Case Study: The Corporate Stoner

“Case Study: The Corporate Stoner” is a research-based project which explores the spectrum of artistic autonomy. I invited along artists whose working methods are distinct from each other, with the intent to let the works cross-pollinate meanings and points of views, diving in a web of multi-faceted narratives which question human condition. “The human element” present in this group show is multi-linear, deconstructed, and ghostlike. Irony, melancholia, ecstasy, banality and vulnerability come together in a disillusioned “recreational office area”. By entering in a multi-disciplinary environment, the selected works give shape to an alternative and fluid type of reading art, inviting the visitors to follow their own narrative when experiencing the show. The phrase “Corporate Stoner” refers to a company employee who secretly uses cannabis. This employee, even if defying the rules of the company, keeps a professional look and maintains productivity. I would like to look at artists of our times from the same perspective while looking at the larger art-world as one big company. If using cannabis can be seen as a labor-related escapism, fiction and critique can be seen as coping mechanisms for a speculative and precarious art market. From a parodic standpoint, “The Corporate Stoner” is, metaphorically, an artist who challenges the status quo, but deals “professionally” with bureaucracy or capitalist structures. How does an artist reach autonomy today? Are we sacrificing financial stability in return of artistic freedom and/or the other way around?