Articles by Gavin Artz
Take Action in the Middle of the Zombie Apocalypse
Apr 30th
By Gavin Artz – April 15th, 2013
Originally Published for the MEGA SA blog. Support MEGA SA
http://mega.org.au/blog/2013/4/15/guest-post-by-gavin-artz
In developed economies, there is a growing sense of unease with the economic direction we have chosen. The financialization of our economies has left us feeling as though we live in a fantasy, where nothing real underpins wealth or economic sustainability. In this fantasy, massive numbers are created through facilitating transactions, or shifting foreign currency about, but it is almost impossible to get funding for new ideas. It is no coincidence that through the era of financialization we have seen the increase in zombie myths and metaphors. More >
Gavin Artz Speaking at the CHASS National Forum
Oct 16th
Gavin Artz spoke a the CHASS Inaugural National Forum at the session’What makes us Human? Technology, Arts and the Human Dehuman Divide’. He covered innovation, creativity, evil robots, digital manufacturing and the new networked economy in his talk ‘The Problem with Creativity’. Also presenting in the session where Dr Marcus Hutter, Professor for Artificial Intelligence, ANU College of Engineering and Computer Science; Martin Mckenzie-Murray, Journalist, Editor, Media Adviser, Political Speechwriter and Lucina Ward, Curator – International Painting & Sculpture, National Gallery of Australia. The session was wrapped up by a provocative panel discussion.
The Not for Profit: the future of for profit governance?
Aug 9th
by Gavin Artz – July 2012
Originally Published: Chartered Secretaries Australia,” Keeping Good Companies: Journal of Chartered Secretaries Australia Ltd.” July 2012 Vol. 64, No.6
http://www.csaust.com/knowledge-resources/journal.aspx?categoryid=11340
‘We don’t build services to make money; we make money to build better services.’ Mark Zukerberg (Rosoff, 2012)
This year Mark Zuckerberg deftly explained the not for profit (NFP) business model in one sentence, but this was in the founders statement of one of the most anticipated IPO’s of recent times, for one of the fastest growing companies in the world.
If one sector has survived the buffeting of recession in the U.S.A. it has been those businesses that seek out disruptive innovations in products and business models. In their search for new ways of operating, they have found themselves moving into territory that has been the domain of the NFP sector, just as the NFP’s, looking for new ways of funding their mission, are turning to entrepreneurial business models.
We a beginning to see commercial and social entrepreneurial approaches finding a common ground, in that they are developing businesses that have a social, as well as financial mission. More >
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Business Manager
Jul 15th
By Gavin Artz – June 12th, 2012
Originally Published: As ‘Business Skills for the Arts’ for the MEGA SA blog. Support MEGA SA
http://www.mega.org.au/blog/2012/6/28/business-skills-for-the-arts.html
Shhhhh …. don’t tell anyone, but I used to be an artist. Well, I was a musician and a composer and, after six years of working in the arts, I am not sure how much credibility that gives you as an artist. When I was an artist musician all I wanted to do was play music and the dream, as for many of my colleagues, was not to have to work a crappy dead-end job to pay the bills. The dream was to get payed for what I wanted to do. Well, in the end that didn’t work out too well for me and I spent way more time having my soul destroyed manning market research phones or sitting behind the desk at WEA Sydney as the night attendant, than on what I wanted to do. The irony was that I had to spend so much time working at business administration, that I became much better at that than at being musician. Ultimately, managing a business was less complex than composition – it paid better too, but more importantly, I had a greater impact on people and society than I ever did as a musician. More >
Art and Profit
Apr 20th
By Gavin Artz – April 2012
Originally Published as a part of the catalogue for the exhabition “We need you, you need us”.
