It seems that one of the many obstructions to the balanced discussion about resourcing talent development is the semantic gulf between the (perfectly understandable) sense of entitlement that some artists have about their art, and their art-practice and the impartiality that has to be built into the structure of any resource body (whether its an arts centre, educational facility, funding body, collective or festival). The outworking of that impartiality can often seem like a personal affront to the artist’s sense that their own work is of huge significance, over and above that which is externally observable.
The role of narrative in providing context for art (as distinct from any narrative – or lack thereof within the art itself) can be a crucial link between the progressive practice of the artist and the need for some kind of measurable, perceivable output for the resource body.
In his book ‘The Sacredness Of Questioning Everything’, writer and thinker David Dark talks about ‘the space of the talkaboutable’, and that concept – of spaces where active, progressive exploration of the language around a subject is encouraged as a way of deepening understanding and relationships – may provide great narrative media as well as a place where the project, the participants, stake holders and the culture that the art exists within or responds to are connected and allowed to enrich one another.
Social media can provide fantastic low-friction ‘spaces of the talkaboutable’ – where democratised space (like twitter) or curated space (like a blog or forum) can be used to throw ideas, descriptors and concepts around as well as sharing ‘small media’ introductions to whatever work may be emergent.
Have a listen to the following Audioboo where Xander and I explore some of the themes that have come up across the weekend:
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