François Matarasso

The concept of human capabilities – as elaborated in the writings of Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum – is central to the new direction that A Selfless Art represents for me. It is, to some extent, a more sophisticated, but truer and simpler way of thinking about the outcomes of participation in art that I first developed 30 years ago in Use or Ornament?

Nussbaum goes some way to thinking about art, culture and creativity in her 2011 book, Creating Capabilities, but she is a philosopher, not an artist, I think are other ways of looking at this and more to say. At the heart of this are the capabilities that are unique to artistic practices and experiences. After all, confidence and social networks can be acquired in many fields of human activity, not only art. But some things come only from and through art.

I did try to outline some of these ideas in the last two chapters of Use or Ornament?, though I’m not sure many people paid attention to what I was saying, then or since. And, with many more years work and thought, I now believe there’s further to go in respect of my own ideas. That’s why I feel it’s worth writing another book, to explore some of what I’ve learned.

Thirty years ago, I also lacked the language, and the confidence, to articulate with sufficient precision some of those unique capabilities I associate with art. For example, although I spoke of meaning-making, which starts from our earliest moments and continues throughout life, I didn’t explain very well what that involves and how art nourishes it in ways nothing else does. I’m more willing to speak of magic and wonder, fun and delight, even pleasure, than I was when I was younger, and explain what I mean by those things too.

In a world that has become steadily more utilitarian, exploitative and authoritarian, the case for these human capabilities, and for the intrinsic inalienable value of human beings from which they arise, is as urgent as it has ever been. In grim times, joy is not only an antidote, it is a form of resistance.