Trading Station

Examples of methods used to trade

The primary aim of this project was ‘To set up both virtual & physical spaces and times for ‘TRADING STATION’ Here is a list of methods tried during the project.

Virtual trading

· Photos, quotations and texts sent by mobile SMS, email, tumblr and google picasa web between Istanbul and Liverpool.

· Trading via a proxy artist. One artist sharing another’s working method with our Istanbul partners.

· By exchanging postcards in person and by mail

· By exchanging objects either in person, or by sending them through the mail

· By sending objects through the mail, that then do not arrive, so sharing the documentation of the act of trading. 2 out of 4 packages sent in this way did not arrive intact.

· Conversations on Skype

· A simple SMS, sometimes so small but at times a vitally inclusive and manageable way in connecting to individuals who were ‘away’ at times due to life pressures.

· Sending a digital memory stick with files on it from Liverpool to Istanbul

· By working directly with a person outside the exchange to develop skills in desktop publishing or film making

· By sharing files using dropbox

· Remote working, when physically meeting up to work on reports, funding applications or publications, was too challenging or not entirely necessary, some POST members benefited from arranging set hours when they would both be working on the tasks and could bat emails back or forth or have brief phone chats to discuss points.

· The contents pages of the newspapers act as a space for us to communicate between ourselves and with an audience- to trade information about our working processes and influences.

· Editing and adapting images using photoshop, then sending them to either the group or an individual to explain an idea or to communicate a practice.

· Sharing of the audio recording of the Open Conversation event on Soundcloud.

· Establishment of more direct and less communal methods of communication (email, twitter) as the project and relationships developed leading to less use of tumblr, physical mailing etc.

Physical trading

· An introduction to TRADING STATION with Atılkunst at Mimar Sinan University

· a ‘High tea event’ at Atılkunst studios initiated by Susan and Amanda, that shared cultural experiences and brokered conversation between the artists involved.

· Meetings the studio of Nancy Atakan in Istanbul

· Meeting at the home of Gülçin Aksoy.

· Claire met with Gülçin in Istanbul, and then re-created the conversation about Gülçin’s practice in a meeting with Susan and Amanda in Liverpool.

· Exhibition preparation meetings with Lisa Who at Curve Gallery

· At the home of Nancy Atakan, Susan, Amanda and Claire held discussions with a group of Turkish, German and Swedish artists.

· Robyn met with an archivist at SALT research library http://www.saltresearch.org where our TRADING STATION publication is held

· Meetings with gallery owners in Istanbul., including follow-up meetings by different POST artists on a number of occasions.

· An open conversation event was held at Curve Gallery, Liverpool.

· TRADING STATION exhibition at Curve Gallery, Liverpool.

· ‘Altered Images’ installation at 5533 Gallery, Istanbul

· Watermark – intervention in Istanbul

· ‘Welcome’ a flash mob by Cecilia Kinnear at the Bluecoat, Liverpool.

Publications

We have found the process of conducting our exchange through a series of newspaper publications a beneficial way of improving our international practice as POST. The use of multiple newspaper publications throughout the project has brought the following benefits:

· Created concentrated points of exchange where the artists involved have shared and conversed, leading to developments in our individual and collaborative practices. Fixed print deadlines within a flexible approach helped to maintain the momentum of the exchange.

· Created a tangible reason to ‘trade’, when separated by being in different countries, which some virtual methods did not create.

· Reduced the ‘stress levels’ associated with a one-hit exhibition. By opening up communication channels and having 4 publication points that both precede and follow an exhibition a more sustainable working method has been devised.

· A newspaper is a distributable medium that can be sent to our international contacts, providing better focused audience for the development and future professional support for the practices of the artists involved. This has been a valuable way of maintaining interest in the project from outside agencies. We have also broadened our distribution since paper 2, when we printed the document in Istanbul. We sent the publication from Istanbul to take advantage of the low cost postage, and used this approach and mailing list to distribute further publications.

1000 copies of each 16 page full colour newspaper were produced. The publication schedule was modified from the original schedule as follows:

#1 How we are going to make it real.
May 2012
Distributed in Liverpool during Liverpool Art Month. Limited distribution in Istanbul.

#2 Paylas/Share
September 2012
Developed during CK residency in Istanbul. Finalised and published during CW residency in Istanbul. Wide distribution in Istanbul, to international European contacts. Wide distribution in Liverpool during Liverpool Biennial

#3 Open Conversation
November 2012
Developed during the residencies of NA & GA in Liverpool with POST and Curve Gallery. Published to be distributed throughout Liverpool during the final 3 weeks of Liverpool Biennial. Postal distribution to Istanbul & to international European contacts.

#4 Outcome. Consequence. Effect.
April 2013
All artists discussed during Sept 2012 that it might be beneficial to leave a period of time between the 3rd & final publications to allow for reflection and for things to happen organically with the exchange and the outcomes of the work. This longer period has meant that the content of the publication is not forced, and it has also been able to better fit with personal and professional commitments of each of the artists.

