28.12.20 Curiosity, creativity, conversation and community
Just before the first Covid 19 lockdown in March 2020 I was invited to set up a couple of 'provocations' in the positive, creativity-inducing, Early Years sense at a conference for trainee Church of England clergy. I gave this presentation, Curiosity, creativity, conversation and community, and invited participants to wear my Living sculptures as part of it. I also set up a Safety net installation in a separate room.
Curiosity is definitely a major factor in these participatory installations. Many people wouldn't be interested in taking part, but plenty of people are. I wonder if it's linked to learning styles? Some people learn most effectively by doing things, by being given the opportunity to take some action. It's called kinaesthetic or tactile learning.
'A kinesthetic-tactile learning style requires that you manipulate or touch material to learn. Kinesthetic-tactile techniques are used in combination with visual and/or auditory study techniques, producing multi-sensory learning.' (Houghton College, 2020)
So far my works have just incorporated sight and touch, but it would be thrilling to add other senses. See SENSORIAL for more on the senses in my work.
Involving the senses here brings some creativity. My participatory installations so far have all involved a written invitation which provides a focus for the piece. I then would normally provide a selection of materials for the participant to choose from. These usually involve bright colours eg coloured labels, strips of cloth, fruit nets etc. They are invited to add their thoughts to the installation on a label together with an object (Strip of cloth, fruit net etc). For The Wishing trees, sadly I couldn't leave any materials for people to add because of contamination anxiety so instead I invited them to bring something to add next time they passed. This, in fact, led to a much richer and more diverse selection of tokens and messages; it also meant that the aesthetics of the installations were outside my control. Situating them in 4 very public spaces was also part of the change in control as I obviously wasn't able to be present all the time. I was able to visit, and tend, one or 2 trees a day on my daily walks due to restrictions.
Colour is important. I set up a Feedback cell as part of the B-Wing exhibition at Shepton Mallet prison in October 2019. I invited visitors to the exhibition and the prison to leave some feedback. For this installation, I decided to make the palette much more muted because of the setting; the prison and site responsive art works were definitely uncomfortable to experience. I set up a black net in one of the cells and provided cloth and other textiles in flesh colours , together with beige labels. The installation had a very different feel to my brightly coloured Safety net and Tethering our thoughts.
My participatory installations also provoke conversation. If I'm present, I'm also a provocateuse and I join the conversation. Sometimes I have also asked if I can write down what people say. This was initially as a way of documenting the process but the more I have done it, the more I recognise that it also encourages people to talk more; me writing down what people say acts as some kind of validation. Examples of this method of provocation can be seen in Do you mind if I write that down?, Living sculptures and Don't wash your dirty laundry in public. However, it's a luxury for me to be present with my work so often the work itself becomes the conversation. People read what others have written before them and respond accordingly. It's somehow a conversation that transcends time; visitors might respond to comments that others have written days or weeks before.
The community aspect of my participatory work is harder to define. Sometimes the community involved is the visitors to a specific exhibition; however, in the case of The Wishing trees, it was the general public, random passers-by. These different groups of people are also brought together through my social media accounts, most particularly, my Instagram accounts. My @loubakerartist account is my largest community so far. I use that mostly to showcase my art. However, I've also been nurturing my @socialengagement account since the start of the pandemic in the UK, in March 2020. The latter is specifically about social engagement, as the name suggests. Through The Wishing trees I first witnessed the power of social media to build community. By posting the invitation to participate there, I had many comments from people around the world which I then added in a physical form to the trees. I was delighted to have interactions with friends and family this way, but also from people I've never met, old and many new followers. Since I deconstructed the Wishing trees I have been attempting to carry on nurturing the @socialengagement community especially, for myself but also, hopefully for those who follow me there. I have a faithful handful of followers who comment regularly and I'm so grateful to them, but I do wonder how to make it a more interactive community. I'm thinking of ways to start another virtual participatory project. Will it work? There was definitely something about the timing and focus of the Wishing trees that resonated strongly with many people. It interests me greatly that while I can have very little or no contact with an audience in a physical space, via the internet, the reach of my provocations could potentially be vast. I know it's not the same, but it is fantastic!
