Sustainability
Both artists who I spoke to have experience of making projects/artworks that are site or context responsive. We talked about how there can be a frustration with the process of applying for things. With open call opportunities, conceiving of project before getting paid is demanding and, as Emma put it, the “idea that you can make site specific work before knowing the site is crap.”
Methods for dealing with this are various:
It’s reassuring to know that Erica – who has undertaken tons of residencies and really interesting projects – hasn’t always been successful via open calls. One of her strategies is to write a project proposal for something she wants to do but that could have a ‘fit’ with various locations. For example her project ‘Woman, Nature, Alone’ was realised during a residency at Connecticut’s I-Park but could have happened in many possible locations. She spoke about the value of residencies in helping her to refine and work out projects but also their value for generating new relationships and ideas.
Curator Elaine Speight also suggested thinking about ‘types’ of locations rather than particular places. Or I could be more proactive about specific places/contexts I would like to make work and then initiate this myself, approaching the site and applying for funding.
This is a way that Emma Smith has worked, developing ongoing collaborative relationships, for example with academics for her project ‘Change in Energy=Work’, and writing project bids in collaboration with a particular organization/ for a particular site. She suggested when working with a partner where they are putting in some funding and then you are also going for other funding sources, one possibility is to negotiate a fee for your time to be paid whilst you are developing the bid. But the partner then only pays the fee if the bid is successful. i.e. they are match funding for a successful outcome so not bearing so much risk.
I think all artists must have the experience of putting in applications for tons of stuff and a few of them being accepted. Hopefully the success rate goes up as you progress (I think I’ve got a bit better at tailoring applications and pitching for things I am genuinely interested in). But for any chance of a sustainable career as an artist this needs to go alongside initiating and creating your own opportunities and relationships with people.
