a life less ordinary.

Caitlin Smyth. My involvement with the worlds of art and dance combines a formal dance education with work within both not-for-profit and commercial art galleries. I have and continue to work with the emerging end of the art market, helping artists and businesses develop their profiles and widen their audiences with a focus on marketing and business development. This blog was originally set up in my time as the Chelsea Arts Club Trust Research Fellow to highlight my own learnings in the industry, it now morphs into my learnings, opinions and advice to others. Contact me at caitlin . smyth (at) hotmail .com.

[caitlinsmyth]

On rainy days it's time to open books on favourite subjects. For me, the explosion of youth culture in the 50s and 60s is one of them. Picked this book up at an exhibition I saw in Richmond probably 2 years ago. It was a Wunderkrammer of items, memorabilia and memories collected from the famous Eel Pie Island - an important venue in the explosion Rock and Roll in British youth culture. This book and a film accompanied the exhibition. I missed the film screening and when enquiring with the project leaders as to if it was being shown elsewhere sadly found out the project had ran out of funding, what a shame!!! If all of our narcissistic, Internet obsessed teenagers could see the lengths teenagers in these times went to, to deflect from the traditional pathways their parents wanted them to follow it would surely make them think twice about whether a half naked selfie getting a lot of likes from strangers online means anything at all really.... Or maybe we're just in a different revolution and in 60 years we'll be looking at this technological rebellion as necessary to develop and culturally interesting .... Maybe? #ellpieisland #artblogger #artmarketing #artiseverywhere #youthculture #rockandroll #richmond #artmarketing

[caitlinsmyth]

Hanging out with Artist @gavin_mitchell66 this aft at his exhibition of new work @northcotegallery 'Pictures of the Foreign World' is on until the 8th May. Pencil in a visit to see the next chapter of Gavin's work and the innovative @genesis_imaging processing techniques he's used to get there ➡️ www.gavinmitchell.net // www.northcotegallery.com #londonartscene #alifelessordinary #artmarketing #artblogger #northcotegallery #northcoteroad

[caitlinsmyth]

Very pleased to again be supporting #Art16 looking forward to seeing what's trending this year at the fair. If you're an emerging artist read my top tips for tackling fairs on www.caitlinsmyth.tumblr.com #artfairs #artblogger #artmarketing #alifelessordinary #londonartscene

[caitlinsmyth]

10 tips for Emerging Artists on Making the Best out of Attending Art Fairs.

So our first wave of big arts events in London is upon us as we wake up from a couple of sleepy months. Aside from London Art Fair which was held back in January really this is the first boom in the arts calendar and thanks to newer fairs such as Art16 (Art14,15,13) and Photo London (only in it’s second year) the spring season is gaining more weight and exposure to rival the Autumn instalment of art in London.

This spring peak is a great chance to get out and about engaging with the art world but how can artists use this time to better their own development? We all trawl round these quite often costly events on a notion of nothing more than feeling like we should be there.

But what should you be achieving at these fairs and what is good for what? Here is a run down of what I’ve found to be the best tips for emerging artists:

1. LEAVE THE PORTFOLIO AT HOME: These are busy events for the galleries and their staff, the main aim of a fair is to sell art so with the risk of sounding rude you and your work is not of interest at present. Leave the folio at the door.

Paris Photo, insta @ca_it

2. THE PRIVATE VIEW ISN’T ALL THAT: PV’s are busy, stressful events, venues are overcrowded as are the stands on them. Yes ticketing and by invite only lists make it sound like it’s exclusive but I’ve always found the best time to actually go, engage, and see is the quieter times - a week day afternoon or early on a weekend depending on opening times. You’ll be actually able to see the work on stands and if you like it maybe chat to the staff who will be less stressed and run off their feet by that point.

3. DO YOUR RESEARCH: Some of these fairs are now HUGE and you’ll spend a day aimlessly wondering around them if you let yourself, this may be a nice thing to do but remember we’re trying to make this relevant to building your art career. Research the galleries that are attending, which do you like? Which of their artists grab you? What countries are attending? This will help you decide what you want to see specifically but also having a knowledge of the fair and the galleries attending could facilitate a conversation - flattery is everything nowadays.

