normally, a compositional residency is created by a company that would reap the direct benefits of having a composer in their residence. traditionally, composers would be paid to be in residence in churches, schools, advertising companies, choirs and instrumental ensembles. the composer would provide music for whatever the residency host requested, new piece for a concert, or music to be used in some way to benefit the company. in exchange, the composer is usually compensated, and has the honour of mentioning it on their cv, with some other lucrative residencies also providing studio space, instruments/performers and accomodation. artists also would take part in residencies, where they would be invited to a space to make a body of work, with a public presentation of that work at the end of their residency. these residencies usually last between a couple of months to a year.
the artist placement group (apg) was established by barbara steveni and john latham in london in the 1960's as a way of incorporating the idea of artist residencies within the very different worlds of commerce, industry and services. (1969, steveni)
'the organisation was premised on the idea that art has a useful contribution to make to the world, and that artists can serve society - not by making works of art, but through their verbal interactions in the context of institutions and organisations' (bishop, 2012)
the apg would curate a pool of artists, match them with a business, and organise contracts and act as a go between.
after a business had been contacted and had expressed interest in the project, the selected artist would visit the business and create a feasibility study to assess whether there was potential for that artist to make work there. an agreement would then be drawn up stating length of residency, salary, requirements etc. at the end of the residency there may be a public presentation of the work made by the artist during this time, although this was not essential.
it is worth noting that this is a similar experience/method to undertaking a collaborative doctoral award phd, in that the project is drafted for a panel to approve its feasibility, a suitable participant is selected, a contract is drawn and negotiations take place between participant and organisation, with the academic institution acting as a go between.
some examples of placements instigated by the apg include artist ian breakwell's residency within the department of health and social security and was chosen due to his practice of observing normal life within a diary (bishop 2012). he made observations throughout his residency and then presented these to the executive level. he conducted his residency in various hospitals and caring institutions and was seen as a professional observer. the reception was mixed, with the executives angered and embarrassed by his observations, while others in the service greatly appreciated the honesty, which would instigate a future development and improvement of facilities.
performance artist stuart brisley was placed within hille furniture company, and worked with the workers on the shop floor. he helped the workers by painting machines with football teams colours, and making movable notice boards to help them communicate with each other. through his time there he was empowered to help and engage with the working class after his residency was over (ibid).
these residencies were about an artist observing an issue or problem, and using their practice to bring about change.
typical interventions are "impossible to describe, given its nature" (2018, antal et al), but to have a vague understanding of how they operate is useful for the context of this project.
with these projects, art rather than liberating capitalism, seems to instead join it, and become an asset to better a companies reputation or commercial value. but perhaps this is necessary for art to gain a closer relationship with commerce to increase its viability for funding in the long term.
art has been used in this way 'to achieve modest connections, open up (one or two) obstructed passages, and connect levels of reality kept apart from one another' (bourriaud, 2002: 8) and to enable workers in commerce to engage in 'a process of discovery that was enabled' (antal et al, 2018) by an artist being present in the workplace.
santiago sierra is an artist whose work focuses on the specific nature of the location and the people he works with in his artworks (sierra, 2005). showcasing how workers are exploited for their labour and putting objects, and people into situations they wouldn't usually be in to make wider political statements.
what ties sierra's work to the apg's is the idea of context, the motto of the apg being 'context is half of the work' (latham, 1968). without the context of where sierra's subjects come from, or the fact he exists within the art world, his work would have less impact. likewise with placements with artists within workplaces, the work must be related to the context the artist is now placed in. a placement would and should be deemed unsuccessful if an artist continues to develop their own practice without input from their surroundings of their placement while utilising the facilities and salary provided.
this is something important to remember for my own placement within stan's cafe, as i find ways of working that will impact stan's cafe and be fed by stan's cafe's way of working.
i aim to make a portfolio of work during my residency that utilises and considers the ways of composers working within a theatre company. this with an analytical written commentary would provide a methodology for theatre companies to utilise a composer-in-residence in a way that could suit them more than the traditional role allows. this methodology could prove useful for artists undertaking placements within businesses/organisations, to encourage and inspire alternative ways of working.
to find out more about composer residencies within businesses, i visited the tate britain archives, as this is where all the material on the apg is kept. i was aware that david toop had a residency within london zoo, co-ordinated by the apg. i wanted to know more about what he did, and how he conducted his residency with the zoo in the hope that this would help me develop my approach to my residency. i found online one image (found here) from the apg retrospective exhibition at raven's row. this image showed some text and images displayed on the gallery wall too far away to be viewed or read clearly.
i visited the archive in the hope of finding a file named 'david toop correspondence', to find the answers. this file was a disappointment as i was to find two short letters addressed to the apg. one stating that toop was unavailable to attend the agm the following month and the other stating his lack of interest in a placement due to his other commitments and lack of funds.
the trip was not in vain as i found a key source, which i believe to have been a document to the arts council detailing their work, ethos and procedures in efforts to procure funding. this document detailed each organisation they were in contact with, which artists were involved where, budgets and more.
i also found several feasibility studies by different artists within their placements, who observed the areas that they were interested in and what work they could do. reading this was inspiring and got me thinking more about my relationship with stan's cafe and the possibility of conducting my own feasibility study when i am eventually allowed into the stan's cafe premises.
i plan on making one further trip to these archives to see if i can find more information about a composer named hugh davies, who has statements and a possible feasibility study. reading more about what the apg's intentions were was also helpful in reflecting on my own position in my residency in comparison to these artists. i prioritised looking for artists' statements in my first visit in the hope these would tell me about the residencies, instead i found artist statements about their own practice that had been sent to the apg to be considered for a residency/placement.
by looking at feasibility studies and reports instead, i may be able to find more stories that will inspire me to try things in my placement. i also found that there was an artist panel established by the apg called apg noit (noitmen) that would advise the artist on a placement and help them with any artistic and practical issues. this has led to thinking about trying to establish a similar panel that exists beyond my supervisors.
to find out more about residencies and my peers, i did a callout on twitter for composers to contact me with details about their residency experiences. i have a twitter practice of tweeting to provoke a reaction that i then have to deal with. i was hoping for a similar reaction but i was only contacted by two composers.
i was hopeful to understand more about traditional residencies so i can extract the elements of their residencies that would be feasible and of interest to me and stan's cafe, but also so i can disrupt the traditional residency format. i can only do this by learning more about how they normally operate.
i'm interested in this disruption through researching ideas of aesthetic disruption (vink et al, 2017). this is the idea that through the design of situation, one can disrupt the normal expected situation that arises through past experiences with that situation. markussen proposes that aesthetic disruption 'makes the relationship between people's doings and feelings malleable for renegotiation' (2013). an example of this aesthetic disruption includes a double stethoscope that was invented by swedish masters student felicia nilsson, which allows both a patient and a medical professional to listen to the body at the same time, destabilising the hierarchy in the patient, doctor experience, encouraging play and engaging the patient practically in their diagnosis (vink et al, 2017). i view composition as the design of situations and hope when familiar enough to understand the common events and regular day to day activities within stan's cafe to enact my own aesthetic disruption, to add value to stan's cafe.
