Constructions of Professional Subjectivity at the Fine Arts College

Abstract

Abstract:Higher education can function as an important marker of seriousness in fields characterized by diffuse professional standards. Using the case of a fine arts institute, the article outlines the role of higher education in promoting the interconnection of a professional and individual subjectivity; being an artist is not merely something one does but something one is. By primarily examining interview material, it explores how an ideal position of individual self-reliance relates to the alumni of the institute. Some respondents were not "in sync" with this position and needed to seek out other resources in order to construct themselves as professional artists. However, they seldom rejected the kind of subjectivity promoted by their education, but rather renegotiated it as part of the uncertainty of their chosen field.

Artists and Multiple Job Holding—Breadwinning Work as Mediating Between Bohemian and Entrepreneurial Identities and Behavior

“…As previously stated, issues of how to make a living as an artist has been found to be downplayed by the higher arts education of my respondents, and courses in marketing and economy to be scarce (Lindström, 2015). Sellable art forms such as graphic design, applied arts, or even paintings can be understood to be of lesser status, while 'non-object' art forms such as installations, film, and performance are given high status.…”

“…The institute was found to encourage students to identify as artists as well as to downplay issues of how to make a living as an artist. Students acknowledging art as a way to make a living (and not just a way of living) could be understood as not having what it takes to be a 'true' artist (Lindström, 2015). My respondents learned little skill and knowledge associated with artistic enterprise, such as sales and marketing, business strategy, and finance.…”

“…Thus, the prestige of the Royal Institution of Art formed part of why negative experiences of the labor market occurred (Lindström, 2015).…”

“…In my previous work (Lindström, 2015), I explore how often unspoken norms and values of an arts college uphold a separation between art as vocation and art as occupation. The principal data in this study consist of interviews with artists holding an MFA from the Royal Institute of Arts in Stockholm.…”

“…Sellable art forms such as graphic design, applied arts, or even paintings can be understood to be of lesser status, while 'non-object' art forms such as installations, film, and performance are given high status. However, art students are encouraged to adopt a self-reliant behavior that entails the ability to be driven and outreaching, to manage insecurity and risk, and to be responsible for one's own trajectory, that is, being enterprising (Lindström, 2015). Following Bridgstock (2012), to be enterprising is related to the 'identification or creation of artistic opportunities and exploitation of those opportunities in terms of applying or sharing artistic activity in order to add value of some kind' (Bridgstock, 2013, p. 126).…”