According to the German philosopher Hannah Arendt, the artefacts in the society contribute to the constitution of our lives through their durability. (Arendt 1984) By the same token, artefacts can contribute in the shaping of identity for many peoples’ lives, and over a long span of time, for example properties and objects that endure through the generations. The durability of the artefacts can, in a sociological term, also be looked upon as the socio material field and how it is representing the factuality of our lives, as also discussed by the French philosopher and existentialist Jean Paul Sartre. (Johansen 1992) By their presence, enduring objects, such as buildings, roads and other manmade systems that we as individuals cannot change, may have a significant impact on our lives, either this is desirable or not. Sometimes these material restrictions are made deliberately, to reinforce social segregation. Described by the political scientist Langdon Winner, about 200 low hanging overpasses on Long Island that were built by the New York urban planner Robert Moses between 1920 and 1970 were designed to prevent buses on his parkways. As described by Winner;
Automobile-owning whites of “upper” or “comfortable middle” classes as he called them, would be free to use the parkways for recreation and commuting. Poor people and blacks, who normally used public transit,
14 http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krystallpalasset (11.24.2010)
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were kept of the roads because the twelve foot tall buses could not get through the overpasses. (Winner 1999)16
An underlying reason was also to limit the access of low income groups and racial minorities to “James Beach”, Moses’ highly acclaimed Public Park.
(Winner 1999)
According to the French sociologist and philosopher Henri Lefebvre, there has been a movement from the production of objects to the production of space, constituted by the contribution of objects. He claims that the room of nature is irreversibly gone, as the nature, also described by Arendt, is reduced through reification to become raw materials and means of production. (Arendt 1984) The history of space becomes the space of capitalism lead by the bourgeoisie, reflecting business, monetary power and politics at a national and international level, along with the spatial intervention of highways, airports and information systems. (Lefebrve 1979) The durability of the artefacts and its significance for organizational identity also applies to corporate brands and other visual elements of public relations, as for instance, the Coca Cola brand whose logo has lasted almost unchanged for over a hundred years, and has been known to at least four generations. Even the state logo of the old Roman empire; SPQR,17 is still in use in Rome today; visible on man hole covers spread around in the streets of Rome.
(Thomas 2003) The Chrysler building has been known for generations and is forever connected to the Chrysler brand. There are innumerable historical examples of how manmade expressions within visual art, design and architecture contribute to shape the environment of our lives and constitute our personal, organizational and national identity.
Corporate identity refers to both an external and internal identity. Thompson and McHugh describe internal identity as a product of social interaction between employees participating in different social structures and contexts within the work organizations. (Thompson and McHugh 1995) The Norwegian sociologist Sverre Lysgaard describes how employees in a Norwegian paper factory establish personal relations between blue-collar workers to strengthen their well-being and social working community, where fellowship with colleagues, and
“being between equals”, strengthens their bonds in the workplace. (Lysgaard 1985) The brand consultant Wally Olins claims that today’s visual symbols play a significant role in strengthening the identity and “we-feeling” amongst employees in modern and often very complex and fragmented organizational
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17 Senatus Populusque Romanus
structures, where employees are spread in offices around the world. While earlier the workers could have “a drink with the lads” at the local pub after work, this is no longer possible when the employees in the same company are working in London, New York and Tokyo. Colleagues within modern organizations are often spread globally and as claimed by Olins; in these new fragmented organizational structures visual symbols function as “the glue” that keeps the employees together. (Olins 2004)
Similarly the Czech architect and philosopher Dalibor Vesely describes how the fragmented appearance of the modern society today leads to “splintered identities”, with competing ideologies and businesses. (Vesely 2004) It is likely that also “the speed of the society” today contributes to its fragmentation and splintering identities. While Lefebvre for his part speaks about “the constant flow”; the flow of energy, raw materials, labors, information and so on, (Lefebrve 1979) David Harvey mentions “move” as one of the most typical features of the society today, quoting the American author Gertrude Stein (1874-1946)18 in her description of America; “…a space that is filled (is) always filled with moving”. (Harvey 1985)19 According to Harvey, the embodiment of the move and restlessness of the modern society is also brought to life in the novel of the beat poet and novelist Jack Kerouac (1922-1969);20 “On the road”, with its characters in restless motion without any goal, stating: “There was nowhere to go but anywhere”. (Harvey 1985)21
