area under
consideration.
APPLICATIONS
1.
Changing
Value
Systems in
Relation to Self
Let
me diverge by noting an incident. Several weeks ago, I was delivering a
lecture on Roman Architecture in my general introduction to art history.
Following a break in the lecture, I noticed one student who had returned to
class with a cigarette, a plastic cup of synthetic juice, and a chocolate
covered doughnut. I thought to myself "I shouldn't be lecturing on
Roman Art! This student is already all screwed up-we should be talking first
about how to be whole human beings in our bodies." How can this person
become a meaningful artist if he is not even aware that he is abusing his
body? Shouldn't we really be doing something about that in our curriculum?
And I realized then that there was nothing in our curriculum to help him.
Robert
Masters has made the very incisive observation that "the primary aim of
education should be the most complete and effective use of the self -a use
that is then applied to other learning" (Masters, 1978). At all levels
of education we need an element in our curriculum, which, on an on-going
basis, aims at a holistic development of the self. This must include
continuing body and sense development, particularly in those areas that tend
to atrophy from kindergarten on - moving toes, fingers, elbows, arms, and legs
. . . touching, clutching, grasping and caressing everything in the room ...
smelling and tasting ... experiencing the range of taste and aroma ... in
effect keeping alive and vibrant our range of sense.
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Perhaps, this would be best realized in an arts curriculum with some kind of
core studio course which expands body awareness and sense facility. Such
courses would not be aimed at intellectual or philosophical explanation or
erudition but rather, in the tradition of studio experience, lead the
participant to ever greater awareness and ability in experiencing self and
other ... in knowing the magnificence and range of one's living, sensing
body.
Thus, studio courses in body
awareness stressing movement and the senses of touching, seeing, smelling,
tasting and listening would contribute significantly to the artist's ability
to effectively participate in creating a world to be in. Such a core of
study could include basic direction and experience in meditation and the
experience of inner space. Since novelty is often associated with these
areas and there is often considerable skepticism relative to the value of
this development, care should be taken that there is a clear understanding
of the intentions of the program.
This empirical approach to
what Masters calls "the most complete and effective use of the
self" provides the basis for the effective learning then of what needs
to be learned. We need to recognize in the present milieu that the visual
artist cannot be adequately prepared if the curriculum presumes that
"visual literacy" reigns supreme.
I am not suggesting that our
curriculum put aside either the history of the visual arts or studio work
with plastic, spatial and visual problems. Obviously, these are in
themselves part of what we are talking about. However, the human person as
acting artist/designer in our world is more than a set of sensitive eyes-he
is a complete living, breathing, sensing organism designing and creating for
responding human organisms.
Before moving to the second
point, we need to recognize the need for study of the human person in the
disciplines of psychology and anthropology as well. Holistic development
that sets as its aim to achieve "the most complete and effective use of
the self" must necessarily include a rigorous intellectual ability in
those disciplines which study the human person in the more traditional
academic disciplines.
2. Relation
of Self to Others and to the Community
To the second area of
concern-relation of self to others and to
the community-much of what has been said above applies as well. Our key
interest in this area should be to lay the groundwork for creative options
in terms of viable life styles in the future. The emerging alternate life
styles, while sporadic, are indicators of a general malaise about the
survival of our present life-styles.
Schumacher, in his Epilogue to
Small is Beautiful, stresses this point:
Wealth, education,
research, and many other things are needed for any civilization, but what
is most needed today is a revision of the ends which these means are meant
to serve. And this implies, above all else, the development of a
life-style which accords to material things their proper, legitimate
place, which is secondary and not primary. (Schumacher, 1973)
(Italics are mine.)
And he goes on to emphasize
the destructive nature of the "logic of production" in our
Industrial Age.
The materialism of the
Industrial Revolution, as so many have pointed out, placed the primary
emphasis on the production and consumption of goods. Possession of
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goods rather than
wholesome relation to neighbor were a sign of success. Natural resources
have been (and continue to be) exploited to serve this end. This
materialistic value system has fostered rugged individualism and competitive
self-interest which promises to lead to our own self-destruction if
something isn't done to stem the tide. The new emerging value system fosters
interpersonal relations with a temperate production and consumption of goods
that is more balanced and harmonized with nature.
Elgin and
Mitchell, in their article on Voluntary Simplicity, which they have
experienced as the emerging way of life, see the following five values as
basic: (1) material simplicity, (2) human scale, (3) self determination, (4)
ecological awareness, and (5) personal growth (Elgin and Mitchell, 1977).
