Art-o-Gram: What art has to do with individuality and why both are so important

Individuality is one of the buzzwords of our time. Everyone wants to lead their life in a highly individual way, and most thinking people have probably asked themselves at some point what individuality actually is and how it arises.

The individual person and their daily life

Everyone wants to live their life “individually”, and quite a few people make extraordinary efforts to differentiate themselves from all other people in daily life, in order to be or appear individual.

Naturally, the new Ü-Phoney is bought immediately upon delivery; browsing for the latest creations from Gucci or Boss, Moschino, Selected Femme and Sass & Bide is, at least for those who can afford it, one of their absolute favorite pastimes; and the apartment is lovingly and constantly redecorated with furniture and accessories offered under the heading "Individual Living".

Does this really create individuality?

However, in most cases, there is something seriously wrong with this way in which we want to present ourselves individually in our lives.

Because buying a Ü-Phoney really has little to do with individuality. More individuality would truly benefit our societies; more on that below. First, some thoughts on what individuality actually is and why the Ü-Phoney certainly won't help us achieve greater individuality:

What does individuality mean?

The term individuality derives from the Latin divido = to divide, separate, split . With the prefix "individo" – individo – the verb is reversed; "individual" therefore means that something is undivided, inseparable, and undivided.

The individual human being is therefore, first and foremost, simply an undivided human being. This already contains the concept of the human being as a whole, and from here it is not far to the realization that every human being represents an undivided unity, distinguished from other human beings by its uniqueness.

In philosophy, of course, one wants to understand this much more precisely , and so philosophers have been discussing since antiquity how to define and achieve individuality. Almost every philosopher has developed a completely different idea of ​​how individuality arises and what it means.

In short, Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas “self-finitification of the spirit” a person individual.

Philosophy quickly recognized a fundamental problem with the individuality of people: while people are unique in their personal individuality, individuality is also a characteristic that belongs to and is due to all people.

Faced with this ambiguity surrounding the concept of individuality, some philosophers have simply given up trying to define it. Kierkegaard , Schopenhauer , and Nietzsche, on the other hand, attempt to locate the formation of individuality within the individual, employing concepts such as self and person, responsibility, self-determination, and free will.

While the development of individuality is not necessarily subject to free will, it inevitably arises as a result of the formation of a personality: “Even in the same environment, everyone lives in a different world,” said Arthur Schopenhauer.

According to a widely held epistemological approach, we are only capable of grasping a reality formed from individual things and facts; therefore, only what we perceive is individual.

Psychology and Individuality

Psychologists have developed explanations that usually seem more familiar to us: According to one view held in psychology, a person's individuality consists of the sum of the peculiarities of their behavior and actions. Of course – the characteristics of each personality, their personal interests, attitudes and values, their political, philosophical and religious convictions, their social behavior and communication style, and their self-image – all of this expresses a person's individuality.

It expresses, as well as the immediate environment, shaped very personally by consumer behavior, which we can influence – home, garden and clothing – and perhaps also, to some extent, the car and the working world.

However, this says nothing about how individuality arises. Therefore, another psychological perspective on individuality relates to the consciousness of the individual. The individuality of a person, in all its uniqueness, can be recognized primarily when one considers their inner self, their state of mind, their personal views, and their goals.

That's correct, but there are other aspects to consider:

Individuality within the community

Whether inward- or outward-directed behavior – a person's individuality only manifests itself when their behavior is perceived by other people.

Sociologists study human relationships, and for them, individuality within the tension between the individual and the community is a major theme. Some social scientists, however, prioritize the community over the individual in their analysis, concluding that individuality leads to isolation. Others view this as a flawed judgment and call on social psychologists and sociologists to "rediscover personality.".

They nevertheless consider individuality from the perspective of the quality of an individual's bonds to a group. This explanatory model uses complex concepts such as physical identity and physical individuality, and psychological existence and psychological identity, the explanation of which would go beyond the scope of this discussion.

