HeadTalk 3

 

  Before the others came!

After thinking we were going to be short on numbers we had three new participants and so HeadTalk 3 turned out to be a lively exchange of views held again at the Leopard Hotel in Burslem. The topic was about ideas of freedom relating to artist and group practice. Two short films by a German director, Dagie Brundert, were shown as an introduction. These were the

The Six Astronauts

and Self-Healing of My Bike

 

 

   Autonomy, the Artist and the Group

 

Notes on leadup to forum:

These notes are in the form of opening questions with the aim of identifying in tonight’s discussion specific issues or strands of dialogue that may continue and develop in further forums.

 

Opening Questions

 

What is meant by ‘autonomy’?

The dictionary definition is ‘self-determination’ or the freedom to make choices.

In terms of art practice what is this freedom?

 

Also freedom from what?

 

A subtext is the acceptance of the artist in a society. What is the story of that acceptance?

 

One role (or story) is that the artist in their work suggests a different way of looking at the world that challenges our everyday assumptions in ways that may be

 

Attractive

Playful

Disruptive

Disturbing

Insightful

 

Is the artist free to do this in every setting? When do we call it art and not something else? How does social context shape our understanding of freedom and its availability to practice?

 

Is art inevitably political (public) and how does this relate to the personal (private)?

 

 

 

An elephant in the room is the current interweaving of the market, inequality and the environment. As artists how is our idea of freedom conditional on some kind of positioning to these contemporary issues?

 

Just how free are we and where does the question of authenticity of practice become relevant?

 

How do these questions around freedom and authenticity of practice configure the idea and function of an artist run group or collaborative work?

 

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