Frieze! Stop right there!

Before we go any further, let’s think. Is there a difference between art galleries and art fairs? Surely they’re one in the same? As galleries exhibit their collections at art fairs in hopes of selling, the fairs must draw the same audience as the respective galleries, right? A recent trip to Frieze Art Fair in London provided some interesting insights into this topic…

Frieze is a world renowned art fair, desirable in the eye of the biggest galleries and the newcomers; exhibitors and patrons alike. Although it was difficult not to enjoy the art on show, our intentions at the fair were to explore its workings from a business perspective. Ultimately, we were trying to answer the question: who is the audience? After spending most of the day people-watching, my observations have offered a few suggestions.

The most interesting observation I made was that of the behaviour around the above piece. As you can see, it’s a mirrored box containing a neon light stating ‘SOMETHING SPECIAL ABOUT YOU.’ Upon approaching this piece, I noticed there was quite a queue. Not thinking much of it at first, I snapped a quick picture from as close as I could get and stepped back out of the way again. It was then that I noticed what the queue was for. People were lining up to get directly in front of the piece to take a ‘selfie’ in it.

Now, this was curious for two reasons. Firstly, they weren’t making it obvious that they were lining up for this reason. They were all just subtly falling into a queue trying to ignore their intentions. Secondly, it sparked the question of why they were there and which version of themselves were they presenting? As the purchase of this range of art is inaccessible to most, I think it would be fair to assume that many of the visitors on this day at Frieze were not there to buy. So, with this interesting behaviour in mind, could we conclude that the reason these people were at the fair was, although they clearly would have had some interest in art, to feed their identity or, further, their online identity.

‘Selfies’ are a phenomena of the 2010s, used as a tool for autonomy; self-perception; self-esteem; and self-promotion on various social media platforms. Over recent years, people have developed an intimate relationship with social media and have become experts in crafting an idealised persona, displaying themselves and their lives through a filtered lens. This observation of the Frieze art fair appears to be a manifestation of this behaviour, offering the conclusion that the audience (or at least a representative proportion of it) was there to massage their online personas and present another facet of their image. They were present at the fair to say ‘look at what I did today! I’m exclusive! I’m cultural! I’m part of the social elite!’

Although I’m conscious of the length of this post already (thank you for sticking with me),  I’d like to offer an extended perspective on this. Considering the digital age in which we live and the rise of virtual and augmented reality technologies, we can further question the need and prominence of fairs such as Frieze. In light of what has been discussed above, I would be inclined to suggest that it has something to do with exclusivity. Visitors want to be able to say they were there, and this somehow gives them an advantage over those who were not; a sort of one-upmanship. This could then expand into the increasing prominence of selling not products, but experiences (think Coca-Cola not selling a bottle of coke but selling ‘Enjoy a Coke with friends’) but that is a discussion for another time…

How might we…?

Value. What is value? What is it that makes something valuable? The subjectivity of this abstract noun has been playing on my mind since our Design Thinking session last week. We were introduced to the processes of analytical vs design thinking, and discussed how each is used in order to create a product or service.

Analytical thinking is a standard practice. Throughout our entire school careers, we are taught to analyse, hypothesise and deduce. We understand how to predict the result of conditions which provide a ‘what’ and a ‘how’. We know how to take what we have, and the result we want, and create the ‘how’ in order to make it happen.

However, design thinking processes help us to unlock the next level of our creativity. As Alice and Janja have taught us, design thinking encourages us to work toward an aspired value, not an observed result. We must find something which our users will find valuable, then create the ‘what’ and the ‘how.’ Ultimately, we are creating something specifically for our users which is going to make life better for them in some way, something which they will find valuable and actually use. It sounds obvious, doesn’t it? Understanding this makes you wonder why all businesses aren’t using it and haven’t been using it forever.

Design thinking is a concept which still seems relatively new and is not always understood; perhaps because it is often attempted to be applied without first reading into the deeper theory, or without wholeheartedly wanting to create something for people.

To exercise this, we were tasked with rethinking the shoe. We were unleashed on to the students of Kingston University, investigating their choice of footwear. After many confused faces, and one girl looking at me as if I’d walked into her house on Christmas day and thew up on her coffee table, we found that a common value held by the students we spoke to was being able to keep up with current trends, while on a budget.

We decided to create a subscription service which would allow users to select new styles of shoes to be delivered to them as frequently as they wished. They would be able to choose the style (of five current trends), personalise them by selecting the colour and any accessories, and have them delivered to their home. It would be a budget-friendly way of being able to stay up to date with the fashions and express their own personalities.

If we hadn’t have first gone out to terrorise, I mean, talk to our potential users, we would have probably designed a futuristic shoe which changed with the weather. However, if we’d have then tried to sell that to the users we spoke to, they wouldn’t have bought it. Why? Because it wouldn’t have met their values.

This is something which is going to be permanently adhered to the forefront of my mind (I’ve now got the word ‘value’ imprinted onto the back of my eyelids), and will be essential in developing our group business ideas. It seems so obvious now, but it really does take a curve ball smacking you right in the face to break you out of the thought processes you were taught to use at school.

 

Fresh Perspectives

As it is unavoidable, it may be best to first address how awkward new beginnings are. Whether that be the early days of a relationship; the induction of a new degree programme; or the very first post on a new blog, it is no unusual thing to feel a little unsure of yourself when standing on the precipice of a new experience. However, in spite of the anxiety and inevitable awkward silences, it is undeniable the sense of excitement and anticipation with which these circumstances present us.

The first two weeks of the MA Creative Economy course have passed as quickly as they arrived, and have left exciting new answers to age old questions in their wake. Already the differences within the team have proven themselves to be exactly the things which unite us, spurring me to rethink and reimagine all perceptions I had on the world. Hearing each team members motivations; what their goals were; and what was driving them to achieve them, caused me to reflect on what exactly had brought me here. Whether it was intentional or not (and, knowing Janja, I’m going to say it was intentional) the very fabric of the induction week, and the events and exercises which were packed into it, was developed with design thinking in mind. The beautiful thing is that, within that, it has perfectly demonstrated to us exactly what it is we are learning to do: to think about people; to be empathetic; and to look at the world from someone else’s perspective.

To reflect on the induction experience, let me introduce you to Margaret…

Margaret’s profile expresses some of the thoughts and worries which wind around the minds of many new students. She is worried that she won’t make friends and, consequently, won’t form a solid team for the design thinking module. She is excited to start learning and earn herself a masters degree, but she is worried that she will find it too hard.

Forgetting all the classes, group lunches and events attended together, the Start-Up Weekend alone addressed all of these issues. Each and every person was able to find a group based on a similar interest (in this case, a customer profile) and immediately had something to talk about: breaking the ice almost instantly. Although the workshop was difficult and introduced many new concepts, it demonstrated the most daunting part of the process. To paraphrase what Janja said at the end: we had been through the almost the entire process in two days, so there is no saying that any of us won’t be able to be successful in it over the course of the year. This, and I know I can’t speak for everybody, alleviated a great deal of the anxieties presented by such an intense module. It can safely be said that the induction week was designed with the anxious student in mind and was the perfect segway into the course.

With a fresh perspective and accelerated ambition, I welcome the hard work of the upcoming year with open arms.