//// RESIDENCY
Written by JEUNO JE KIM and JOHANNA GUSTAVSSON ©
____Exhausted Writing about Paradigms History, Workshop 13th November 2008, NOTES for the Workshop Process:
I__INTRO by Johanna and Jeuno
Thinking about the initial sets of words suggested by Sparwasser HQ — "Exhausted Paradigms" & "Writing History": The combination had a negative tone, basically saying "we are tired the end". It sounded like we or those of us engaged in collaborative practices and believing in self-organization/ self-organized spaces, were to write our own obituaries. To counteract this 'voice of doom' aspect—our process led us to think about…
Why we wanted to re-write the sets of words into our title for the workshop Exhausted Writing About Paradigms History: We want to focus on the future. "Exhausted Writing" – it’s a play with words, where on the one hand, it can connote to tired theoretical texts that in its length and verbosity tries to preserve and document, historically, the various self-organized initiatives and projects; on the other hand, it points to our perseverance and stamina; we will write until we are exhausted, but that’s not the end, because after a bit of rest, we are refreshed and ready to write again until we are exhausted again, and we go on and on and on.
In this discussion maybe we could change the focus from the paradigm to our collective identity as artists that uphold it, and rather make a connection between the two. Who we are and what we do and in what context we do it.
In order to prevent an immediate dive into discussion about funding and money, we thought to throw in additional sets of words: "Role of the Intellectual" and the "creative class" to try and create a mirror in which we can determine: How close is our picture of ourselves to the "creative class"? What role does that assign to us as artists?Talk shortly about the "creative class", Richard Florida. Does our life and work fit into examples of those categorized as the creative class and if so what does that mean?
Richard Florida, is a resaercher in economic development and a professor. In his book The Rise of the Creative Class from 2002 he sees a new class developing, the creative class. In the post-industrial situation robots and out-sourcing take over the role and functions of the traditional working class as well as the service sector. The new economy is the creative economy where creativity is the employee’s most important asset. According to Florida the creative class is larger than the traditional working class, as it inhabits all from researchers and engineers as well as cultural workers, computer software engineers and opinion makers etc. You cannot have high-tech without art and music. The cultural worker, who used to be marginalized, now plays a part in the regional economy.
Today the need for creativity is bigger. The creative class needs to have its own motivation, challenges and responsibility in their work life. Their carrier is more horizontal than top down. If one is not comfortable in one organization you change. The work is goal oriented, it has an informal dress code, flexible work hours, and culture is part of the work somehow. Andy Warhol´s The Factory is a role model. Deadlines, releases and upgrading happen continually; the creative class works hard.
To create the creative society the creative class must identify as a class and become the norm in society, which it has not yet done. In the creative regions the marginalization of the creative class could be end and the class could be aware of itself. The problem is just that the actors in this class tend to be all to self absorbed.SOME MORE QUESTIONS
Are we part of the creative class? What are our responsibilities as a collective? Connection between life and art. What we think and how we act and the consequences of our actions. Meaning, we might politically be against the consequences of the creative class but by our actions and way of life uphold it.
Are/can artists be intellectuals? We think not but we have potential to be utopian. If we want to do it, we need to work collectively.
What is the relation between creativity and intellectuals?
What is the relation between class and intellectuals?
Florida coined the term "creative class", analyzing the growing importance of creativity and creative ideas within corporations and businesses. Capitalism took up the structure around artistic/creative sector, where flexible labor conditions (leading often to precarious labor), free or open lifestyle and emphasis on play (this is where division between work and labor breaks down, so one works all the time), to restructure the working conditions within the corporate sector to be more open, fluid, and flexible.
This has led to obvious repercussions in spreading of more stringent and horrible working conditions, perpetuating exploitation of workers. Your enthusiasm and personal satisfaction should mean that you labor for free—is the modus operandi in many institutions, be they corporate or within the creative sector.
So, what is the relation between creativity and class? Where is the intellectual in these labor relations and is there an intellectual class? If so, who are they? If not, should there be one and how does one determine the ones that can be categorized as such?
Looking at the state of many self-organized artist spaces, how can we mobilize to understand where and who we are as artists, as creative workers, and to imagine a different working condition? The state cut on funding for the arts is the reality—what model should we follow? Should we flirt with the corporate sectors to find new sources for funding? Should we flirt with galleries and the dirty art market? Are markets, in essence, dirty? If we fight for continued state funding, what does that make us as workers? Is it better to be a seller in the market or a state employee?II PRESENTATION
After the intro we have a round were everybody presents oneself (name, class identification, and how they define the work they do).
