http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/performance-and-music/bmw-tate-live-performance-room-cally-spooner
On monday we had Cally Spooner visit the university for an artist talk. She focused her talk on her current projects starting in 2013 and bringing it right up to date including work she completed 2 days ago.
She described how the collaboration and performance for her musical developed from ‘And you were wonderful’ to grow and change depending on site specific requirements, current issues/gossip of the day and how this will develop into the near future into a film.
Her manner of presentation and thoughtfulness of her explanations in terms of her exploratory nature and line of inquiry was more than a success. I found it heartening as she talked about working at the Tate this year and taking part in the Frieze Projects (the ’commercial’ films of dancers which I saw when I was there) that she was dealing continuously with the rolling thought process of creating a new artwork and I personally took heart with my own struggles for developing my own artist voice. The experiences we have are all a melting pot for what we create already and throw into that the environment in which we are part, that is fast moving, intense, multi media, sound bite society.
I left the auditorium thinking this is a woman that wants to take risks, you can hear her brain evolving and working out problems, reasoning and developing all the time and relishing the challenge.
I had a tutorial with her afterwards and discussed my own line of inquiry. Her advise was practical and helpful with a few artists dealing with similar subject matter to research but the key message was perhaps less is more. The idea of a magazine cover at all may be not necessary. To appropriate and use found images from magazines and sound bite slogans that are universal to the viewer being empowering and opening may produce a more successful artwork.
Time to reflect and consider. An interesting day.