http://tinsheds.wordpress.com/2012/04/12/we-need-you-you-need-us-curated-by-georgie-meagher/
“It’s the economy, stupid” Bill Clinton 1992 – U.S. President
The concept of the Experience Economy (Pine & Gilmore 1998) was one of the first attempts to understand a significant economic and cultural shift brought about by digital technology. The Experience Economy in the hands of marketers played out, and for some companies still plays out, as corporations producing an artificial cultural experience to help sell goods and services. It was a reasonable attempt to make sense of the fundamental changes occurring in developed economies, but while the work of Pine and Gilmore intuitively grasped a fundamental truth, it is as though the concepts were seen through the lens of 1990’s marketing and therefore making it impossible to grasp the full importance of what was happening. More >
Broken
Dec 21st
By Gavin Artz – December 2011
Originally Published: NAVA Quarterly 11.4 Arts Policy
Artists are amongst the lowest paid workers in this country. Despite broad community goodwill for what arts practitioners do and relatively solid government support provided over a number of decades, the majority of artists are still some of the lowest paid workers in the country. What we have been doing isn’t working. More >
On Leadership & Responsibility: ISEA2013 & Australia’s Place in the World
Dec 19th
By Gavin Artz – December 19th, 2011
Originally Published: ANAT Filter Magazine – Issue 78
As an Australian going to the International Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA) for the first time, you will encounter something you never expected at an international arts conference: evidence of Australia’s dominance in this artistic genre.
It is a reflection on how we view our country’s role in the in the art world that one of the most surprising aspects of ISEA is the overwhelming number of Australians that are presenting papers, exhibitions and workshops. International leadership is something that you don’t expect as an Australian; it is not a word often found in an arts and cultural dialogue in our country. More >
Art, Technology and Business: Trans–disciplinary teams in the arts
Sep 21st
By Gavin Artz – September 21st 2011
Originally Published: Proceedings of ISEA2011 – Istanbul (to be published).
Introduction
For the past two years I have been working with The Australian Network for Art and Technology (ANAT) to develop and test a model for working commercially with creativity, a model where artists aren’t diminished in their creative work, but are able to generate a broad range of revenue from their activity. This Ancillary IPs hypothesis theorises that, despite myths to the contrary, artist regularly work in trans-disciplinary teams and this way of working is analogues to the entrepreneurial team found in business. The hypothesis predicts that if this trans-disciplinary team is recognised while the relationships and commercialisation processes are managed within specific criteria, artists can successfully commercialise intellectual property embed in their artwork while enhancing their artistic output. More >
on being provocative
Aug 29th
This article was developed from a presentation by Gavin Artz for The City of Norwood, Payneham and St. Peters Incubating Creativity Forum.
by Gavin Artz – August 29th 2011
Originally Published: The City of Norwood, Payneham and St. Peters site “Thinking Through the City”. http://thinkingthroughthecity.com/2011/08/29/on-being-provocative
When Teresa Crea invited me to the Thinking Through The City Incubating Creativity Forum for the City of Norwood, Payneham and St. Peters, she suggested that I might like to be a provocateur. I like rocking the boat as much as the next person, but I felt that what the council is trying to achieve didn’t need that much provocation. Entering the ring of creative and digital industries through an engagement with community, business and creative practitioners seems eminently sensible. Of course that is not exactly what Teresa meant, but as it turned out it was not a role that was hugely necessary on the night. The conversations that developed during the forum, while diverse, had strong themes that demonstrated a real readiness to embrace a new way of thinking about how arts and creativity can work with business. This progressive conversation also served to highlight some of the less imaginative ways of thinking that have been plaguing a deeper engagement between creativity, community and business. More >
Do We Really Value Arts and Culture?
Aug 15th
By Gavin Artz – August 12th 2011
Originally Published: ANAT Filter Magazine
http://filter.org.au/issue-77/do-we-really-value-arts-and-culture
The continuing economic uncertainty we are experiencing sets the stage for an interesting international experiment; one you wouldn’t deliberately engineer, but informative because of its far-reaching impact. In retrospect, the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) was not so global – in Australia there was an initial, short-lived impact which was devastating for some, but ultimately not economically significant for the country. In contrast, Europe and North America are still experiencing ongoing collapse and austerity. This contrast makes it possible to test where arts and culture fit in the hierarchy of need in modern capitalist-based democracies. More >
You better make it count, because you’re voting every day
Jun 12th
by Gavin Artz – June 12th 2011
Originally Published: The City of Norwood, Payneham and St. Peters site “Thinking Through the City”.
