Art changes the world

It inspires, provokes and instigates us to act. So much so that it received almost as much attention at SXSW 2022 as the metaverse and cryptocurrencies
The most recent edition of South by Southwest (SXSW), considered the largest innovation festival in the world, dealt with the future of artificial intelligence, the metaverse and cryptocurrencies, among other challenging topics. But what caught my attention most was the space given to discussions around the role of the arts in culture, technology and the context of organizations.

Each year there is a special program dedicated to this subject, the SXSW Art Program, which explores the impact of immersive environments and different artistic expressions, physical and digital. Its objective is to stimulate our abilities to exercise creativity and discover new ways of connecting with the environment around us.

This year's SXSW brought thought-provoking works. Painter Desireé Vaniecia challenged the stereotypes imposed on black mothers. Order of Magnitude, by digital artist Ben Grosser, is a video that deals with Silicon Valley's obsession with growth at all costs. Ciara Elle Bryant created a wall with stacked white boxes and used and worn-out sneakers to debate the cultural impact of a fashion icon, the Nike Air Force 1, launched by the North American giant 40 years ago. As you can see, diverse and current topics.

The transformative and therapeutic power of artistic expressions has long been talked about, but now, more than ever, they are relevant and necessary. In a world of uncertainty, this article is an invitation to not only better appreciate art in its various forms, but also to understand its potential impact on organizations.

Firstly, the work of art must always be seen as an open-ended experience. Any artistic expression, a painting, a song or an installation, is always an invitation for a deeper dialogue. By letting yourself be carried away freely by all the possible meanings and emotions that a work awakens, you allow yourself to begin a creative dialogue that does not end with the first perception. Depending on the form and the moment in which we appreciate it, a different composition always emerges. It's like seeing the new and different in something that we already imagine to be known – an essential skill in deconstructing what seems obvious, static and conformed to us.

It is this first opening that we need to allow ourselves, to come face to face with art without censorship and without having the commitment to be right or wrong. Letting yourself be carried away by an innocent and unarmed curiosity, giving the green light to new associations and sensations. Art awakens in us this extraordinary ability to give new meaning to a world that we are already used to perceiving and living in. It is an invitation to try something new at all times.

This contemplative experience is related to the inventive capacity that we all possess. One of the greatest experts on creativity in the business world, psychologist Edward de Bono, creator of the term “lateral thinking” and who passed away last year, said: “Creativity is the most important human resource of all, because without it there would be no progress. and we would be repeating the same patterns.” In other words, exploring our creative potential is the key to being active agents of the great transformations underway.
Stimulate creativity

In our organizational context, creativity inspired by art can make a difference. You can think about small changes, like a different way of performing a common task better or a new way of interacting with colleagues and customers. It can be used to think about new realities and new references. To think differently inside and outside the box, you use creativity.

It's not something trivial. We are all creative, but we know that we were once more creative, possibly in childhood. But the paths of life and maturity ended up leaving that behind. All in the name of the need to adapt to a pragmatic, specialized, standardized and change-averse work culture.

Everyone is creative, in some way, on a daily basis. Our organizational culture typically does not understand the creative process as something that is part of work. Often, our moments of greatest creative potential happen outside the work context. Therefore, bringing artistic experience into organizations is not just “cool” or “different”, it is necessary and imperative.

Another fundamental aspect that art raises is the need to create safer environments for expression and experimentation. The biggest enemy of creativity is resistance to change and the fear of making mistakes. Often times, allowing yourself to be free for a few minutes to travel completely and without censorship is what allows you to return minutes later with some ideas that may not be so absurd after all. But you only got to them because you gave yourself the freedom to have a moment of authentic and innocent expression.

This invitation to contemplate art is also an invitation to give new meaning to the entire known world around us – because, in a similar way, we can build a flow of new perspectives with the events that are part of our routine. The obvious only becomes obvious, predictable and boring because we are stuck in an addictive way of seeing it, as if it were a static composition. All it takes is a new look, a new perception, and everything around can change.

The certainty that the transformation we see happening in front of us is a reflection of another transformation that is happening within us. There is a reflective relationship between our most intimate dimension and the way we perceive and construct the world that surrounds us. Messing with one side necessarily causes significant changes in the other.

For these reasons, at ZIV we are reinventing the concept of an art gallery and everything that can be transformed through the experience of art. It's no surprise that it was one of the topics that stood out the most in this year's SXSW program. In a world of uncertain and constant transformations, the only reason to stay alive and relevant is our ability to create new meanings, experiences and possible worlds. Ever.

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