Unlike the internal fellowship between employees, the external “image” of a corporation refers to a broader sense of corporate identity in respect of physical signs and metaphysical qualities, such as corporate values and visions expressed both in the corporations visual profile, and linguistically, through slogans and textual descriptions published in brochures, annual reports, books and corporate websites. The public image is materialized in the visual signs such as the logo, the headquarters architecture, the park that is surrounding the headquarters, the art collection, the lobby furniture and interior which is also a part of the public representation of the corporation, displayed to show the economy and power position of the corporation, similar to what the German sociologist Jürgen Habermas describes as “status symbols”. (Habermas 1988) Through visual signs and symbols the corporation seeks to present itself as coherent with its values and visions. The image is constantly signalized to the public to appear as desirable to public opinion, which is important in respect of success. The visual signs of a
18 http://www.snl.no/Gertrude_Stein (05.09.2011) Store Norske Leksikon; Orm Øverland
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20 http://www.snl.no/Jack_Kerouac (05.09.2011) Store Norske Leksikon; Orm Øverland
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corporation may be subject to what the German philosopher Immanuel Kant describes as “the aesthetical judgements of taste”, where desirable expressions will survive, (Kant and Hammer 1995) while disapproval for instance of a logo, or of improper artworks, may be harmful to the business. As described by Bourdieu, taste is a social constitution, which means that judgements based on taste also relies on the habitus of different social groups. (Bourdieu 1995)
The way corporations present themselves may be of crucial importance, as collective judgements can be fatal when representing the majority of people within a society or social group, for example the opinions of the target group for their production or services. This can be exemplified by the taste of youths, which due to media and the Internet today tend to be global, therefore youths all over the world tend to prefer the same kind of shoes, jeans and electronic equipments. (Olins 2004) Thus youths have the power to decide which products and producers of youth commodities will survive, and which will not. A similar view on how consumers have the power to make decisions in the market is coherent to basic theories on market economy, and for the principals of “just-in-time production”, discussed in chapter 1.3.4.2 where the demands of the market control the production. There are of course also many other forces in the market other than taste and brand preferences, such as consumer economy, which may sink and rise in periods of economic recession or wealth. While the brand and public relation material represent the formal visual representation of a
corporation, the art collection and headquarters architecture are expressive and informal visual representations, although in many cases art and architecture are considered to be a part of the public corporate brand. Both the brand and visual symbols must inhabit several qualities and restrictions linked to corporate visions and values, and must appear as proper and trustworthy symbols of the business.
A main objective of the visual brand as well as skyscrapers is to make the corporation visible between other competitive corporations, described by Robert Goldman and Stephen Papson as “sign wars”. (Gottdiener 2001) Although visual art is usually regarded as a discipline with its own autonomy, corporate art may sometimes lead to critical questions regarding the autonomy of art. For instance, art commissioned by a corporation, or art made by artists supported by a
corporation. Architecture on the other hand, always needs a builder in order to be materialized. Corporate architecture and visual branding seems to represent a counterpoint to visual art, both made with the purpose of serving the
commissioner, while art usually has another purpose. Similar to how visual art is claimed to reflect the society, corporate art collections and headquarters
architecture may also reflect the society and the culture in which they are established, although in different ways.
An interesting aspect of the relation between corporations and the society is how the wealth and success of industrialized countries rely on successful businesses, industry and trade, while developing countries have suffered from the lack of the same development. This is a problem that has engaged many politicians and governments around the world for decades. Several corporations from industrialized countries have also been accused of exploiting natural resources and the workforce of developing countries. In such cases the reputation of a corporation is threatened, which is indeed not good for business. Although large scaled corporations play a crucial role in the development of the society; for better or for worse, legitimate criticism is important for the corporations as well as for the society, in order to change future undesirable and harmful practices.