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An invitation to Between
co-ordinated by Neal White
On Saturday, April 21st, O + I will put on a free, necessarily informal, BETWEEN event at the South London Gallery.
'Betweens' were a model of dialogue and discussion implemented and used by APG in the UK (now known as O+I). In these events, a space was occupied and discussions took place regarding issues of relevance to artists working in the social space. The between format was adopted from Germany after Joseph Beuys invited John Latham to discuss artist-with-government placements at Documenta 6 in Kassel in 1977. The Between format takes advantage of the downtime between art exhibitions.
At this, the first Between since 1971, O + I (formerly APG) invited Critical Practice to respond to the concept of VALUE. O + I responded in turn to the open and social activities proposed by CP in this event which asked all participants and the general audience to engage and exchange their own views on VALUE. This event was proposed to be the first in many Betweens through which O + I plan to engage and move forward discourse and action in relation to the social context of art and the artist.
O+I had been proposing a new series of 'betweens', starting at the South London Gallery, for some time, but had repeatedly been let down by changes in ACE policies to fund these events. O+I invited Critical Practice to join in. There were no funding at O+I end, apart from a small amount from SLG, therefore we all added our resource of time. Time we understand is a valued resource, and the theme of the between was 'value'.
In March 2005 O + I and Tate Britain staged a celebratory event in recognition of both the current relevance of the ArtistPlacement concept, and of the Tate's purchase of APG's archive. Following this event the format of a series of Betweens was identified as the best means of arriving at a relevant and appropriate manifestation for future exhibitions/symposia on the topic ART & ECONOMICS (the name of APG's 70's Hayward exhibition).The issue of VALUE was proposed by artists and representatives from other disciplines, as the topic for the first Between.
Discussions were derived from activities initiated by O+I and CP, and included presentations, posters, media and software, as well as participatory approaches through The Value Game developed by Anne Mary Francis and … The Board Sculpture facilitated by Jaime Stapleton – a sculpture, shaped like a board Table, with the participants on the day. In particular this activity is aimed at drawing together issues raised throughout the day, and looking how to take things forward on a range of levels and in a variety of contexts.
The Value Game
co-ordinated by Mary Anne Francis
1. Help yourself to a item from the ‘pot’
2. Within a time-frame of no more than 1 hour, undertake some modification of the item that you think will enhance its value to you. This is not so much about making the item more valuable economically, but enhancing it in a way that is meaningful to you – we’re interested to find out what you value and why – as the basis for the discussion later on.
3. Bring the item back to the evaluation table, to be displayed until the collective evaluation. If you are unable to stay for the Collective Evaluation session, please can you write a very short description of how you think you have enhanced the value of the object on a postcard and place the postcard next to your item.
4. A ‘Collective Evaluation’ – Every ‘investor’ will be asked to describe their ‘investment’ – what prompted them to modify their item in the way that they have, and what ‘values’ they have therefore embodied in the object.
5. We might then have a ‘swap auction’ where people’s objects are offered up one by one for exchange with someone else’s. When you offer to exchange objects, you will be asked to say why you prefer the other person’s object to yours.
NB At any point in the game the rules are subject to critical reflection and as a consequence, change.
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Last modified: 05.12.07 by neil
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