Made an exhausted return from SOTA12 http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/jobs-and-conferences… yesterday, which I attended as one of the 50 artists given a bursary by ACE to be there. Apparently our presence gave the conference a different feel this year compared to last year, when the dearth of artists was perceived as a major failing.
Highlights were Kirsty Ware’s excellent chairing of the event and David Edgar’s interventions, especially his closing speech.
The conference reflected a shift in thinking away from the notion that the value of art and artists lies mainly in their contribution to the creative economy – cf. Liz Forgan’s opening address. We still need to be on our guard though, even if Ed Vaizey said the case for the arts has been made and accepted; whether he will take up the challenge set at the conference of writing to all local councils to restate that remains to be seen.
I don’t think the format of the breakout sessions worked very well – still the old model of artists presenting their work and delegates having to work out how that fitted the theme and what we were supposed to talk about.
My general feeling was there was a lack of real provocation or focused presentation of new ideas; much of the discussion felt as if it was just confirming principles already laid down and I am not sure that the conference really did finish with a call to action.
Still, I enjoyed it and am glad I went.
96,000 words, two bids and various meetings later, I finally manged to spend 2 hours in the studio yesterday and felt happy.
I have a new “neighbour” – Bob the hot dog man. We had a few minutes conversation at cross purposes because I thought he’d said he was Bob the odd jobs man. Intrigued by his apron I asked if he was working upstairs in the kitchens, to which he said “no I’m on the street.”
Off to Manchester tomorrow for the State of the Arts Conference. I’m really looking forward to it and thankfully have managed to smooth ruffled feathers at home caused by wanting to go to a conference on Valentine’s day.
Well, I got shortlisted recently for a residency not too far away from home and got to interview stage which was very encouraging. I really enjoyed doing the research for the project and think I could probably adapt it if need be.
It’s been business as usual really, though the DAD bid is nearly finished. I would be fine, if the 10,000 words I had promised to translate hadn’t morphed into over 90,000 to manage and subcontract. It has not only been exhausting, but also boring and, more importantly has taken all my free headspace. So my resolution to read more has gone out of the window. Still I did manage time in the studio today.
Other good news is that I may have found a semi-permanent home for my MA work. Thanks to Joanna I have to say, but more on this later, once there is a firm commitment from the client.
The Chinese New Year of the Dragon started on Monday and I decided to throw a party for fellow creatives in Dover – was quite funny as my mother helped with the cooking and we got quite a production line going – felt a bit as if I was in the noodle shop in the panda kung fu film, only I was happy to be there. One evening of cooking shouldn’t be beyond anyone … not even me.
I was on Radio Kent this morning – teeny snippet of an interview relating to Dover’s preparations for the Olympic Torch and DAD’s Bunting Forever project http://www.dadonline.eu/node/332. We’ve been trying to get radio coverage since we started in 2006 and it has finally happened!
So far 2012 has been really really busy: seem to have spent all my time at meetings, but the good news is that I have been awarded a bursary to go to the State of the Arts conference up at Salford in February.
I have managed to get into the studio and my New Year’s resolution is to read more! Novels, theory, critical writing in magazines ….
And of course, get into the studio more …!
First day back in the studio today after a long break. Feel good.
Hope 2012 will be a creative one for everyone.
