As the sun sets on the dusty Gloucester Road skyline and on a flickering, sweaty summer, we can look back contentedly on five evenings doing something defiant in its simplicity, simple in its defiance.
On Wednesday 20th of August we discussed ‘The Purpose of Art’ but, perhaps predictably, floated beyond ‘purpose’ into ponderings and pontifications on the nature, value, beauty, power structures and professions of ‘art’, from Van Gogh to Vin Diesel.
Here are some of the reflections we could (belatedly) recall from Wednesday:
Is art necessarily political?
Context and historical situatedness of art… pieces that require context and the constructs around those regarded as "beautiful", “masterpieces” outside their zeitgeist
What will art of the future be like?
The backlash against new movements and genres
Art as a form to challenge the status quo, discourses on beauty, notions of reality and normativity.
Dialogue between producer/artist and receiver/spectator
Pretentiousness and cynicism: am I missing something, or is this a con?
The language of (some) art understood by a few and sometimes a friend (or an adioguide) can translate its meaning.
Needing background or an explanation to learn to appreciate art, and how that may change perspectives.
Not feeling qualified to justify art being “good” or “bad” but we are able to justify it on the basis of how it makes us feel.
Enjoying vs being challenged by art
Shakespeare, elitism and timeless universal human experience
“AI-produced art”: an oxymoron?
Vin Diesel’s flying headbutt is the pinnacle of human art and nothing can ever match this so we might as well give up and die [I couldn’t find a video clip of this unfortunately]
Subjective perceptions of art evoking contrasting feelings
Maybe life itself is just art all the way down…
Changing perception and expanding meanings as we age (and mature?)
The purpose of art as the expression of the producer letting something out meaningful to them regardless of the external value of others.
‘The artist of life’ as the continual crafting of meaning; of big and small decisions in life, ‘how’ we live each moment as opposed to ‘what’ we live.
Art as a form of perpetuating power and discourses of right and wrong, from beauty to morals.
Contemporary art museums: a stage for art that decides what is worthy and what is not, what are the power dynamics behind that decision-making?
‘This is not a pipe’ (Ceci n’est pas une pipe, by René Magritte), the avangardian introduction that art is not reality but a representation of it.
Literature as a medium to transmit ideas that academic writing cannot.
What is the limit of what art is? Are all forms of design, art? (think socks, hairstyles, architecture...)
If art is produced for profit, then it is produced to be liked by potential consumers as opposed to by the artist themselves necessarily? Does making a living out of one’s own art take meaning away from the art itself?
Graffitti challenging art ownership by producing ephemeral art in public property.
Doubting oneself when disliking any form of art when we believe it is held in high regard by others.
Disqualifying our own sense of judgement
Art as accessible, multisensorial, immersive experiences, rather than defined pieces…
And while we could not attempt to define what the purpose of art is in a single line (if, indeed, it has a purpose), we believe we did materialise in practice the purpose of the Listening Circle. We have extended ourselves, we have (tried to) to listen without thinking of an answer and we have felt heard. We have thought in depth about things we had only thought in passing and we unlocked a lot of ideas by hearing others' views, opinions, reflections and experiences.
Each circle has been richer because of the singularity of each attendee and together we helped each other ask ourselves new questions. There is so much wisdom and so much to learn from everyone when we set the conditions for those conversations to flourish, we experience something very simple and yet so very rich. These conditions are time, focus and the consensus to try not to convince others, win, lose, or reach a consensus. What do we need to create the conditions to have these moments with our friends or with strangers outside of the listening circle? Are there any citizen spaces to foster this practice? As teams, groups, communities, neighbours, how much understanding and compassion do we nurture and foster when we make the time to focus, listen and share?
Because maybe we can do better than online shouting matches and doomscrolling, maybe something more satisfying lies beyond the other side of simple conversations with cohabitants of our city, of sitting with friends or strangers and sharing food and a smile. Maybe it’s not about reaching new levels of certainty; maybe it’s about the watermelon we shared along the way.
So if you liked, or didn’t like it, please fill out the feedback form, and God willing / with Mercury in Gatorade / if our techno-feudalist overlords allow it, we will be Listening with you again before too long.
In peace and service,
Silvia and Caspar
PS This is the cave art at Serrania de Chiribiquete (Colombia), ‘The Sistine Chapel of the Amazon’: turns out it’s 8 miles(!!!) long, 12,500 years old, and I was doing a disservice by talking about handprints…)