The Other Art Fair,  insta @ca_it

4. MAKE SURE YOU LOOK: So you arrive at the fair, you start snapping pics and uploading your favourites you social media tagging galleries and the fair and feeling really relevant, this is all well and good but take a step back and look. If you’re on your phone throughout then it’s harder to engage you and there will be stands where they want to do that. Be approachable, be present, if someone wants to tell you about a work then get involved, you might learn a thing or two!!!

5. TALK TO PEOPLE:  Galleries are not that unapproachable and if they are you’ll know about it quickly. I make a point, if I like the work or the gallery of telling them that or if I want more information asking and adding myself to mailing lists to start conversations I may want to have. I do this when I’m genuinely interested only so it’s the easiest thing in the world to do and enjoyable. We get told all the time NETWORK, NETWORK, NETWORK but what we often forget is this is just talking to people, so be genuine if you like the stand you have something in common, praise that. The teams on stands are often 2 or 3 long, stressful days in already so a conversation about how things are going and that their stand looks great instead of asking about a specific artwork may a breath of fresh air - it certainly was for me when I managed a stand at the Affordable Art Fair. I make sure I steer clear of the details of what I do - so it doesn’t sound like I’m trying to sell myself to galleries and I’ve built connections, swapped details with directors and received VIP invites to upcoming exhibition and fairs based on this, now that’s not a direct outcome for everyone but how great if you do!

Art15,  insta @ca_it

6. BE PERCEPTIVE: Having said the above be perceptive to the mood of galleries, if they don’t want to talk leave them to it, if someone else walks on to the stand leave them to handle it… Just don’t be an annoyance!

7. FOLLOW UP: So, if you had a few good conversations, maybe you swapped details, maybe you picked up some business cards - now what? Think about dropping that person you spoke to an email to say it was great to chat, I hope the rest of the fair went well and please do add me to your mailing list. It does no harm! Don’t get a reply - doesn’t matter - maybe you’ll see them at another fair and you’ll have kept the card, repeated the research process so you’ll know their name an what they showed last year and be able to mention it and strengthen that connection. Maybe they’ll reply and if it’s positive and you feel they may say yes, you could suggest it would be great to get their opinion on some work if they ever have the time for you to buy them a coffee - no PLEASE REPRESENT ME AND MAKE MY DREAMS COME TRUE, casual - you really know your stuff, I’m learning, I know you’re busy but I would love your advice. You’ll probably get a thousand silences and rejections but as long as you keep it cool and don’t be annoyingly persistent eventually something may come off and hey if you didn’t think the art world was about resilience then you shouldn’t be in it (cue Van Gogh reference; worked his whole life, sold work only once dead…).

London Art Fair,  insta @ca_it

8. LOOK FOR THEMES: What’s this years bigger picture? What are the themes across the fair this year? Did you spot it a few years ago when we moved from a focus on installation based art back towards painting? See what you can spot these wise with colour, style, price point, foreign galleries (which countries are coming) etc. This will trickle down in to all levels of the art market - never think that what’s happening at the mid to high end won't relate to you at the early stages of your career so be aware.

9. CHECK THE TALKS SERIES: Most fairs have these now - an area dedicated to talks and seminars which are free to all attending the fair. These can see some really relevant themes discussed by big time professionals, free education is always a win. Get involved, make sure to check if there is an RSVP needed prior - happens often.

10. GALLERIES WHO HAVE TRAVELLED AND EMERGING SPACES ARE MY FAVOURITE: Foreign galleries don’t often have as strong of an audience here in the UK so they’re more open to chatting. Emerging spaces I often find equally good to chat to and I often get the vibe that they share my view of if I speak to as many people as possible I may hit some nails and connect with the right people. I also find both these types of galleries are a little more experimental and daring with their stands, because they don’t necessarily have such an established audience as some of the bigger galleries they take a few more risks.

The above is all things that have worked for me. Hopefully the points listed will get you thinking in a more structured way about art fairs and you’ll be able to work out an approach that suits you and means you get the most out of these fairs be it education, conversation and connection (in that order for most likely to least to begin with). Fairs are not the be all an end all but they are important landmarks in the art calendar, and you’ll feel more like it’s worth it if you take something other than a tote bag and fair guide home.

I’ll be posting a blog on what fair is best for what and the vibe I’ve found at each next week.

I’ll be down at both Photo London and Art16 next month (both on the w/c 16th May. Feel free to message me with questions or to say hi at the fairs - caitlin (dot) smyth (at) hotmail (dot) com.

