What is the relationship between freedom of expression and professionalism?
Even though processes of globalization clearly favor the individual, there are profound normative prompts in place that can make a person forget what she wants to say. In Sweden, where I’ve taught in an art school for the last three years, students are becoming more and more aware of demands to professionalize and integrate within the European art system. Beyond effecting their work, this often results in them placing unrealistic demands on the education and acting-out in cynical displays of competition and mistrust. When this happens, it’s usually done in the name of artistic autonomy and freedom of speech. But what is being said? To who or what is it addressed?
People spend a lot of time trying to survive, to look attractive, to move forward as if on solid ground. To seem normal, we dissimulate and repress, we self-censor. In some ways, that is what the concept of society is about: the idea that we can somehow hide our nature from ourselves and from each other. This cynical or critical view that reality is always concealed places a premium on authenticity, and to avoid self-delusion we strive to be other than what we are. Although actual motives can reveal themselves without our being aware, if given the opportunity, we might still opt for silence.
Professionalism, too, has a performative dimension. In part, being professional means adopting a set of established conventions and protocols in response to the demands of a discipline, a marketplace. It encourages us to channel our actions and give them a frame. Today, cognitive therapies offer success in the form of strict behavioral modifications, and new-age meets neoliberal in ideals of self-actualization. We are expected to realize our inner-potential through the marketplace. Aspirations, thoughts and feelings form the basis for an economy of transparency, intimacy and trust; everyone is unique, everyone is valued. Our profession is how we express ourselves.
About the contributor: Matthew Rana is an artist and writer. Since 2009 he has been a member of Speech & What Archive, a performative research group and publishing platform based in Paris. He is a contributor to Art Agenda and frieze, and currently lives in Berlin.