Individuality is defined here as the ability to overcome established cultural, traditional, and moral boundaries. An individualized society is the prerequisite for this openness to the world; individuality must be fostered to enable such open and readily dissolvable group ties and variable role behavior of individualized personalities within a society.

Individuality thus becomes a positive driving force in society, serving as the starting point for a new, free, and cross-group communication. Consequently, meaningful collaborations would be possible in modern societies, collaborations that have nothing in common with the clique-driven deals typically associated with traditional group ties.

These were just a few approaches to the importance of individuality – but even from these thoughts already mentioned, it can be clearly deduced why dictatorial rulers have so many problems with individuality and prefer to rely on total (and totalitarian) uniformity: Free communication promotes free thinking, and free thinking promotes the individual willingness to make responsible decisions, and when people decide and act responsibly, they are no longer suitable as “sheep of the state”.

Such people will even actively intervene against injustices, because surprisingly, more individuality also results in more empathy, with a stronger feeling for fellow human beings and a stronger sense of injustice; more on this below.

Why the new Ü-Phoney/designer dress/hipster furniture has nothing to do with individuality

Now it's easy to explain why Ü-Phoney and its ilk have nothing to do with individuality:

If you search the internet for a device very similar to the Ü-Phoney, you'll get more than 3 billion results – truly incredibly original! The individual "Ü-Phoney" cases only garner around 5 million entries, making them truly rare products compared to the number just mentioned… (By the way, genuinely individual phone cases do exist; see, for example, the article "iPhone cases made of bamboo" ).

The best-selling fashion is similarly “individual”: For years now, the image of the star designer as an eccentric or exceptionally sensitive artist has been overtaken by (market) reality.

The former frontman, the “star of the design brand”, has now been almost without exception streamlined away by the major brands: Tom Ford is no longer at Gucci , Julien Macdonald is no longer at Givenchy, Jil Sander is no longer at Jil Sander, Helmut Lang is no longer at Helmut Lang , and Sass & Bide (Sex and the City) no longer belongs to its founders.

The world's leading fashion brands prefer to rely on teams of several faceless designers; Moschino, for example, doubled its revenue a decade after the death of its founder. No matter, let them, at least young designers get a chance? Yes, perhaps, but probably only if they understand more about market research than fashion.

Because designers today work as product managers (that's what they're called at Hugo Boss), who don't indulge in the "art of design" but are occupied with producing the product that the marketing department wants them to produce.

Because this department defines the product's characteristics; it has analyzed the global market and determined what the collection that most customers will buy should look like – right down to the finest details, the colors, the fabric qualities, and the cuts.

Incidentally, this is also where prices are set. Whether you pay €50 or €600 for a product (mobile phone, furniture) depends less on whether the devices actually differ in quality. Rather, the marketing department has determined that you will spend €600 on that particular product (mobile phone, furniture), and would even question its quality if it were offered at a lower price.

As an “adult,” you're probably thinking that all of this only concerns teenagers, and that you yourself place more value on designing your personal environment than on cell phones and fashion. Oh, right – the individual furniture !

A search for “Individual Living” yields “only” just under 6 million results, “individual cabinets” brings almost 4 million results, “individual furniture” comes to over 3 million, “Individuality + Living” brings over 2 million and “Individual Living” is just below that (the large furniture chains with the cheap offers are always at the front).

So, it seems that this isn't really about products that are ideally suited to emphasizing a person's uniqueness. Nor are the other hallmarks of true individuality—free communication, free thinking, and free choice—among the characteristics of the customer relationship that the leading global companies in this sales sector value.

Free communication between the contracting parties is simply nonexistent when it comes to the most sought-after consumer goods. "Buy or die!" is the motto of the salesperson in the "shop," who has no more authority than to hand the product over the counter and collect the money.

Eat or be eaten!

