Art and Uncertainty: How Art Helps Us Confront the Future
So many people hate and fear uncertainty. It causes much stress and anxiety and we often prefer certain bad news to doubt. We turn to technology for certainty, only to find we become dependent, addicted—and more anxious than ever.

But artists live with uncertainty: unsure how their work will develop, whether it will succeed or, if it does, why. Yet they have agency and independence, taking risks and running towards what they don’t know.

It has never been more necessary for us to become creative actors in our own future. So what is it about the way that artists live and work that gives them such great capacity not just to endure uncertainty but to use it so productively?

Margaret Heffernan argues for the vital integration of art into all aspects of our lives and for artists to guide us using their stamina, independence and endurance.

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Art and Uncertainty: How Art Helps Us Confront the Future
So many people hate and fear uncertainty. It causes much stress and anxiety and we often prefer certain bad news to doubt. We turn to technology for certainty, only to find we become dependent, addicted—and more anxious than ever.

But artists live with uncertainty: unsure how their work will develop, whether it will succeed or, if it does, why. Yet they have agency and independence, taking risks and running towards what they don’t know.

It has never been more necessary for us to become creative actors in our own future. So what is it about the way that artists live and work that gives them such great capacity not just to endure uncertainty but to use it so productively?

Margaret Heffernan argues for the vital integration of art into all aspects of our lives and for artists to guide us using their stamina, independence and endurance.

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Art and Uncertainty: How Art Helps Us Confront the Future

Art and Uncertainty: How Art Helps Us Confront the Future

by Margaret Heffernan
Art and Uncertainty: How Art Helps Us Confront the Future

Art and Uncertainty: How Art Helps Us Confront the Future

by Margaret Heffernan

Overview

So many people hate and fear uncertainty. It causes much stress and anxiety and we often prefer certain bad news to doubt. We turn to technology for certainty, only to find we become dependent, addicted—and more anxious than ever.

But artists live with uncertainty: unsure how their work will develop, whether it will succeed or, if it does, why. Yet they have agency and independence, taking risks and running towards what they don’t know.

It has never been more necessary for us to become creative actors in our own future. So what is it about the way that artists live and work that gives them such great capacity not just to endure uncertainty but to use it so productively?

Margaret Heffernan argues for the vital integration of art into all aspects of our lives and for artists to guide us using their stamina, independence and endurance.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781447372677
Publisher: Bristol University Press
Publication date: 03/01/2025
Edition description: First Edition
Pages: 192
Product dimensions: 5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Margaret Heffernan worked for 13 years as a radio and television drama and documentary producer. She then spent eight years in the US running media technology companies and was named one of the Internet’s Top 100 by Silicon Alley Reporter and one of the Top 100 Media Executives by The Hollywood Reporter.

She is the author of six books and her TED talks have been seen by over 15 million people. She is a frequent broadcaster on BBC Radio 4 and the author of many plays and programmes. In 2023, she was inducted into the Thinkers50 Hall of Fame in recognition of the impact of her work. She is a Professor of Practice at the University of Bath and mentors CEOs and senior executives of major global organizations. She chairs the board of DACS and is a parish councillor.

www.mheffernan.com

Table of Contents

Interstitial 1 - Paraorchestra

Prologue: the cost of certainty

Chapter 1: Deep hanging out

Interstitial 2 - Piers Plowright

Chapter 2: Into the forest

Interstitial 3 - Gabriela Moses

Chapter 3: Call and response

Interstitial 4 - RADA

Chapter 4: Prepared minds

Interstitial 5 -Christine Vachon

Chapter 5: Kill all the poets

Interstitial 6 - RAFTS

Epilogue

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