Validation beyond the gallery

When I became Executive Director of Axisweb in April 2015, I was acutely aware of a sea change within the cultural landscape. I am certainly not unique in this respect: Alistair Hudson (Director of MIMA) notes art and culture are under scrutiny as never before and the use value of art has slipped away from ordinary society. At the same time however, we see artists working with people and spaces, in collaborative, dynamic and interactive ways. Artists operating outside the gallery have come to play an essential role in society, yet these activities appear misunderstood, poorly profiled and simply not valued at the level of practice supported and promoted by the gallery sector.

At Axisweb we decided it was a good time to ask some questions. With the aim of better understanding the experiences of individuals working beyond the gallery, we commissioned a new piece of research with a focus on how validation and visibility are (or aren’t) being gained.

Written by Dr Amanda Ravetz and Dr Lucy Wright of Manchester School of Art, the research is a response to our questions and through a series of semi-structured interviews captures the opinions and experiences of producers, commissioners and artists all operating outside of galleries.

The report substantiates feelings that many artists will be familiar with: exclusion, rejection, misrepresentation [galleries use the wrong language], sidelining and being unrecognised, all for producing ‘the wrong kind of work’. These are issues which have been aired many times, however we are determined that this research will be a catalyst for change.

We have established working groups made up of artists, producers and commissioners to drive this process. These groups will develop collaborative mechanisms to tackle the issues raised in the research and consider and implement ways to improve advocacy and profiling work beyond the gallery.  If you are interested in becoming part of this process, please get in touch.

By continuing our partnership with MMU and expanding this membership, we will explore and test new models focusing on use value, metrics and social signs that help champion, profile and evaluate artists and art beyond the gallery. Ultimately, we aim to connect and engage with a broader public to reinforce the value of art and artists within society.

An online presence for the campaign planned in the coming months will include opportunities for engagement, however in the meantime if you have any ideas or feedback you want to share please do get in touch (mark@axisweb.org)

Mark Smith, July 2015

Click on the publication to view the report, click 'Expand' to enlarge.

What is social practice? A short poem about one transitional definition by Stephen Pritchard

There's lots of discussion about how to define our field of practice.  I'm not sure we can or even should?  I'm very interested in the notion of transitional art practice.  I was a bit unsure at first.  I think I had problems fully comprehending the word when I was first introduced to it by Ruth Ben-Tovim.  She was clear.  I blocked it.  I was all about "socially engaged".  Perhaps I still am?  Reading Playing for Time by Lucy Neal has made me rethink my practice and my research alot.  Transitional art links back to my first encounters with the work of Suzi Gablik.  Lucy's book and Ruth's passionate application of transitional art practice are beginning to reconnect me to Suzi's ideas about reenchantment.  Perhaps I'm experiencing something of a transition?

This poem was a quick response to Cara Courage's call for practitioners to describe social practice.  I re-read it as a transitional piece with key elements of transitional art vocabulary missing.  I think I'm a little cold.  Unempathic.  More work to be done.  Would love to hear your thoughts and criticisms.  Perhaps you would like to share your own interpretations?

Anyway...

What is social practice?

Little creative acts of not knowing.

Political, sometimes radically activist, acts.

Potential spaces. Safe places where dangerous new realities might grow. Grassroots. Social justice. Collective. Autonomous. Communal.

Deeply suspicious of instrumentalism and state. Outside of institutions. Around and across margins.

A practice in which art as concept is everywhere. 

Unspoken, like innumerable tiny little secrets shared in moments outside the false strictures of coordinated civic time. 

Uncertain. 

Always uncertain… 

Messes of thread. 

 Stephen Pritchard.

SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT SOCIALLY ENGAGED ART BY THERESA EASTON, CHAIR OF ARTISTS' UNION ENGLAND

We are really pleased that Theresa Easton has joined our network as a member.  Theresa does amazing work as chair of Artists' Union England - a union who welcome members who are socially engaged artists.

When Theresa joined us, she wrote a short statement about socially engaged art practice.  She is happy that we share it here:

I think our field of practice should have equal status with all art practices. I think arts organisations, public bodies and commercial businesses that appear to incorporate social engagement into their commission, project, residency etc need to fully understand the area of work and not use is as a token gesture and pay lip service to the fundamentals of the practice.

We couldn't agree more.  Tokenism in our field is dangerous and misleading.

We welcome any comments, thoughts, responses.

LIST OF OUR MEMBERS - JULY 2015

We are an open network of members spanning artists, arts organisations, writers, academics.  We have 23 members to date.

Anyone can join us free by clicking here.

We are:

Amy Hirst

Bridget McKenzie

Cara Courage

Carol Parker

Gabriela Silva

Genevieve Rudd

Hannah Marsden

Hayley Roberts

Jack Newsinger

Jean McEwan

Kate Pahl

Kerry Lanigan

Liz Postlethwaite

Lucy Neal

Lydia Catterall

Mark Smith (AxisWeb)

Pauline Taylor

Ruth Ben Tovim

Sian Rees

Stephen Pritchard

Susan Jones

Theresa Easton

Tracy Shaw (Loca Creatives)