So, my provocations can be very positive and hopeful, not just about shock and horror. I delight in these projects, but I still also need to present darker themes. I was absolutely thrilled with the way the Wishing trees developed; they made an enormous difference to me during those difficult days of the pandemic and I know they made a difference to many others too. However, one of the issues I had with them is that they only really presented the hopeful side of the situation. That was the point, obviously, but I don't ever want to gloss over difficult things. I also want to provoke thought and discussion about the anxiety- inducing, difficult, desperate and deadly aspects of this situation. Discussing the Wishing trees during one of our weekly Gang of Four gatherings, I said that I felt they were 'too bright and cheery' so Tim suggested that I set up a series of Trees of doom. That made us laugh, but it is partly what I want to do....to provoke responses about the darker sides of this situation. I haven't though, as I am all too aware of the high levels of fear, anxiety, grief and despair that are prevalent across the world and I absolutely don't want to make it worse. But is that dodging the issue? Normally, I would deliberately aim to provoke a range of conflicting responses to my work, but, for obvious reasons, I suppose, this time I don't want to, or can't think how to without making people feel more desperate and hopeless. But isn't conversation also cathartic? I'm also aware, 9 months later since the first lockdown in England, that the situation is so different now; what would people's responses to a similar invitation be now, I wonder? Maybe I need to pose that question via the #virtualwishingtree and see if I can find out?
The Wishing trees did of course provoke conflicting responses. Many, many people loved them, joined in and were keen for them to continue but I did have some antagonism from a few vocal people on social media. I suspect that was just the tip of an iceberg of complainants. Have a look from p155 of the documentation of the first months of the Wishing trees. and also at my research into what Claire Bishop calls relational antagonism. I was upset and worried at first, but actually quickly realised how important this antagonism was to the project. I feel that it made it much more real and balanced. However, sadly, it has made me wary of setting up anything else since then as I'm trying to second-guess what people might object to.... and that makes me anxious!
In the true spirit of all round provocation, I know that I need to put these fears aside and persevere with my provoking ways, through transgressive art or my more hopeful, creativity-inducing participations and, hopefully, both!
Houghton College (2021) Kinesthetic learning style Available at: https://www.houghton.edu/students/center-for-student-success/center-for-academic-success-and-advising/study-advisement/general-study-information/kinesthetic-learning-style/ (Accessed: 28 December 2020)
Curiosity is definitely a major factor in these participatory installations. Many people wouldn't be interested in taking part, but plenty of people are. I wonder if it's linked to learning styles? Some people learn most effectively by doing things, by being given the opportunity to take some action. It's called kinaesthetic or tactile learning.
'A kinesthetic-tactile learning style requires that you manipulate or touch material to learn. Kinesthetic-tactile techniques are used in combination with visual and/or auditory study techniques, producing multi-sensory learning.' (Houghton College, 2020)
So far my works have just incorporated sight and touch, but it would be thrilling to add other senses. See SENSORIAL for more on the senses in my work.
Involving the senses here brings some creativity. My participatory installations so far have all involved a written invitation which provides a focus for the piece. I then would normally provide a selection of materials for the participant to choose from. These usually involve bright colours eg coloured labels, strips of cloth, fruit nets etc. They are invited to add their thoughts to the installation on a label together with an object (Strip of cloth, fruit net etc). For The Wishing trees, sadly I couldn't leave any materials for people to add because of contamination anxiety so instead I invited them to bring something to add next time they passed. This, in fact, led to a much richer and more diverse selection of tokens and messages; it also meant that the aesthetics of the installations were outside my control. Situating them in 4 very public spaces was also part of the change in control as I obviously wasn't able to be present all the time. I was able to visit, and tend, one or 2 trees a day on my daily walks due to restrictions.
Colour is important. I set up a Feedback cell as part of the B-Wing exhibition at Shepton Mallet prison in October 2019. I invited visitors to the exhibition and the prison to leave some feedback. For this installation, I decided to make the palette much more muted because of the setting; the prison and site responsive art works were definitely uncomfortable to experience. I set up a black net in one of the cells and provided cloth and other textiles in flesh colours , together with beige labels. The installation had a very different feel to my brightly coloured Safety net and Tethering our thoughts.
