Publishing as curatorial practice

Independent Research based on the lecture:

This week, after reading the book GIVE BIRTH TO ME TOMORROW, I learned that it is an extension of the Scottish LUX Artist Moving Image Festival, GIVE BIRTH TO ME TOMORROW. It is a reintroduction as well as a program guide and a letter. At the same time I have a great interest in the fact that GIVE BIRTH TO ME TOMORROW departs from the methodology of detachment that stubbornly extends a weekend festival into a full year(O’Brien, 2021). I wanted to explore whether the model of an arts festival intentionally going beyond the traditional weekend format and extending the event into a year is sustainable. Or does longevity diminish the impact of the festival, or does it lead to deeper engagement with the arts?

Research has shown that the relationship between people’s appreciation and the amount of time spent viewing artworks and labels is slightly stronger in a laboratory than in a museum. Thus, appreciation based on preferences and interests seems to be a stronger predictor of how long people spend viewing in the lab than appreciation in the museum, and also how long the viewing time is related to the art experience. (Brieber, 2014). It is also positive that the topic of audience engagement is gaining traction, with arts organizations now welcoming more diverse and representative audiences, and different organizations recognizing the facilitating role of place and space to actively create discursive social spaces. (Walmsley and Ben, 2019).

However, despite these positive aspects, lengthening festival timelines can lead to audience fatigue and reduced anticipation and excitement for a single event. Asking audience members too many questions too often tends to exhaust their attention span, in addition, reducing the number of events and interactions is considered to be a favorable behavior to enhance audience engagement (Tully, 2020).

About the collective project and individual project:

While “GIVE BIRTH TO ME TOMORROW” opens up new avenues for artistic presentation and engagement, it also prompts a re-examination of how festivals are organized and their goals. In order to maintain the vitality and impact of the festival, it may be necessary to find a balance between innovation and maintaining audience interest. In addition, our group’s collective project is also planned to be carried out in the form of art festival, which is divided into three major themes, so it is crucial to consider the audience’s interest points and reactions in the collective project.

References：

Brieber, D. et al. (2014) Art in time and space: Context modulates the relation between art experience and viewing time. PloS one. [Online] 9 (6), e99019–e99019.

Available at: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0099019

Tully, B. (2020). “How to avoid, and recover from, audience fatigue”. Available at:

https://brooketully.com/audience-fatigue/ Accessed 27 February 2024.

Walmsley, Ben. (2019) Audience Engagement in the Performing Arts A Critical Analysis / by Ben Walmsley. 1st ed. 2019. [Online]. Cham: Springer International Publishing.

Available at:https://link-springer-com.eux.idm.oclc.org/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-26653-0_9

Six-part curatorial commitment

1. What specific issues would guide you? 

My curatorial practice emphasizes inclusion and diversity and deeply connects with the core values of community. It explores issues related to community engagement and social justice (Lawton & Harris, 2019) and aims to raise public awareness about abandoned Spaces. My original intention is not only to create art exhibitions, but also to build a platform for education and social engagement to promote public understanding and participation in abandoned Spaces and social practice art (Sanders-Bustle, 2020).

2. Why are these issues so pressing? 

The exploration of abandoned Spaces is extremely important, as numerous studies have shown that the importance, significance and utility of urban wild landscapes are far greater than commonly recognized (Jorgensen, 2012). In the case of the project “Never Can Say Goodbye,” artists take over an abandoned Tower Records store to both celebrate the history of the Tarr record label and explore its demise through the interaction between visual art and music.

3. How would you actively encourage change? 

I hope I can actively encourage change by organizing diverse artist groups and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration. This includes the use of new media and technology to broaden the audience and participation of the arts. Such as Arts Without Borders (AWB), they promote artistic practice among artists and the wider community, in particular encouraging creative activities that bring together different members of the cultural and creative community.

4. Who would you collaborate with to facilitate this change?  

Yves Marchand & Romain Meffre’s ‘Gunkanjima’ series: photographs exploring abandoned islands that echo Edinburgh’s maritime history.
Robert Polidori’s photography of urban ruins: shows the transformation of historic buildings and abandoned Spaces, prompting reflections on urban development and memory.
Doris Salcedo’s installation: Telling stories of forgetting and loss through everyday objects, forming a dialogue with community engagement projects.

There are also local artists in Edin exploring abandoned Spaces.

5. How would you ensure that these changes had longevity? 

While longevity can be difficult to guarantee, we can conduct regular assessments to ensure projects are aligned with community needs and expectations, and adjust strategies as appropriate.

6. What would be your guiding principle?  

Caring is the antidote to violence.(Gary and Ja’tovia, 2020).This means that by focusing on and engaging with abandoned Spaces, we not only re-examine their role in urban life, but also provide a platform to promote community engagement and social justice through artistic intervention, education and social practice.

In the group discussion this Wednesday, I took notes, clarified the requirements of BLOG, and explored the name of the collective project within the group.

