A 3 hour workshop for artists and commissioners of socially engaged practice. Joshua Sofaer for Axisweb in partnership with Cubitt Education and Notting Hill Genesis.
As an artist, I find it incredibly frustrating that I am expected to guess what commissioners and funders want, and to arrive at a competitive interview with a fully formed idea.
In this workshop 5 invited individuals from commissioning organisations meet 5 invited artists, and they workshop together towards the goal of creating a new piece that will go on to be fully commissioned. This is not a networking opportunity but rather the attempt to form a working relationship from the position of mutual understanding.
There is an inevitable power relation between commissioners and artists. This workshop wants to flatten the hierarchy. Project partners will select artists and commissioners through a nomination process. Commissioners will be randomly matched with artists one-to-one. Participants will be taken through a series of exercises in which they will be encouraged to share their organisational and artistic aims and objectives, honestly and openly, including budgetary and financial considerations and personal needs. Above everything this workshop wants to explore alternative models for the commissioning of socially engaged practice.
Invited artists are being asked to come:
*This is a set honorarium to include travel costs. Although we can’t guarantee that the work developed will eventually be commissioned, we are asking commissioners to commit some minimum funds. We aim that the meeting should result in paid employment.
Invited commissioners are being asked to come:
*This £1,500 will remain in the commissioner’s bank. It is not a payment for participation. It could, for example, be part of a commissioning strand for which an artist is not yet attached. £1,500 might be more than is necessary for some ideas (e.g. a one off workshop) but a fraction of what is needed for more ambitious projects. It the latter case, the committed funds could be used to fundraise for more costly work. The £1,500 is a marker of commitment.
The artist Joshua Sofaer works across boundaries, borders and disciplines to develop artworks that engage with all levels of society. Taking place in institutions or on the street, occupying art galleries or people’s homes, staged as operas or cast as golden sculptures, Sofaer’s work weaves with and through social fabric, to consider the ideas that hold us together. Working internationally, Sofaer has presented work at The Science Museum (London), SFMOMA (San Francisco) and Folkoperan (Stockholm), amongst many other venues and institutions. www.joshuasofaer.com
No Shortlists is supported by 'Social Works ?', the commissioning arm of Axisweb’s Models of Validation - a two year knowledge transfer partnership between Axisweb and Manchester Metropolitan University exploring socially engaged artistic practice, in partnership with Cubitt Education and Notting Hill Genesis. 73 Mildmay Street is an Extra Care facility run by Notting Hill Genesis.
