FIX09
artist: Hideous Beast
title: ODD JOBS – A Distracting Experiment
date: 29.09.09
duration: 1 Hour
Abstract
I booked Hideous Beast for one hour at 3pm on Tuesday, 29th September 2009 to give them a task as part of their ODD JOBS project at FIX09. I had arranged to meet them in The John Hewitt pub were I would explain the job I had in mind and get them to carry out the work there and then. In my position of writer-in-residence it is my job to produce textual responses to the work of the participating artists and because of the nature of ODD JOBS I wanted to get them to do this, instead of me. The idea was to get them to produce some text about themselves; how their work fits into FIX09 and the issues that arise. Preceding the written task was the requirement that they also produce a plan of action; how they would approach the task, breaking it down into the various factors, detailing the approach they would take and listing the order in which the work needed to be completed to enable the task to be carried out. However unknown to Hideous Beast I had organised a sequence of distractions to occur to prevent them from completing the task with the hope that they would not get to the writing stage. In material terms, I had hoped to be left only with some plans of how they would approach the work. An audio recording was also made of the event.
Aims
The intention was to create an experiment that would allow for a tangible exploration of the meta-structures, dynamics and processes at play in their project. Although it was an open experiment it was hoped that it would provide the chance to talk about their work in very context where the issues raised were being challenged and examined.
Events
The hour went better than expected. During the period another seven people, with whom it had been pre-arranged that they accidentally meet us there, sporadically joined the group. With these interruptions and introductions it was difficult to keep the task at the forefront of attentions. The distractions included; artists going through a back catalogue of work, exhibition organisers in a state of panic needing a camera that worked, someone showing a book of old Irish postcards found in a charity shop and mobile phones frequently ringing. We did, during the course of events, get to discuss at length the nature of the project, ODD JOBS. Finally, at 3.54 pm, Hideous Beast eventually got to work. After some frantic discussion and scribbled writing, a sort-of plan was produced. On the hour mark I explained to Hideous Beast the true nature of the job and out of the resulting discussion a number of points arose.
