INTERFACE

REVIEW

Control Point: A Temporary Facility

Plymouth Arts Centre, Plymouth
21 November - 10 January

Reviewed by: Gabrielle Hoad »

When artists, writers and curators responded to an open call to join 'Control Point' they probably knew they were part of Plymouth Arts Centre's agenda to develop more opportunities for local artists, but what form did they expect the project to take? My first impression is of a group enthusiastically using the galleries as a temporary work and exhibition space, benefiting from an intensive period of support, networking and visibility. But there's another element here - this is an exhibition and it has an audience. They are being observed.

Describing itself as "a facility that is activated by the Operatives who work within it", the exhibition also categorises the visitor as a "user" and interprets content via a manual", rather than a guide or catalogue. This coldly bureaucratic language implies social experiment more than creative opportunity and is an indication that we shouldn't be wholly seduced by the project's apparently benevolent intentions.

While in residence, the Operatives have been asked to address a number of "tasks, missions, goals and outcomes" themed around the idea of artistic survival. These turn out to be everything from exchanges with artists at the Royal Standard, of Liverpool, and Bristol Diving School, to attending workshops on manifesto writing, proposal writing and blogging. Visiting artists and speakers come and go. Peer critiques take place. Small publications are made and distributed. The public wanders in and out. The space evolves dynamically as work is hung and rehung, new videos appear on the showreel, discussions are documented on blackboards and research materials are added to the collection.

Part gallery, part open studio, part professional practice seminar, 'Control Point' is an institution within an institution, albeit one with a high level of self-awareness. Curated by artists Sovay Berriman and Steven Paige, the exhibition examines different ways of working with, through, inside, outside and against the institution - but offers no clear conclusions. It investigates control as a power to direct or restrain, and as a point against which other things are verified or compared. The control exerted by organisations may be cumbersome and occasionally obstructive, but organisations can also set aspirational standards, open up opportunities and make things happen.

Inevitably this show is not so much about products as process. When I visited in mid-December, much of the art felt like work in progress, deliberately aired in public while the artists were still thinking how to develop, edit and present it. One exception was David G Johns' Accrue/Inserts/3x7, an intriguing publication containing fragments from old notebooks. Interspersed with blank pages, it requires only the reader's own additions to complete it and regenerate the material it contains. Other work included a video of Ben Langworthy's walk around Liverpool city centre armed with an arrow pointing to nowhere in particular and Lucy Brennan's delicate drawings of urban Plymouth, made as an antidote to the city's traditional seascapes. Meanwhile, Mikey Hey's Washing Line of Ideal Underwear consisted of a series of tiny, comic drawings strung out on miniature pegs.

I spent a large part of my visit talking to people. The Operatives are "the public interface" of the project and dialogue with them is an essential part of the experience. I had a conversation with William Amery about publications as a place for artists to exchange ideas. I spoke to Lucy Brennan about the challenges of creating and sustaining artist-led spaces. Ali Donkin and I shared thoughts on combining the roles of artist and reviewer and how tricky it can be passing judgement on your peers. With Steven Paige I discussed the strangeness of artists' obsession with lonely cubicles, when many other creative environments involve people sitting together (as they do here) sharing problems and ideas.

If it all sounds a little chaotic, it isn't. Berriman and Paige have organised this opportunity for spontaneity with great precision. The galleries themselves are divided into four zones, each embodying a different aspect of artistic practice: Orientation (containing information on the artists and their whereabouts), Contextualisation (a space for screenings, performances and talks), Production (a shared studio) and reflection (a display space). Far from looking like a messy workshop, the space is as neat and clearly branded as a corporate HQ, right down to its energetic blue and orange livery. 'Control Point' has its own logo which, as well as appearing on walls, literature and badges, is realised in three dimensions in a large space-hogging sculpture in the Orientation zone and projected centre-stage onto the floor of the Contextualisation zone. The latter is a darkened, curtain-encircled area furnished with beanbags. It's uncomfortably reminiscent of the corporate vogue for making work "a fun place to be" by filling offices with table football, vibrantly coloured signature walls and squishy furniture.

Even if fervent loyalty isn't expected from participants in 'Control Point', its possibility is insinuated. There's a feast of opportunity on the table - mentoring and peer support, public engagement, funded visits to other arts projects, a packed programme of talks and workshops - but it comes with strings attached. The project reiterates an important question for every artist. how much of your artistic autonomy, your personal integrity and your time do you hand over for workspace, for working opportunities, for attention, for an audience? Would you mind being labelled an Operative and sprawling on a beanbag in exchange for advice from a leading curator? Well, would you?

It's no accident that a grainy film clip about the Stanford prison experiment has found its way into the video showreel. This 1971 psychological experiment took twenty-four ordinary undergraduates and randomly cast them as either guards or prisoners in a mock prison, where they proceeded to act out their roles with chilling conviction. It's a reminder of the insidious power of institutions over human behaviour.

Berriman and Paige aren't simply curating activities in a space; they are curating a group of people. Unusually for collaborating artists, the Operatives have been pre-selected for the project. After my own experiences (good and bad) of working in self-selected artists' groups, I'm left wondering about the criteria on which the Operatives were chosen and then ranked separately as Agents or Stewards. How deliberately were different personalities, backgrounds and interests blended? Are these people who would have found each other anyway? Will they be different to other artists' groups? Do they have the potential for sustainability or is this meant only as a brief encounter? Are they an explosive mix that will take this experience and scatter it far and wide as they go their separate ways?

The manipulative aspects of the project don't undermine its usefulness; they may even strengthen it. This six-week hot-housing is undoubtedly a genuine attempt by Plymouth Arts Centre and their guest curators to nurture a more enduring network for the city. For now, it's a safe environment in which participants can explore the workings of groups, build social bonds and professional connections, and test the usefulness of a supportive organisation against going it alone.

Education, funding, audiences, workspace - many of the things that enable an artist's career emanate from organisations, meaning they're something we must embrace as well as critique. Though it's as befuddlingly self-referential as a hall of mirrors, this project asks vital questions about how artists should organise themselves and how they should negotiate with existing institutions... if institutions survive at all. Also lurking within the debate is the notion of a different kind of organisation: technologically enabled, highly democratic, geographically dispersed.

'Control Point' is an exhibition that investigates the processes and organisation of artists' careers, but it's also an open-ended experiment that will still be running when the gallery doors close. At present the Operatives are talking about continuing their association and developing an artist-led space. If they succeed, this project will have been a turning point for them and for the city where they work. Watch this space.

For more information see www.controlpoint.org.uk

Writer detail:
Artist and writer based in Exeter.

art@gabriellehoad.co.uk| www.gabriellehoad.co.uk

Venue detail:
Plymouth Arts Centre »
38 Looe Street, The Barbican, Plymouth PL4 0EB

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