I was just browsing through the comments on the One And Other website, now that the Plinth is sadly empty, when i received a phonecall to confirm that I’ve been accepted onto the AA2A scheme, so now I’ll be able to (legitimately!) go into University and access facilities to create a body of work, get some costs covered, and this will also enable the LAN to have a presence, a point of contact instead of having to hold random meetings – excellent!!
I’m starting to feel as though I’m getting somewhere – i just wish it hadn’t taken so long!
It seems odd to go on the One And Other site and see instead of someone there, a red square of text instead.
I was asked by BBC Radio Lincolnshire about artists such as Damien Hirst selling expensive work in galleries, how the Plinth compares with that….. there is a shift away from capitalist art, but I’m not so adverse to what Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin do – they make a very good living from what they do, just far more than what some people consider justifiable. I just wish slightly that applied to artists other than the YBAs……. I wouldn’t want things to go too far back the other way, where artists are being taken advantage of and expected to work for nothing….. there needs to be balance. But I do like the way art is engaging with audiences, becoming involved with the community, it’s something I want the LAN to achieve, and something the community should invest in, instead of arguing about money being put to better use elsewhere. Is it possible to meld the YBAs and Gormley? Or would that create a monster??!
What I noted on reflection about the Plinth was that it engaged with people that otherwise wouldn’t experience art, or be interested in art. I read comments from many people from America and Canada, who’d been watching the plinth from across the pond – where else do you get an opportunity to exhibit work globally?? I knew that although there weren’t all that many people in Trafalgar Square while I was there, the audience stretched as far as Broadband.
But I haven’t received a rash of emails offering me commissions yet. My Redbubble account hasn’t yet made any sales. Nor have I experienced some kind of SuBo effect and had to go into rehab for my new found celebrity status!!! No one stops me in the street and says “hey, you were great on the plinth!” They ask if I tell them, or if they knew anyway I was taking part, but otherwise no one seems to have noticed much!! Which suits me fine, because that wasn’t why I did it – I did it for the experience, yes, to promote my work, and because I’m a fan of Gorm! Most people agree that the Plinth will never be the same again. And I wonder if the words “plinther”,”plinthing”, “I plinthed” will be added to the dictionary??
