Publications

Our name is legion

By: John Plowman, Kelly Large

Beacon co-director John Plowman and artist Kelly Large discuss the project ’Our Name is Legion’.

I am not a collaborator, I just get mistaken for one a lot. I suspect this is because my practice interacts with the social. So, when I met John Plowman (Beacon co-director with Nicola Streeten) for the first time, to discuss the residency at Kesteven and Sleaford High School, I assumed he had mistaken me for someone who collaborates... When commissioner and artist meet initially, each brings a range of pre-conceived ideas about what the other does - based on knowledge of previous projects, word-of-mouth testimony and social networks. So, on first impressions, I assumed Beacon collaborated with artists to create convivial artworks in rural locations, and I reckon they had me pinned as an artist who used curatorial meta-structures to produce artworks. As it turns out we were both mistaken. What appealed to me about the residency was the open brief that Beacon offered. I was commissioned to make work in response to Sleaford, a historical rural town in Lincolnshire, and in doing so to engage with students from the High School. There was no requirement to offer skills-based workshops or facilitate the students' creativity. This approach suggested that both Beacon's and the school's...

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