location, residence and migration

Recently I went to a talk by Emilia Telese about working abroad – really wish I had access to this prior to the Résider:Reside project in 2009.

Emilia highlighted the difference between working in countries with a strong heritage based culture like Italy, Spain and to some extent France – where they lean towards a more academic and clearly defined art object experience. Whereas countries with strong arts infrastructure and public funding like Uk and Northern Europe – support more experimental and conceptual based work.

Coming form a conceptual/experimental background and landing somewhere where there was an expectation of working tightly to the brief meant that I made fundamental errors in meeting the expectations of the French director who was a partner in this joint Kent/Côte d’Opale venture. I had worked hard on improving my french, mapping out the territory I was working in, and researching basic historical material but it didn’t occur to me to research working with European partners !

The project based in St.Omer was well supported by press ad TV coverage and the location and accompanying staff were very agreeable. Although I was about 90 % sure about how my piece would work in the space the remaining 10% proved problematic. And it was this level of uncertainty and experimentation that led to difficulties with the french Director. I knew I could solve the problem but it meant that the work would appear on a different wall to the one I had originally intended.

The key was that I didn’t do exactly what I said I would do and from that point our relationship unravelled – I could have done several things to perhaps prevent this – tried out different solutions before putting anything into writing and written the brief more loosely with an either /or contingent statement. It is a shame the project ended on a sour note but everything we do entails making some mistakes and the key is to make sure we learn from them !

11th December – Box Gallery Dover -the final stage of the Résider/Reside and the distribution of a small publication which explores the theme of residence, location and migration from various points of view -the curators, mediators, participants and artists. A real joy to have such a concrete thing as the outcome of this 6 month long project.

Great turn out for finissage – pizza and mint tea went down well along with the balloon messages and Big Screen showing of my work and that of Pierre-Yves Brest – a really exciting aspect of working in Dover.

The whole project finished today and there is plenty to think about …. the things that stick in my mind are – being alone and away from home for short stretches and able to think and plan without worrying about day to day stuff – with a family, home and various freelance jobs on the go, this was a real luxury. The project felt like a team effort with plentiful support from the organisers and curators, their volunteers, mediators and associates.

Also I was the artist and not an organiser or project manager so I felt really able to focus on making work – something that happens quite rarely. As with most projects there were errors of judgment, mistakes and misunderstandings but these all added to the experience and they signify important markers of progress.

As for writing this blog – Hmm… not sure I managed to be as concise and open as I intended but it has served as a good place to explore and digest the whole project…..but not sure that it is of any interest beyond that.

So only left to say a big thank you to Joanna, Clare and Christine of Dover Arts Development, mediators Lucy and Charlotte plus Benôit and Evodie of espace 36 and of course to Pierre-Yves who was a rock when things looked a bit shakey.

24-Nov – Dusk photo tour of Dover. This tour was organised as a way of connecting the work I have made for the Box Gallery with the themes of residence and location across Kent and Cote d’Opale. There was a good turn out of participants and some travelling from as far away Bexhill.

The sky was a lovley cool fresh wintery blue when we started and as we walked throught he town and around the back of the college it changed to an amazing inky blue lit by orange street lighting.

The most pleasurable aspect of the photo tour, which is a little like teaching drawing, is that moment when those taking part suddenly begin to really see the world – sounds cheesy but it is great when excitement, recognition and an awakening of memories all come to life.

17th Nov. Now on last leg of the RESIDER/RESIDE project and am feeling more than ready to get the last lot of work installed and firing on all cylinders. Almost everything is ready but am a little nervous about how it is going to work in the space. I really wish I could do something simple for once – the days when I just packed the car with paintings and delivered them somewhere or hung them somewhere seem long gone … now it’s all electric cables, mirrors, blacking things out, mirror balls, everything but the kitchen sink !

In terms of the headspace to develop ideas and links this has been a great project especially trying to push the thinking into a tangible shape and form and juggling ideas about history and place, war and culture, belonging and not belonging – and how its all fits together has been and will continue to be a very exciting avenue of research.

So on Saturday I will do a photo tour of Dover seeking out interesting builidngs and architecture. The thoughts behind this reflect an interest in our ongoing obsession with clear visual fields, high definition images and I want to explore all the opposite apsects of this slippery but clearly delineated world – shadows, ambiguity and the palpably undefined.

6 Nov. – House is full of cardboard, can’t move for card facades and cutting templates. Seem to spend hours searching internet for mirrored perspex, board, plastic, lights, disco balls etc it’s all getting. v. theatrical !.