This is a bullet point list of what we covered and chatted about.
Claire - Introduced talking about a few examples of other artist lead organisations/groups
Canal Presents Artist film screenings talks – event based.
Rational Rec – films screening, events.
Self Service – Birmingham. Bringing artists together, group crits. They began Pub conversations; each artist in the group invites someone of influence who in turn invites someone. Has a website - each talk pod cast on Internet. Also has artist’s links. Started with someone acting as chair but not dictating.
Sheffield contemporary arts forum, artist awareness – e-lists
Leeds – started as critical debates leading to be an organisation
Giuseppe - Where we would like to go…
Place for discussion and debate. Similar to an institution, networks. Collective, bounce of each other
Meet up regularly face-to-face, instead of an Internet based group. Lots of information already on Internet.
Use each others skills, Giuseppe works in Artwords bookshop - etc
No exchange of money. Each bring a bit of food.
Needs the group to decide where we’d like to go with it, don’t want to dictate.
Studio visits, talks, film screenings and events?
Funding – AN networking artists network, awareness of other networks. To pay for talks etc.
Stand Assembly – Nottingham Spent NAN bursary on peoples travel to studios for visits.
Previous group experience…
Takes time to organise we shouldn’t have to put a lot of effort in as we all have other things on. Need a few more sessions to work out what people actually want from meeting and getting to know each other.
Having something that is separate to the commercial world. Develop links with artist and curators and writers away from galleries. Would be a place to form these links.
Past bad experience with group crits at Arts Admin. No structure, turned into a counselling session, good to have some kind of structure.
What it could be…
Meeting for specific things – 15mins to talk about work. Topics for sessions?
Encouraging people meeting up separately rather than whole group. Separate studio visits.
Not talking about individual work but topics around it – for example moving to Berlin and feasibility.
Not confusing what the time is for, addressing issues.
Discussions that are relevant to others?
Discussions about practical things like funding bursaries, framing, and proposals.
Rough structure, people would be interested in that, talking about there work, presentations. Opportunities to work together.
Two people a week to discuss their work.
Not the same people should organise, as it would be too much of a commitment.
Find the common things within the group.
Hosting evenings. Doesn’t have to be finished work.
Once a month. Group emailing to schedule the next meeting.
Devout a part of the session to presentation, then chat. Relax listen and have a chat afterwards.
What each person that attended does…
Claire
Works 4 days a week, my own work the rest of the time. Video and audio works. In a book not long ago which I did a screenplay for from a video I had made.
Fox
Also works four days, soon hopefully going down to 2. Works on his own work and collaborates, makes videos and performance. Just graduated from goldsmiths MA. Doing collaboration with a curator and a critic to set up an online magazine.
Greg
Sculpture, thinking about going onto furniture making. Working freelance set building.
Tess
Does photography and incorporates sculpture into it. Works 3-4 days a week. Just got a new studio in Walthamstow. Recently got a commission to do some new work.
Giuseppe
Works 4 days a week – bookshop and publishers. Makes performative work, which uses film and photography. Super 8, Polaroids and slides. Site specific.
Mary
Works 5 days a week. Lives in a live/work with studio. Has been making live performance for a couple of years, heading more towards sculpture involving drawing video performance. Got a solo show coming up which is exciting, then a performance in Berlin after that.
Then we ate…Pasta and cakes
Does anyone want to show his or her work next time or present something?
Were their any other people going to come?
Should have been about 15.
I think we should hold off on doing anything until others that want to be involved come along.
No think we should go for it and people should just join
Like to address to more people, meet and get to know more people
Lets not move to fast with this!
Good to be comfortable and get to know people in the group
Not having much money, not having a lot of free time… it’s easy just to meet people that you know.
Spare time ends up being making work time.
Nepotism
Finds it hard to get in there, sick of trying to talk to people I don’t know
Networking is bullshit!
Yeah, What the fuck are we doing?!
AN “Just go to an opening and start talking to someone, why don’t you say, what work do you make?”
Wear a T-Shirt saying let’s network!
I used to love that shit and now I turn up to an opening and you see all these people and you think maybe I actually don’t want to talk to anyone.
Everyone in there groups, that’s why it would be nice to get out of that environment. Its by word of mouth that this will get other people involved and grow
What is interesting is knowing a group of artists that are friends and they live in the same city, London or somewhere else and you find out they met on a residency in New York, or the Lake district or somewhere like that. They don’t even know each other from living down the road from each other. They just know each other from that time they have spent together, and that how you bond with people.
That’s why I’m living with my flat mate
Why don’t we all go away together then?!
Just go individually and bring 5 people back
Back to structure…
Think if we have some kind of structure for next time that will bring people in.
Need something to offer, meet up on this date and 1 or 2 people are going to talk about a specific topic. So we can work around that afterwards, so people don’t feel they are wasting their time.
But people will only turn up to what they think they can get something out of.
I just quite like the idea of just meeting up and getting the chance to talk to people.
Bullet point - tell other people that couldn’t make it what we’ve gone through and that might attract people, and people may then add to it. 1st meeting maybe a bit scary to some people.
It will take a long time to make an agenda on everyone’s wants. Does anyone want to actually do anything or do we just meet up and talk? Is it a crit thing or people presenting information about things they like or absolutely anything? Things that can be accumitivley worked on through out meetings.
The bigger the group the harder for everyone to have a say and restrictions on what can happen – meeting up once a month and 1 person showing there work, we’d be here for ever!!
What people would like to do next time…
I like the idea of seeing someone’s work or someone talking about a topic.
2 people hosting the evening.
I’d like to do a cross pollination of ideas, figuring out new links between things, someone bring in something to do with snakes – someone else something about sculpture. Like research.
Explore something and bring it in.
An object – show and tell - Like a social crutch.
Two people bringing something.
Time frame – so it doesn’t carry on too much.
I’m going to bring a lap dancer and see what you all say about that!!
I’m interested by experimental Jazz – but I don’t know much about it.
Not like an institution, fun, not dry and stiff. Not necessarily based on theory.
Keeping deadlines.
Happy to meet again and see if anyone else has anything to bring up, otherwise we are setting up structures. Would be good to hear what others opinions are.
No one has anything pressing to say right now or next time
Good to just have a group of people to bounce off as you don’t often get the chance to with a group of people
Serious dedicated time to talk about art, which doesn’t often happen in studios, just passing comments
Good space to carry it out, private and own toilet. Early week bookings, free. Can bring our own food. Fits at least 15 people in.
Mondays / Tuesdays – Tuesdays preferred