O autor de “We Think”, Charles Leadbeater, divulgou recentemente um ensaio seu sobre o impacto da web na arte e, sobretudo, nas organizações que existem na sua esfera – “The Art of With“.
O texto pode ser lido e comentado.
Excertos:
Often in the name of doing things for people traditional, hierarchical organisations end up doing things to people. Companies say they work for consumers but often treat them like targets to be aimed at, wallets to be emptied, desires to be excited and manipulated.
The arts, and the modern avant garde in particular, has stood in opposition to this commodified, regimented world of to and for. The arts offer a space for contemplation and reflection, challenge and controversy, higher meanings and deeper purpose. Yet in its way the modern art world and modern arts institutions embody the principles of to and for just as powerfully as the modern factory or school.
Twenty years ago the industries that provided most of our information, entertainment and culture resembled a few very large boulders strewn over an empty beach. These boulders were the big media companies that came into being because media had high fixed costs – print plants for newspapers and studios for television. They were closely regulated and the resources they used, like broadcast spectrum, were scarce. All that created high barriers to entry.
Now imagine the scene on this beach in five years time. A few very big boulders will be still showing. But many will have been drowned by a rising tide of pebbles. Every minute millions of people come to the beach to drop their own little pebble: a blog post, a YouTube video, a picture on Flickr, an update on Twitter. A bewildering array of pebbles in different sizes, shapes and colours are being laid down the whole time, in no particular order, as people feel like it.