III WRITING EXERCISES
2 short collaborative writing sessions.
First Exercise:
autointerview – based on Lucas Samaras’ Another autointerview
—We read aloud Samaras’ text
—We do our own autointerview
—We pass our autointerview to the person next to us and answer their questions
—We pass the autointerview texts again, so in the end we have two other people that have answered our original autointerview questions.
—Read aloud from the combined autointerview text.
Second Exercise:
Constricted Stream of Consciousness—on the following sets of words: Creative Class, Intellectual Class, Self-Organized Class
—Write nonstop for 15 min about each of the term.
—Pass your text to the person next to you. Person reads the text and then writes in relation to the previous text that was just read. 15mins
—Pass the text onto the next person, repeat procedure. 15mins
-Discussion about what was written in the three 15mins sections.IV DISCUSSION
SOME TEXTS FROM THE WRITING EXERCISES
ON CREATIVE CLASS
Neo-liberal. When I think about that the creative class its something that I am upholding through the way I live and work I feel sick. I want to stop thinking and feeling. At this point (maybe because I am so tired) I feel paralyzed about the whole situation. Thinking that it is a situation that I cannot get out of by myself, individually. I also know that feeling things about it doesn’t help. I don’t want to feel about it, I want to react to it in an outgoing way. So the first thing is to organize around it. You who is reading this—are you with me? Back to the subject—the creative class. The flexibility, the working conditions. Like we talked about—self respect for your work—ask, no COMMAND to be payed. Maybe the creative class needs to be set back to economy. What is this 'new' economy that Florida speaks of? Its really not anything new about it, its capitalism in a new suit, a bohemic suit. But is there really a difference between serving an artist than a duke? This 'new' economy is as loose a term as artistsic quality, I mean how do you really know that a painting is of good artistic quality? Its more a feeling than anything else. So again with the feelings…if we skip the feelings, what are we left with? It comes down to—we as artists, cultural workers, needs to define how we want our working conditions to be and not just settle for crumbles. We are all so used to spending our energy on that sort of small subjects that it keeps us from actually thinking about ourselves in the bigger situation that we are in.
RESPONS
Maybe the creative class can also become creative about the economic conditions for its own class and the ones that are not members of that class. To be creative in a way that class separates or gathers people because of their interests and not because of economic wealth. The creative class might be able to come up with ideas that respect the differences of these in a society and give an opening for everyone to be creative… thereby dissolve the other classes so everyone is able to be included in creative thinking.
ON SELFORGANIZED CLASS I
Class is like going to class. I believe that the class structure in the society copies the same model as a school. Lets say I claim this. Then it means that class has a different group of people at different times. Its like you are a student in 4th grade and you go on to 5th grade or you stay in 4th grade another year. I say this because I picture that the members of the self organized class will be replaced with new members. And the old members move on to something else, they can return or just pass on the experiences for good. The way the self organized class survives and redefines itself according to societal changes. However, one syndrom of the self organized class is that it is based on ideas and that can lead to self awareness in such a high manner that the class itself does not allow new ideas and members and then it becomes the conservative-class-self-organized.
RESPONS
Interesting to think about. Conservative self-organized class. It makes me think about groups and initiatives that start with 'good' or even radical intentions that morph into something else, that becomes a closed group. Some theorists would say this is the politics of friendship or of 'trust networks', and all the little self-organized groups that meet in the web of social network become a self-organized class. It makes sense in the same ways that different groups interact with each other and through those conversations can become something else, or produces something else. That’s the positive aspects to these 'trust networks'. But it also makes me think about how one chooses to operate within this fragile web where relations, professional ones, are bilt on these social interactions. How does one become oneself within these fragile relationships? I am reaching ahead and here. So I move onto another point, what does it mean to "pass something on" ? How does one do that? What does it mean to let go? And what the hell is a self-organized class?
ON SELFORGANIZED CLASS II
Is a class defined by the class itself or is it defined by others ? Could you imagine a selforganized class which is defined by other classes, and would it still be selforganized then? Selforganized means working on a voluntary basis, or does it not? Selforganized sounds like independent.
RESPONS
I think Sixtens questions are very difficult. Is a class defined by the class itself or is it defined by others? I don´t know. I think it can be both. Sometimes you need to define yourself from your belonging to a group. And sometimes I think the definition is forced upon you.
'Selforganized' class defined by other classes can be a good thing but also the opposite. I tend to believe those defining other groups, that they don´t belong to themselves, is a kind of power-struggle. Who ever defines the other 'wins' as they can put certain terms, words, notion upon some other people, that these people may not agree with. So who is to define and name groups if not the people within this specific group?
