Barnes ProposalPresentation

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    Aspirational economies of self and city:Values, spaces, and governance ofindie crafters from Columbus, Ohio

    Jessica R. BarnesAdviser Dr. Nancy Ettlinger

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    Problem

    Aspiring artists may be a drag on theirpersonal and regional economies byconsuming entrepreneurship with few

    monetary returns. Why do they

    subsist?

    What are theeffects?

    Hand knitted self coiling snakeby nattyknitclare from Flickr

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    Problem

    In 2009,

    3,633 self-

    employer firmswere listed asindependentartists, writers, &

    performersin Columbus

    - receipts total more than

    $50 million(U.S. Census Bureau, 2009) Hand knitted dissected frog by TheCrafty Hedgehog via technabob.com

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    Question:

    How do aspiring entrepreneurial indiecrafters practices fit into personal andregional economies?

    Boombox Quilt byJ.Jill fromStylehive.com

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    Foucauldian Question:

    How are these systems maintainedwhen most participants receive solittle monetary value?

    Piper Kinsvater/Flickr

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    Issue questions:

    How is entrepreneurial indie craftingpracticed and sustained for aspirants inColumbus?

    What values are generated through aspirantpractices and to whom and where do thesevalues accumulate?

    How does the use of space for aspiringindie crafters in Columbus compare withcurrent conceptions of the geographies ofarts work?

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    SITUATING: Why arts work matters?

    32 million Americans consider themselves artists and

    about 10 million receive compensation for their work(Madden, 2004)

    Cultural production has been regarded as a possiblefuture of employment and economic growth in many

    postindustrial regions (Ellmeier, 2003) Florida's (2002) creative class notion that creative

    workers draw firms to a region

    http://clarkeartconsulting.com/blog/marketing-for-artists/5-tips-on-how-to-sell-your-artwork-in-these-

    economic-times/

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    SITUATING: EconomicimpactsArts workers tend to receive low monetary values, but . . .

    Artistic dividend - conceptualized as artists' workcreating import-substituting entertainment options withinregions and contributing to export base (Markusen &Schrock, 2009; Markusen & Schrock, 2006; Markusen &

    King, 2003)

    Amenity values entertainment options to draw inother professionals to a region (Florida, 2002; Glaeser,Kolko, & Saiz, 2001)

    Ohio mixtape hatFrom AlisonRose Etsy Shop

    Columbus ShortNorthGallery Hop

    http://www.examiner.com/home-

    improvement-and-design-in-columbus/columbus-gallery-hop-photo

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    Contributions:

    aspirational economies: how does amateur

    and aspiring arts work contribute to localeconomies

    circulation of multiple values

    how arts work affects individual livelihoods

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    artist entrepreneur continuum:

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    dynamic intersections:

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    dynamic intersections:

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    dynamic intersections:

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    SITUATING: Informal economies

    self-employed workers outside the purview of:

    - formal mechanisms for measurement (such ascensus categories for arts workers)

    - social policies for worker welfare and taxation

    - cultural development initiatives that focus onlarger firms

    (Williams, 2006)

    Knit beards from thebook Indie CraftbyJo Waterhouse

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    Contributions:

    qualitative data on how crafters relate to the

    informal economy

    - What are the constraints and benefits forpeople?

    - Do they want the social safety-net or toavoid regulations?

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    SITUATING: Livelihoods approach

    means of gaining a living through one'scapabilities and assets (including both material

    and social resources) that can be maintained intothe future (Chambers & Conway, 1992)

    Scarf in progress

    from Indie Knits Blog

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    Contributions:

    applying livelihoods approaches to peoplein post-industrial urban economies

    how arts work can be understood as part

    individual livelihoods

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    SITUATING: Multiple types ofvalues

    monetary value

    cultural capital

    environmental values

    personal values

    use / process values

    (Markusen & Shrock, 2006;Bourdieu, 1993; Lee, 2006;Dawkins, 2011)

    Recycled t-shirt quilt by Sujata Shahfrom Material Culture Blog

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    Contributions:

    impacts beyond the economic: alternative

    types of value

    tracing flows of value from craft work

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    SITUATING: artist spaces

    spatial agglomeration of firms and workers to take quickadvantage of new configurations and stay in contact forinformal and flexible work (Gibson & Kong, 2005; Grabher,2001;Scott, 1999; Storper & Venables, 2004; Currid, 2007)

    amplified in cities with larger populations because scale

    economies offer a larger market for arts employment and moreskilled workers (Florida, Mellander & Stolarick, 2010;Kloosterman, 2004)

    spatial proximity (Storper & Venables, 2004; Morgan, 2004) isthought to be particularly important for learning and

    socialization , but other aspects such as relational proximity,(immaterial) support networks, and the virtual connectionshave also been considered of growing importance (Watson,2008; Lloyd, 2004; Jones, Spigel, & Malecki, 2010)

    Locations of Indie Crafters

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    Locations of Indie Crafters

    Shultz (2011) maps the locations of indie crafters via Etsy pages

    proximity is no longer a requirement for success of art industries

    C ib i

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    Contributions:

    qualitative research on understanding

    crafters' locations

    changes in location choices with technology

    micro-scale spaces of livelihood practices

    where values circulate and accumulate to

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    Research Strategies:

    locational context:

    Why crafters from Columbus?

    Research Strategies:

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    Research Strategies:

    Grounded semi-structured interviews &focus groups:

    (with indie crafters, resellers, & consumers)

    Participant observation

    (at sales, training, events)

    Discourse analysis

    (talk & representations in onlinecommunities, media, & interviews)

    Participant space / time representations

    (via photography, video, or other medium to

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    Research Strategies:

    Participant space / time representations

    Knitter on the bus, Seattle, Washington by Jay Trinidad

    (http://jaytrinidad.blogspot.com/2009_12_01_archive.html )

    G

    http://jaytrinidad.blogspot.com/2009_12_01_archive.htmlhttp://jaytrinidad.blogspot.com/2009_12_01_archive.html
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    Research Goals:

    - identifying crafters'

    practices

    - understandings of value

    - mentalities

    - relations

    - material conditions& spaces

    - identifyingdetrimental tendencies& beneficial practices Map messenger bag from

    FineCraftGuild.com

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    Questions & comments?