Think back to a time before computers took over the work place. It is like an alien world, for some of us it is a fading memory, for those entering the work force it is a world that never existed. It is getting hard to wrap our minds around now, but back before computers skyscraper were the computers and employees were the transistors. Imagine the rows of employees crunching numbers for banks or accounting firms. They were acting as computers do now; fixated on a small piece of detail, making sure it was correct. This type of world led to a rather perverse concept of what the best use of human intellect was. More >
Flaky?
May 16th
by Gavin Artz – May 16th 2011
Originally Published: The City of Norwood, Payneham and St. Peters site “Thinking Through the City”.
http://thinkingthroughthecity.com/2011/05/16/flaky/#more-755
You wouldn’t do business with artists because they are too flaky, they do what they want to do, turn up when they want to and are not interested in making money, or worse they are hostile to making money. But it is not just artists; I get to hear the same thing about scientists. That’s interesting to me because I work with both on a daily basis and the thing that makes artists and scientists similar is their open ended, creative curiosity. A science paper is just a sign post of a much more complex exploration, the paper may give great insight, but the scientist continues to explore. The same is true of the artist’s exhibition. An exhibition is not a full stop, but a consolidation of thought and experience, readying them for much deeper exploration. So you wouldn’t do business with an artist or scientist because they exhibit unbound creative curiosity and business is up against it working on innovation, or application of ideas, let along spending time and money on mere speculation. Or it could be the best thing you ever did. More >
Would I travel for that?
May 11th
by Gavin Artz – May 11th 2011
Originally Published: The City of Norwood, Payneham and St. Peters site “Thinking Through the City”.
http://thinkingthroughthecity.com/2011/05/11/would-i-travel-for-that/#more-742
Last week, with some guilt, I went to Borders in the CBD to by a book. Guilty for picking over the bones of a dying business, guilty as the staff talked about their unknown futures. I was after a book that had been a business best seller for the last 6 years. Unexpectedly Borders had what I wanted on their shelves. I am so used to retail stores not having something in stock that my initial bad feeling left me and I got excited by the large 40% off tickets, I found my book and looked to the back for the price, calculated the discount and then it struck me, the deep problem that retail is facing. More >
Not for Profit Governance in a Post Facebook World
Mar 11th
by Gavin Artz – March 11th 2011
Originally Published: Chartered Secretaries Australia,” Keeping Good Companies: Journal of Chartered Secretaries Australia Ltd.” March 2011 Vol. 63, No.2
We “like” Facebook, growing numbers of us are communicating across this platform and other social media platforms. We are aligning ourselves with many causes, as well as devoting more of our spare time contributing to and working for these causes, but we don’t expect an AGM, or a board. Citizens are voting with their feet in acts of self-organised co-creation, they are looking for platforms, not programs. More >
Daily Democracy: Can Art and Technology Drive Social Change?
