What art have I seen?
Of Natural and Mystical Things, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
What art have I seen?.
The Individual and the Organisation: Artist Placement Group 1966-1979 at Raven Row, London.
Review of The Time Is Now: Public Art of the Sustainable City
There is no question that energy generation impacts on landscape, both urban and rural. It always has. The current re-engineering of systems towards renewable energy is, on one level, not different. Wind turbines are just one example around which there is a very polarised debate. As a result there has been considerable work done in Scotland on the visual as well as environmental impact. Sophisticated modelling of proposed installations in landscape contexts has become a normal part of public consultation processes. There is now for instance a mobile virtual landscape theatre, developed by The James Hutton Institute. Behind the issues of visual and environmental impact there is a significant public policy commitment in Scotland. This public policy commitment drives funding and decision-making to deliver on the targets. It is intended to shape or focus the…
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Artists’ fees: “The cost of labour must be paid for.” | News | a-n
Reposting the report Artists’ fees: “The cost of labour must be paid for” carried on a-n about the W.A.G.E. event in Glasgow earlier this week.
It’s a pretty good summary of the presentations, and once again highlights the real challenges of working in the visual arts. The Scottish Artists Union campaigns for better conditions and has guidance on Rates of Pay for workshops and residencies.
Corin Sworn highlighted the situation in Canada where CARFAC has secured legislation for exhibition fees – based on what was presented (which might be out of date) these would probably work out as about £750 for an exhibition is a public gallery with a turnover of less than £300,000 per year, and perhaps £1,400 for a larger institution. It’s adjusted for group shows, etc.
The principle is regardless of any budget for production, travel, per diem, installation, publication, the institution pays the artist in effect a copyright royalty payment for the right to use their work for the show. This applies to institutions, not (legally anyway) to self organised events. It’s not intended to hinder grassroots activity, although it does establish a principle to aspire to.
That principle seems like a sensible one on which to determine exhibition fees, i.e. not on how long did it take, was it new work or existing work, did the work take manual work to produce, etc. Simply the institution is gaining (financially as well as in terms of profile) from being able to present the artists’ work, it is literally using that work, therefore it should make a payment for the use of the work.
Interestingly Lise Soskolne had done an analysis in relation to one organisation in NY where the exhibition fees were costing the organisation 1% of turnover and adopting the CARFAC model raised that to 3%. Not a big difference for a respectful and appropriate recognition of the use of artists’ work by institutions.
Thanks to Corin and Charlotte for making this happen.
Northern Perspectives Arctic Art Education and Arts Based Research methods
Professors Timo Jokela & Glen Coutts, University of Lapland will be speaking at Northern Perspectives: Arctic Art Education and Arts-based Research Methods at this UWS seminar 2-4pm Saturday 22nd September at the Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow. Alison Bell and I are respondents
Sensory Maps by Kate McLean
Sensory Mapping of Cities – a smell map of Glasgow is a must.
Glasgow’s smells are of movement, of reinvention, of rebuilding, of regeneration. A city of renewal. Researched with contributions from author Michael Meighan (author of “Glasgow Smells” and “Glasgow Smells Better”) as well as commuters, residents, workers, tourists, the Glasgow City council. To be displayed and sniffed at the Glasgow Science Centre from September 2012.
It’s worth exploring the website – City of the Eternal Itinerant, Sensory Map of the Barras, Glasgow and the smelliest block in NYC this summer.
First people (not cars)
Yesterday evening at the annual Patrick Geddes Commemorative Lecture the audience was charmed into seeing the world a different way and recognising our own failures in the process. The lecture was given by Jan Gehl, an internationally acknowledged champion of urban quality focused on and driven by people and their well-being (rather than cars or egos).
In fact his critique of architects represented them as people who looked at the world from 3 kilometres up and dropped buildings into skylines. His counter was that the skyline was not as important as the way that the building meets the ground. In the analysis he offered us of Edinburgh, the topography and skyline are excellent, but the point where you move the human eye level you see the disaster.
His critique of traffic engineers was equally damning. In his analysis the past 50 years have been dominated by the motor car at the expense of everyone and everything else. In 2012 we need to make prioritising the car in public as unacceptable as smoking – that’s the level of challenge in effect Gehl was suggesting.
So much is true and in so many ways self evident, but the full ramifications of the analysis are wider and more comprehensive than you might think. For instance, having a Department of Walking, Cycling and Transport? Having the driver press the button at the junction to get permission to cross, rather than the pedestrian? Having newspaper articles about bicycle congestion and demands for wider bicycle lanes?
