Systems Thinking

We are all part of a system whether it is a human system, a corporate system, a community system or art system. A system is defined by its function. As Dr. Russell Ackoff described in a recent seminar I attended, a system has three defining characteristics “1. A system is a whole defined by its function(s) in one or more larger systems of which it is a part. 2. Every system contains at least two essential parts without which it cannot perform its defining function. 3. Every essential part can affect the system as a whole, but the way an essential part affects the whole depends upon the behavior of at least one other essential part. This means no essential part of a system has an independent effect on it, at the same time, the essential parts all interact either directly or indirectly.” (Beating the System, R. Ackoff 2005)

So, what does that mean to an artist? Well, as artists we do our work in the social system which means that when we create work, it is part of its own visual system that lives in our intellectual system that lives in our human system that makes our social system. So when doing work that effects a system is should have the following characteristics: 1. Be defined by its function. 2. Contain two essential parts. 3. The essential parts interact directly or indirectly with the system for which it is a part.

As Russell said in his recent talk, a car is defined by its function. If you were to dismantle a car and lay out its parts in a room it is no longer a car. Each essential part depends on the other. The engine does not move unless it is connected to the other parts. This also goes to the point of improvement of systems. You have to think of the system’s function as a whole prior to making improvements. As Russell describes, you can’t take all the “best of” parts of a car to make the ultimate car. The parts don’t fit or work together. That goes for artwork. You couldn’t take all the “best” pieces of an artist’s masterpieces and fit them together to make the best masterpiece in the world. Sometimes, there has to be weaker or less dominant parts to a system to make it strong.

When systems go sour or become self abusing, we need to start over. This is called Idealized Design. Every work we do should aspire to Idealized Design. That means that you clean your palette and start with a clean mind. I have found that my artistic ruts come from making a good piece of work. I get so enamored by a piece that works, then I try to duplicate it. However, my art system continues to change and how it works within the larger system changes, and those attempts of duplication always fail. I have yet to create something “good” from trying to take the “rolls Royce engine” from one piece of work and putting it in the “Toyota Camry” of another piece. It never fits and is a waste of a really good engine.