22/01/2009 by James.

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about dialogue. About dialogue between people, and between people and places.
I want to keep exploring the notion of fluidity of identity, and of interconnection between ourselves and the material world of which we are a part, and how that can be documented.

Yesterday I returned to making a book, something I haven’t done for a while… as a focus for my thoughts, feelings and observations while I am out walking and experiencing the area in which I live. I’ve often found people’s notebooks or sketchbooks to be the most evocative and powerful part of their practice for me.

I took the book to the forest and wrote simply what I felt and saw, what I was being told or shown by the forest as I interacted with it.

Here’s a couple of pictures…

I like the way that the contents of the book aren’t too precious, are a stream of consciousness type of writing, and that what I see, hear, feel, as I move along dictates what goes into the book.

I’m looking into other ways of allowing the place, the weather and other ‘beings’ to add to and change the pages too, having buried books before… I love the idea of slugs eating through illustrations, or fungi growing across watercolour paper…

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21/01/2009 by James.

An exhibition of images, comments and artwork from the Connect & Create Family Arts and Learning Project is now on show at Salisbury & South Wiltshire Museum.

So, enough words from me, here’s an image from one of the participant families…

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21/01/2009 by James.

So, what is the role of the artist in all of this…. how can artists facilitate real change with benefits for society and the environment?

I think there is a potential for artists to both model ways of being with the world that are playful and explorative, and to act in ways which are more ‘practical’ too, that can be embedded within society and encourage real change - e.g. within education, and other work that has a life outside of the gallery or theatre.

I am starting to really appreciate how I can be a researcher, a maker, an exhibiting artist, a writer, a facilitator in schools and museums and day-centres… how all these link together and form a cycle of exploration, discovery, learning and sharing.

I am excited at how my arts practice both feeds me and can enable others to find their own ways of seeing and experiencing the world, allowing them to appreciate and value difference in themselves and others, and their place within the system that we call ‘nature’.

And this blog has become part of that experience of research and sharing… so please tell us what you think too.

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13/01/2009 by James.

While I’m not going to answer that huge question all by myself, I am really interested in how more socially engaged models of arts practice can provide experiences for both the artist and the audience/participants that can be said to encourage ecological ways of being/thinking/experiencing. And I’d be really keen to get more of a discussion going on this blog, so if you have a thought about any of this, please add a comment!

The relationship between the process of making art and the experience of a connected whole, connects directly to my work in education, particularly in child-led learning where we encourage individuals to value their own creativity, lead their own creative investigations of the world around them, and develop a sense of identity as an integral part of their natural, social and cultural environment.

It also connects to my work in art and disability, where I aim to work inclusively and support others in gaining a similar awareness through making, which allows them to take control of their identity, to move beyond perceptual barriers and gain a sense of belonging through relationship with the world around them.

And lastly it relates to my own more individual work which explores landscape, place and material. Through a creative, sensory interaction with a particular place, initiated in an open responsive way, I can initiate a dialogue with the world that I am part of, with benefits for my own mental health, sense of belonging, environmental awareness, sensitivity to materials, etc

At the moment I am looking at how the different areas of my practice can in turn interlink and connect - the making, exhibiting, consulting with communities, evaluating arts and education projects, working within learning, environment and heritage - and they do, completely. Its just a question of how to relate that to others, but I suppose thats why I work as an artist in the first place.

Whether I am researching an exhibition or facilitating an educational workshop, I am aiming to support myself and others to have an experience which is subjective and inter-subjective; which allows us to experience our individuality through experiencing ourselves as a part of the world around us, and how we differ from, connect to and share experiences with others.

Now to me that’s all about Ecology, and is about not just engaging with society, but embedding oneself within society, and reaching out across barriers to support connection and dialogue. Its about encouraging an awareness of what is happening around us that comes directly through our own experience, rather than through the opinions and teaching of others, and which enable us to escape negative ways of seeing and being with the world and each other.

What do you think?

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05/01/2009 by James.

Its been a cold and frosty start to the New Year around here. I am waiting at the moment to get into my new studio which will give me more space to make artwork and allow me to get back into more sculptural, object based work.

In the meantime I’m getting out and exploring as usual, so here’s some pictures of the thickly frosted hilltops.

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