Exciting thing! Andy Field and I are up to stuff again, returning to the Arts Council England’s (ACE) State of the Arts Conference this year, much more integrally than how we were part of last year’s; this time we’ve been able to help shape the way, where, and with whom the conversations happen. Live blog! Artists bursaries! Actual conversations on themes! Some very exciting and challenging live bloggers feeding in and back everything said by everyone! All in all it looks like a massive leap for ACE, in a brilliant and totally important direction. A bit below from mine and Andy’s statement of intent:

“Before, during and after State of the Arts 2012, we will be hosting this online space as an important new facet of the conference.

We want this to be a place for anyone with an interest in the arts to share their thoughts and ideas. A carnival of voices discussing anything and everything about the state of the arts in 2012. In particular we hope that this site might allow people who can’t make it to Manchester for the day of the conference to have a really meaningful impact upon the event.”

Read more on our intent over here, see who all our livebloggers are here, and start submitting your thoughts on the main themes of the conference (along the top of the page) on the submit page.

To get you all started we’d love to start a little ‘art is’ meme – I found a really lovely mine of ‘art is’ images on flickr which I’ve been using to title each opening blog post that’s up there now, and we’d love to know what your answer is to that question is (positive, negative, or indifferent), so, how to join in:

• Find an image that for you says something about what art is and why it is important.
• It can be a picture, or a picture of an event, or a diagram. It could be something you find on the net (though preferably creative commons), something you take a photograph of, or even something you draw yourself. It doesn’t really matter.
• Send it to us as an image post on the submit page
• Tell other people to do the same.*

*plagiarising Andy a bit with these instructions. Sorry Andy, it’s late and I’ve been staring at the website way too long.

THAT’S INTERACTION, THAT IS.

First up, a 7 minute taster of the WHOLE DAY

And for the more dedicated or mix&match viewer, a playlist of videos of each provocateur:

An image of Third Angel’s Pills for Modern Living installation at Edgelands.

I find that I only really want to comment on a couple of the shows that I saw on day four and five, so I have decided to make a C-C-C-OMBO post. Followed by some very short reflections on Edgelands and Hitch.

Day the fourth

(g)host city - St. Antony’s by Kieran Hurley

(g)host city is an invisible festival without a venue. Or, rather, the city is the venue. A selection of audio pieces curated by Laura Cameron Lewis that you can download all of (7.99) or just  the ones you want to do (I downloaded Kieran’s from Bandcamp for £2). St. Antony’s plays out like you’ve found a phone fallen between some rocks in Holyrood Park. As if you picked it up and listened to the first voicemail by mistake and then slowly not been able to stop. I wonder if you could put the piece on a phone just like that? Be sent the location to a lost phone. Pick it up, listen. A small piece for a big place, this is one of my favourite experiences from the fringe. Not just for Kieran’s lovely ear for the idiosyncrasies of dialogue, or the gripping unfolding of increasingly tragic messages that are fated to never reach their receiver, but because Holyrood park, and Edinburgh, is fucking beautiful place. I enjoyed a moment of being embedded rather than transported in it.

2401 Objects - Analogue

Apart from the slightly disconcerting resemblance of one of the actors to a younger Hugh Laurie, I found plenty to enjoy in Analogue’s story of ‘the world’s most famous amnesiac patient’. It felt a lot more drama-y that Lecture Notes on a Death scene, and I don’t think it always benefited from that. (I’m very easily bored of ‘actor voice’, these days). But a really affecting story, told in quite a visually strong way; I liked very much the way the screen moved and wiped away scenes, like the dropping away of memories. I wanted the piece to be smaller though. It felt too big, the sense was of the wide world of scientific enquiry, when I think it should have been closer, more ‘in the head’ of Henry. The most powerful moment was the tying of it down to our bodies – the moment you’re asked to place your hands on your head. I felt like after acknowledging the audience so much at the beginning, it was strange to move into more conventional 4th wall stuff. A really interesting piece that I think could afford to be more tied down.

Day the fifth

The Adventures of Wound Man and Shirley - Chris Goode.

