'Practice Led Approaches'
Alias Seminar
by Jo Leahy & Neil Walker
September 1999, Stroud
The seminar was attended by 32 artists; including about 20 local artists from Stroud, Cheltenham and Gloucester and artists from the Forest of Dean, Bristol, Bath and Reading. The seminar included three presentations. All the speakers gave challenging and stimulating talks which provoked formal and informal debate amongst the artists continuing until late in the evening.
Susan Jones, artist, researcher and contributor to AN magazine gave a national overview of the development of artist led initiatives. The talk entitled "Making things happen" was based on her1994-96 research study, "Measuring the experience: the scope and value of artist led organisations". It gave examples of different types of artist led initiatives and activity.
The message that emerged from this talk and the lively debate that followed was that artist-led initiatives, while being on the cutting edge of art activity, offered value for money and that this was often exploited by funding bodies and local authorities.
Susan's slide presentation was informal but extremely informative and generated discussion about artist led initiatives and their impact on audiences, artists and the arts environment. There was discussion on their relationship with the arts funding system, their place in the development of art strategies and how to assess or measure the value of artist led practice.
Many of the artists listening commented that Susan's presentation made them sit up and start to ask questions about their own value and worth within the whole scheme of things. Specific issues raised included funding strategies and artists as proactive individuals working collectively as a dynamic force for change.
“Practice-led approaches are worthy of greater attention because they can suggest new ways of delivering arts provision and developing audiences and new roles for artists within society" Susan Jones
London based artists, Amanda Beech and Matthew Poole presented a illustrated lecture on interventionist art in a historical and contemporary context, starting with Marcel Duchamp's 'Fountain' and its relationship to the 'Salon Des Independents' and the ‘Art scandal of 1921' through to later works by Stephan Gec. The lecture provoked questions and ideas on how and what can be interpretated as art, and that any site is open to art intervention. Matthew and Amanda's thematic and analytical presentation stimulated a lot of debate by its challenging and confrontational nature.
Lunchtime provided us with an opportunity to unwind and make new contacts or re-establish old ones. Good food was also essential ingredient to the success of the day. At the most basic level, a seminar like this is an opportunity for artists to come together to compare notes, provide mutual support with the potential for future collaborations.
After lunch, Sue Chudley from the Forest Artists Network (FAN) talked about developing exchanges with International partners.
"Since 1997, Forest Open Studios has been developing a programme of exchanges with European partners. The original impetus for this initiative came from a Kaleidoscope grant but our experiences have shown not only the enormous rewards that exchanges can bring, but also that exchanges can happen on many levels and need not be dependent on large grants." Sue Chudley
Sue talked about the reality of 'exchange' between artists in terms of aims, organisation, and funding. It highlighted the need for communication (which can sometimes be an uphill struggle), and to develop ideas between artists in collaborative projects. Sue gave a personal account of being involved in exchanges revealing the many difficulties between the exchanging groups/ countries including financial issues and personality conflicts. Her talk highlighted some of the negative aspects of international exchanges, injecting some reality into this area where the seduction of making art in a different country can sometimes obscure the real reason for making art.
Sue ended her talk on a positive note, by highlighting the reasons for and benefits of exchanges ie cultural understanding, friendship, confidence building, sharing and comparing experiences, real dialogue. She said that the value of cultural exchanges in the long term is incalculable and invisible in terms of future spin-offs.
The 10 artists who attended our feedback session a few weeks later agreed that the networking value of the seminar had been critical. There was a recognition for the need for more communication between artists. This could take the form of more networking events. This seminar has inspired SVA to organise a whole series of artist's talks: something we have been planning for a long time.