What was a shame was that there were only a couple of artists in the room (lots of architects and obviously a majority of urban planners), but I didn’t see people who really ought to have been there – no-one from the VeloCity programme for Glasgow, no-one from Ayr Renaissance, and I didn’t recognise anyone from the health sector.
There was a really interesting question at the end. The individual noted that Gehl had not used the word design once in his presentation. The questioner contrasted this with the Scottish Government’s consultation on a new Policy on Architecture and Place-making. Gehl basically said that he did two things. He (and his practice) worked on “programmes and Strategies” and these set the tasks for the designers. He (particularly in his academic life) worked on the in depth understanding of people and their experiences in public spaces. These two obviously complement each other, but in essence he is ‘bracketing’ the designers – by evaluating (and that was his word) what works and what doesn’t, and then inscribing it into Programmes and Strategies, he is driving the design agenda.
For me this demonstrated an important articulation of the value of operating between the academic and the practice, as well as everything else he said. It all seems so obvious when Gehl says it, but then you look around.
Maybe his books should be mandatory reading not only on urban planning programmes?
What art have I seen?
Inspired Editions: Prints and Multiples at the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum. Very good answer to the question “What does Robert Burns mean to you?” when asked to Scottish artists living and working now.
The National Trust for Scotland’s press release:
Earlier this year, conservation charity The National trust for Scotland launched a programme of contemporary exhibitions for the first time. Inspired Editions: Prints and Multiples brings together 14 of the very best artists today and will run between 7 September and 24 December 2012.
All of the sculptures and prints on show are ‘editions’ – that means there are a small number of versions available for purchase – a move which makes them much more affordable to the general public.
The artists taking part in Inspired Editions are:
· ROB AND NICK CARTER (The Red Rose)
· CALUM COLVIN (Burns Country)
· GRAHAM FAGEN (Red Rose)
· EUAN HENG (Volunteer)
· KENNY HUNTER (Monument to a Mouse)
· WHYN LEWIS (Survivor)
· DAVID MACH (Robbie Burns)
· JO McDONALD (The Songs you used to Play II)
· HARLAND MILLER (Sweet Afton)
· ROBERT POWELL (A Tripartite Diptych: The Ploughman Poet flanked by Ossian/Macpherson and Topaz McGonagall)
· JEPHSON ROBB (Love & Kisses)
· CATHERINE SARGEANT (Tirl)
· FIONA WATSON (My Heart’s in the Highlands a-chasing the Deer)
Affordability, without compromising on quality, was an important consideration for this new exhibition, which was curated by Sheilagh Tennant.
Commenting on the exhibition, Sheilagh said:
“There are over a dozen artists involved and it’s fascinating to see the variety of different interpretations of Burns’ work.”
The roots of the new exhibition were in Inspired 2009, an exhibition of original work inspired by the life and times of Robert Burns. This exhibition was part of the 2009 Homecoming Scotland programme of events and was also curated by Tennant.
Sheilagh adds:
“Inspired 2009 was a labour of love really – I had been aware for a long time that there had never been a major exhibition of contemporary art inspired by the work of Burns and the Homecoming celebrations provided a perfect vehicle.
“However, during the run of the exhibition, I became aware that, while many would have liked to, most people were disappointed that they could not afford to buy the work on show in Inspired 2009. When I was invited to manage the new contemporary exhibition programme at the RBBM, this provided the opportunity to exhibit a series of editioned work inspired by Burns’ life and works.”
Inspired Editions runs daily at the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum in Alloway. Entry to the exhibition is free and a proportion of all sales from the museum will go to support the property.
The museum is a cultural hub for Ayrshire and beyond, attracting the best from the world of art, music and literature and presenting their works with irreverence and fun.
Along with the Auld Kirk and Brig o’ Doon, the cottage where Burns was born has been combined with the Burns Monument and the new award-winning museum building to form the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum. Generously supported by the Scottish Government and the Heritage Lottery Fund, the museum commemorates the life and works of Robert Burns.
Since opening to the public in December 2010, the museum has welcomed more than half a million visitors and has won a series of accolades including being selected as a finalist for the prestigious Art Fund prize, securing a five star rating from VisitScotland and being named as Horace Broon’s ‘new favourite place in Scotland’.
CHRIS FREMANTLE 
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