Research Plan Debbie Qadri 2015
This is an information site about a project I am doing in the Western suburbs of Melbourne.
It is a little action research project that I might develop into a phd proposal.
The main gist of the project is that I will be working with communities to develop their own public artworks.
I am aiming to do this in the City of Brimbank, as it is nearby to where I live and I have a few contacts with organisations and Council which will assist with the conversations needed to get Community Public Art Projects off the ground.
The restrictions that I have for this project is that I will most probably use the art form that I am most skilled at, which is ceramics and the second one is that because much of the work I put into this project will be voluntary, I will also need it to be useful to my practice as an artist in the field of public art.
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Putting community and place into permanent public art
1. The artist works with communities to make new artworks in public space which utilize the model of community involvement and serve as examples.
2. The artist will make applications for Council public artwork tenders using the ideal model of putting community and place into public artworks.
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CONTEXT:
As park of my work as an artist I often make ceramic murals with communities and many of these are permanent artworks. When applying for public art tenders for councils I find myself wanting to include the community in making the artwork and also knowing that my tender will be less likely to succeed if I do this.
On the other hand, (Australian and New Zealand) Council Public art policy is developing a heavy emphasis on community engagement in the process. Below is a great quote from Rob Garrett that sums up the thinking behind this.
‘. . . . public art processes can profoundly engage local communities, which results in people having an active stake in the public places that they live and work in. This is an empowering dynamic which can transform people into public citizens and enable greater cultural connectivity between people.’
Rob Garrett (http://www.robgarrettcfa.com/content/2013/08/01/q-a-on-public-art-policy)
One of my questions is how this is metered out in the final artwork?
What does engagement mean, and why is it often minimalised and difficult to manage?
Is it possible to make permanent public artworks with the community and have them recognised as good public artworks?
Can we challenge the idea that the public artwork made by an artist or experts without community involvement is better?
What tensions exist between the process of public art tendering and making, and the idea of community involvement?
Research will involve the following:
• Making public artworks with communities
• Looking at the public artwork policies of Councils.
• Responses to the public artworks which are made as part of this research will be documented. How are they received by the public, how is the surrounding landscape cared for before and afterwards. Evidence in the media and interviews with people to devise what they mean to local residents.
• Finding examples of artworks in public space that have been generated or made by local communities.