These values are all interrelated and transcend any single category outlined in this
paper.
It is not our purpose here to pursue further refinement of
this emerging value system. The point is simply that an arts curriculum
should include such study and refinement as a central concern. This provides
the artist with a perspective on our own changing value systems and the
desired options open to us in shaping the future. The Artist and the
Designer are necessarily frontline people in addressing these concerns.
The artist community will play a central role in creating viable alternate
life styles as we move into the postindustrial age. Therefore, artists
themselves must become more educated to the implications for the future of
the choices they make now.
3. The Relation of the Human Person to the Man-Made and Natural Environment
Finally to the third area of concern -
the relation of the human person to the manmade and natural environment.
The artist and designer community, since the enlightenment, have
shared a view, surprisingly enough, not unlike that of the industrialist.
Like "production for the sake of production" the pursuit of
"art for the sake of art" relentlessly seeks its own ends, namely
ART.
In 1970, the British sculptors, Gilbert and George, published a
six-page booklet with one title page to illustrate their "feelings as
sculptors on the subject of Art." They did so feeling "very
light" and hoped the statement would be read in the same spirit. The
title of the piece is To Be With Art is All We Ask.
Let us review the opening sentence with some excerpts: "Oh Art
what are you? You are so strong and powerful, so beautiful and moving. You
make us walk around and around, pacing the city at all hours, in and out of
our Art for all room. We really do love you and we really do hate you. Why
do you have so many faces and voices? ... Is to become an artist to be
reborn, or is it a condition of life? ... Art we are driven by you at
incredible speed, ignorant of the danger you are pushing and dragging us
into. ... And yet, we don't forget you. Art, we continue to dedicate our
artists-art to you alone, for you and your pleasure, for Art's sake. We
would honestly like to say to you, Art, how happy we are to be your
sculptors. We think about you all the time and feel very sentimental about
you. We do realize that you are what we really crave for. ... "
(Situation Concepts, 1971)
This piece, published at the beginning of our decade, is
an extremely enigmatic statement filled with light-hearted intuitive
statements about the author's feelings in
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of Artists and Designers
relation to "Art." On the one hand, the statement
reflects a personified quasi-religious or almost "sacred"
conception of Art with a capital "A." On the other, it suggests
something of the frustration of living as an artist with this conception of
"Art." I see this, along with other similar concerns with
"Art" in our decade, as a kind of documentation of the futility of
living out the model of "Art for the sake of Art." Just as
"production for the sake of production" must give way to another
value system, so also must "art for the sake of art." What's wrong
with "Art for the sake of Life"?
In fact, the emerging value system of
the post-industrial age demands such a change. Harman points out in his
article on "The Coming Transformation" that we all share
responsibility in what Lynton Caldwell labeled the "ecological
ethic" (Caldwell, 1972). This ethic "recognizes the limited nature
of resources, sees man as an integral part of the natural world, hence
inseparable from its governing processes and laws. The ecological ethic
fosters a sense of the total community of man and responsibility for the
fate of the planet, and relates self-interest to the interests of fellow man
and of future generations" (Harman, 1977). This is coupled with the
"self realization ethic" that is connected to all the issues in
this article.
In
Harman's words, this ethic asserts: "The proper end of all individual
experience is the further development of the emergent self and of the human
species. The appropriate function of all social institutions is to create an
environment that will foster that process. These two ethics - one
emphasizing the total community of 'man in nature' and the oneness of the
human race, and the other placing the highest value on the development of
selfhood - are complementary, not contradictory. Together, they encourage
both cooperation and wholesome competition, both love and individuality.
Each is a corrective against the excesses and misapplications of the
other." In effect, one could say that the emerging value system
emphasizes that the good of the individual, the community and nature are all
mutually interdependent and no single one can be had at the expense of
another.
I would conclude therefore, that a
third element in the college art curriculum must include the study of the
human person and society's interrelation with nature. And this should be
done in more than a casual and popular way as these issues necessarily enter
the work of the artist. There is no point in having designers and artists
add more bits and pieces to our world without recognizing the over-all
interaction of their work with the ecology of that world.
To summarize, we can expect radical
changes in societal values in relation to "self," community and
both the man-made and natural environment. The education of the artist
should include effective study and appropriate experiences as basic
development for working creatively in these three areas. Given such
curricular changes, I believe our artist community will provide important
contributions in shaping a more balanced and fulfilling life in the
future.