Not sure where to start on this one. THERE WAS JUST TOO MUCH LOVELINESS. Chris is a master of theatrical storytelling, his gentle, open and warm manner fill the Baby Grand and a simple 3 chair set (with associated teenage paraphernalia) becomes the scene of a devastating fire, the threshold of a school’s changing rooms, the back seat of a car, the formica tables of a poor Spud-u-Like imitation. A story about a superhero and a sidekick. A story about a family divided by an empty room. A story about a shrinking trumpet. A story about young love, and running. A story about ‘feeling just like you look’. Go and see it. Don’t let me spoil any more with my clumsy words.

You Wouldn’t Know Him He Lives in Texas – Look Left Look Right and Hidden Room Theatre

Immersive! Site Specific! Interactive! Digital Technology! In Show Tweeting! Live Streamed Every Night! And yet it still managed to be endearing and uncontrived. Loved this. It wasn’t about big or deep things, probably won’t stay with me for that long afterwards, and my judgement was likely somewhat coloured by the fact that there were Pringles and free wine, but it was a brilliant piece of brightly-coloured techno-melodrama. I just made that word up. But it fits. A simple and easily identifiable story, the opportunity to ask your own questions of the characters, and, again, a relief to be out of uncomfortable chairs in darkened venues. I got to go on a Skype date with a bald Texan, waved a giant inflatable Scottish hand, ate some Haribo, and left grinning.

Day the sixth

Edgelands and Hitch.

Edgleands – convened/curated/organised/whatever the right word is by me and Andy Field

Absolutely delighted with how this event went. Such a wealth of great minds and conversation in the room with amazing contributions from provocateurs, performers, tech people and live bloggers. Too many people to thank here (and they’re all credited elsewhere), head over to the link to find out more. I was mostly taking photos and HD video with a shiny camera for most of the day, so am sad to have not been a closer part of the conversations, but you can read the live blog (with tweets and transcripts of the conversations) over here, listen to the 4 sets of provocations here, and see all of the photos here. Videos will emerge as fast as I can edit them and upload them. Bear in mind I have about 64GB of footage and a PhD deadline on the 26th and come to a best estimate on that. Any volunteers for help with subtitling videos once there up would be very welcome. It’s not hard, and I can link you to all of the relevant in-browser tools. Each video will be around 3 minutes, comment if you’re interested in helping out.

Things to improve on: 1) make it more local. Only about 6 people from Scotland in the room. Probably should have advertised it in the Forest Cafe, etc. 2) get more people on board to help get stuff online, 3 wasn’t quite enough, 4 might do it. 3) diversity audit of contributors: 18 male, 13 female, 1 self-described disabled, 2 BME. Not good enough. Our original programming had m/f numbers pretty much equal but last minute changes made the pool of people we could get to contribute much smaller. Still, will try harder next time. 4) do it on a week day, the online conversation was a lot less than I thought it might be, and wonder if that’s because far fewer people seem to be online/on twitter on Sundays.

Hitch by Kieran Hurley

I can’t possibly have a critical opinion on this piece, and I don’t want to. Left me crying for about half an hour afterwards, and bursting into fresh tears unexpectedly for a few hours more. A simple story told in an open and incredibly engaging way, as Kieran recounts his impromptu journey hitchhiking from Scotland to Italy, for the 2009 G8 summit in L’Aquila. I’ve been to quite a few protests since my first 3 years ago, almost always on my own, so I recognised a lot of his journey. And I suppose I hadn’t realised that anyone else feels that… afraid, and hopeful, exhilarated, breathless, and by turns potent, impotent; together, and alone. I thought it was just me. And I suppose I thought somewhere that I was a bad protestor, that I didn’t care enough to not be scared. And I cried. I cried from the accidental Patti Smith gig onwards. I cried for all of the fire in us that the world constantly pours water on. I cried for the love of everyone who tries. And I think I cried so much because after watching it I didn’t feel so alone; even if I still feel all of the other things, suddenly realising I wasn’t on my own made me feel how alone I had really felt. But now it’s gone. Kieran’s piece begins with his ‘thank you’s. I’d like to add my own: thanks.

