As I mentioned, A Curriculum started on Monday and it’s been a good week so far. The space we have is ridiculously big (and chilly). I am feeling a bit out of it in some ways.. being local and also the OLDEST!! But there’s no escaping the fact that my experience will be different to the others’. I hope it is too – I want this residency to be a very productive period and also to feed into my studio practice afterwards. I have to find a better balance of making work and taking on other projects!
We all gave presentations about our work yesterday and it was great to see what everyone is up to. Normally I’m not too bothered about speaking in small groups like that, but something was up yesterday! I suppose it always makes you feel a bit vulnerable speaking about your work – I always forget half the stuff I want to say too. When there are no questions either – that seems worse than too many somehow! Anyway, enough reflecting on that – we all find the speaking stuff hard I’m sure..
During A Curriculum I am also making a (cardboard) set for a new comedy/performance production at the Bluecoat in April.It will be a slightly surreal affair and I am planning a lot of pipes that become other objects, a cat/telephone mix was also mentioned last night at out meeting…
I will also be working on a collaboration with Nathan Jones, poet in residence over the last year at the Bluecoat. We will be creating an artists books with one or more of his poems. He has written an especially beautiful one entitled ‘Slow Magic’ about the experience oif gallery spaces and we will concentrate on that.
Right, to my little red van and A Foundation. Ta ra.
‘Kin Hell. I have been shortlisted for the Liverpool Art Prize.. not expecting it and very very pleased.
http://www.liverpoolartprize.com/
I am in very good company indeed (pretty intimidating company actually) so I hold no illusions about winning any money. It will be good to be in the exhibition alongside the other artists though. Also shortlisted are Gina Czarneck, David Jacques, James Quin and Paul Rooney. Gulp.
Started A Curriculum today. It was great to get in there, although those studios are COLD. It’s a bit strange actually as I am in a position I haven’t been before; where I have no desire to explore so I am just ready to get my head down and work. I’m not making work about where I am for once, just work. I quite like it. Going to take my socks off tomorrow and cast my legs. BRRRRRRR.
I’ve been doing some research for the next Taxed event in Liverpool and have been visiting some people for a chat as well as emailing (and proabably irritating) everyone I know. I have also been using exhibition openings to prey on artists to answer my questions. So far there have been some really great answers and I’m glad I asked because a lot of things that came up hadn’t occurred to me at all. Patterns are beginning to emerge. Sacha from the group is also doing some research on this so it will be good when we meet up next week and compile the results..
I started a thread on the a-n forums here:
www.a-n.co.uk/forums/read/33,781
and that’s got some interesting responses – but I want more please! Just three questions –
ARTISTS SKILL SWAP SURVEY – Please fill me in!
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/3BXTDRT
Ideally before 5pm Wed 10th March, thanks!
Also wanted to mention Waygood in Newcastle – who may be getting their funding withdrawn by ACE, ending 15 years of support for artists. They are collecting good wishes to present to funders on their website. They point out on their website the irony of ACE’s aims to support young artists in light of their decision to withdraw funding to an organisation like this. Please have a look and add your own message.
http://wishesforwaygood.tumblr.com/#428170127
The original ACE ‘think piece’ by Nicola Slawson, a 25 year-old artist can be read here:
http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/consultation/think-pieces/supporting-the-development-of-future-artists-and-arts-leaders/
Oh my I am tired and extremely headachey. School this week is hectic. One more day and I shall get home, hopefully in one piece, and sleep. I am armed with a bottle of baby bedtime bath and new pyjamas. Get set.. zzzzzzzzzzzz. Me, Dan making me tea periodically and the cat stomping around my head and a newspaper I can’t be bothered to read. An amazing picture. Only three more days in schools after this week until the end of May, so this is a real chance to get some rest and reflect a bit on how it’s all going.
A Curriculum starts on Monday and I cannot wait to be back in the studio. The boxes and materials are already packed waiting to go. Looking forward to some brain strain although nervous about all the people I will meet and have studio visits with, also about the presentation to other artists… The curator from YSP is coming to do a studio visit at A Foundation too, so I feel the need to be prolific in the first month of the residency. What was I saying about rest? How about I call it a child-free period instead? I like deadlines. Actually, that should probably read -I need deadlines. There was a nice comment by a book artist I saw, something like ‘without a deadline, there is no book’. Quite.
Sent off the interim report to YSP, which seems to have gone down okay, I think? Although I had an epic technology fail and lots of trouble making the pdf as it was a humoungous file and my laptop wasn’t coping. Looking back over it I realised that the latest version hadn’t saved and the one I had sent had a generous number of typos! I hate that. Really really hate that and I feel embarrassed that they will think I can’t read/write/spell. Seems to be the way my life is at the moment.. best intentions but some avoidable and unnecessary cock-ups in retrospect. Pah. I think I’d better start saying no a bit more – better to do less things well than lots of shonky ones.
Lastly and less self-indulgently, this is a good read by Charlotte Higgins in the Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/mar/0…
The case for safeguarding arts funding in the future.
Ah haa, this explains a lot. My husband forwarded this link after reading my Fraud complex blog entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruge…
“The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which “people reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices but their incompetence robs them of the metacognitive ability to realize it”.[1] The unskilled therefore suffer from illusory superiority, rating their own ability as above average, much higher than in actuality; by contrast the highly skilled underrate their abilities, suffering from illusory inferiority. This leads to a perverse result where less competent people will rate their own ability higher than more competent people. It also explains why actual competence may weaken self-confidence because competent individuals falsely assume that others have an equivalent understanding.”
