When I planned out a proposal for the Re:view programme I had a clear plan: having conversations with five people in different roles within the arts or sound arts worlds who I was interested to learn from and with whom I could reflect on my practice. The projects I did 2013 lead to a step-change in my work and opened up a number of new opportunities in 2014 that included residencies and commissions from new organisations and curators as well as the chance to make work in new ways. These projects not only marked the development of a more exposed practice but also an increased commitment, shifting in my working week to be able to focus 75% of my time on my practice, and 25% on part-time or freelance work.

To support these new steps, I set out to develop my creative and critical skills, increase my networks, increase my contextual knowledge of previously separated strands within my practice, improve the way in which I understand, write and talk about my work and increase my confidence in the kind of practice I have (which moves along a spectrum between experimental music and sound installations, taking in radio work and research-led projects).

The good thing, though, about beginning to have some conversations, is that they inevitably open up new possibilities, unexpected ideas and lead to other people. So what began as a clear cut, methodical plan, developed into something far less ordered, but far more rewarding and appropriate for what I needed over that year-long period. I was given chance to look differently at my practice, consolidate my thinking about what it is I actually do, understand the specific approaches that are unique to me (being from a musical background working across mediums) and, importantly use the time as a chance to exchange with the people I worked with. I’m going to briefly try and plot out three journeys and outcomes that have grown from the Re:view Bursary. They all happened concurrently during 2014, and 2015.

The first journey has developed through having the chance to continue to work with Jennie Syson. I took part in the Spare Room residency at SYSON in January 2014, and Re:view allowed us time to continue our conversations, ask questions and share ideas. Jennie’s perspective as a curator who not only produces off-site projects but also runs an independent gallery space was important for me, as I wanted to start negotiating the different situations in which my practice can take place. I’ve much more experience working off-site/virtually than in venues, so the residency started this area of thinking, which we were then able to continue together. A key aspect of the conversations I planned to have as part of Re:view was my interest in having a two-way conversation, not just a consultation or mentoring session. This feels like a much more rewarding and genuine interaction and is one of the reasons I hope, that these three conversations turned into relationships and new work. By talking with Jennie, I started to think more about how to frame my performances, or sound making as presentations or events that could work within a programme or a space. Her questions also asked me to think about where I put my energy and how I can be clear about what I’m working on – when something is a community project where I use the skills of my practice and when I’m making my own work (and all the bits in between).

One of the outcomes of these on going conversations and consideration of spaces and performances was being asked to develop an event for SYSON gallery as part of the public programme accompanying the Cornucopia exhibition in August 2015. Accession Songs was a live listening session during which I explored the collections of sounds I’d been researching and working with for another commission in 2015. It was a new way in which to shape/share and make work and performance, the likes of which, (listening sessions which are somewhere between talk, performance and radio show) I’ll now explore further and have plans to do this as part of another project in 2016.

The second journey developed from a meeting with Helen Frosi from Sound Fjord, London. I’d known Helen for a little while, but the bursary gave us a reason to properly arrange to sit down and to share what we did, our interests, what we were involved in that the time. A conversation about approaches to field recording lead to discussing the possibility of me being involved in her work as curator in residence with Octopus Collective, in Barrow-in-Furness. Later in 2014, I took an enjoyable journey up to Barrow to deliver a workshop on field recording with members of the public and Octopus Collective. I was also invited to give a talk about my practice, which I realized was the first time I had spoken about my practice as a whole. I used a play list to structure the talk and those present asked questions and made observations about what I showed them. This was a hugely useful exercise as I could start to see threads that continued through my work and required me to vocalize what I had done – find new ways to explain and thus understand it. The workshop I delivered also enabled me to plan a set of activities around field recording that reflected why I make recordings (ie, I’m technically adequate, but focus more on the process, my role) and this has left me again with a set of ideas that I plan to develop further in new work.

Following the workshop, Helen also suggested I think about attending the Field Studies course, a research and teaching programme run by Musarc at the Cass Faculty of Art, Architecture and Design in London. The course, which I’d seen advertised, but not gone for before, provided me a chance to do many of the things I’d been keen to spend time on: think about the context of my work, have time to reflect on how I understand what it is that I’ve been making, and do this along with other composers, artists and architects. The way in which the course is delivered means that you’re free to shape your experience – there are lots of open sessions when you can individually or in a group decide on how to spend your time. Key to my experience was spending time thinking about where my work takes place. After doing a couple of outdoor, ‘rural’ commissions, I’ve been asked again and again to make work for these spaces and I’d been a bit frustrated by this. Spending time in central London, discussing approaches and ideas, I was pleased to feel that actually, my reading, researching and thinking about space was relevant here too. This may seem obvious, but spending time in the city gave me chance to really think it through and discuss with others. In addition, the time spent with others broadened my reference points and my confidence in relation to my own background and the touchstones I’d been using over the years.

I was lucky enough get two new large-scale National Trust commissions in 2015 and I feel that the Field Studies course supported me going into them, and trying new approaches to my previous commissions.

The third journey is a simpler one, but one that’s had a lasting effect. I used some of the bursary money to spend time with Kate Stoddart, an independent curator. During the session, she gave me some useful bits of homework to do – one of which was a way of plotting out my network and contacts: from those I know well and have worked with, to those who I’ve had some contact with, and those whom I’d like to know. The resulting map has been a great guide in its current form, but also useful as something I can use to give some structure to thinking through how to move forward: either as a way of developing a mailing list to use to notify people of new projects, or as a way of mapping out some ideas for periods between commissions – who to make contact with again.

Spending time talking in more detail with Kate about my work, and developing our relationship also meant that Kate included me in two call outs for expressions of interest for the National Trust commissions I mentioned above.

In my original plan, I’d hoped to be able to spend some time with Caroline Wright, an artist based at Wysing in Cambridgeshire. In the end, Primary, the studios where I’m based, undertook a collaborative project with Wysing and by complete chance, Caroline and I were paired up to work together, which was very fulfilling and interesting. This underlines my interest now, having planned out a year of activities, in the need to be flexible and thoughtful in looking for opportunities and the importance of long-term relationship building. I feel that the opportunity to spend time on relationship building rather than simply being mentored by them has resulted in the most coming from this bursary. Hopefully this way too, they’ll be mutually supportive in the longer term too.

To echo this, I was delighted at the end of the year to be invited to be an associate artist with Fermynwoods Contemporary art, an organisation I’ve known and worked with since 2009.

Rebecca is a musician, artist and educator. She produces projects, audio works, performances, site-specific installations, film scores, broadcasts and publications. Her work is often informed by research into location and social histories and often involves other people. Recent activity includes two commissions for the National Trust and being part of the Soundfjord listening programme at Full of Noises Festival, Barrow-in-Furness. 

 


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