Nov 11th
By Gavin Artz – November 11th 2010
Originally published in Filter Magazine
http://filter.anat.org.au/issue-75/daily-democracy-can-art-and-technology-drive-social-change
This article is adapted from a talk given by Gavin Artz as a part of The Australian Centre for Social Innovation (TACSI) Blue Sky Sessions program. http://www.tacsi.org.au/blue-sky-session
Although the concept of the uncanny valley has been around since 1970, it has only become a widely encountered problem in the past five years. The term uncanny valley was coined by robotocist Masahiro Mori, and his was the first industry where questions of culture, psychology and humans interaction with technology became an issue. In the past five years other practitioners, including creators of digital images in gaming and simulations, have needed to grapple with this concept. More >
Creative Vision
Jul 1st
By Gavin Artz – July 5th 2010
Originally published in Filter Magazine
http://filter.anat.org.au/anat-reports/creative-vision/
“The future has already arrived. It’s just not evenly distributed yet.” William Gibson
This quote reflects what it is like to view the world through the work of ANAT, where we assist creative practitioners to develop the new ground where art, science, technology, culture, community and commerce meet in harmony. Looking back over six years of Filter Magazine you can see how creative practitioners working with science and technology not only foretell what will be the significant themes of research, but how we will be engaging with it culturally. More >
are we entering a new digital renaissance?
Mar 17th
An interview with Gavin Artz by the CIIC – March 17th 2010
Originally published by the CIIC
http://www.creativeinnovation.net.au/Features/Are-we-really-entering-a-new-digital-Renaissance-.html
Collaboration is at the heart of innovation – an area very close to Gavin’s heart, in his role at ANAT, an Adelaide-based organisation that represents those people with a creative passion for emerging technologies.
“There are scientists and artists who are currently innovating and developing intellectual property in order to create and do what they do. However, this needs to be recognised in order to enable future innovation,” Gavin says.
“There is an opportunity now – at this time in history – which could be considered the ‘new renaissance’ where science, art, engineering, creativity and innovation come together. More >
Our Trans-diciplinary Future
Feb 26th
By Gavin Artz- February 26th 2010
Origonally published in Filter Magazine
http://filter.anat.org.au/issue-73/our-trans-disciplinary-future
The Australian Network for Art and Technology (ANAT) has been working on interdisciplinary activity since the organisation’s inception in 1988.
Our Emerging Technologies [ET] Labs (originally Summer Schools), and ANAT’s Art Science [AS] residencies have shown what is possible when you happily break down the walls of specialisation and bring seemingly varied fields together. ANAT has nurtured this way of working over the past 21 years and we see the concept of interdisciplinary reaching its limit to describe the creative practice of the future. If creative practitioners are to develop enduring revenue streams, or find a place in society for the work they produce, it will not be in a traditional Artworld approach to culture and society. We are moving to a world where trans-disciplinary relationships will become more significant and ANAT is committed to making this future possible. More >
Creative Leadership Through Pure Research and Commercial Application
Feb 5th
By Gavin Artz- February 5th 2010
Origonally published on Mission Models Money
What is the future for the economies of developed counties? Corporations continually exhibit a lack of leadership and strategic thinking when it comes to the type of society and economy we desire (or even they desire). Strategy for them seems to be limited to short-term gains for a company within an industry, disallowing an expansive future not only for those companies, but also for society. Creative practitioners and the cultural sector have a more encompassing view of what it means to be citizen and have a greater propensity for this larger vision for our future. We often take this greater vision from creative practitioners for granted and we also tend marginalise the enormous impact that creativity has had economically. There is an untapped breadth of leadership for the future of society and the economy that is bound up in creative practitioners and the cultural sector. More >
AncillaryIPs: The wave
Jan 22nd
By Gavin Artz- January 22nd 2010
Origonally published on Mission Models Money
http://www.missionmodelsmoney.org.uk/blog/guest-posts/ancillaryips-the-wave/
“if I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses”
- Henry Ford.
Commercialisation of intellectual property by creative practitioners has gone mostly unnoticed by the mainstream economy. Artsactive have a small catalogue of patents that have been derived from creative practice, but as a standard revenue stream it is poorly explored. At the Australian Network for Art and Technology (ANAT) we work with artists who are at the very forefront of science and emerging technology. It was noticed that through the processes encouraged by ANAT, artists were creating intellectual property when they encountered a technical roadblock in their work. They created code, machinery or processes in their endeavours to over come problems in achieving their creative vision. These AncillaryIPs (Artz 2008) had been mostly overlooked More >
