In November 2014, Professor Sarah Sharma took part in a panel at the MyCreativity Sweatshop in Amsterdam, at the Institute of Network Cultures; the panel was called “My Creativity, Your Depression”, and addressed Serendipity & Creativity (details and synopsis below).
A write-up of the talk has since been published and can be found here.
MyCreativity Sweatshop: A reality check on the creative industries
Talks, Discussions, Art, Workshops, Performances
20-21 November 2014, @TrouwAmsterdam
Wibautstraat 127, 1091 GL Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
My Creativity, your Depression
Value creation in the networked economy is increasingly characterized by flexible and ephemeral relationships. We often imagine creative workers and entrepreneurs as cheerful explorers, engaged in the day-to-day fun of building new networks and having unexpected encounters leading to a ceaseless stream of discoveries and inventions. Work is serendipitous play with financial success coming to everyone who knows to combine flexibility and ‘passion’. Yet, what are the real costs – psychologically, culturally and economically – of a serendipitous mode of production that is predicated on the aleatory and ephemeral. Why is it that so much that is presented to us as innovative and creative smacks of vacuous repetition and mere simulation of novelty? This panel tries to look behind the imaginary of contemporary labor/entrepreneurship as a game of innovation, driven by fancy-free yet passionate creatives. (excerpted from the website’s panel-summaries, found here)
Panelists: Pek van Andel, Sarah Sharma, Mark Fisher