Every point in this journey through the R&D year, my return to systematic, studio based development, is underpinned with a constant shifting of position and thinking in regards to family, art, future and how I move forward with that combination.
I was really shaken but not surprised to read Rachel Howfields last post and will be interested to see where this crisis point has taken her – and wish her the best.
As for me, I have let the rope slacken a little. As the end of my funding for time (some aspects of the R&D funding are stretched to the end of the year) is just visible on the horizon I have taken up some offers for paid projects in the Autumn. Studio time will suffer but the hard work of starting the ball rolling research wise is over and I feel I can continue the momentum, even with fragmented time.
A studio visit from a good friend, a really talented maker, Clare Proctor, was just the medicine I needed and talking through the work so far with her has really given me resolve. Finding the right environment to set up and photograph installations is a priority, building a critical network is another and possibly even curating a show in an alternative venue is a third.
As parents, I think it’s just necessary to work to a more flexible timetable, developing quality work will take time, the question is, does the traditional gallery system have time for us or do we create a system that provides an environment that gives us that freedom.
I've just hit a button and lost the long piece of navel gazing I had just concocted to put on the blog. Probably a blessing and I no longer have the interest in my self-interest to re write it.
However, did you know that elephants emit a low rumbling noise from their stomachs, inaudible to the human ear, that can carry such long distances, that right now, all elephants across Africa are in constant contact with one another? Do the A-N blogs provide the same service, carrying the low rumblings of artists across the UK? Either way I'm glad, as stuck out here in Wiltshire there aren't many active herds to be found.
I explored the Art Trail thing a bit further but I still feel it's a no-goer for me. Laurence Rushby (currently blogging on this site) has a proposal in for an installation/performance so I'll let her pave the way first and see what emerges. Salisbury sometimes feels like a bit of a black hole when it comes to support for the visual arts. It's a shame as the Art Trail is an ideal opportunity to mix in something more challenging alongside the commercial crafts etc ( not undermining their contribution in any way) but it would be nice to see a mix. What grates on me though is the £75 fee to apply (I assume their is no selection process) and the £20 membership to the overseeing organisation.
I understand it's a self supporting exhibition but if the artist run BCO show in Bristol was able to produce a really high qualtity show at a fraction of that price, bearing in mind this also meant renting a large and equipped warehouse space, then surely the Art trail where artists open their own studios, should be less. Unless the cost is somehow restructured Salisbury's main local art event will continue to lose out when it comes to more challenging work and perpetuate the kind of 'no man's land' feel Salisbury carries in contemporary art.
Anyway, not much work done this week apart from the usual schools work and an interview with a new mother I am just about to leave for. Hopefully tomorrow I will catch Emilia Telese's talk at Artsway. That's the plan anyway if the car holds out as it's beginning to fall to pieces. The 'monster truck' as my wealthier fellow villagers kindly refer to my bashed up Fiat Multipla has alas seen better days!
Saturday I called into the village shop after picking up the twins from a sleepover (Maeve had saved up her pocket money for an impressive three foot stick of bubble gum) and saw a leaflet for the Wylye valley art trail. In the past, to my shame, I have been known to poo poo an art trail but it was a sunny day and I surprisingly spotted an installation by Sandie Flower I liked the look of and decided to go. I thought
a) There may actually be some other artists out there and
b) Perhaps I have misconstrued art trails.
This is partly because Salisbury is currently organising their Art Trail and as I wanted to do an installation in a domestic dwelling in Salisbury I thought I may be able to piggy back onto their publicity etc, involve the Arts Centre and bring something new to the whole event.
The exhibition turned out to be in one of the prettiest places I have ever seen in England. A couple of old cottages just outside Tisbury and a beautiful private chapel housed a range of work by a group of ex grads from Winchester. On a lawn of buttercups we had tea out of old china cups while the girls played with chalk on the patio. Opposite was a PYO flower business where you left money in an honesty tin and wandered around fields bursting with flowers, gathering armfuls to take home. An iyllic setting – were it not for my three girls playing tug of war with the scissors, fighting and yelling 'poo pants' at the tops of their voices, ( the price to be paid for sleepovers!).
All in all I gained, a few extra contacts, a potential chapel to exhibit/photograph work in and a lot of droopy flowers by the time the girls had wrestled with them.
I gave some further thought to the MA situation, kind of encouraged by Clare Smiths MA at Central St Martins, which only requires two evenings in London a week. The validity, necessity and quality of these courses has been debated quite a bit on blogs recently which has been helpful. I have been accepted onto two courses in the past and never actually followed them through due to international residency opportunities/ exhibitions etc. so the debate has been ongoing for me since my graduation.
Two things really seem to beckon me toward an MA, truly hard edged, constructive critical input and exposure/networking opportunities. I can't see that Clare's course can offer much more than these. Other time is spent working in the studio which I am doing at present without an MA. So therefore, if it was possible to facilitate regular, quality critical input and group support it may circumnavigate much of the need for the financially and logistically challenging possibility of attending an MA as a mother of four.
How to do that, there lies the problem. Anyone like to brainstorm an answer? Based in Salisbury I would be interested in hearing from any other artists (particularly around Winchester, S'Hampton, Swindon etc.) who either know of similar crit groups or would be interested in the idea of one. Could colleges run a long distance MA, a kind of OU, online thing with travelling tutors who visited artists on site? Outside of an actual course, could a group raise funding to invite visiting professionals to contribute critically to the development of a group, at times in person and at times online. Are there any tutors, curators out there who have any comments on this? Or is anyone already involved in a successful working model?
