Laszlo Zsolnai and Doirean Wilson’s paper “Art-based Business” was published in the Journal of Cleaner Production (2016, Vol. 135, pp. 1534–1538.)
The paper argues that with its exclusive focus on profitmaking, modern-day businesses tend to violate the integrity and diversity of natural ecosystems, the autonomy and culture of local communities and the chance that future generations will lead a decent life. The core of the metaphysics of modernday business is what Martin Heidegger calls “calculative thinking”. This is contrasted with poetic thinking represented by genuine art. To preserve nature and to satisfy human needs, gentle, careful ways of undertaking economic activities are needed.
The paper analyses the cases of Illy Café and Brunello Cucinelli as art-based companies to show that art can inspire business to become more aesthetically focused and engaged in socio-ecological value creation and the enrichment of quality of life.
