Critics, observers, participants…
Wednesday, 17th December 2008
It’s been interesting to note the different forms of interaction people have with the work. Some pass by with a glance and a smile, a lot of motorists and cyclists tend to do a double take - and I’m waiting for a pile-up! Some people are happy to stop and take it all in at the window, and others venture inside for a better look. Visitor numbers have been good. The great thing is that those people who do come in get quite a bit out of the work. Key to this is the fact that I talk to visitors about the work - their initial responses, the background to the project, my practice, their experience and background. It continues that process of conversation, and I think this is a really important lesson: it would be a real shame for the work to become inert in a gallery context, so vitalising the project through further conversation is as much a part of the piece as the photographs and video.
And the visitors - what a multitude! I’ve met a museologist-cum-grocer, many artists, a cell biologist turned potter, a geneticist, gallery owners, students, teachers, families, philosophers and even a very old painter who angrily stomped round the exhibition proclaiming that it wasn’t art. Seriously, he was angry. Cambridge may not be the ideal place for engagement with contemporary arts, but it certainly doesn’t lack interesting people and it’s been a real pleasure talking to them about the work. It’s a really valuable way of interacting with your audience, one that most artists are distanced from.
Workshops
Thursday, 11th December 2008
Last night there were two workshops held at The Shop, based around the themes and practices of the project. We had a couple of short talks from Fraser Stewart and Miriam Austin, both artists and lecturers from Cambridge. Then we had an experimental making session where we let participants play with fruit and veg. The first session saw Japanese, Taiwanese, American and British workshoppers variously describing getting their hair shaved, the processes of the audio-visual cortex, graphic design in Japan vs. the UK and bombing campaigns in the middle east. Opening up the floor to so many diverse topics was a really interesting move and proved that cutting, garotting, pinning and sewing fruit and vegetables can liberate imagination in some really unexpected ways.
The second workshop found various educators and workshop providers from the Cambridge area participating in an informal discussion about the project, about the process of play and about the benefits, processes and challenges of participatory, community-led projects. I had a brief but interesting chat with a representative of Cambridge Curiosity and Imagination who helped me think about the project from a slightly different perspective - we talked about control, autonomy, unconscious creativity and participation. The thing that stuck in my brain was how the task of cutting fruit to explain social or political problems might be a distraction tactic: had I asked participants simply to make nice pictures with fruit, I would perhaps have got images that lacked the carefree, unconscious delicate forms and compositions that I got. This, forgive the pun, gives me food for thought.
The show opens
Monday, 8th December 2008
Finally, after 4 months of planning, the show has opened. All went to plan, more or less, and I’m really happy with how it all looks. The photographs really are stunning and I’m having fun talking to people about them. Come and see!!
The Chutney of Conversation
Wednesday, 3rd December 2008
I’ve spent today marketing the exhibition with the aid of bribes - homemade chutney, created using Cambridge apples, picked as part of the project. I’ve been giving it away to a few key people that I’d like to come to the exhibition. Unfortunately, I only made 11 jars, so I’ll probably never get the chance to taste it properly - it doesn’t ‘ripen’ until February and I’ve only tasted it straight out of the pan. Strong stuff though, so beware if you’re one of the lucky few.