And now, today is Day the Seventh. And I am Going Home.

Other Must Sees include Alan Lane, Dan Bye, Baba Israel, Alex Kelly, Tassos Stevens and many more. Go find them all over here

Had a magnificent time at TEDxYork. Enjoyed speaking very much (during and after it happened, at least) and was a real privilege to hear thoughts from people like Alan Lane, Alex Kelly, Dan Bye, Tassos Stevens, Baba Israel et al. A little disappointing in terms of female presence, but otherwise really fascinating. I’M TOO TIRED TO TURN ALL OF THESE NAMES INTO LINKS. PLEASE GOOGLE THEM. And do read Alan’s talk about ‘cancer, West Berlin, pianos and ideas above your station’. I’ll post the TEDx video of my call to arms for artists, technologists and citizens as soon as it’s up. No time right now to turn my notes into something bloggable, but will leave my slides and conclusion above and below if you want to peruse them. They give very little away, sorry.

This week: Umbrella Project sound categorising, PhD, Zero Hour visit to London, more desperate volunteer recruiting, and preparation for the workshops I’ll be running in Brussels. No rest/wicked, etc.

These examples, they use technology, but not as a tool, They put a body at the centre of it, and use it to create a spectre.

“a revolutionary practice that relies as much on imagining and mobilizing better stories as on shocks to the system” (Pile, 2010, p. 53)

If I might return to the metaphor of ‘steam’. Technology and art should about taking heat, and water, and producing something fundamentally different.

Too often the arts look at technology as a tool – not as a material, as long as they do, they won’t truly be able to work with it

The arts need to embed themselves in the real world like a virus. Haunting the city with visions of what it might be. Of how we, not private interests, might be able to use technology in the city.

Aa-ah. Falling behind in June content already. Just dropping by quickly to nudge you in the direction of something that Andy Field and I have been scheming (on, about? Never used the word ‘scheming’ before). A return of the Flash Conference we sprang at State of the Arts earlier on this year. Now much bigger! Much longer! And with creative as well as thinky inputs!

Basically it will be hosted by Forest Fringe in Edinburgh, on the 21st of August. We have been gathering questions, speakers, performances, and innovative-ish ideas for holding different level of dialogue, and will bring them all together in a cornucopia of discussion of the ideas of performance, what it means to be ‘fringe’, the state of the world, and how the arts thread through that. And as ever, we’ll be posting audio of all the provocations, will hopefully have livebloggers, and will definitely try our damndest to replicate the conversation online, and feed everything both ways across the virtual/real membrane. Ticket will work on a pay-what-you-can model, and we’ll even do lunch. Hold the date, eventbrite will be out soon.

Copy!

This day is not about railing against authority or the great institutions of the arts. It is a day for everybody to gather at the edges of those big institutions and organisations, on equal terms. To ask daring questions and suggest implausible answers. To share a spirit of generosity and a galvanising sense of hope; that despite or perhaps because of the political, financial and environmental circumstances in which we find ourselves, the arts can and will play a part in imagining and realising a better possible future.

We’re still looking for partners to help support the event, so if you’d like to help (in exchange for your logo on every available surface) do drop us a line. And if you can offer your time over the event to help live blog/document the conversations, or if you have a pro-camera (something along the lines of a Cannon 550D) you could lend/come up and use, please DO let me/us know.

Finally, today is the last day to get a question in for the voting next week. 2 of the 4 questions that will frame the whole event are going to be from submissions. So PLEASE do submit. Everyone has their bugbear, wondering, pet peeve, or great ambition for performance, and the questions will be anonymous, so you can be as controversial as you like. Even if you can’t quite form a question, please just send us some thoughts and we’ll shape it into something that could provoke a discussion…

Think that’s that. I’ll be back later this month posting various talks that I’m giving places. Hopefully interesting ones. The TEDxYork stuff should be at least. I actually checked out the site the other day and was bowled over by who else is speaking. Feels very odd to be on the same platform as people like Bill Thompson, Daniel Bye, and Tassos Stevens. I like the theme, too; A New STEAM age. STEM plus ‘A’ for arts. GEDDIT?! Yeah.

