I’m aware I can’t address ideas of exchange, generosity and reciprocity between artists without looking at money (or the lack of it).
I’ve just started reading “Why Are Artists Poor” by Hans Abbing (downloadable from this link www.oapen.org/download?type=document&docid=340245) and plan to blog my responses to that as I go along. As I do this I will also be looking back on Emily Speed’s blog ‘Getting Paid’ www.a-n.co.uk/p/497389/ as via a Twitter conversation she mentioned that both the Hans Abbing book and also Lewis Hyde’s ‘The Gift’ were triggers for her blog.
For now though, I want to record some of my own experiences of generosity and reciprocity as an artist working with other artists.
The gift economy, whether it operates via formal,informal,adhoc or structured projects, is both a necessity and a strength of creative networks. Our greatest resource is each other – fostering reciprocal relationships with other artists is an essential part of our survival. I recently took part in a Twitter debate instigated by Zeitgeist Art Projects entitled ‘How Do I Survive As an Artist?”. Many of the comments published in the subsequent publication reflect on the value of support, time and attention from peers.
http://issuu.com/zeitgeistartsprojects/docs/surviving_as_an_artist_
I hope that documenting my own experiences of generosity and reciprocity, looking at both the positives and the negatives, will give me a greater opportunity to articulate ,and reflect more closely on what meaning and impact these ideas have had, and continue to have on my own practice.
I’ll be posting blogs in the coming weeks about my experiences in the following areas.
1. Sharing practice
2. Collaboration
3. DIY projects, collective working
4. Networks, in real life and online
This list might grow, but it seems like a good starting point.
My posts on ‘sharing practice’ will include:
1. Writing on an artists talk event I went to in Leeds in October given by artist collaboration ‘… Milky Way You Will Hear Me Call …’ who are Emma Bolland, Judit Bodor and Tom Rodgers http://youwillhearmecall.wordpress.com/2012/09/17/…
2. My experience of blogging here on a-n Artists Talking
