My lovely anthropologist friend,Anna, sent me this link to an article about the Co-operative Correspondence Club, a corespondence magazine established in 1935, by isolated housewives.
'each contributor would write pieces on any subject, mail them to the young woman who would stitch them together inside a cover and post to the first name on a prearranged list; that person would read and/or write any comments in the margins and send on to the next name and so on until the magazine had been fully circulated. '
What a lovely idea in this day of internet networking.
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/article1453340.ece
Susan Jones (a-n Director) has been in touch to offer support for APT = Artists Parents Talking!;
'I think we could help the APT artists as parents talking group create up a forum. Our IT developer is up on Monday and I can ask her to advise. It would be great to see AT acting as a catalyst in this way.'
Brilliant – I'm very excited about getting this moving now. It keeps popping into my mind when I'm trying to concentrate on other stuff today – Creative Partnerships work, writing my biog and a case study for a proposal for an audience and market research project, prep for talking to a shop owner about an installation idea. Wish I could stop the clock.
just found this info about another project inspired by womanhouse. Shame I've just missed it, but I'll contact them as I'm going to New York soon.
http://suzyspence.com/themoodbackhome/
While I think of it, I would also be interested to hear from any parents/artists in the Huddersfield/ Holmfirth area – particularly any that have lots of fun and the odd drink as I still haven't got enough of this in my West Yorkshire life.
My studio is such a mess I've had to move into the big shared area to work. I'd get really wound up if the house was that chaotic, yet I'm very comfortable in my own personal disorder.
Anyway – here's the plan so far. I had to write on a big piece of brown paper, ideas jumping from APT and related ideas, to other projects, all within the context of how much time I have in the next 12months and how much i need to earn – trying to find ways to do things that are part of my art practice and have potential for bringing in some money. I don't want to find myself responsible for a project that doesn't interest me in the end, so I need to be clear what does interest me!
I think APT should begin linking people up through an online forum or something similar – the only criteria that you need to be a parent with caring responsibilities and a visual artist. The mini case studies on a-n have triggered a lot of interest so this could be something we expand on. There are the obvious possibilities of developing peer support, strategic advice, peer mentoring, information sharing. The barrier to participation might be that it's yet another 'thing to do online' when we're not blogging, twittering, updating axis, etc. Still – try it and see I reckon.
Ultimately I would like to raise funds for a sort of collaboration/ residency – members would apply to take part. It would take place over an extended period so artists could come and go according to their domestic commitments. Childcare would need to be tailored to each artists needs. I'd really love to revisit the Womanhouse project (feminist art programme, Calfiornia, 1971http://www.womanhouse.refugia.net/ ) – secure a house/flat for a couple of months and collaborate to develop site specific works throughout. There's a virtual womenhouse project, so there may be links to be made there; http://www.cmp.ucr.edu/education/programs/digitalstudio/studio_projects/webworks/womenhouse/default.html
Also potential to link with mothers and fathers collective in czekoslovakia, and I'm going to New York in the aumtum to meet with women artists linked with A.I.R Gallery.
I need to do more research, refine my ideas and assess the level of support for the idea, then look at fund raising, but I am interested in this. I really want to raise awareness of the challenges and inequalities we face, and the important contribution parents make as artists.
Ok. This was supposed to be a computer free studio day, so enough now.
I've been thinking and researching about what it means to be a parent and an artist, and what a collective would be like and what it's for.
Here's a quote from c2c gallery in Prague relating to a show in 2007 entitled 'What Would We Be Without Children' – work by Matky a Otcove/Mothers and Fathers Collective (founded in 2001 by Lenka Klodova and friends – google her if you don't know her work, she's very interesting)
In the permanent flow of daily chores and stress, generated by the family life, earning money and the art production, we tend to muse upon the unjust and undeserved state we are in. Considering this situation we think that we surely haven’t chosen it by our free will and so we wonder about the existence of a variety of alternatives determined by our better choices.
This exhibition is a sculptural visualization of one aspect of the problem. http://www.c2c.cz/?id=2078
Also – Susan Jones suggested a good name for the collective – APT = Artists Parents Talking. What do you all think? I'd also welcome any suggestions about how we might start communicating – an online forum perhaps, or other type of online group?
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