It’s a picture. Of a cake. That I made. For my friend Andy’s 21st Birthday.

In unrelated matters it’s the last day of the month and I have only filed 3 of my 4 monthly quota’d blog posts.

Chapter two went well, will post it up here, maybe in sections, maybe when it resembles something akin to the English language. The Umbrella Project looking more and more exciting, with an upcoming test of the message system which will play with some collected stories –  more on that soon, too. I’ll probably be talking about related matters at Ted X York in a few weeks (eep!)

Oh, and if you’re in the East Midlands this Thursday, I shall be chairing a really exciting event being run by Broadway Media Centre – as part of their Making Future Work project they’re hosting several ‘Future Work’ events. I shall be introducing the Making Future Narrative event at LPAC in Lincoln, expect 10 minutes of blistering hyperbole followed by a couple of hours of overly complex ‘you’re running out of time’ gestures. I want them to look like the baseball code they use as a comic vignette in American TV shows.

And finally, here’s a cryptic clue to something I’m going to be doing avec the insanely talented Steve Kilpatrick in London at the end of July. It may or may not involve 22 performers.

Another fantastically busy week has been and gone, I’m saving one half of it to talk to you about next week, but I think if you follow me down any particular path of the interwebz, you will have noticed that on Thursday I helped convene the ‘Flash Conference‘ at the heart of the ACE/RSA State of the Arts Conference. The Flash Conference was conceived of by myself, Andy Field, and Laura McDermott out of a reaction our awareness of the general dissatisfaction with last year’s format, with some of the problems of scale often faced by such a large event (i.e., missing any address to the smaller scale), and finally, from my point of view at least, with the language and the questions that the conference was shaped around. That last point is perhaps a little impolitic to say (nor very clearly said, my brain is mush this weekend) but the shift into, for example (what turned out to be entirely rudderless) conversations about art and the Big Society rang rather uncomfortable with me, personally. Partly because of my own politics, but also because it felt like a program that pandered to government, not one that brought all to the same table for what could have been a more valuable conversation.

I’m being a little careful with my language here (‘careful’ for me, anyway), and that’s because, entirely to the conference organisers’ credit, when we approached them with our idea to run a companion conference in a nearby pub they actually invited us into the conference itself. Though, as Lyn Gardner put it we were slightly “banished upstairs” – the fact that we were there at all was brilliant, not because we ourselves wanted to talk to the top table types, but because it enabled us to bring so many other voices to that top table – people who couldn’t afford the travel or the ticket price; artists, students, performers and makers for whom the conference really did not feel like a welcome place; or single parents without childcare. I hope that the great deal of interaction that we enabled showed the organisers, and indeed any organisers of any event, quite how much people are dying to have a two-way conversation rather than a one-way panel-driven selection of monologues.

Over 4 days the flashconference.co.uk site had 1273 individual visits from 27 countries, 52 videos, images, texts and sounds were submitted to the blog, 1827 tweets were exchanged, with the majority of that activity falling on the day of the conference. We were inundated not just with contributions, but also thanks, for allowing people who had felt excluded to sound in on the debate. Certainly this was not a perfect format, but it was hopefully a spark, a small static shock. Our industry deserves such large-scale spaces for discussion, but they will only begin to be truly discursive when they speak to the whole of the arts ecosystem, and from a place in not above the world that we all live in.

I co-wrote a paper delivered last year at the annual Theatre and Performance Research Association conference. This paper was essentially on how conferences are, well, completely useless at truthfully representing either thought, discourse, or artistic practice. My section began with a quote from Foucoult:

We are in the era of the simultaneous, of juxtaposition, of the near and far, of the side-by-side, of the scattered. We exist in a moment when the world is experiencing, I believe, something less like a great life that would develop through time than like a network that connects points and weaves its skin (Foucoult, The Essential Works II, 175)

The best art is collaborative, built in its simplest expression, out of dialogue between the world and the artist. Gatherings to discuss our industry need to acknowledge both this and the shift from media consumption to interaction, from marketing to communication being driven by the de-centralising effects of the digital world. We are woven together, you can’t examine a whole of a piece of fabric by only examining four pulled-out threads.