SM: T: @caitlin_smyth | I: @ca_it | Linkedin: Caitlin Smyth

[caitlinsmyth]

Is The Visual Art World Losing Diversity and Becoming Vanilla?

I read an article recently entitled:

‘Arts subjects seen as a 'hobby' and could be wiped out in some schools, teachers warn’

I read this just after another article that suggested that creative degrees were becoming harder to undertake mainly due to extortionate fees and therefore many ‘artists’ (sorry you don’t become one because you have BA next to your name but you certainly do get 3-4 years of focused development on your practice and that is what for me creative degrees are about) were not being able to get that quantified affirmation of their practice. No, creative talent is probably not one you need that lucrative BA to prove worth and best ability but being able to acquire degree level qualifications in theory gives equal weight on paper to these skills against other qualifications in different fields and makes us take it seriously as a profession.

So, in 2010 the Conservatives decided to allow Universities to increase their fee cap to £6000 per year and £9000 (and even more for foreign students wishing to study here) in ‘exceptional cases’ from 2012. A study done in July 2014 by the Office for Fair Access found that 76% of universities now charge £9000 per year in fees -  within 2 years 76% have exceptional circumstances?!

We’re now 4 years into this change and the arts is quite bluntly becoming elitist and fairly vanilla and now we are seeing even more damaging effects lower down the scale that the arts are being seen as a hobby subject not a viable career choice.

Now you could argue many reasons for this changes in secondary school but this is how I see it because I certainly took my Art GCSE and A Level  and dance qualifications seriously as did my parents and teachers.

The fees went up. This put off many less affluent kids who may have previously gone to University and we know from many studies those from a wealthy background still outstrip those who are not 2:1 in our Universities. Yes there are loans in place to help students out but the impression I get is that it’s the maintenance loan that is the one that makes or breaks whether someone can go to Uni nowadays plus the thought of being in debt for the foreseeable. I put the information I would have supplied to get my loans when I went into higher education into a calculator for 2016-2017 and the maintenance loan for the london area was nowhere close to what the actual living cost is, it’s those middle of the road students like I was that are now missing out.

The ‘type’ of student who can afford to study Art at higher education changed focus to those who could afford it (because it isn’t even a twinkle in the sky if you can’t even contemplate affording it, regardless of repaying over time if there isn't the promise of a job at the end what’s the point).

Oversees students got charged even more (up to £12,000 per year) so on top of British students now attending Art School being only the affluent elite, the foreign students were that too and the number of them attending massively increased - did it get easier for them to get in because they brought in more money? I don’t know, but I do know some Universities have had to but on courses in English because their foreign art students were not fluent enough to fully get through their courses in a second language. We lost cultural diversity in our higher education, we narrowed the types of backgrounds and experiences our students had, they had less controversy and opposing opinions in the ranks making them look at things differently - not because well off kids have less interesting experiences or will make less interesting or quality art but because just like if you filled an art course with only people I grew up with in Yorkshire we’d all have a fair few similarities in our upbringings regardless of class, race, gender etc etc. This is where the vanilla comes in - these student peer groups need diversity in terms of backgrounds and experiences to challenge them at the first point they’re old enough to really grasp, develop and argue opinions. 

So these students graduate and begin to try and make their art their profession, earn money from it, gain recognition for it, make it their career… Only we all know this is very hard to do BUT, these students potentially have a bigger support net in the form of parents being able to offer monetary support while they follow their dream… So, they do an unpaid internship, and another, and another until they’re doing management level unpaid internships (they are 100% out there!), and by doing this the industry is making it acceptable to not get paid for hard and skilled work, unpaid internships become and still remain a problem in the creative industries. I accidentally applied to one not so long ago, I didn't even consider a full time, six month contract job post would actually be an unpaid internship and bear in mind I’ve been in the arts 12 years so I don’t go for entry level positions any more, so that’s basically 6 months not to learn about a job but to complete one, utilising your skills but for free.

This problem with unpaid internships in the arts and elsewhere has made headlines, of course the knock on affect from this is parents who now have kids reaching the age where they're deciding their GCSE topics, and this leads us back round to the initial article I read, which stated: Some year 9 students in certain schools are now only doing art once every 2 weeks. The Government is talking about putting billions of funding into extending the school day for more ‘extra curricula activities‘ like sport and art. Parents will see this de-valuing of the arts, will see the number of unpaid internships and poorly paid jobs (because by undertaking unpaid work we are simply making it acceptable and perpetuation the problem) and are seeing the huge fees and likely telling their kids that the arts just aren’t worth it. Sure, Timmy may be excellent on the drums, be able to cut some amazing shapes on a canvas or bring an audience to tears with his soliloquy from Hamlet but hey, even with a qualification you won’t get paid well for it so go do something important, get a PROPER job.