It was first said in Simplicissimus , the first German adventure novel, and the sentence was uttered by Oliver, the thief, who uses it to justify his robberies and his non-existent conscience…

Free thinking isn't exactly in high demand, otherwise there surely wouldn't be any companies left that manufacture products whose dead batteries lead to expensive repairs, and no customers who buy such products. You're saying this is done intentionally by the companies? That can't be right, that would be fraud!

Only free choice remains with you. The sad thing, however, is that quite a few people seem to have forgotten how to make this free choice.

It's probably about time for a little more individuality…

More individuality is good for the individual person

The capacity to develop a self-determined individuality is essentially innate. Modern psychology and education assume that the first steps in developing personal individuality lie in recognizing the boundaries of others and thereby gaining access to one's own boundaries.

Therefore, they also assume that we are endowed with natural empathy from birth, because the presence of empathy is an absolute prerequisite when a child sets out to perceive boundaries. Only if a child can approach other individuals empathetically—that is, sensitively, perceptively, compassionately, understandably, and gently—will they have the motivation to actually make this approach.

All these feelings and qualities are inherent in the child and are practiced with every interaction with others. If the environment mirrors this approach, a stable individual will develop who faces life with confidence. Such a person can achieve high levels of individual quality, communicate exceptionally well with others, and connect equally well with a single caregiver or a group of people.

According to these psychologists and educators, far too many people among us do not have the opportunity to develop empathy and individuality in an undisturbed way, qualities so crucial for human coexistence. These qualities can only develop in a fear-free environment, and far too few people are afforded such a fear-free environment during their development.

More individuality is good for all of us

We would all benefit if we fostered these qualities in children through fear-free upbringing and if we ourselves constantly strived to cultivate these qualities: Individuality is the basis for creativity, motivation and innovation , even for general social competence in dealing with one another.

Suppression of individuality, whether caused by a traditional upbringing or by an inhumane working environment, has quite serious consequences:

People become less empathetic, generally less sensitive and less compassionate; they become more selfish. And that's not an advantage, as is still often claimed by (hard-nosed businesspeople), but on the contrary, it very likely leads to individual failure at some point in life.

Furthermore, people whose individuality is constantly restricted become more prone to aggression, something that is already clearly noticeable in our cities today.

Individuality can be practiced

Even though the individuality of many people has been significantly diminished during their upbringing, it is, as just described, actually an essential part of our being. It can be, and indeed urgently should be, revived – we can even become ill when our individuality is disrupted; in several psychiatric disorders, signs of an individuality disorder are a standard component of the diagnosis.

Individuality can be brought to life, but certainly not by buying the exact same things that millions of others are buying. However, you can surround yourself with truly unique items; numerous small business owners would be delighted if you would turn your attention to them and their handcrafted products.

Or you can abandon the idea of ​​expressing heightened individuality in everything you do and buy, and simply limit yourself in some areas of your life to acquiring not individual, but expertly crafted, well-fitting and good-looking items (which would bring us back to the small companies where this is usually more guaranteed than in mass production).

This frees up special areas of life where you can truly focus on your individuality. And that finally brings us to art – it offers you, in perhaps its most primal form, the opportunity to create and express individuality.

You can buy art from an artist who has created this artwork only once and uniquely. You can also create art in multiple forms yourself , thereby making your technology/clothing/home truly individual.

Kunstplaza aims to inspire you to (re)discover and express your individuality in both ways, not only through this article about art and individuality.

You can purchase artworks from Kunstplaza 's online gallery, including pieces by lesser-known artists, at affordable prices. Kunstplaza also offers a wealth of inspiration for incorporating more art into your daily life through your own activities and ideas.

Take a look at the Kunstplaza categories Art Courses & Artistic Training, Music, Trends and Product Recommendations, where you will find, for example, articles on “Music Lessons 3.0” , an “E-Book Platform for Amateur Authors” and the new platform with the keyword “Photographers Find Clients”.

Get creative, have the courage to be individual!