Next year’s conference has been announced as happening outside of London, moving it away from London is a good start, but I also hope that they think more about how they form their questions and how and with whom they discuss them. How would I do that? More artists, a sliding scale of ticket prices, greater responsivity, open manifesto sessions, a room full of remote contributions, art installations as reactions, and a selection of themes and concerns picked by both the organisers, and the wider arts community. Allowing the Flash Conference to exist in the wider conference space was a brilliant step in a positive direction, here’s to more of them.

You can view all of the provocations delivered on the day in this Youtube playlist, or on the flashconference site. You can also look through the archive to see all the contributions put forward by many others, and view the slides which we built through out the day of highlights from tweets and submissions. Thanks to Andy and Laura for wanting to work with me, the RSA and ACE for inviting us in, the excellent provocateurs, and all of the wonderful discussions and contributions put forward by people who couldn’t be more than tele-present.

(incidentally, I’m working my way through transcribing and captioning all of the videos, on 6/14 at the moment, if anyone could help me out with the trancription and/or captioning of a video, let me know.)

Hurrah! I can finally reveal one of the exciting things I’ve been frustratingly opaque about on Twitter for the past week or so. This Thursday alongside Andy Field and Laura McDermott I shall be convening a Flash Conference as part of the ACE/RSA State of the Arts conference. Here’s a taste of what that means:

The Flash Conference is an imaginative new project designed to create brief but electrifying bursts of thinking and conversation amidst the main State of the Arts programme. Harnessing the spontaneity and collective energy of a flash mob, we hope to bring people together to create a flood of brief but provocative responses to the following questions.

How can art of all kinds play a more meaningful role in mass protest and popular resistance?

What makes a good home for art (and for artists), and how can we ensure there are more of them?

In an environment in which success is too often only measured by perpetual growth, how do we ensure that small remains beautiful?

(How) Can art make more people’s lives better?

Whilst recognising the absolute importance of large scale events like State of the Arts, we also wanted to acknowledge the complex ecology of our sector, an in a space that much more resembles the way we communicate and collaborate in the contemporary world. Hence our conception of the Flash Conference, and, much credit to ACE and the RSA, their inclusion of it in the main conference programme. The Flash Conference (from flashmob) will centre around the above four question, we aim to create a buzz of provocation and debate in the body of the conference, and online, to in fact create a space for dialogue between the two for all those voices who might not have access to the opportunity to speak at, or even attend State of the Arts.

And because of this, we need you. If you have something to say in response to the above statements, now is the time to say it. If you’re on Twitter, you can use and follow the #SOTAflash hashtag, and anybody with an internet connection can access http://flashconference.co.uk where you can simply go to ‘submit’ and post any text, image, audio, or video (audio and video will have to be hosted elsewhere – i.e. Youtube or Audioboo) of anything you have to say. There’s also lots more information about our plans, and 3-4 potential people per question that we’re inviting to offer a one-minute response to get people’s ideas flowing.

We’re going to endeavour to post these provocations, if not live-streamed, minutes after they’re given, and we also intend to continually feed back online content into the room, and vice versa. And there’s absolutely no time limit on submissions, if you have something to say, a statement of intent, your own one minute manifesto in relation to one of the above questions, an image, a video, please do post it. Simply head over to flashconference.co.uk/submit and follow the instructions. Or if you’re coming to the conference, head up to the Thames Room where you’ll find a bank of laptops for you to post your on-the-day reactions, and three large screens following the #SOTAflash hashtag, and displaying content submitted by others.

Laura, Andy and I are really excited about the potential of this in opening up a trad conference format, so please, if you do have something to say about the state of the arts, follow the hashtag and the site, and do contribute.

(The Flash Conference was conceived by Andy Field, Hannah Nicklin and Laura McDermott in association with Arts Council England and the RSA.)

Devoted and Disgruntled Report – Theatre and Video Games

Devoted and Disgruntled Report – STS