And for me right now this is one of the reasons British art isn’t standing out so much any more. It’s why less younger students are seeing the arts as a viable career path and it’s why the industry is losing professional credibility. Although we can track some of this back to the recession, working and living in London for the past 6 years, on University sites and with emerging artists I’ve seen these further changes, I’ve heard the chat from artists and arts professionals and a lot of talk about elitism in the arts and it is having a lasting affect.

There are some organisations that are working against the grain now, check out School of Punktum https://schoolofpunktum.wordpress.com who offer affordable and free development and learning to artists and Lensculture https://www.lensculture.com who champion new international photographers daily on their site and run great prizes, along with a fantastic site covering most topics. These types of establishments focus on making that support and development accessible to a wider audience. Hopefully these organisations along with others will start to add in the layers of diversity our arts culture is losing and we’ll start to see a more punchy scene…. well, one can hope.

Agree or disagree? Let me know. caitlin (dot) smyth (at) hotmail (dot) com.

[caitlinsmyth]

Are Waning Attention Spans Affecting the Art We Like? (No pictures below)

The average attention span of a person nowadays is 8 seconds. This has been a steadily slippery slope since the digital age started and now with the massive overstimulation we all get daily (we spend around 9 hours a day looking at screens) it’s getting a bit ridiculous. The average time people spend in exhibitions has decreased significantly.

These facts and this discussion came up the other day when I was speaking with a conservator who was telling me that conservation of art at the mid level (not Picasso’s and Rembrandt’s but Victorian watercolours and prints) is slowing down. People just don’t collect this art nowadays, it’s not popular, and we specifically flagged the feeling that it doesn’t grab the eye or the attention enough against all the more modern and even more digital work that is coming through that is often not as subtle.

There will be many reasons these changes and why they are happening but one that has to be a contributor which I’m interested in (because it relates to all the marketing info I preach) has to be the rise of the digital age messing with peoples attention span and attention to detail. So specifically I wanted to touch on this, air some thoughts, but keep it brief so that possibly it kicks off a look at wider reasons for changing art tastes. So, let me talk about the area I know best and am most interested in.

We now work, watch, and interact more and more via digital means, and those who what to grab our attention are changing how they deliver information to make it as easily absorbed and attention grabbing as possible. Nowadays digital marketing is now most effectively delivered through video, videos need to be under 2 minutes have the best chance of being watched in full. Memes, bold statements, simple images, bold colours work best - people are even colour theming their Instagram accounts which is not that surprising considering the number of people now picking up being an interior designer as a new ‘hobby’ (or fitness blogging / instructing but that is another rant of mine now relevant here).

So the fact that I have not yet inserted an image into this blog means, if you’re still reading, you’re either very fast or have avoided the general norm.

This change in our ability to really see, look, absorb and form a more in-depth opinion (things I think will be lacking on a shorter attention span) has to have had some affect our on the art we’re drawn to (again, along with many other things like culture, trends, styles, how lucrative a piece is etc etc, but stay with me while I focus on this one small idea that go me fired up).

So these changes, do they affect our ability to appreciate more subtle art work.. I certainly now have to actively avoid skimming through exhibitions. If we’re not instantly grabbed by something visually do we assume we don’t like it and why is that view point now acceptable? Have we stopped thinking it’s ok to not give things more time? And you can translate this to most interactions, Tinder - judge someone in 10 seconds, Twitter - have an opinion in 140 character, Facebook - don’t post WORDS it bores people, post images and videos under 2 minutes… I could go on.

