In late-modern society, art is still a distinct field of human activity, as it developed in the course of the Industrial Revolution along with the diversifying division of labour. Whereas in mass society art could rely on the power of the audience or the support of collective institutions or political parties, today the artist is in the same situation as other precarized industries – like journalists or educators, he or she is undergoing a massive deprofessionalization (expressed in the tabloidization of theatre and media). Artists are therefore seeking the attention and support of the state, which should protect their professional status and recognise their activity as a specific public service. But do we know what this really means? Is it not just a convenient collaboration with the modern state, which is the ultimate manifestation of the modern division of labour that, alongside opportunities, breeds above all – social inequalities? Have not we, as artists, lost our relationship with the people, to whose everyday life all engaged art should be indebted? This anarchistic dialogue between a contemporary engaged artist and a retired avant-garde socialist of the fin-de-siecle offers a dialectical reflection on the relationship between professionalism, art and social practice that seeks social transformation towards a more just and free society.
Jan Motal has been systematically engaged in media and art ethics as a teacher and theorist since 2012, when he began teaching ethics at the Department of Media Studies and Journalism at the Faculty of Social Studies of Masaryk University. His own experience as a director and dramaturge, as well as his interest in hermeneutic philosophy, which he had already explored in his dissertation, led him to this topic. Since 2015, he has been working at the Institute for Theatre and Drama Research at the Theatre Faculty of JAMU, where he continues to deepen his philosophical reflection on art and media with a focus on their role in the culture of dialogue and ecocriticism. As a guest lecturer, he has lectured on ethics for various university and non-profit institutions in the Czech Republic and abroad, and regularly publishes and participates in conferences. He collaborates with professional organizations such as the Foundation for Independent Journalism. In 2016, he published an award-winning monograph Dialogue through Art advocating the importance of art for social dialogue. His book Radical Dramaturgy, an interpretation of Martin Buber and Gustav Landauer’s political theory of art in relation to neoliberal society, was published in 2022.