Meet, Plan, Create, Perform

I recently completed a workshop at Modern Art Oxford as part of the Barbara Steveni I Find Myself exhibit. The purpose was to activate ‘The Sculpture’, an art piece devised by Steveni where artists/collaborators discuss and create art around a typical meeting room table. The workshop ran over 3 sessions, including the performance day, with several MAO volunteers experiencing Steveni’s work. We spent the first two sessions acquainting and working together on ideas for what our version of ‘The Sculpture’ would entail. This required brainstorming ideas, key words and questions relating to the Artist Placement Group, Steveni’s initiative to bond artists with corporations and institutions. At times we would discuss our own perception of art, how we identify as artists and what the exhibit meant to us. We planned what we would do for our activation, coordinating props, marketing the event and thinking about how we could open the activation up to allow for the general public to partake.

I found this aspect of the exhibit and purpose of the APG to be very relatable. I grew up with a love for art, studied a humanities course at university, have worked in clerical and administrative roles since graduating and currently create and learn about art in my spare time. This mixture of interests in art, research and analysis, with technical and creative skills seems contrasting, but Steveni’s work highlights how the arts, business, leisure and employment coalesce. In an ideal world, I would make art for a living, but as it turns out, I do!

There is some argument about how we describe our livelihood: is it defined by the work we are employed to do, how we earn a salary in order to live securely; or is it the passion we have for the arts and recreational activities we carry out, where we might not necessarily receive monetary return, but we fulfil our interests and satisfy our abilities? The arts are no stranger to funding challenges, nor discouraging attitudes about it making for a sustainable career choice.

Yet I would argue that Steveni’s initiative showed art can be made in everything we do, specifically in commercial employment. The purpose of the APG was to allow an artist to work within a corporate setting, allowing for the surroundings to act as tools and a canvas. Born from the idea that workplace environments - be they office spaces, or industrial sites - could provide an artist with useful materials and inspiration. Equally, employees could benefit from an artist’s presence in assisting with company projects, policy making and business models. It was akin to a consultancy role, or commissioning an installation.

This also brought to mind another scenario where art meets business. Along with having a full time office job and a creative outlet, I am involved with some political groups, one of which is a giving circle supporting state legislature elections in the US. A year ago, myself and the several other women who comprise our leader group, met in person for a day of brainstorming and planning for an event, where we would present to our group members what was at stake in key state level races. Our leader group brings a range of skillsets in acting, art, teaching, technical, written and administrative, and on our day of meeting we talked, planned, drew up documents, created a timeline of deadlines and composed communications, all by collective collaboration that led to a successful event. This achievement left us giddy with enthusiasm, motivation and a huge sense of accomplishment, which became not just a team exercise for our cause, but a political space, an art piece and a performance. A work of art!

When meeting, strategising with colleagues, or group planning, consider the aspects of creativity entailed. Are you simply just working, or creating art?