Remember that I’m focusing on the audience there and not on whether social media and online promotion should be necessary for an artist to build a career - this is another discussion altogether with a hundred other variables…! However…

The implications of our waining attention spans, I think, has to be a contributor to the art styles that are now more popularly collected. I think this is likely more noticeable at the commercial level, I visited a successful commercial gallery I used to manage years ago and the art displayed seems more bold in colour and style, possibly more easy digestible and attention grabbing, there were also artists who were represented back when I was their and some of them you can see the style has changed to be bolder in colour or now include play with text…

Although, of course the industry and tastes will progress and change over the decades, I think it’s interesting to consider how one of the biggest social changes we’ve seen in the last 100 years - the beginning of a digital era -  has and will change what people are drawn to with visual arts. Really the first generation which has not lived without the internet, mobile phones, personal computers and laptops etc is now reaching adulthood and as their opinions start to carry more weight in society I think most creative industries will be seeing even more drastic changes in the years to come. As a new generation of makers and members of the audience come through the question is how will things develop further in terms of consumption and production of art and will this leave more subtle work or older work falling away and not getting the attention they deserves Is this just a natural process or is it sped up because the information we consume and the attention span with which we consume it is now ten times faster?

I’m interested to discuss this with different people in different roles within the arts, I’m interested to hear other opinions and to develop this train of thought which, for now is just in the beginnings. So if you have an opinion if you want to contribute a thought, if you’ve managed to get to the end of this piece and you want to tell me how you did it with your 8 second attention span let me know: caitlin . smyth (at) hotmail . com.

[caitlinsmyth]

A Blog To My 16 Year Old Self...

I recently went down to Hampton School to be one of the guest speakers at their Arts Festival alongside such people as Royal Academy of Arts Head of Exhibitions Andrea Tarisa, artist David Anthony Hall, Music producer Leo Wyatt (who is AMAZING - check out online!), Sotherby’s lecturer Dr David Bellingham and TV presenter Joe Forrester. Unfortunately my section - on arts marketing and a rather non-linear approach into an art career - had to be missed out with some last minute reshuffling. 

SO I thought I’d instead channel this new trend for 50/60 year old successful professionals writing letters to their former young selves as advice. But instead this is a 28 year old who is still working it out, working themselves out and has taken to accepting the quarterly stress out of wondering what they’re doing with their life.

Here goes, avoiding the cheesy letter form with some advice I wish I could have had at 16 (who at this point in time would have just finished GCSE’s) and all others following an artistic path from here forwards....

1. BE DEDICATED: At 16 I was taking dance classes most nights of the week and very lucky to have parents who supported that. First and foremost I think taking time to appreciate that unquestioned dedication I had a such a young age is important - I didn’t ever think of it as a task, it was just what I wanted to do and that feeling I don't think I’ve had since. As an adult it always feels like the reasons you do things have to be more complex and now, 12 years into my working life I’m starting to realise they just aren’t. What I do now is what I’m passionate about, yes its stressful, you never know whether you’re coming and going, what the next project will be but having a little faith and being bold and dedicating yourself to something you’re passionate in will only have positive results! And also, dedicate doesn't mean burn out, take your time with ideas, some get results quickly, some take a lot more time to develop, as long as you are confident you are dedicated and passionate it will never wrong if one idea takes longer to come together. I hope 16 year olds out there can hold onto that unquestionable dedication and understand the arts yes is a tough pathway but EVERY pathway is nowadays so just have a go and try to hold on to the blind faith and dedication you currently have in yourselves - your teachers and your families are unknowingly instilling in you right now.

2. BE FEARLESS: At 16 - and I saw this on Friday with one of the school’s bands who were fantastic (JJ, Oscar and Will aka Middle Ground) - I didn’t realise how fearless we all were - yes awkward, geeky and sometimes unsure on the smaller stuff but on the bigger stuff we just did it. I was up on stage performing lead part in dance performances, I had friends in bands playing across York... as adults we just don’t put ourselves out there so much, so if 16 year old me was doing it again I’d want to hold onto some of that fearlessness to seek out new opportunities. Yes all the confidence rocking moments will of course have added to where I am and who i am now but if I could have moved forwards more fearlessly I wonder what would have happened. The world is a lot smaller now - and the web means you’re more in control of your opportunities than ever, if you have an idea why not pursue it... no seriously, why not. 

3. MAKE YOUR OWN MESS, TIDY UP AGAIN: Over the past 12 years I have made A LOT of mistakes, I think one of my biggest credits is being able to recognise when a situation; job, location, project, isn’t right for me, HOWEVER I think I’ve taken too long to gain the courage to get out of these situations.... I’m still learning.

