A-N Magazine | Editorial & Letters
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magazine london art fairs professional development schemes for artists psychogames subscriber prize research and development lauren healey talks to gallery glue collaborative relationships kevin carter, OCT 08 civic architects and louise kirkup rural initiatives focus £5.95/ 8.55 SPECIAL ‘A-N’ OFFER 10% ONLINE DISCOUNT BOOK A COURSE BY NOVEMBER 30TH 2008 QUOTE DISCOUNT CODE ‘AN0809’ TERMS AND CONDITIONS APPLY ArtSway Associates Programme ArtSway is pleased to announce the launch of the ArtSway Associates programme offering selected artists training, support and advice over the next three years. Complementing ArtSway’s exhibition residency and commissioning programme, ArtSway Associates aims to provide legacy support for a selection of artists who have previously undertaken residencies at ArtSway. Artists selected for the programme currently include: Anna Best, Boredomresearch, Elpida Hadzi-Vasileva, Anne Hardy, Simon Faithfull, Dinu Li, Hannah Maybank, Charlie Murphy and Emilia Telese. ArtSway Associates is financially supported by the Leverhulme Trust. IS FOR SATISFACTION Audiences and arts professionals can access information about the ArtSway Associates through ArtSway Xtra, S ArtSway’s regular email newsletter (send an email to [email protected]). SHORT COURSES AT CHELSEA COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN Please visit www.artsway.org.uk for more information. INCLUDING INTERIOR DESIGN, CURATING & ART HISTORY, TEXTILES, 3D FOR FULL LISTINGS REQUEST A BROCHURE AT WWW.CHELSEA.ARTS.AC.UK/SHORTCOURSES / PHONE 0207 514 6311 OCTOBER 2008 4 Editorial and Letters 6 Debate 8 Snapshot – run-though of exhibitions and events in October 12 Rural reponses 14 Reviews – An Experiment in Collaboration, The Black Flag Game, The Golden Record – Sounds of Earth, Shezad Dawood: Feature – Image 18 Subscriber prize – Psychogames 19 Research and development – Lauren Healey on Gallery Glue 20 Big picture 22 News 26 Time and space – spotlight on professional development 28 Opportunities 33 Art vacancies 34 Collaborative relationships – Kevin Carter and civic Architects talk to Louise Kirkup 36 Art services 39 New on www.a-n.co.uk ON THE cover Ruth Claxton, Postcard (Portrait of November works from this series Questions and Cabinet Magazine. a Boy), cut postcard, 2008. will be exhibited at Ingleby Gallery In July 2007 she completed the IN THIS Photo: Stuart Whipps in Edinburgh. ‘Lands End’ tours SW Arts production residency at ISSUE to Oriel Davies in Newtown Spike Island. Living and working Ruth Claxton works with a variety 11 October – 29 November and in Birmingham, she is a member of media, reconfiguring and altering then to Spike Island in Bristol and of Eastside Projects – a new Research and development pre-existing objects in order to Grundy Gallery in Blackpool in artist-led space for Birmingham Lauren Healey talks to Gallery Glue create objects and installations 2009. The show is accompanied by that opened in September (see about their NAN development plan. which question what it is to look, a full colour catalogue with essay www.eastsideprojects.org). She is see or experience. Postcard (Portrait by Sally O’Reilly and an interview represented by Arquebuse, Time and space of a Boy) is one of a series of works by Marie-Anne McQuay. Geneva, who will be showing her made using commercially produced work at Zoo Art Fair and Miami Professional development schemes postcards from the gift shop at the Recently exhibitions include shows Nada this year. for artists and creative practitioners. Barber Institute in Birmingham. at The Collective Gallery in www.ruthclaxton.com The exhibition ‘Interventions’ at the Edinburgh; FA Projects, 176, Art Peer plaques Barber earlier this year Futures and The Drawing Room Artist-architect team Kevin accompanied ‘Lands End’, a major in London; CAC in Vilnius; and Carter and civic Artchitects talk to solo show at IKON, also in Arquebuse in Geneva, as well as planner Louise Kirkup in the latest Birmingham. From 4 October –19 commissions for Strategic collaborative relationships feature. 4 OCTOBER 2008 | A-N MAGAZINE | EDITORIAL & LETTERS Developing a productive strategy for your artistic practice is a perennial issue faced by the vast majority of practitioners, particularly in the early years of an artistic career. In Lauren Healey’s report, the founders of Gallery Glue talk with her about their strategies to avoid the “bumbling along” they were keen to avoid following graduation. Their account of Glue’s eighteen-month project is testament to the value of NAN’s Go and See bursary awards, which the group used to set up advisory meetings with Paulette Terry Brien of International 3. This peer support that has been fundamental to NAN’s aims is now becoming generally accepted as an effective means of delivering support to artists. The Time and space feature in this issue also profiles various other initiatives around the UK offering