The Value of Art

I recently attended an interview for a Knowledge Management position with a private business. At the opening of the interview, the interviewer was asking me about my involvement in acting and creative arts. She said it is a very unusual combination when knowledge management is about discipline and standardization and acting is about creativity and thinking out of the box. I replied saying that while we need to keep our work processes tightly organized in order to provide standardizations and responsible growth, it is essential that traditions do not tie us down. Creative arts is to help us thinking creatively and out of the box so the organization can continue to grow with new ideas that keep them abreast with or even ahead of time, trends and developments. The interviewer seemed very happy with my answer and I think we had a great interview as she did comment that in a few sentences she already knew I know my stuff.

I have yet to receive another call for this job, but the conversation and a recent speech given by Cate Blanchett when she accepted her honourary degree from Macquarie University did get me think about how I valued art in my life and tried tirelessly to keep that alive.

Creative art has always been an important part in my life and I have always placed a high value on it. I remembered when I attended my one and only TOEFL examination as a teenager they had newly introduced a writing segment in the test. I still remember the question was about the value of art and culture in a society. I was on fire in my response and could not stress enough how important it is for art and culture to be an integral part of our society. I eventually got a full mark for that portion of the test and I was quite happy about it.

I have never been a standard kind of guy who just wants to live a standard kind of life. That of course does not make life any easier for me. However, my emphasis and stress on creative art did provide a lot of buffer for me to stay creative and sane at the same time. I could be happy by just listening to a good piece of music, watching a good movie or play or even reading a good play or book. That kind of happiness has ripple effects on me when I am down and have to faced difficulties in life. It gives me the energy and power to think in a less traditional way and thus avoiding me cornering myself mentally. I might still not be able to figure out a viable solution immediately as some of the real life issues are very pressing and menacing, and no creativity could provide instant solutions for them. However, art does help to provide a bigger playground for me so I have more space to move around in my thoughts. It also provides a bit more positive energy that I need to face these difficulties. Does that mean I don’t worry? No, but it makes me more at ease with situations.

In the wake of this Australian government marginalizing art and creativity through cutting funding for ABC and SBS out of their own political agenda, I felt extremely sad and disappointed with the society we are living in. Art has become a valued commodity in Australia and a lot of time art is about power and whom you know instead of real talent and creativity. If you do not fit into the boxes authorities created for themselves, you probably won’t get a chance to crack it. The current approach of the Australian government to art had stifled its imagination and development in the same way as some totalitarian governments that the Australian government condemned did. Are we qualified to criticize others while we are standing on the same continuum but just a bit behind?

It might sound silly and unrealistic for me to insist on my creative pursuit while trying to make a living in a non-creative art profession. For me both things don’t necessarily need to be segregated. We just need to find a balance. And to find that balance, we need to start with our mind because that is where system and creativity work together. For me art and creativity should not have an expiration date in our life.

I think at the end of the day it is about what you believe in. I believe in a life that earning a living, creating art, appreciate science and engaging in sports can co-exist and enrich each other. I might not see that change in this so called current “Australian way of life” as propagated by this Australian government, but as long as I can I will continue to push this believe forward because you never know what change this could bring when you expected it to.