16 year old me et al, here is some of my mother’s wisdom; you can either put up with it, change it or move away from it. If it’s not right get out - you WILL find something right for you. Be bold, have faith, people will support you and as was mentioned at Hampton on Friday luck doesn’t come to you, you come to it - make your own pathway. The arts especially doesn’t have a right or wrong answer, you’re constantly refining and changing what you’re interested in and here’s the thing - enjoy the ride because as soon as you reach the goal you move onto the next one so realistically the ride is the only bit you really experience and need to focus on. 

5. BE PATIENT. I am still guilty of this too. I have to actively remember to be patient with myself, that it isn’t me or the people that love me that are telling me I should be at a certain point in life. It’s everyone else and the society we’re in! This is a really new development for me but I now try to actively not push myself into exhaustion, this has happened a lot to me and people I know in the past and it has set me back. I’m learning to be less gun-hoe. If I had told my 16 year old self this I would have in no way listened. So to all others, you probably won’t listen either but just remember as long as you are moving you are moving forwards. Just because your peers and friends seem to have all of their cake and eat it doesn’t mean they do. Be thankful and appreciate every small gain because you will have your time when it will all come together for you. The arts is hard, I genuinely think it takes longer to build but working hard, staying patient and being kind to yourself has worked a treat for me this year and more positive opportunities have come my way than ever before! But at 16, I think learning this the hard way is the only way so go, energetically, until you learn the hard way!

4. LIFE WILL HAPPEN EITHER WAY: At 16 I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, at 28 I still have no idea! Only now am I starting to be ok with this, because I’ve met likeminded people who are all not sure what they are doing but we’re all doing it anyway. In the arts the network I have around me is my absolute life line. The friends that keep me sane while freelancing and the colleagues and teams that I can share ideas with to help develop my own pathway. Keep your friends close and you’ll keep your sanity closer! If you’re a bit unsure of what you’re doing at a certain points, use your network to support you and take a step back - I’m still guilty of not doing this but I’m still learning.

Being part of the Arts Festival at Hampton School was a great experience, despite not speaking i got to hear from many professionals who also had had a very unexpected route through the arts - it made me feel more confident. We’ve all just worked hard and learned to accept a dead end is simply a chance to explore something new. All of the creative 16 year olds coming through now can be more in charge than ever with their career pathway - a lot of that power comes from being so comfortable with technology. But here is my final bit of advice, social media allows us often to create an image of ourselves online that we think we want to be, that will be pleasing to others, that is premeditated and polished. Remember it’s ok to mess up, get caught out and get it wrong, just do it anyway.

[caitlinsmyth]

Tate Modern // Musée de Danse

I went down to Tate Modern a couple of weeks ago for their weekend of turning themselves into Musée de Danse, the programme of events aimed to explore what a Museum of Dance would be like. Led by French choreographer Boris Charmatz all levels of Tate were filled with dancers showing dance from different periods and styles. Boris Charmatz, has been an influential choreographer for twenty years now, his appointment as Director of Centre Choreographique National des Rennes et de Bretagne saw him rename it Musée De La Danse with the aim of creating a living, breathing, moving space where dance is kept as it should be - moving, expressing and drawing an audience. Tate Modern and it’s vast Turbine Hall and tightly curated permanent collections can only have been a daunting space to own, but I genuinely believe this event has hit the nail on the head for what it should have been. Any ideas you had about stagnant exhibitions of archival materials and footage about the development of dance and the standard performer / audience roles (performer - perform, audience stand back and watch please) were thrown out. Instead the whole of Tate was over taken by movement and real performers who you could get up close to and engage with.

The Turbine Hall had a series of larger scale projects my favourite being Levée des Conflits an endurance piece of improvised choreography make up of 25 movements, Charmatz led a workshop for the public to learn the moves and then take part in the piece - I’ve never seen so many people take part in something dance based! At this point in the day there had been many different performances in the space some which put the audience in their comfort zone of sit back and watch, but this was challenged at other points with solos that the audience could walk around and get close to. Watching this earlier in the day and seeing audience members backing away sharply as if they were going to get dragged into some audience participation comedy sketch or defiantly stand in front of the dancer not moving but looking increasingly uncomfortable made me think that the general public still had a hard time getting on with performance. However, Charmatz managed to coax at least 70 or so people from old to young, abled, disabled, every background into taking part in learning his moves, what a site! Now I know this event would of course have drawn a sympathetic crowd but still, this was something fantastic to watch, and the simple choreography meant everyone felt confident in moving.

