Bristol Artist-Led Forum (BA-LF) Peer Learning Group – Artists Make Change

Dear a-n blog readers. As the Artists Make Change – Peer Learning Group (PLG) Bursary comes to an end, it is time for the Bristol Artist-Led Forum (BA-LF) to resume and reflect upon this extremely valuable opportunity we are grateful to have received.

Inspired by Kate Raworth’s ‘Doughnut Economics’ and Frederic Laloux’s ‘Reinventing Organisations’, our group’s research aimed to familiarise ourselves with new economic and business organisational paradigms to be applied to an artist network and beyond. Our research took us through loads of thinking, sharing and realisations.

We started the peer learning with looking at Doughnut Economics, the ‘new economic model that is regeneration & distributive by design’ – Kate Raworth, as it felt a very open and playful ground, to begin with. We soon realised that:

•  The Artist-Led sector suffers from the same worldly societal struggles (injustice, power games, competition, elitism, scarcity, feelings of anxiety, fear, resentment and judgment), with little energy left to connect with the environment, the people and ourselves. There are also very positive qualities too, otherwise we wouldn’t be here talking about all this.
• Arts isn’t included in the Doughnut as a basic need and part of the Social Foundation. (Really?) I have to confess I was very surprised at first, but looking at how arts (especially the DIY sector) is considered, how public funds are distributed, and the way arts is valued in education, it actually makes sense…

One great way to think about the Doughnut Economics Model, amongst many others, is that in order to realise a regenerative and distributive society, bridges, collaboration, communication, infra-sectors and cross-pollination needs to happen, in order to open up to new, exciting and colourful possibilities and collaborate towards the creation of a fairer world. It’s time for artists to claim their role of bringing their creative thinking out into society. Creativity is a means to see and navigate the world around us in ever new and innovative ways and is as valid as Cartesian/Newtonian thinking. Actually, even more so in the unpredictable and rapidly changing world we currently live in! Let’s forget about ‘Imposter Syndrome’ once for all!

Our 4 Sub-Groups – A Recap:
Considering the vastness of our research, our group split up very organically into 4 sub-groups, each looking at various aspects inspired by Doughnut Economics thinking. Below is a summary of the four pieces of research: The Doughnut analysed through the lens of the Artist-Led sector; The Doughnut analysed through the lens of Socially Engaged Artists, The Doughnut analysed through the lens of Arts Academics & Artists; The Doughnut analysed through the lens of a Holistic Perspective.

1. A Doughnut for Artist-Led Projects and Initiatives: How Doughnut Holistic Thinking Can Offer a Framework for Optimising Creative Innovation and Development – Sub-Group by Laura Bottin, Lisa Friedberg, Tim Knowles, John O’Connor.

In this subgroup, we were looking at how to apply Doughnut Economics thinking and modelling to understand and map our members’ lived experience in creating, being part of, and working within artist-led organisations, and in the arts and creative sector generally.

2. How Artists Networks Can Connect with Society and Support Each Other in a Wider Context to Facilitate Social and Systemic Change – Sub-Group by Anna Haydock-Wilson, Dan Petley, Fraisia Dunn.

Our research has led us to consider the many needs artists and the wider community have and how Artists’ Networks and the community as a whole can combine their forces to help create the ‘safe and just space’ of the inner ring. Our research so far has led us to focus in some distinct areas.

We kicked off our Doughnut Economics sub-group by meeting in  Hotwells Piazza on one cold December afternoon. In the fading light, we mapped out how an ‘Art Doughnut’ might look.

3. Value Shift – Sub-Group by Katy Connor, Alyson Minkley, Deborah Weinreb.

Value Shift looks at a value of art which is not capitalist. In education, there’s a lack of depth of thinking which art practice nurtures. We have been considering the investigative aspects of art and their value to society, and focussed our enquiry around these questions: How does art enable different ways to explore, embracing further creative conclusions?; How can we use art as a practice and a way of thinking to challenge values?; How can we encourage this
exploratory practice of art, to support society to thrive?