ADDENDUM
The following considerations are intended to focus
on issues that emerged following several presentations of the original
Houston* paper. There are
three changing perceptions that
----------
*The original paper was presented at the Education Section's World Future
Society conference in Houston during October 1978.
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Roman Verostko
we are experiencing. These changing
perceptions will become increasingly important vis-ŕ-vis the arts.
The first relates to views of art in relation to nature; the second relates
to views of the artist and the third to views of the artist's work.
1. Art and Nature. It is a near
"natural" corollary of the complexion of the changing values
discussed above that we will, in the future, be less and less inclined to
distinguish the processes of art from the processes of nature. Historically
the term "art" has been used to distinguish the traces of human
activity on this earth from all other processes which are
"natural." Those things which have been shaped or touched by the
hand of a man or woman have been viewed in a category separate from
"nature," the category of art. This usage, in the
broadest sense, ranges from the fine art of painting or sculpture to the
design of buildings, clothing, manufacturing systems, and the myriads of
things humans have made. Thus the art and artifacts of human industry have
come to be distinguished from the events of "nature." Yet, as we
come to perceive ever more pointedly the inter-relation between human
activity and that of all other life and our environment, we will come to see
more clearly how our art and artifacts are only a part of, and not separate
from, nature.
We participate in a process of complex
interrelationships, some of which preceded human life on this earth and some
of which may very well succeed it. From this perspective, our sense of how
we interact with the life and world around us is the nature of our
"art," whether it be fashioning a painting or building a dam or a
city.
Our growing concern for creating nature
preserves is an early indicator of one of the major artistic concerns of the
future. It is indeed a strange irony that we are experiencing a world wide
level urgency to "preserve" fair samples of nature. Besides the
necessity to preserve biological options for the future, it would seem that
the very awesomeness of life would compel humans to let more of it alone.
Yet nations, cities, and neighborhoods are prepared at every turn to
"improve" the riverfront, "develop" the lake, and
"enhance" our recreation areas. And these "improvements"
are sometimes funded by arts groups including environmental artists,
landscape artists, architects and designers-ready and willing to
"improve" things.
But things are changing and restoration is
beginning to replace improvement. It is in this context that I believe we
need to and will experience a counter-move to let things alone, to retreat,
to develop a greater sensitivity to the earth and other life forms, to
preserve them-yes-to design the preservation. This will lead to an
aesthetics and art of the process of preservation of that which is not
man-made.
We have examples in those nature preserves
and conservations where limited access has been designed in terms of trails
and viewing stations. These may be prototypes of future art forms which will
serve in amplifying the human relationship with other forms of life and the
earth itself. The form of such activity lies open to the richness of the
human imagination.
The fish ladder at Rocky
Beach Dam in the state of Washington would be an example of an attempt at
preservation in the context of high technology. A fish ladder is a water
spillway alongside of a dam providing a means for fish to bypass the dam
which obstructs their coming and going from nesting sites. This particular
fish ladder provides viewing stations for the public and its overall design
serves as a kind of "environmental" sculpture which attempts to
integrate the preservation of life processes
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Role of Artists and Designers
with high technology.(Note 1)
This is one of a range of design concerns, which reflect the values,
discussed above.
2. The Artist. There emerged in Western society,
particularly since the time when Francis I invited Leonardo to France, the
idea of the "famous artist" and the fancy price attached to the
work of the famous artist. We will call this the "celebration of
artist" value. For many complex reasons we have cultivated a kind of
"hagiography" of artists creating the "Saint-artist," a
concept that reached its apogee, I think, with Picasso whose name is
synonymous with Art with a capital "A."
In this value system regardless of the
value of the work produced by a specific artist, his or her livelihood as
artist, is connected to his or her degree of "being famous," or
well-known. Little can have been more defeating to an artist within this
societal conception than to have been an obscure or unknown artist.
The corollary to this is that the
artist who has achieved great exposure by becoming famous and well known
also achieves market value. His or her work acquires high market value and
becomes prestigious. This has coursed through all the arts in our times and
has fostered a kind of movie starism of which Andy Warhol was an excellent
example in the 60s and he himself was keenly aware of this phenomenon.
With the gradual increase of the
values we have discussed here, I think we will and, in fact, are
experiencing a decline in this "celebration of artist" value. This is due in
part to the fact that we have had longer experience with mass media, are
more jaded to its charm, more concerned with how it can service the
quality of life, and less inclined to be seduced by its glamour.