Wondering through the permanent collections looking at 20 dancers - a living archive of the last 100 years of dance and Expo Zéro was definitely my favourite time - I spent hours. 20 dancers had appropriated spaces in the collections and walk ways to act as living exhibitions, demonstrating different types of dance from different eras that had influenced their own practice in the method they felt fit, some dancers performed pieces and then explained the era in which they were from, for example François Chaignaud performed early modern dance from the 1920s - Danse Libre (Free Dance) by François Malkovsky - a choreographer who is often forgotten in lieu of Isadora Duncan which challenged what ballet had established and focused on using natural movement - in my eyes these pieces were from one of the most important periods of modern dance but nowadays are seen performed less and less. Interspersed with a performance of Chaignaud’s own solo Dumy Moyi which explores phantasmic versions of early exotic dance which was often not exotic at all but elaborately made up and pretended to be from an exotic far away land. The way this selection was put together you saw the influence the early modern pieces had had on the dancers own choreography through the way his body moved. You heard straight from him the history and why these pieces were important and you heard in his voice the passion for them, this freedom the dancers had to explore areas of dance history that they felt connected to made this a more genuine and interesting interaction. Some of the 20 dancers took the chance to teach the audience things like Charleston others - Adam H Weinert - had painfully reconstructed dances from the thirties that had not been recorded but for a few photos and descriptions. They had young dancers talking about influences and in other spaces dancers who had performed with some of those influences - Yvonne Rainer, Anna Teresa De Keersmae. The most engaging this was being able to walk back through the spaces you had just been and all of a sudden you path was changed and a new piece was playing out somewhere else. 

Expo Zéro I felt was the boldest move of the Musée De la Danse. Tate had emptied out a series of galleries and filed it with 10 performers, artists and thinkers who were performing or discussing their own ideas of what a museum of dance would be like. It was bold because I still find audiences struggle with performance and find it hard to approach and this not only had performers speaking but nudity and expected audience interaction, there were no audience / dancer areas, there were no rules about where you could be in the space - naturally viewers let their distance, naturally I got close up. This kind of performance and dance has not for me been massively seen so live in very mainstream cultural institutes, this is kept more for the White Cubes, the Serpentine’s and the Gagosian’s of the world but Tate have boldly given it to a more general public, I’ll be interested to see how it is reviewed on social media. 

Overall I was blown away, the fact that this idea could so completely take over Tate was fantastic but even more so the fact so many audience members got close and involved was really important. I’ve danced for many years and to see that play out in a large and very public institute means there is a shifting perspective of dance, people are becoming more comfortable. As for dance as an art form until this point I had never questioned why there isn’t a museum of dance, the concept had never arose because in an arts museum or gallery dance is often ‘performance’. But it is time for dance to have as much focus on as the visual arts, no it cannot go to auction and make millions, no it cannot be put on a wall to gather in value or physically added to an archive, but it offers something so much different. Dance - as Tate’s Musée De la Danse showed - encourages people to think and feel with their bodies as well as their minds, in a modern world where our senses are overloaded and we can create any version of ourselves we like online this project got everyone on the floor of Tate wiggling their butts, letting their guard down and exploring what movement meant to them. Dance is an ever evolving thing, it evolves through time but through different bodies and relationships, its needed more than ever in todays de-sensitised society. So yes Tate Modern, I loved how bold this weekend was, I love how you as a national institute you really and quite fearlessly pushed your audience, now Chris Deacon, can you give a little section of your new buildings to Boriz Charmatz so this can be explored more in Britain... go on, be bold.

[caitlinsmyth]

NEW BEGINNINGS

Setting up my own business this year is proving interesting exhilarating and exhausting. But you reach a point where you cannot ignore an idea that has been formed in your mind, that you really think could benefit the arts world - or rather the many people trying to find their place in it - anymore. SO there was less to lose trying this out than not... 

THE IDEA, to create an agency/platform/business that offers solid marketing and business support to independent artists and small galleries, bespoke services both ongoing and one off for those arts professionals that need to drive their profile upwards themselves but may have limited funds or time of knowledge to do so. How does that sound?

The blog has been sorely ignored but going forwards - and I miss writing it! So going forwards, as well as my ranting, raving, fawning and swooning at the art world I am adding in marketing posts aimed to offer tops and pointers on how arts professionals can improve their marketing and build their profiles themselves... I am hoping for a mailing list also where I’ll offer an article a month in more depth on this but softly softly is my approach right now!

