Make Work That Is Ambitious
This was one of the points that stuck out to me in my conversation with Danielle. I was discussing a large scale ambitious piece that I am excited to do but to realise in full would require funding and an appropriate site because of its scale. I have actually submitted this proposal to the Jerwood Open Forest commision bid but realising that the odds of achieveing such a bid are relatively small I proposed to Danielle my plan to make the piece regardless. This would have to be a significantly scaled down version. Her answer was a resounding no. “Never cut a work short” was her opinion “You must make work that is ambitious!”.
She is right of course. Better to wait, be patient, to invest time in researching locations and funding partners that could help realise the work in full than make a mediocre version of it.
So lesson 1 – be ambitious in your work.
In this situation that requires – faith in the work, patience, persistence, investment in exploring potential resources, creative thinking, bravery to ask, and presenting the concept of the piece in a professional way that the idea can be “sold” to someone.