My participatory installations also provoke conversation. If I'm present, I'm also a provocateuse and I join the conversation. Sometimes I have also asked if I can write down what people say. This was initially as a way of documenting the process but the more I have done it, the more I recognise that it also encourages people to talk more; me writing down what people say acts as some kind of validation. Examples of this method of provocation can be seen in Do you mind if I write that down?, Living sculptures and Don't wash your dirty laundry in public. However, it's a luxury for me to be present with my work so often the work itself becomes the conversation. People read what others have written before them and respond accordingly. It's somehow a conversation that transcends time; visitors might respond to comments that others have written days or weeks before.
The community aspect of my participatory work is harder to define. Sometimes the community involved is the visitors to a specific exhibition; however, in the case of The Wishing trees, it was the general public, random passers-by. These different groups of people are also brought together through my social media accounts, most particularly, my Instagram accounts. My @loubakerartist account is my largest community so far. I use that mostly to showcase my art. However, I've also been nurturing my @socialengagement account since the start of the pandemic in the UK, in March 2020. The latter is specifically about social engagement, as the name suggests. Through The Wishing trees I first witnessed the power of social media to build community. By posting the invitation to participate there, I had many comments from people around the world which I then added in a physical form to the trees. I was delighted to have interactions with friends and family this way, but also from people I've never met, old and many new followers. Since I deconstructed the Wishing trees I have been attempting to carry on nurturing the @socialengagement community especially, for myself but also, hopefully for those who follow me there. I have a faithful handful of followers who comment regularly and I'm so grateful to them, but I do wonder how to make it a more interactive community. I'm thinking of ways to start another virtual participatory project. Will it work? There was definitely something about the timing and focus of the Wishing trees that resonated strongly with many people. It interests me greatly that while I can have very little or no contact with an audience in a physical space, via the internet, the reach of my provocations could potentially be vast. I know it's not the same, but it is fantastic!
So, my provocations can be very positive and hopeful, not just about shock and horror. I delight in these projects, but I still also need to present darker themes. I was absolutely thrilled with the way the Wishing trees developed; they made an enormous difference to me during those difficult days of the pandemic and I know they made a difference to many others too. However, one of the issues I had with them is that they only really presented the hopeful side of the situation. That was the point, obviously, but I don't ever want to gloss over difficult things. I also want to provoke thought and discussion about the anxiety- inducing, difficult, desperate and deadly aspects of this situation. Discussing the Wishing trees during one of our weekly Gang of Four gatherings, I said that I felt they were 'too bright and cheery' so Tim suggested that I set up a series of Trees of doom. That made us laugh, but it is partly what I want to do....to provoke responses about the darker sides of this situation. I haven't though, as I am all too aware of the high levels of fear, anxiety, grief and despair that are prevalent across the world and I absolutely don't want to make it worse. But is that dodging the issue? Normally, I would deliberately aim to provoke a range of conflicting responses to my work, but, for obvious reasons, I suppose, this time I don't want to, or can't think how to without making people feel more desperate and hopeless. But isn't conversation also cathartic? I'm also aware, 9 months later since the first lockdown in England, that the situation is so different now; what would people's responses to a similar invitation be now, I wonder? Maybe I need to pose that question via the #virtualwishingtree and see if I can find out?
The Wishing trees did of course provoke conflicting responses. Many, many people loved them, joined in and were keen for them to continue but I did have some antagonism from a few vocal people on social media. I suspect that was just the tip of an iceberg of complainants. Have a look from p155 of the documentation of the first months of the Wishing trees. and also at my research into what Claire Bishop calls relational antagonism. I was upset and worried at first, but actually quickly realised how important this antagonism was to the project. I feel that it made it much more real and balanced. However, sadly, it has made me wary of setting up anything else since then as I'm trying to second-guess what people might object to.... and that makes me anxious!
In the true spirit of all round provocation, I know that I need to put these fears aside and persevere with my provoking ways, through transgressive art or my more hopeful, creativity-inducing participations and, hopefully, both!
Houghton College (2021) Kinesthetic learning style Available at: https://www.houghton.edu/students/center-for-student-success/center-for-academic-success-and-advising/study-advisement/general-study-information/kinesthetic-learning-style/ (Accessed: 28 December 2020)