People round the table

Wednesday, November 12th, 2008 | People round the table | 5 Comments

By Melissa Bliss

The Venn diagram of art, technology and social change produces complex sets of relations. Projects that bring together people from two or three of these areas can have many stakeholders - those who hold the stakes in a wager, in an event of uncertain outcome, a gamble. My all time record was 17: me and another artist, the computer programmer, the commissioning agency, the host organisation and various funders including municipalities and state agencies. And the 10 or so participants, beneficiaries, who were not allowed to the table. I ended up drawing a diagram to work out who everyone was and what they wanted from the project.

We have all talked about the difficulty of taking into consideration - or even acknowledging - these different agenda. They may seem to limit more than enable. We can feel uncomfortable taking their dollar. But it is not all bad. It can be interesting to see how these people work, it can lead to unexpected opportunities and it can help to have people reveal their agenda. I would rather hear it from them face to face than reported. And in the end you can always walk.

We all expend our energy trying to define success and failure in a way which is meaningful to us and then negotiating them with the others round the table.

Who should sit at that table?
How do they know if I am succeeding?
How do I know?
› Continue reading

Join the forum discussion on this post - (1) Posts

Tags: Melissa Bliss, stakeholders, success

Epiphany

Wednesday, November 12th, 2008 | Epiphany | 2 Comments

By Melissa Bliss

When I am working on projects I hope for some kind of epiphany - for myself, for the others taking part. That I, we, will get some kind of insight, vision, deeper connection. That maybe an everyday epiphany - I cracked that problem - or an out of the ordinary experience. Crashing failure can be as revelatory. That is how I found out that animation is not for me, that I don’t function best in schools, that my programming skills will not always carry me through.

I also try to sow seeds. When I work with teenagers in London I take them to places they have never been before - to demonstrate that this city is yours - to places like (over the last year) their neighbouring national art gallery or the Masonic Museum or Channel 4.

Lois Weaver in her interview on Co-Pilot talks about the power of small victories - which we will all recognise - in a committed situation.

How can this be captured in a post-workshop questionnaire - Did you have any intense emotional experiences, on a scale of 1 to 5.

So,
Is a boring project where nothing went wrong a successful project?
Can failure be allowed to feel good?
Does art alone change lives? › Continue reading

Join the forum discussion on this post - (1) Posts

Tags: boredom, failure, Melissa Bliss

Time

Wednesday, November 12th, 2008 | Time | 3 Comments

By Melissa Bliss

Time is central to my way of working as an artist. I use time to try things out, go back over, see how it has worked out, try again - to change and move on. I don’t get it right first time and would not expect to. I work in long time and short time: ideas can develop over many years. My assessment of my work can also evolve over years.

Projects and organisations have natural rhythms which can be long or short. Music ensembles can work together over decades. I have run film making workshops that have lasted two hours. However for funders and agencies time seems to represent risk - and not of the bold, exciting, ground-breaking kind, but the I-can’t-justify-it kind.

Funded projects don’t often seem to allow for time - time for reflection or recasting or admitting to failure and trying again. I am often asked to work in short time: please come up with a proposal - for an art project, a workshop, a talk or some writing - in a couple of days. And then those projects may not happen for months. Have others experienced a strange mental displacement by the time you come to actually carry out a project - what was going through my mind at that time I proposed this?

In my experience the projects with the strongest social aims will often happen over the shortest time. If I am working with a teenager for a day taking photographs I may encourage in him increased self-esteem, a willingness to “re-engage”, to desist from certain behaviours - but probably only if he is on that journey already.

Time is necessary to make successful projects, to try different approaches, to fail and try again. Funded projects do not often allow this. These project seem like stepping stones poking above the flow of a creative life.

So,
How do we manage the pulls of long time and short time in a project-funded world?

How do we measure success when it can emerge over the long term?

When does time feel like risk rather than opportunity? › Continue reading

Join the forum discussion on this post - (1) Posts

Tags: Melissa Bliss, Time, Working Process

Success and failure 2003-2008

Wednesday, November 12th, 2008 | Success and Failure 2003 - 2008 | 1 Comment

By Melissa Bliss

What do you think you have got out of this project?

What did you do?

What did you learn?

Would you recommend this to a friend?

How many people came to see your work?

How many came from the local area, the region, the national area?

How would you suggest this programme could be developed further for the future?

Since joining this project have you improved or increased you friends & networks, communication, confidence, self-esteem, team work or motivation?

Are you disengaged - curious - involved - achieving - autonomous - or moving on?

Please give two or more of your personal strengths. And weaknesses.

How do you see yourself in 5 years time?

Are you making a meaningful contribution?

How do you know if you are succeeding?

Does failure make you feel bad?

Any other comments (please use the box provided) › Continue reading

Tags: failure, Melissa Bliss, success

Information about…

Sunday, October 12th, 2008 | Invited Contributors | No Comments

We have invited contibutors who currently work or have worked in the field, to bring thoughts and questions to the table and open up the debate… you can add your responses to their posts.

So far we have:

Tim Jones, Solar Associates

Melissa Bliss, Living Cinema

Derek Richards, The Believe Collective

Ruth Catlow, Furtherfield

If you would like to write a more structured post or become an invited contributor please get in touch at pilot[at]co-pilot.net

First up we have Tim Jones who explores how the participatory art world sometimes avoids honest self-reflection. Tim is the Director of Solar Associates. He’s worked in the arts for over 15 years as a producer, stage director, consultant, facilitator, fundraiser, event programmer and teacher.

We also have Melissa Bliss who will add her anecdotal thougths on defining success and failure. Melissa is an artist based in London. She has a long history of social engagement with technology and her work is often collaborative. She has worked with young people for several years using mobile phones to make videos, take photographs and record sound. Her work can be found at livingcinema.org.

She is also a director of Living Cinema, an independent film company which makes unusual documentaries [livingcinema.com].

Keep your eyes open for further additions! › Continue reading

Tags: Contributors, debate, Living Cinema, Melissa Bliss, Tim Jones, who