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October 3, 2009

“art for the real world”

5 Comments

[“Port­fo­lio Num­ber One”, han­ging in a collector’s office in Germany.]

I’ve been pla­ying around with this line  a lot recently: “Art For The Real World”.

I’m inte­res­ted in how art affects what some peo­ple call “The Real World”- the work­place, the world of work, the world of busi­ness. That’s what the Cube Gre­nade idea is all about.

My adver­ti­sing buddy, Vinny Warren, grew up in a Roman Catho­lic hou­sehold in Ire­land. He was telling me that his parents would always have a few reli­gious icons han­ging on the wall somewhere. Pic­tu­res of Saints, Mary & Baby Jesus, that kind of thing.

Why? Says Vinny, “To remind us who we were.”

Art that reminds you who you are. Exactly. What applies in Catho­lic hou­seholds also applies in pla­ces of busi­ness. Sha­red Mea­ning. Exactly. Social Objects. Exactly.

I don’t think any of this is roc­ket science…

[Update:] John lea­ves a good com­ment below:

I think surroun­ding our­sel­ves with icons, art, books and such to remind our­sel­ves of who we are, where we have been and where we hope to go is essen­tial to kee­ping our hearts alive. It is too easy to lose our way. My office is full of these things.

[Backs­tory: About Hugh. E-mail Hugh. Work with Hugh. Twit­ter. Car­toon Archive. News­let­ter. Book. Inter­view One. Inter­view Two. EVIL PLANS. Limi­ted Edi­tion Prints. Essen­tial Rea­ding: “Everything You Always Wan­ted To Know About ‘Cube Gre­na­des’ But Were Afraid To Ask.”]

Tags: corporate culture, Cube Grenades, design an office space, Gapingvoid portfolio, Hugh MacLeod Art Portfolio, office desing Ideas, social Objects, Vinny Warren

5 Responses to ““art for the real world””

1. John says:

   October 3, 2009 at 9:21 AM

   I think surroun­ding our­sel­ves with icons, art, books and such to remind our­sel­ves of who we are, where we have been and where we hope to go is essen­tial to kee­ping our hearts alive. It is too easy to lose our way. My office is full of these things. Good thoughts!

   Reply
2. meg says:

   October 3, 2009 at 11:18 AM

   I won­der what it says about a per­son who doesn’t have any art around to remind them­sel­ves who they are? I know peo­ple who have no art, no music, no books they call their own. One woman even told me she didn’t like music.

   I love to buy art. I love to create art. I have a pretty decent collec­tion on my walls.

   I’ve taken it upon myself to “res­cue” art too. Some of it I found prop­ped up against dumps­ters, or at tag sales. Not mas­sed pro­du­ced stuff from Home Depot – but stuff with the artist’s biz card on back. Some­ti­mes I can find the artist on the web. I want to know a bit about the per­son who put some of them­sel­ves on paper or canvas.

   Some­ti­mes I think as an artist that if I ever sell anything I’d want to know something about the per­son who wants my work. It’s an inte­res­ting form of com­mu­ni­ca­tion – to give and receive art.

   Reply
3. vinny warren says:

   October 8, 2009 at 4:28 PM

   thanks for the men­tion hugh! agree with john. to keep the heart alive. brilliant.

   Reply
   • john says:

     October 12, 2009 at 9:17 PM

     Hugh & Vinny, I thought about this post wri­ting a blog the other day: http://consbio.org/cbi-blog/keeping-a-sense-of-wonder. While they help, I find I have to do things, like stare at the moon with my son, to remind me of why I am on this jour­ney. I was sur­pri­sed at how much “expe­rien­cing” something brought me back to cen­ter. I sat down at my desk the next day and my work “icons” and art see­med to have regai­ned their power over my heart like char­ging glow in the dark stars.

     P.S. thanks for the update. It was a kind surprise.

     Reply
4. Alexander Oun says:

   October 20, 2010 at 8:53 PM

   Which is defi­ni­tely pretty essen­tial for what I’m appear at now, thanks a bunch.

   Reply