As you might be aware of from previous posts, after our third meeting in November we’ve decided to divide into 4 sub-groups of interest to focus on specific aspects of our broad research.
We will now be introducing the contents and materials produced by the 4 sub-groups :
Holistic Perspectives on a Three Dimensional Doughnut: How the Artist-led and Creative Network Experience Offers a Way to Understand Foundational and Evolutionary Dimensions of the Doughnut – Sub-Group by Laura Bottin, Lisa Friedberg, Caroline Vitzthum.
Recognizing creativity as a fundamental aspect of the human being, and the force and urge which drives individual and societal progress (as well as biological evolution itself), this subgroup examined how artistic and creative perspectives can offer new ways to approach problems and potential solutions, differing from current rationalistic economic and socially prescriptive thinking. As inherently embodying creative ways of working and organising, we believe that artist-led structures and creative networks can offer models and case studies in which to examine and explore the core processes and practices of innovation.
“But creativity is not just about an end result. Creativity is the process itself: a way of thinking and problem-solving ‘outside the box’, finding innovative solutions. It is the application of the thought.. I wonder what would happen if… onto the material world. At its heart, creativity requires and engenders changing perspectives.”
– Lucy H. Pearce, Creatrix
Following on from these basic premises, we began flushing out a concept of a three-dimensional doughnut, in the sense that the classic diagram represents to us a certain static state of social progress, along the lines of a lateral ‘X-axis’. We began to be interested in the ‘Y’ and ‘Z’ axes and dimensions of the doughnut, questioning what supports the doughnut from below, and where the doughnut might be going above and in time, in a spiral of evolution and change.
We were greatly inspired by new and evolving scientific research into the existence of an underground, mycelium network of fungi that links, underpins and supports all plant life above ground. This is especially prevalent in forest ecosystems, where trees communicate and share nutrients and information with each other through this network. We then applied this ecological model and metaphor to the notion of a foundation, of and for, the existing doughnut, thinking of how the desirable central factors and conditions in the model are nourished and sustained.
This led onto thinking about networks themselves, highlighting artist-led networks, and how they are essentially geometries of relating and relationships. And furthering this metaphor of the mycelium network, with progressive society and healthy artist-led ecologies as the ‘forest’ above, the ‘food’ or ‘fuel’ of the network would then be those qualities and characteristics which cultivate healthy relating and relationships, such as empathy, compassion, openness and listening, among others.
Through the lens of thinking regarding what pre and co-factors are needed for specifically artist-led and creative networks to thrive, we determined that passion, creative spirit, inspiration, and enthusiasm/enjoyment/fun are also essential qualities which must be consciously supported and maintained.
For the evolutionary, or upward angle of the three-dimensional doughnut, we applied an understanding of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to the existing doughnut concept, wherein one must first attend to basic physiological needs, before being able to meet emotional and security needs further up. At the top of the pyramid is self and collective actualisation, where Maslow placed creative expression, inner potential, meaning and purpose as the highest human needs and ideals.
As the top of the pyramid represents the greatest realisation of the potential for the individual and group, it can thus be seen as an evolutionary jumping off point, whereby a process of ever developing wisdom, ability and depth is initiated.
Evolution implies change and transformation, and as such, it is an inherently creative process of emergence into the unknown. In this way, we posited that a creatively focused, artist-led doughnut could expand to a notion of a Creative-Evolutionary societal model when applied on a larger scale.
In sum, we believe that innovation and thriving in the 21st century is going to be driven by creating and working in networks generally, as well as interacting in ever more collaborative and co-creative ways on projects and tasks. This represents a paradigm shift in ways of interacting, moving away from current atomised, disembodied, goal-oriented, and rationalised approaches, and towards more embodied, emotionally informed, flexible, process-oriented, and non-linear ways of being and interacting.
As this is such a new world, we believe as a society we will need to consciously ‘upskill’ ourselves in practices which encourage and support collaboration and cooperation and reduce conflict. Such practices might include consciously examining social conditioning, bias and prejudice, teaching active listening and empathic communication skills, as well as promoting inner, self-development work, so that one can come to know and heal oneself, and therefore interact with others from a place of trust, compassion and generosity, and not from a will to power, fear or pain.
As a peer learning group, we are interested in further exploring the ‘foundation’ of the doughnut, through compiling and practising a toolbox of existing practices from the self-development, therapeutic, non-violent communication and conscious relating worlds, amongst others, and perhaps offering out workshops and experiential activities in this regard.
We are also interested to further explore and enquire into the evolutionary aspect of the doughnut, refining the 3D diagram and working on creating a fully interactive, three-dimensional model, both digitally and in real-time and space. We feel that perhaps installation works, audio journeys, as well as performative and interactive in-person activities, would bring the multidimensionality of the three-dimensional doughnut to life.
Images Credit: Lisa Friedberg
