ART/WORK

“Art is being able to bend things most people see as a straight line”

As seen in RMB’s “Invest in Art” article, RMB does not see art as an investment, but rather sees it as something to appreciate as it increases in value, after all, isn’t that the original purpose of art? RMB recognises the importance of including art in the business environment as it emphasises the importance of cultural and social growth.

RMB aims to support and follow the modern changes that are taking place in art, as it states in The Archival Platform’s article on the RMB art collection. This was motivation for RMB’s Fresh Produce Exhibition, as well as their Emerging Arts Exhibition. The main focus of this exhibition is to support up-and-coming, young South African artists and allow them to expose their work on an international stage. If you take a look at our rainbow nation, our heritage, and the great minds that make up the South African people; our nation is art in itself, so why not support it? RMB’s art portfolio includes an extremely diverse array of art including, for example, an art piece named Entangled Head, a recent work of Angus Taylor, which is being placed in the RMB offices in the near future.

RMB’s brand personality promotes the value of learning, shared knowledge along with the celebration of human integrity, as seen in the Creative Feel magazine’s article on the RMB “Think bench”. The Think Bench allows people to stop for a moment, and gives them the freedom to reflect, appreciate and think. In addition, there is a THINK sculpture that integrates the silhouette of people, both of which are placed on the grounds of RMB.

Carel Nolte of CN&CO stated that “The links between business and arts are invaluable…”, and as a result has worked with
Business and Arts South Africa (BASA). BASA runs a Young professionals programme, allowing an up-and-coming generation
of business leaders to engage with the arts, thus continuing the importance of art alone, as well as art in business. In addition to this, the importance of art in CN&CO is obvious as you step into the office. The collection includes a red skyline of Johannesburg, which to me, emphasises the importance of culture, as well as the love of the city. CN&CO has portrayed a fun and relaxed office atmosphere through the unique and different caricature of their team members, attracting clients using art.

Purple Group emphasises the importance of diversity and individuality in the workplace through a collage of mini portraits of the faces of their members. The portraits additionally display the strength of teamwork in the Purple offices and displays that they value each member of their team, an important aspect of every business. The portraits are painted by young South African artists, thus showing the support of art in business.

You may never have thought of integrating art into your business, but here is why you should. By including art in business, it may introduce and inspire a new way of thinking and creativity, promoting out-of-the-box ideas. Different art pieces may attract different kinds of people and thus, further increase the exposure of the business to the public. Businesses often focus on being formal (boring!), but what is becoming increasingly important is for businesses to manage and deal with emotive understanding, thus, art is used to attract attention to the business and to engage the energy of the people, be it employees or clients.

Lastly, especially, in the world of marketing, packaging is a fundamental part of the end product. The packaging stimulates a sort of indirect dialogue from the business to the client, so why not add an interesting and unique turn to it? (just a small thought).

Tired of staring at those four blank walls all day? Add some art!