“We may see the overall meaning of art change profoundly – from being an end to being a means, from holding out a promise of perfection in some other realm to demonstrating a way of living meaningfully in this one.” – Imagining the art of the future, Allan Kaprow

4. Holistic Perspectives on a Three Dimensional Doughnut: How the Artist-led and Creative Network Experience Offers a Way to Understand Foundational and Evolutionary Dimensions of the Doughnut – Sub-Group by Laura Bottin, Lisa Friedberg, Caroline Vitzthum.

Recognizing creativity as a fundamental aspect of the human being, and the force and urge which drives individual and societal progress (as well as biological evolution itself), this subgroup examined how artistic and creative perspectives can offer new ways to approach problems and potential solutions, differing from current rationalistic economic and socially prescriptive thinking. As inherently embodying creative ways of working and organising, we believe that artist-led structures and creative networks can offer models and case studies in which to examine and explore the core processes and practices of innovation.

“But creativity is not just about an end result. Creativity is the process itself: a way of thinking and problem-solving ‘outside the box’, finding innovative solutions. It is the application of the thought… I wonder what would happen if… onto the material world. At its heart, creativity requires and engenders changing perspectives.” – Lucy H. Pearce, Creatrix

What’s Next:
The Peer Learning Group (PLG) decided to keep going with its current momentum, even though the Research Bursary came to an end. The themes of our research and the collaboration process, allowed rich and multi-faceted content to emerge, and we are very interested to keep exploring. We are in the process of changing the format for the group from a PLG to a Co-Creative Space as a place to test out ideas and get actively creative, as well as to keep each other company once a week and share thoughts. In the back of our minds, there is a growing desire to present our research in the form of a/several public event/s, when the pandemic allows…

Also, as we didn’t have time to formally look into Frederic Laloux’s Teal Organisational theory, which examines ‘self-organization and self-management as an independent force with its own purpose’, we are very interested to research and test Laloux’s paradigm as perhaps the structure for the second incarnation of our group. In this way, we will be looking into new ways in which we can empower our peers and share responsibilities while supporting each other, and sharing resources, skills and knowledge. Loads of work to be done, but it definitely feels worth it!

BA-LF is currently taking part in RADMIN: A Festival of Administration, and we are working on a couple of funding applications. Also, thanks to Daniel Russel from the Social Art Network for sharing the 8th International Degrowth Conference. We are looking into it…

To keep up to date with what we are up to watch these spaces:
https://www.bristolartistledforum.com
https://www.facebook.com/bristolartistledforum

We are so grateful to Rachel Dobbs and Glen Stoker for believing in our research and advocating that, ‘We know that artists & do make change – within their local communities, within organisations, and by linking up with others to take part in or lead local, regional, national campaigns, activism and direct action’. Airspace Gallery – Artists Make Change

THE ARTIST-LED SECTOR NEEDS MORE OF THESE KINDS OF OPPORTUNITIES. WE CAN SUPPORT SOCIETY IN MAKING SUCH NEEDED CHANGE THROUGH OUR CREATIVE THINKING AND OUR SENSITIVE PROCESS OF LOOKING AT THE WORLD.

THE GRASS-ROOTS ARTS CULTURE HAS GOT A LOT TO OFFER IF IT IS JUST TRUSTED AND SUPPORTED.

WE ARE THE VIBRANT, EVER EMERGING, FLOWING ENERGY OF CHANGE.

As you might be aware of from previous posts, after our third meeting in November we’ve decided to divide into 4 sub-groups of interest to focus on specific aspects of our broad research.

We will now be introducing the contents and materials produced by the 4 sub-groups :

A Doughnut for Artist-Led Projects and Initiatives: How Doughnut Holistic Thinking Can Offer a Framework for Optimising Creative Innovation and Development – Sub-Group by Laura Bottin, Lisa Friedberg, Tim Knowles, John O’Connor.

