Dear Ruth,
Thank you for the info on the artschool/uk project. I wasn¹t aware of it
before I was invited to join this discussion, and I was very interested in
learning more about this.
It seems that the project invited artists to invest a considerable amount of
time, so I was wondering what the feedback is. Did they find the Œschool¹
component of it useful, and if so how?
Many thanks
Maria X
On 14/05/2010 00:00, "JISCMAIL LISTSERV Server (16.0)"
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> From: Ruth Höflich <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Thu, 13 May 2010 13:15:19 +0100
> Subject: artschool/uk
>
> Dear All,
>
> Verina invited me to be part of this discussion to talk about my recent
> participation in artschool/uk - a project conceived by John Reardon, Sabine
> Hagman and Johannes Maier that took place at Cell Project Space in London
> during April this year.
>
> To introduce the project: artschool/uk selected a group of 20 practicing
> artists to take part in a daily three-week long learning and peer debate forum
> with an implicit view that such a group dynamic may lead to the conception and
> delivery of a collaborative artwork.
> The project is structured in two distinct stages. So far we have completed the
> first, "school" component. The second will take place in autumn and be a
> reflection on the outcome and ideas raised this spring and take the form of a
> public event.
>
> In terms of the learning/teaching experience artschool/uk provided a highly
> condensed and intimate version of what may be expected of a good artschool
> albeit in a self-organised form. There was an interesting line-up of visiting
> lecturers, presentations, workshops and tutorials, including some less
> orthodox formats for dialogue such as in situ artist visits (exhibition set
> ups) and a field trip (london orbital coach tour with Hans Ulrich Obrist and
> Richard Wentworth).
> All of this was stimulating and valuable and no doubt the intensity it
> provided had much going for it not least the commitment and effort amongst the
> group and the room for moment to moment engagement - a momentum hard to
> sustain outside such temporal structures.
>
> Overall my impression was that participants and contributors alike (in some
> cases roles could also have been exchanged which in itself is quite an
> interesting dynamic) were chosen because of the diversity they offered to the
> project, arguably making the school's theme self-referential, experimenting
> with or discussing its form and framework. Within a temporary context the
> variety and openness was exciting and energetic and it was useful for artists
> to step outside of their established identities and engage in a pool of
> opinions and approaches (especially since most had been outside formal
> education for a some time). Inevitably it raised some questions within the
> group as to the role of our participation and contribution as artists. This
> was also due to the fact that the school was set in a gallery around a
> commissioned seating piece/structure and that the project was itself heavily
> documented throughout (not dissimilar to material for a research exhibition,
> artschool also commissioned an artist to make a film from the collected
> footage adding yet more layers to the possible outcome of the project).
>
> Personally my feeling is that the organisers were looking at the project in
> terms of the unfolding potential within a social peer environment 'seeking'
> rather than presenting us with a set idea of what artschool can be. It is of
> course a vulnerable position to take as inevitably a school project comes up
> against a lot of expectations and assumptions both art historically and in
> terms of personal aspirations but I feel the endeavour from the point of view
> of the organisers was a genuine exploration of the potential of
> self-organisation within the context of setting up a school. It allowed us to
> enquire beyond institutional, over-analysed frameworks and established ways of
> thinking - asking us to suspend the emphasis on outcome and engage afresh in
> process.
>
> I look forward to hearing your thoughts,
> with best wishes
> Ruth Höflich
>
>
>
>
> Ruth Höflich
> T +44 (0)7944 107839
> 5 Milton House Mansions
> Shacklewell Lane
> London E8 2EH
>
> www.ruthhoeflich.net
> www.guest-room.net
> www.lawsonpark.org/library/
> www.8fold.org
--
Lecturer in Theatre and Performance - School of Arts and New Media -
University of Hull @ Scarborough
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