The Cornwall Workshop took place between 15 and 21 October and as part of their programme of events Chicago based art-critic Lori Waxman asked artists to participate in her ’60 wrd/min art critic' performance at The Exchange in Penzance.
Artists applied with a one line email and were randomly selected by Lori. They were asked to "bring whatever they think is necessary for a critic to have in order to properly review their work", bearing in mind equipment availability and time. Each artist was allotted 25 minutes, regardless of the amount of work taken in.
Two artists on Axis were amongst those selected. We asked them if we could publish their reviews, and for them then to respond to the text Lori wrote and the experience of being part of the performance. We also asked Lori to respond to their reactions.
Andy Harper
Lori Waxman's Review
Andy Harper's Response
Long gone are the days of dark continents and deep forests whose fauna and flora await discovery.
Today we rely on novelists to imagine them and artists to depict them...
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I was really pleased to be picked for Waxman's 60word/min project. I am currently making some quite dramatic changes to my practice. It is always exciting to adopt new ways of working but if no clear way forward presents itself, it can also be a very anxious time...
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Anna Keleher
Lori Waxman's Review
Anna Keleher's Response
For a biblical forty days and forty nights, Anna Keleher and her collaborator Claire Coté gave up their own dreamtime to wonder about the visions of the verdant Irish landscape sheltering them in Marble Caves Geopark.
Does the land dream through us, they asked, eschewing the more obvious question of whether the land dreams at all...
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Camouflaged, silent, focused: Lori Waxman moves hardly at all, leaving her seat only to walk to her assistant’s desk. A brief exchange and she retrieves the stimulus for her next review – mine.
I have requested she consider ’DREAMING PLACE’ blog, an online outcome from my present collaborative practice....
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Lori Waxman
No critic enjoys being criticized, but having the tables turned on myself is one of the reasons why I created and continue to perform the '60 wrd/min art critic'.
Admittedly sometimes critics miss the boat, or take another boat entirely — but what a useless task it would be if we all just jumped on the same ship!...
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The Cornwall Workshop follows on from The Falmouth Convention which took place in May 2010. Cornwall-based writer Jo Thomas was Lori Waxman's 'secretary' for the day.
More Information
www.thecornwallworkshop.com
thefalmouthconvention.com
More about The Falmouth Convention and Cornwall on Axis
The Falmouth Convention in Retrospect by Lucy R. Lippard
Lucy Lippard reflects on the convention six months on, considering the impact an event like Manifesta might have on local art practice and wider implications regarding change and potential models for art in rural communities.
Editor's Interviews: Dr. Ryya Bread
Ryya Bread is the curator of Kestle Barton situated in Helston on The Lizard peninsula in Cornwall. This interview examines questions of working in the arts in a rural environment, place-based practice and getting beyond the ‘local’.
Editor's Interviews: Steven Paige
Steven Paige is an artist based in St.Just, near Lands End. He is part of the steering group for Cornwall's Manifesta bid and he attended The Falmouth Convention. Steven talks about what it is like to live in a geographically dispersed area, where artists have to work twice as hard to simply ‘make things happen’.
The Shape of Things to Come: A Bid for Manifesta in Cornwall by Alison Sharkey
Axis artist Alison Sharkey reports on the unexpected developments and future plans that are emerging from this beautiful region