information and support (many on a peer-to-peer basis) for artists who are keen to minimise any bumblings, false starts or pitfalls in their career. Since 2003 the month of October has witnessed a growth of annual art fairs in London, building on the reputation of the first international Frieze Art Fair five years ago. The central tenet of these fairs is commerce, so in the current gloomy economic climate all eyes will be using the fairs to forecast any downturn (or otherwise) in the art markets. The positioning of a-n at Frieze Art Fair is echoed elsewhere by an increasing presence of artist-run initiatives at Zoo Art Fair and other events. If you are planning to attend Frieze, be sure to visit the a-n stand to meet us. This month a-n is also very pleased to welcome Hugh Dichmont as Reviews Editor, who will be in post during Editor Gillian Nicol’s maternity leave. Over the past two years, Nottingham-based artist and writer Hugh has contributed to a-n Magazine as an occasional reviewer, as well as writing on a freelance basis for other arts journals. Chris Brown a-n Magazine Coordinator. the paper chase. As a warm up designer bars, the artists will be 1 Rachel Gomme, Durational Knitting Sprint, LETTERS activity, try the consultation shoved out to make way for the at Grunts for the Arts Sports Day, Got a burning issue to raise exercise. designers (loft apartments) and the Hackney Marshes, 26 May 2008. with artists and arts • Artists are of course extremely public – the consumers of culture – adept at the long shot, swimming well there is always Athena and Ikea professionals? Send up to for your decorative panels. 800 words to [email protected] against the stream and the uphill struggle, and we are all experts Paul Matosic is an artist and activist based in at tick boxing. the East Midlands www.matosic.org.uk Working up a cultural All these sports should be practised This letter has been edited for space reasons. sweat for 2012 on a daily basis to ensure that the athlete is always in peak condition. I was heartened to see that Grunts for the Arts, an artist organisation in The government claims that the London, organises training days to Olympics will increase the get artists in a more sportsman-like participation in sporting activity, frame of mind. However, artists are whilst they are rapidly building on also quite well trained at numerous any available sports field both in the sport-like activities, although some East London and elsewhere. They of these have yet to be registered also claim that once the land used as Olympic events. Here are a few for the Olympics is sold on, the of them: profits will be returned to the National Lottery. Pigs and flying • Hoop jumping, a very competitive spring to mind. activity essential for securing funding. And what of visual culture? • Associated events such as hurdle Everything that has been built up jumping and obstacle courses for the past ten-plus years will be also spring to mind. poured out with the bath water. The • There is of course the form flagship galleries – some will filling relay that involves survive along with the flagship passing completed forms artists. But what of the rest? The backwards and forwards to Arts majority I’m afraid will flounder on Council England until a result is the rocky shores of Capitalism. The achieved, sometimes known as small galleries will be turned into 1 LETTERS | A-N MAGAZINE | OCTOBER 2008 5 Quality art criticism The quality of ‘art criticism’ and art No peer process It also seems remarkable that an history writing have become so organisation like Arts Council Concerning the article by Lara As someone who has tangled/ appallingly weak that we have England is still making decisions Farrer in a-n Magazine August issue tangoed with Arts Council England revisionist art criticism, where about funding without any real and the September response by on a number of occasions over a authors have to be permitted to process of peer review and a much Rachel Clapham quote, “Everybody number of years I was interested to change their minds! Have it all ways larger presence of practising artists has an opinion. It is just that in the read Debate, a-n Magazine in fact. As if their over-weaning both within their staff and on their past certain people’s opinion September issue, about Genista ambitions were not sufficient. If board. How about an advisory mattered more than |others, and McIntosh’s proposals for a more someone has spent their entire life group of artists as a first step? that is an ideology accountable, transparent and user directly engaged with art as Brian I know we live in an arts I would question.” friendly system. Sewell or TJ Clark have done, they management culture but the This is mere solipsistic, loose, have developed a first-hand Heart Performance CIC have just bottom line surely is that anti-educational thinking that the empirical sensibility that can in no had an application turned down by assessment and judgements about internet continually farms.