Art in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
Art helps you deal with uncertainty.
Many of us are sensing that our world is on the verge of a paradigm shift.
Bjørn Eirik Olsen, the former General Director of a Norwegian foundation aiming at promoting the growth of cultural and art-based business, is one such person. I had the honour to meet him many years ago, while attending a martial arts seminar at the International Budo University in Chiba, Japan.
Bjørn holds a 7th Dan Shihan in Aikido and is currently in the process of writing a book on cultural and creative industries. He combines his interest for art with his professional experience in organizational development, marketing and management – as well as his personal experience with Japanese martial arts and fine arts.
I'm delighted to share Bjørn's thoughts on art in the age of artificial intelligence and so much more. Scroll down for the full interview!
We’re entering our fifth week in isolation. Some days feel more raw than others. How are you all coping amidst this pandemic?
Every generation has some sort of challenge to contend with. My mother and aunt remember all too well the World War II days when food was tightly rationed.
Men and women were called to the front then while ironically, our struggle today is to keep people at home.
For those of you needing a change of perspective, painting is a great way to help you get through the challenges affecting our globe currently. Making time for your creative practice really helps to centre and ground you. Alternatively, if you know someone struggling through loneliness, anxiety or simply finding it difficult to cope at the moment, why not send him or her something meaningful? My GIFT CARDS are finally here! Find the right gift for your loved one below. I particularly recommend my holistic mixed media art courses. These are self-paced online classes that combine creativity with the healing lens of homeopathy. Find out more below.
Looking for that special gift?
Cheer up your loved ones during these uncertain times. Choose from any of my original paintings, prints or new creative e-course FLY FREE.
I’d love to hear how you’re forging ahead during this global lockdown. Feel free to reach out to me.
Sara xo
Quote of the month
"I used to think the top environmental problems were biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and climate change. I thought that with 30 years of good science we could address those problems. But I was wrong.
The top environmental problems are selfishness, greed and apathy...and to deal with those we need a spiritual and cultural transformation.
And we scientists don't know how to do that."
(Gus Speth)
Bjørn Eirik Olsen’s vision is to integrate insights gleaned from research, business development and international cooperation, as well as from the martial arts, meditation and creative work, to create balanced models for value creation in the future. His impressive experience spans over 40 years, combining intensive training in Aikido, swordsmanship, Zen, yoga and chi-kung. Moreover, he was the Fisheries Attaché to the Norwegian Embassy in Tokyo, Division Director at the Norwegian Food and Seafood Research Institute NOFIMA and General Director of the Culture Business Development Foundation established by SpareBank 1 Nord-Norge, through which he contributed to more than 600 development projects, both financially and as a supervisor. He is currently researching and writing a book on cultural and creative industries at University of Tromsø – The Arctic University of Norway. He holds a Shihan title and a 7th Dan black belt in Aikido and is one of the leading instructors in Europe.
In your opinion what is the importance of art?
I think we are approaching a paradigm shift as comprehensive as the Agricultural Revolution 10,000 years ago and the Industrial Revolution 200 years ago. Environmental problems push us and new technologies empower us. The cognitive part however, seems to be the bottleneck in this shift. Resources such as creativity, esthetics, intuition, inspiration and ethics are what we need for a breakthrough. Art challenges our rational mind and gives us access to resources deep inside ourselves. Art helps us to deal with the unknown, and to see a situation from new and unexpected angles. In this way, art contributes to building a bridge towards the new era.
Further industrialization seems to create more problems than it solves. We need a new direction and a new way of thinking. In my opinion, a cognitive change has to balance the rational mind that emerged out of the Renaissance. This time, humanity has to tap into its inner resources. It is not a matter of discharging science; it is a matter of anchoring it.
How will the rise of artificial intelligence and automatization affect the creative industry and artists at large?
With industrialization, machines took over manual work. Artificial intelligence (AI) on the other hand, will gradually move into rational thinking, intellectual work and coordination. In order not to be surpassed and pacified by AI, we have to explore areas of creativity, esthetics and ethics. Our advantage is consciousness; being aware of being aware. AI is not, it’s just a machine.
What is the link between art and spirituality?
As I see it, spirituality is to know one’s source, one’s true Self. A materialistic worldview misidentifies us with our body. As I see it, the body is important as a tool for experiencing and we have to take good care of it. Nevertheless, our real Self is our spirit, our consciousness. In the same way as meditation or prayer, art is breaking with the materialistic worldview. It involves and activates our heart.
Can you tell us a little bit more about art in relation to explicit and tacit knowledge?
Explicit knowledge is the domain of the left-brain. It is everything that can be codified in text, numbers, diagrams and software. Tacit knowledge is the hidden knowledge, the larger part under the surface. In Japan, tacit knowledge was transferred from master to apprentice through years of close connection. Even if I explain in detail how to do an Aikido technique, it will take a student years of deep training to be able to do it.
How can Aikido help a person in daily life?
The essence of Budo (martial ways) is the virtues that were cultivated by the Samurai. I have worked on modernizing this philosophy for some time now and I have concluded with five main virtues the can help us live fruitful lives:
Integrity: a strong center grounded in one’s authentic self.
Respect (right perception of the other): a non-judgmental and understanding view towards people and situations.
Courage: the willingness to face fear within oneself and in society.
Perseverance: the will to get up on one's feet again and regain posture after falling.
Service: contributing to something larger than oneself.
Think about it; if one of these is missing, it is hard to accomplish anything.
How do you envisage the role of the arts in this new paradigm shift?
As with music, poetry, dance or painting, martial arts could be cultivated as disciplines to get in touch with one’s inner nature. The body itself, and weapons like a sword or a bow, are our tools. Through training focused on balance, coordination, timing, breath and the life force (ki), we refine the operation of these tools. It’s not about winning or losing. If we train honestly and correctly, we can break out of form and start to express our inner Self in service towards society. Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido, did just that. For me, this is the purpose of Aikido. It is my goal to bring this perspective into organizations and professional work.
How would you encourage those who believe they lack creativity?
To be a human being is to have consciousness and to express this creatively through our two primary instruments, the mind and the body. We are inherently creative, but commercialism and materialism want us to believe that we depend on buying things to fulfill ourselves. We need to shake loose. It takes a bit of courage in the beginning. The more we open up to creativity, the more confident we will be.
Anything else that you would like to add?
All of us have our own genius, our special creative ability that will fit into the whole. This could be refined and expressed in everything we do.
You can find out more about Bjørn Eirik Olsen.
Resources
If you'd like some encouragement to explore your full potential in a creative way, join our creative community. My self-paced mixed media art online courses give you the opportunity to rediscover your innate creativity from a holistic perspective.
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Patience - oil on canvas 70 x 100 cm