References:

Arts Without Borders. (n.d.). About. Available at: https://www.artswithoutborders.co.uk/about [Accessed 12 Feb 2024].

Gary, J. (2020) PROJECT JA’TOVIA GARY: Care is the ANTIDOTE TO VIOLENCE. Vol. 58. Artforum International Magazine, Inc.

Jorgensen, Anna. & Keenan, Richard. (2012) Urban wildscapes / edited by Anna Jorgensen and Richard Keenan. London ; Routledge.pp 170-236.

Lawton, P. H. (2019) At the Crossroads of Intersecting Ideologies: Community-Based Art Education, Community Engagement, and Social Practice Art. Studies in art education. [Online] 60 (3), 203–218.

Sanders-Bustle, L. (2020) Review of Art as Social Action: An introduction to the principles and practices of teaching social practice art. Art/Research International. [Online] 5 (1), 223–232.

Artist-led culture/Artist-Curator

This week I have learned about the unique strengths and limitations of ARI through my study of ARI, which has reinforced the fact that ARI and large organizations interact with each other.ARIs is developed and managed by unpaid artists, not professional managers. Artists are responsible for all aspects of the organization. In contrast, large art institutions are characterized by strong hierarchical relationships, with responsibilities divided through chains of authorization(Brown et al., 2018).

Independent Research based on lecture:

Arts development now focuses on how ARI and existing organizations can and do negotiate with each other, as well as recognizing the interpenetration between arts organizations of different sizes (Jackson and D. 2014). Such interactions can help facilitate collaboration, knowledge exchange, and resource sharing between arts organizations of different sizes and natures. This is because even though the presence of ARI artists can be a good judge of the cultural vitality of a community, for small and medium-sized cities, artists are highly mobile, and large cities with good facilities and ample space tend to be more attractive to artists (Keeley and M. A. 2008). For larger organizations, this can be remedied. This is because ARI lacks the resources and visibility that major public art organizations usually have (Blessi, et al, 2011).

Meanwhile, after my research, I found that a fusion of ARIs and major organizations is in the form of the Lacey Prize established in Canada, which was set up by Dr. John Lacey in conjunction with the National Gallery of Canada and supported by the National Gallery of Canada Foundation to honor artist-run centers and other small arts organizations (Anon, 2019). There is also the Ideas City program at the New Museum in New York which works with artist-led organizations to explore urban development and creative practice. This project encourages ARI participation and provides a platform for experimental and socially oriented art to be presented and in dialogue.

https://www.newmuseum.org/pages/view/ideascity

I believe that these forms of collaboration allow arts organizations of different sizes and natures to complement each other, grow together, and contribute to the diversity and inclusiveness of the arts ecology.

Individual Curatorial Project and collective project:

Lastly, During this Wednesday’s panel discussion, we established the curatorial mission statement that belongs to our group:

As curators, we will be responsive, experimental, innovative, open, inclusive and flexible in our approach. We will see ourselves as mediators.We will always aim to engage new audiences and underrepresented communities and cultures, with a focus on inclusion. Our goal is to engage with audiences both locally and globally.We intend to pay special attention to multimedia art works that exist both inside and outside the gallery space.Our forms of communication will include online and physical Spaces, as well as various blends of text and non-text outputs.

References:

Anon (2019) The Lacey Prize for Artist-Run Centres in Canada. Ottawa: PR Newswire Association LLC.

Blessi, G. T. et al. (2011) Independent artist-run centres: an empirical analysis of the Montreal non-profit visual arts field. Cultural trends. [Online] 20 (2), 141–166.

Brown, D. et al. (2018) Artists Running: Fifty Years of Scottish Cultural Devolution. Visual culture in Britain. [Online] 19 (2), 139–167.

Jackson, D. (2014) Shifting focus of the traditional centres of contemporary art : Scotland’s evolving position from periphery to prominence. The University of Edinburgh.

Keeley, M. A. (2008) The Benefits And Limitations Of Artist-Run Organizations In Columbus, Ohio. The Ohio State University / OhioLINK.

References：

CCA Glasgow. (2024). What We Do.Available at:https://www.cca-glasgow.com/about/what-we-do (Accessed at March 10, 2024)

Leonardi, F. (2021) Curating the context: re-enacting and reconstructing exhibitions as ways of studying the past. Museum management and curatorship (1990). [Online] 36 (2), 172–188.

Robinson, H. (2020) Curating good participants? Audiences, democracy and authority in the contemporary museum. Museum management and curatorship (1990). [Online] 35 (5), 470–487.

Smith, T. (Terry E. ) (2012) Thinking contemporary curating / Terry Smith. New York: Independent Curators International.

Smith, T. (2017) Mapping the Contexts of Contemporary Curating: The Visual Arts Exhibitionary Complex. Journal of curatorial studies. [Online] 6 (2), 170–180.