We had the first Test Bed seminar last night. Harry Palmer went first, by not going. That is, Harry presented his seminar though a third party,namely, technology. He played a recorded interview between himself and Mike Johnstone, focussing on his practice, the early years and how he comes up with his ideas. Alongside this he presented lovely old-fashioned slides and new-fangled video projections of work he's made, or is making. It was very Harry and very enjoyable, with many random accidents, wonky slides and much digression during the interview.
Harry was followed by Nelson Douglas who talked about how he makes his work and the constant battle he has,navigating the labyrinth of being identified as a black artist. There was a lot of resonance with Friction and the problems involved in making art with commissioners who are often more interested in what boxes your work ticks, rather than the quality of the art. This will happen more and more over the years to come. The argument has pretty much been won now, as to whether there are cultural and social benefits from participatory arts, artists have demonstrated their ability to reach people that public sector agencies can not. We must be careful how we position ourselves in this case, so we don't become the acceptable face of public sector and retain our neutrality. This neutrality is a vital aspect of working in the world. Friction are always aware of their status in this case and it can be a very delicate balancing act to meet the needs of agencies that pay for our work, whilst retaining our integrity with the people we really work for - the public.
The Great Blondini would be proud...
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Test Bed Talk
by Leegriffiths
@ 2007-03-02 - 21:07:53
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