In this subgroup, we were looking at how to apply doughnut economic thinking and modelling to understand and map our members’ lived experience in creating, being part of, and working within artist-led organisations, and in the arts and creative sector generally.

We began by making the argument that creativity, arts and culture first need to be included in the centre of the existing Doughnut Economics diagram, on equal footing and equal valuation with other sectors and factors in a progressive and holistic economy and society.

Once creativity, arts and culture is added in as a section into the centre of the main diagram, we can understand that much like a fractal, there is actually a creative doughnut ecology for the arts sector itself, with encouraging and limiting factors, as well as a sustainable ‘sweet spot’ in the middle. Further mini-doughnuts related to zooming in further to examine the requirements for a specifically artist-led network/group/project to thrive, as well as artists/creatives as individuals themselves, were also devised.

We began our thinking by considering the ‘Artist’s Dilemma’ generally, which conceptualises the main factors of time, space, and money that artists constantly have to balance and juggle, in order to support and optimise creativity and their creative practice.

Then we began thinking more specifically about how artist-led initiatives can support these factors ideally, as they aim to produce a specifically creativity-centred and artist supporting, holistic arts ecology.

Artist-led initiatives are unique as they are entirely peer-to-peer with a DIY ethos, and thus mirror TEAL organisational structure, in that they are characterised by flat hierarchies, prioritise the wholeness of the individual by valuing and encouraging each member to bring forward their unique talents, gifts and skills, are self-managing, and have an evolutionary purpose at their heart, which serves as a guide for all actions.

Drawing on years of lived experience creating, working, and managing artist-led initiatives, our group created a visual ‘Artist-Led Mind Map’, capturing thinking around the factors which help and encourage the success and thriving of artist-led activities and organisations, and those which are harmful.

In the end, we combined the content and understanding from the Artist-Led Mind Map with the doughnut economics structure and produced a hybrid ‘Doughnut Economics for Artist-Led Projects’ diagram. This diagram places the supporting factors for artist-led initiatives as the foundational centre, which are often in shortfall, while the ‘creative ceiling’ factors are in the outside ring. This latter, limiting factors, if present in excess, have a destructive influence on creativity, collaboration and engagement, and thus mirror the understanding of the ecological and planetary boundaries in the original doughnut economics diagram.

A balanced middle between undershooting the inner factors and overshooting the outer factors paints the picture of an inclusive and sustainable creative environment and begins to map out what a creative and supportive developmental situation for artists might look like.

Additionally, one of our group members also produced a written, personal report of his decades of experience generating artist-led initiatives and organisations in Bristol, which we might be interested to assist in creating a more detailed case study and written guide of best practices in the future.

Images Credit: Tim Knowles

As you might be aware of from previous posts, after our third meeting in November we’ve decided to divide into 4 sub-groups of interest to focus on specific aspects of our broad research.

We will now be introducing the contents and materials produced by the 4 sub-groups :

Holistic Perspectives on a Three Dimensional Doughnut: How the Artist-led and Creative Network Experience Offers a Way to Understand Foundational and Evolutionary Dimensions of the Doughnut – Sub-Group by Laura Bottin, Lisa Friedberg, Caroline Vitzthum.

Recognizing creativity as a fundamental aspect of the human being, and the force and urge which drives individual and societal progress (as well as biological evolution itself), this subgroup examined how artistic and creative perspectives can offer new ways to approach problems and potential solutions, differing from current rationalistic economic and socially prescriptive thinking. As inherently embodying creative ways of working and organising, we believe that artist-led structures and creative networks can offer models and case studies in which to examine and explore the core processes and practices of innovation.

“But creativity is not just about an end result. Creativity is the process itself: a way of thinking and problem-solving ‘outside the box’, finding innovative solutions. It is the application of the thought.. I wonder what would happen if… onto the material world. At its heart, creativity requires and engenders changing perspectives.”

