(selected by Donna Lynas)
Feature (Krishna Snake still), 2008
Artists have been working in participatory ways for decades, going beyond the intimate experience of an individual viewer meeting a work of art for the first time and being moved in an extraordinary way. Artists have always wanted to affect their audiences and have used their work as vehicles to communicate a message or idea directly to them. But many artists have pushed the notion of participation further, to the point that 'participatory ways of working' is now becoming part of mainstream gallery programming. Black, white and shades of grey interpretations of that phrase can mean anything from artists as mediators, tutors, facilitators, to even workshop leaders and therapists.
In my view, an artist who works in a participatory way is none of those things and never should be. That person is first and foremost an artist seeking to make artwork, and who in making that work wishes to engage the audience as participants in an active way. That way may not always be absolutely meaningful at the time for every single person taking part, but it can be an extraordinary experience in the true sense of taking oneself outside the ordinariness of every day life and, even better, a genuinely enjoyable experience.
One such artist is London-based Shezad Dawood, a visual artist who works in many media. In 2005 Dawood began discussions with me that would lead to the creation of a full length feature film, entitled 'Feature', at Wysing Arts Centre two years later. The film – an alternative zombie western - featured residents from neighbouring villages, 300 of whom turned up over one weekend to try out for parts or simply watch the spectacle of the Wild West coming to the East of England. To create the work Dawood spent six months in residence at Wysing Arts Centre.
Shezad Dawood is not an artist who deliberately set out to engage a community and support people to explore their creativity, or arguably far worse from an artistic position, support the development of a more cohesive community. Terms like this are attached to this way of working by funders, arts development officers, politicians, and even arts organisations like Wysing. What Dawood set out to do was make art work in the same way that any professional artist whose livelihood depends on it would do. Dawood happened to deliver at least the first two of those things, absolutely capturing the imaginations of the people who live in the neighborhood of Wysing and supporting them to bring their creativity to his work. This could never have happened if Dawood had not been a humble, generous, open and empathetic human being who was willing to allow others to not only take part in his work but also to shape it – much of the action in 'Feature' (2008) is improvised by the participants. Every single person who took part in 'Feature' is credited both in the film and in a book of the film that was subsequently published by Book Works.
One of the most artistically fulfilling moments I have experienced was when Dawood came back to Wysing to screen the finished film to those people who took such an active role in its creation- Pete (the jockey from Newmarket Racecourse), the owners of Daisy the Donkey, Julian the fetish cowboy, The Outlaws (an amateur western re-enactment enthusiasts from nearby Fen-town Ely), The Cambridge Chinese Community Football Team, and dozens more. All squashed in a room together with Dawood simply switching on the film without introduction, preparation or explanation, the packed room hooting with laughter and an overwhelming sense of communal pride in something very special that had been created, together.
Donna Lynas, December 2008
Biography
Shezad Dawood (b.1974, London) is an internationally acclaimed artist with work currently showing in solo and group shows across the globe (Altermodern: Tate Triennial 2009, Tate Britain, London, until 26 April; Re-Imagining Asia, The New Art Gallery, Walsall, until 4 May; Montana, Galerie Gabriel Holt, Amsterdam, until 16 May). His previous solo exhibitions in 2008 include: Feature: Architecture, Eastside Projects (Birmingham); Journey to the End of the Night, Riccardo Crespi Gallery (Milan); Until the End of the World, Third Line (Dubai), and in 2007: If I Should Fall From Grace With God, Paradise Row (London); The End of Civilisation, Axel Lapp Projects (Berlin). Alongside this he has taken part in group exhibitions such as: Indian Highway, Serpentine Gallery (London, 2008); ReAsia, HKW (Berlin, 2008); Hobbyhorse, Arndt & Partner (Zurich, 2007); Toffee Armistice, Lemon Sky, (Miami, USA, 2007); Bubble & Squeak, PM Gallery (Toronto, Canada, 2006); East Wing Collection, Courtauld Institute (London, 2007); Lila/Play, Span Gallery (Melbourne, 2006); Very Funny: Humour in Video Art, Gallery Chemould, (Mumbai, 2006). Dawood completed both his MA and MPhil in Fine Art (Photography) at the Royal College of Art. His work has been collected by the Contemporary Art Society, Channel 4 Television and the Saatchi Gallery. At present the artist lives and works in London.