3. Form. The
last value change is in relation to the form of artistic activity. Since the
time of the Greeks theories of art as mimesis have dominated artistic
activity in Western civilization. In the 20th century concepts of mimesis in
the visual arts have been undergoing a radical transformation. While mimesis
has continued in the visual arts in altered forms throughout our century,
there has been a growing artistic activity, which has broken with the
traditions of mimesis entirely. Let us look at examples of each.
There has been a wide range of
artistic activity in the 20th Century, which we have labeled
expressionistic. This has ranged from the French Fauves and the German
Expressionists to the New York action painters. If we were to consider the
most "abstract" of Jackson Pollock's dripped canvases, we would
still have to look at them as reflecting (expressing) something of his inner
experience. The intense emotional involvement and personal experience of
the artist became part of the subject of the work. Thus, the painting
becomes a sign or metaphor of an experience with paint and canvas. In as
much as this is so the artwork is a form of mimesis-it stands for and mimics
an experience.
We could say the same for the
surrealist whose works "mime" the shapes, nuances or aspects of
dreams, fantasies and psychological states. Thus, the work of an artist like
Joan Miro becomes a window on a fertile human imagination, a kind of
mimesis.
There has been another kind of activity in our
times, which has simply focused on a given phenomenon. Thus Josef Alber's
series "Homage to the Square" focuses on a
Note
1. For a discussion of the problems and limitations of fish ladders in
the Columbia River system see "Those Salmon Keep Battling Those
Dams," by Anthony Netboy, Natural History, Vol. 89, No. 7, July 1980,
pp, 52-61.
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Roman Verostko
specific and unique color phenomenon
that results from a given set of relationships. These relationships explore
the nature of visual illusion without referring to other reality. They do
not mime another experience. The work is non-referential; its own reality is
the reference point for our experience.
This kind of work is outside the
tradition of mimesis. Most artists in the structuralist traditions
stemming from Kasimir Malevic and the Russian constructivists have created
work of this kind.
There has been yet another kind of
non-mimetic artistic activity in our times, one we could label as anti-art
or "non-art" art. This stems from the tradition of dada and
has tended to engage any kind of gesture, act, or non-act, which might
challenge any assumptions about art. Such activity may be characterized by
the irrational, nonsense and the absurd often employing elements of shock,
surprise and the unexpected. It can lead to non-activity as it did in the
case of Marcel Duchamp whose works, even with tongue-in-cheek, have managed
to reshape the way we think about and experience the questions of artistic
activity today. This has lead to the idea that art may be viewed as an
attitude, a state of mind, or a point of view.
These brief
observations attempt to summarize a very complex series of issues addressed by artists in our times. The current struggle within the fine'
arts, it seems to me, is between those who in one form or another adhere to
altered and innovative forms of mimesis and those who have shifted their
attention towards the cultivation of questions or attitudes in relation to
our experience of life. Both serve a valuable function and both will
undoubtedly continue into the future.
Even so, with the emerging value
systems we have discussed above, I think we will see the artist less and
less concerned with forms of mimesis, however altered ... forms, as it were,
of "my experience," "my concept." These will be replaced
more and more with forms pointing towards the quality of our experience of
the world. Or we may have forms, which focus our attention on alternative
ways of designing and arranging human experience for the greater realization
of self and community.
Given these
value shifts, we may experience a new kind of artist more integrated
regionally in our everyday world, our nature centers, our market place, and
our industry. And the artist in such a context and engaged this way may not
have a name. In such an event, a strange thing shall have happened, the
artist will be "Every Person." Art and life will be one.
REFERENCES
Barnes,
Ronald E. "An Educator Looks Back from 1977." Futurist, April
1978, 12(2). Bell, D. The Coming of Post-Industrial Society. New York: Basic
Books, 1976. Caldwell, Lynton. Environment:
A Challenge to Modern
Society, 1973.
Elgin,
Duane S. and Arnold Mitchell. "Voluntary Simplicity: Lifestyle of the
Future?" Futurist, 1977, 11(4), 200ff.
Harman,
Willis. "The Coming Transformation." Futurist, April
1977,11(2),106-112. (Note: Willis Harman is currently Associate Director,
Center for Study of Social Policy, Stanford Research Institute, Menlo Park,
California.)
Masters,
Robert. "The Effects of Psychophysical Re-Education." Dromenon,
August 1978, 1(2), 3. Schumacher, E.G. Small is Beautiful. New
York: Harper, 1973.
Situation
Concepts. Wien, Austria: Galerie Nachst St. Stephan, 1971.