  – Lucy H. Pearce, Creatrix

Following on from these basic premises, we began flushing out a concept of a three-dimensional doughnut, in the sense that the classic diagram represents to us a certain static state of social progress, along the lines of a lateral ‘X-axis’. We began to be interested in the ‘Y’ and ‘Z’ axes and dimensions of the doughnut, questioning what supports the doughnut from below, and where the doughnut might be going above and in time, in a spiral of evolution and change.

We were greatly inspired by new and evolving scientific research into the existence of an underground, mycelium network of fungi that links, underpins and supports all plant life above ground. This is especially prevalent in forest ecosystems, where trees communicate and share nutrients and information with each other through this network. We then applied this ecological model and metaphor to the notion of a foundation, of and for, the existing doughnut, thinking of how the desirable central factors and conditions in the model are nourished and sustained.

This led onto thinking about networks themselves, highlighting artist-led networks, and how they are essentially geometries of relating and relationships. And furthering this metaphor of the mycelium network, with progressive society and healthy artist-led ecologies as the ‘forest’ above, the ‘food’ or ‘fuel’ of the network would then be those qualities and characteristics which cultivate healthy relating and relationships, such as empathy, compassion, openness and listening, among others.

Through the lens of thinking regarding what pre and co-factors are needed for specifically artist-led and creative networks to thrive, we determined that passion, creative spirit, inspiration, and enthusiasm/enjoyment/fun are also essential qualities which must be consciously supported and maintained.

For the evolutionary, or upward angle of the three-dimensional doughnut, we applied an understanding of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to the existing doughnut concept, wherein one must first attend to basic physiological needs, before being able to meet emotional and security needs further up. At the top of the pyramid is self and collective actualisation, where Maslow placed creative expression, inner potential, meaning and purpose as the highest human needs and ideals.

As the top of the pyramid represents the greatest realisation of the potential for the individual and group, it can thus be seen as an evolutionary jumping off point, whereby a process of ever developing wisdom, ability and depth is initiated.

Evolution implies change and transformation, and as such, it is an inherently creative process of emergence into the unknown. In this way, we posited that a creatively focused, artist-led doughnut could expand to a notion of a Creative-Evolutionary societal model when applied on a larger scale.

In sum, we believe that innovation and thriving in the 21st century is going to be driven by creating and working in networks generally, as well as interacting in ever more collaborative and co-creative ways on projects and tasks. This represents a paradigm shift in ways of interacting, moving away from current atomised, disembodied, goal-oriented, and rationalised approaches, and towards more embodied, emotionally informed, flexible, process-oriented, and non-linear ways of being and interacting.

As this is such a new world, we believe as a society we will need to consciously ‘upskill’ ourselves in practices which encourage and support collaboration and cooperation and reduce conflict. Such practices might include consciously examining social conditioning, bias and prejudice, teaching active listening and empathic communication skills, as well as promoting inner, self-development work, so that one can come to know and heal oneself, and therefore interact with others from a place of trust, compassion and generosity, and not from a will to power, fear or pain.

As a peer learning group, we are interested in further exploring the ‘foundation’ of the doughnut, through compiling and practising a toolbox of existing practices from the self-development, therapeutic, non-violent communication and conscious relating worlds, amongst others, and perhaps offering out workshops and experiential activities in this regard.

We are also interested to further explore and enquire into the evolutionary aspect of the doughnut, refining the 3D diagram and working on creating a fully interactive, three-dimensional model, both digitally and in real-time and space. We feel that perhaps installation works, audio journeys, as well as performative and interactive in-person activities, would bring the multidimensionality of the three-dimensional doughnut to life.

Images Credit: Lisa Friedberg

As you might be aware of from previous posts, after our third meeting in November we’ve decided to divide into 4 sub-groups of interest to focus on specific aspects of our broad research.

