Here's a suggestion for a little artistic down time, to follow yesterday's rather lengthy posting.
Since 1 January 2006, artist Ellie Harrison has been maintaining the web-based project Tea Blog. Every time she drinks a cup of tea or another hot drink she notes down a snippet of what she is thinking about and uploads it to the blog. There are now well over 1,500 thoughts archived online, which chronicle the last three years of the artist's life via her tea-drinking habits. Tea Blog is now entering its final two months and is due to end at midnight on 31 December 2008. It makes me smile and think and imagine someone else's life - all of which I think are Recommended Activities.
I found this project whilst browsing around a-n's marvellously refurbed new website, which really is an example of what can be done to open up dialogue and practice using the web. To be honest I found it rather overwhelming, in fact - there is just so much on it, so many artists, so many projects, so many aspiring students, so much good advice... I was a little paralysed by choice.
But I'll get over it. I just need to put the kettle on and have a think...
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Thoughts and suggestions from Mark Robinson, (former) Executive Director of Arts Council England, North East
What goes on
I'm Mark Robinson and I used to work for Arts Council England, as Executive Director, North East, until March 2010. This was a space for me to share thoughts on arts policy, strategy and development and to show that people who work for the Arts Council, even Exec Directors, are not faceless, robotic bureaucrats. I now run Thinking Practice, a consultancy dedicated to helping arts and cultural organisations create a fairer and more beautiful world by increasing their impact and building resilience. I combine strategy and analysis - thinking - with doing, learning and coaching - practice.
The new Thinking Practice blog carries on the Arts Counselling model - do visit or subscribe.
The new Thinking Practice blog carries on the Arts Counselling model - do visit or subscribe.
The comments and views expressed on this blog are personal and do not necessarily reflect the views or values of Arts Council England, though I'll be surprised if they're far off. Arts Council England is not responsible for the content of this or external websites.
Comments are encouraged but please stick to the Arts Council's comments policy. You can find it here. Basically: agree or disagree all you like, but keep it reasonable and polite!
Comments are encouraged but please stick to the Arts Council's comments policy. You can find it here. Basically: agree or disagree all you like, but keep it reasonable and polite!
2 comments:
Listening recently into a fascinating discussion about the scope and value of user-generated content, such as blogs, the issue of whether a blog is perceived as leisure/social activity or as soemthing more 'serious' arose. The US N-Ten network that successfully combines all manner of user-generated online debate with face-to-face and other communications across the geography is news to many of us in the UK who don't have 'time' to watch a concept unfurl slowly in real time but hanker after for a speed read version. Web 2.0 is a 'listening' tool that has already changed our life and times and certainly my knowledge as a visual arts specialist. "A continuous studio visit" (from your chair) as Tate online said about Artists talking blogs.
I think you're right. A number of people have asked me whether I've got nothing better to be doing than writing this blog. For me it is a similar part of opening up my own processes. Part downtime, part serious. And of course 'downtime' is central to any arts process, isn't it?
Post a Comment