Publications

Editorial

By: Chris Brown

In a recent editorial I recalled a-n’s Code of Practice for artists and how its list of key principles can be used to inform decision making and negotiations in all aspects of an artist’s professional work. The first of the four principles – Contribute Confidently – seems particularly apt to this issue, in which the theme of Risk is identified as an underlying condition to several stories and features.

On page 19 we feature the publication In Time, in which Sonya Dyer puts Risk as an intrinsic part of art practice: "Work is needed to encourage funders to create a space to invest in risk-taking, and remind them of the importance of research and development in producing quality work." However, the incidence of risks that are external to one's practice are forecasted on page 17, where we report on a body of research undertaken by the cultural think tank Mission Models Money. This research proposes the competencies and qualities required by people and organisations to support creative practice in the twenty-first century. Nadine Andrews (one of the authors of 21st Century People) states: "What is certain is the uncertainty: the need for a significantly higher tolerance for, and management of, complexity and risk." Artists are already proven managers of complexity and risk, so how feasible is it to crank up the tolerance for these conditions even further within an art practice? Is it possible that the management of these external factors might begin to eclipse the art practice entirely? The Mission Models Money research proposes a methodology that is sympathetic with a-n's Code of...

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