We will now be introducing the contents and materials produced by the 4 sub-groups :

How artists networks can connect with society and support each other in a wider context to facilitate social and systemic change – Sub-Group by Anna Haydock-Wilson, Dan Petley, Fraisia Dunn.

We kicked off our Doughnut Economics sub-group by meeting in Hotwells Piazza on one cold December afternoon. In the fading light we mapped out how an Art Doughnut might look. You can find out more about that here.

Our research has led us to consider the many needs artists and the wider community have and how Artists’ Networks and the community as a whole can combine their forces to help create the ‘safe and just space’ of the inner ring. Our research so far has led us to focus on some distinct areas.

Neurodivergence- can furthering our understanding of neurodivergence (dyslexia, dyspraxia and ADHD to name a few) develop our ability to communicate with each other, the community and our wider networks. Could this lead to, not only greater accessibility, but more exciting, creative, and non-linear methods of communication?

Linking with existing networks and schemes to help artists survive by making art rather than having to take on ‘day jobs’. Social Prescribing is a way to prescribe non-medical treatments to individuals. How can we let Link Workers know that we undertake activities that might be a good ‘social prescription’? Is there a way to potentially link whole artists’ networks to these services allowing artists the freedom to identify which artists’ practises might be a good fit for the individual?

How can labour-intensive forms of recycling (i.e. constructing Eco Bricks) be tied to art practises, converting them from a labour activity into a creative activity? Anna uses Eco Bricks for planters and sculptures at Hotwells Piazza and Dan developed a production system at a Workaway space when he lived in Bulgaria. All of us have privately engaged in making and submitting Eco Bricks. If made in a community art context they become a fun and useful activity. The arts and ecological campaign groups have a strong history of collaborating- how can we strengthen this and pave the way for future funding?

Can we try to curate dialogues with taggers at public art spaces? Individualism and competition are integral parts of street art, so confronting that competitive drive is essential to channelling individual expression into something communal that could develop collective joy and authentic community building. Fraisia and Dan, as Brick Project, developed a project over the summer, Moon Temple. This stemmed from an invitation to ‘decorate’ an old signal box that sits in an urban nature reserve. After the project was finished, there were many interventions, paintings and tags added. Recently a ceramicist has installed pieces in the ruin and toilet roll art has erupted out of no-where. What interventions can we make that ‘pass the baton’ of creativity on to the wider public?

Unexpectedly we have found that these two seemingly disparate umbrella subjects- Economics and Art are actually very compatible. In fact, in the same way, that Doughnut Economics demonstrates how an ‘embedded economy’ is essential for the wellbeing of the planet and all inhabitants, we have realised that an economic model that takes the health and happiness of all planetary dwellers into account needs a creatively dynamic core in order to communicate, play and investigate the world in which we live.

Film: Anna Haydock-Wilson Watch: https://vimeo.com/488498551

Text: Anna Haydock-Wilson, Dan Petley and Fraisia Dunn

Images: Anna Haydock-Wilson, Dan Petley and Fraisia Dunn

As you might be aware of from previous posts, after our third meeting in November we’ve decided to divide into 4 sub-groups of interest to focus on specific aspects of our broad research.

We will now be introducing the contents and materials produced by the 4 sub-groups :

Value Shift Sub-Group, by Katy Connor, Alyson Minkley, Deborah Weinreb.

Value Shift is looking at a value of art which is not capitalist. In education, there’s a lack of depth of thinking which art practice nurtures. We have been considering the investigative aspects of art and their value to society: how art enables different ways to explore, embracing further creative conclusions. How can we use art as a practice and a way of thinking to challenge values? How can we encourage this exploratory practice of art, to support society to thrive? “We may see the overall meaning of art change profoundly – from being an end to being a means, from holding out a promise of perfection in some other realm to demonstrating a way of living meaningfully in this one.” – Imagining the art of the future, Allan Kaprow