Professional Development - Page 4 of 18 - a-n The Artists Information Company

For the final Assembly event in the current series, a-n was in Cardiff for a day of discussion and debate around how to survive as a creative practitioner. Trevor H. Smith reports.

At the conference ‘Pivotal Moments: Professional Development Models for Mid-Career Artists’, staged by London Creative Network (LCN) in association with a-n, participants including artists Keith Piper and Erica Scourti, and Wysing director Donna Lynas discussed career development and the importance of institutional support for artists. Lydia Ashman reports.

When artist and writer Alistair Gentry first shared his experiences of depression earlier this year it resulted in a flood of private feedback and led a-n to commission a series on artists and mental health for our Resources section. Drawing on the conversations he’s had with artists and arts workers, he argues for more openness about mental illness and wellness in the arts.

At the recent Jamboree 2018 event on the Dartington Estate in Devon, the London-based German artist Rosalie Schweiker presented an improvised slide show about the difference between being a conventional ‘sausage’ artist and a hard to pigeonhole ‘mince’ artist. Here she turns that talk into a short explanation of her thinking – with added drawings of sausages, mince, and mince-based products.

Taking place on the idyllic Dartington Estate in Devon the a-n-supported Jamboree 2018 brought together 150 artists, curators and programmers from across the UK for lively discussion and the exchange of ideas. Hannah Pierce, a-n’s external programmes and partnerships manager, shares the key things she learnt from the event’s four days.

Following a call-out asking artists to submit their ‘preparations, patterns, neuroses, speculations, and procrastinations that surround the production of art in the studio’, the four-day Inventory of Behaviours event at Tate Modern saw these submissions turned into instructions that were carried out by volunteer artists, students and members of the public. Trevor H. Smith explores the value of the transitional space between not making and making art.