This publication was timed to coincide with the World Book Fair, which had a Turkey market focus and outreach events in Liverpool, and the INN London Turkey Art Fair.

This publication has had the widest distribution throughout Liverpool, to many contacts in Istanbul and to our contacts across Europe.

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An evaluation of TRADING STATION. Part 2.

Funding

The major cash spending this project spent was as follows:

Funds for travel between partner cities 14% of total project cost

(of which 58% ACE, 17% other funding, 18% artist funded, 7% in kind)

Production costs for new artworks 10% of total project cost

(of which 41% ACE, 25% artist funded, 34% in kind)

Artist fees for time spent on the exchange by the artists 68% of total project cost

(of which 15% ACE, 85% in kind)

A series of 4 research publications documenting the exchange 5% of total project cost

(of which 85% ACE, 15% other funding)

Exhibition Costs 4% of total project cost

(of which 2% ACE, 22% Artist funded, 76% in kind)

We pursued a number of alternative grant funding schemes. These were as follows:

Successful funding secured

· METAL/Liverpool John Moores University/Liverpool Art Month. We received £500 from the above, which supported the printing costs of our first publication.

· UKTI. Claire successfully raised £1000 funding from UKTI to cover her 2 research visits to Istanbul.

· Cecilia Kinnear received a Bursary of Excellence of £500 from John Lewis Partnership to support her work on the exchange.

· METAL/Liverpool Art Month will provide up to £200 to collate a limited edition of the four newspapers for distribution in May 2013.

· Support in kind. We originally estimated that £37,360 would support the project in kind. The final figure was £44,070. 89% of the support in kind is unpaid time by the artists involved with the project. 11% of the support in kind came from external sources.

Unsuccessful funding applications

CDA Projects €10,000

The Elephant Trust £2000

Juliet Gomperts Trust £650

SAHA £8020

Step Beyond – did not apply

Exchange Visits

Being physically present in another place is an essential part of an international artist exchange. Seven artists (five from the UK and two from Istanbul) spent a minimum of 1 week in the partner city during 2012.

Our timescale for exchange visits between Liverpool and Istanbul became more flexible due to the availability of artists in both countries due to other work and family life, cultural holidays (Ramadan), and natural slippage.

Exchange visits happened as follows:

· Claire Weetman completed her first 1 week visit to Istanbul in April 2012

· Cecilia Kinnear was in residence in Istanbul for 2 weeks during July 2012

· Claire Weetman returned to Istanbul for a 2 week residency period in August 2012

· Susan Meyerhoff Sharples & Amanda Oliphant worked in Istanbul for a 1 during September 2012

· Nancy Atakan and Gülçin Aksoy came to Liverpool during September to work with POST and at Curve Gallery.

· Robyn Woolston visited Istanbul for a 2 week period during October 2012

Evaluating TRADING STATION

POST’s plan with TRADING STATION was to make it’s outcomes transparent to help others learn from our experiences, so over the next few weeks I’m going to publish some excerpts from our evaluation that was submitted to the Arts Council last friday. Here’s a quick reminder about what TRADING STATION was all about for the uninitiated:

– An artist-led project initiated by 5 female, Liverpool-based artists.

– Starting in April 2012

– An exchange with artists in Istanbul, which, like Liverpool, has been European Capital of Culture.

– A series of residencies by artists from both cities, to develop individual artistic practices

– A series of newspaper publications that provided space for exchange and ‘trade’ between the artists to occur

– An opportunity to develop a sustainable way of operating an artist-led exchange programme

– It was funded by an Arts Council Grants for the Arts grant (£16.7K), UK Trade and Investment, a number of smaller bursaries & funding pots and a lot of time in kind.

– our aims were

1. To set up both virtual & physical spaces and times for ‘TRADING STATION’

2: Further POST’s work in the field of professional female art practice.

3. Develop Individual Practice & Interdisciplinary methods.

4. Develop the legacy of European Capitals of Culture.

5. Make our processes and outcomes transparent

There’s 13 parts to follow, some of which might be interesting, others are going to be a bit dull, but I hope it proves to be a useful resource for others.

TRADING STATION issue 4 is published!

It’s been the longest gap between publications in the series (Issues 1-3 were published in May, September and November 2012), but we decided in January that we would purposefully leave a longer gap between the residencies and the final publication to allow things to develop and for a better point to reflect from.

This final publication features works produced in the time since the residencies ended and reflections on the whole process as we work towards completing the project evaluation by the end of this month.

You’ll be able to pick up a copy in Istanbul, Australia, Germany, Austria, St Helens, Wirral and of course, in Liverpool (just as soon as I get a box or two there!)

In the meantime, you can read the paper on issuu, and it will also be on our home page soon.

http://issuu.com/claireweetman/docs/tradingstation…

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