Oh and new website is up and running www.caitlinsmyth.com... blood sweat and tears doesn’t event cover it. Check it out, feedback to me, contact me!

[caitlinsmyth]

The fantastic Lumen Art Prize Preview evening at the Financial Conduct Authority building, Canary Wharf. Very much enjoyed the fresh and interesting digital art on show. A fantastic selection of very creative, interesting, complex and thought out pieces. My favourites; Sophie Kahn's stunning 3D printed sculpture, Karl Singporewala's intricate laser cute pieces and Patrick Tressets's eerie robot portraits, and Sally Sheinman's What Makes You You? Project.

[caitlinsmyth]

I love how art sometimes just hits you in the face with crazy...

[caitlinsmyth]

Nashville Rooms - Love West Kensington Project

A few months a go I came across a vinyl of a chocolate shop stretched over the front of a disused shop just off North End Road. It had details that led to me to the Hammersmith and Fulham Council website and one of their representatives - Nicki Burgess. 

The project entitled Love West Kensington is run by a group of locals and council workers and is part of both Mary Portas's scheme to regenerate our high streets and a Government scheme to reinvigorate empty shops. Love West Kensington aims to make the windows of disused shops on North End Road (West London) look more appealing, which in turn they hope will draw new business to the area.

I immediately thought this really is a great idea. But of course because of my involvement in the arts it got my mind mulling over the possibilities of what you could achieve by involving local artists, promoting them and the area - the project inspired a whole host of ideas.

So I contacted the council to see if they wanted any help with the project and possibly a person working in the arts to offer their time and knowledge. The enthusiastic response from Nicki was great to hear (so often in this industry to I get used to little or no response even when asking for nothing!).

I was immediately meeting with Nicki who runs the project and discussing the next vinyl with them, and boy was this one right up my street. The newest vinyl would be celebrating the Nashville Rooms which was an infamous music venue through the 70s and 80s based in the West Kensington end of North End Road (it is now the Famous Three Kings pub). 

The Nashville Rooms have a long history hosting many rock and punk gigs between 1975 and 1980. The vinyl records in the window dressing design highlight some of the famous bands who played there and the dates they played. Bands include U2, Joy Division, Sex Pistols, The Police, The Jam and Simple Minds (to name but a few).

My interest in the subculture history of London was first ignited by my work on the exhibition LLOYD JOHNSON: The Modern Outfitter at CHELSEA space. I'm fascinated by the history we have in West London - Kensington Market, Worlds End etc etc and how we can bring some of that cool back to the area. I did my homework and advised on elements of the design work as best I could - even had a stab at photoshop which is not a forte... And the results are featured below, it was great to see it finally installed and I have to say (although I'm biased towards anything celebrating subculture) it's my favorite on the road so far. I love that it has local cultural relevance alongside a design that can be enjoyed by people who know the venue and don't alike.

I think this particular vinyl really touches on a bigger idea of how West Kensington can celebrate it's history as well as its present through creative means. I'd love to see the area become a hub of creativity and creatives - art maps, pop up exhibitions, studios... My ambition and imagination run away with me... Watch this space though - I can't wait for the next vinyls and I hope the project can grow into something which really brings new people to the area and gets them to engage with it.

86 North End Road - before

And after!

Just hanging out... Not looking very rock and roll...

[caitlinsmyth]

DIGITAL REVOLUTION: Devart, Google and my 'Will.i.am of Oz' moment...

 In the words of Bob Dylan - 'these times they are a changing'...

I headed to the recently opened Digital Revolution exhibition at Barbican last week. This is the first large scale digital focused exhibition to hit London and it comes at aptly exciting times. New media art and the digital era is 100% at large and is growing in bravery daily.

The exhibition is tackling how digital media and technology has developed over the past few decades and how we are now at a point where it is beginning to interact with the art industry.

Development of the computer and computer games / early interactive art

Some of the oldest pieces in this exhibition only dated back to the 70's which doesn't even class them as antiques! But they are completely obsolete now which is fascinating. As a whole the exhibition was very full on – loud sound, flashing lights, A LOT of families and A LOT of buttons for their kids to press… however, the show is spread over three different parts of the Barbican, so where you start bunched up with everyone else in slight sensory overload, in a room looking at the development of computers and computer games that really hits your senses on entry, you have then spread out somewhat by the time you reach the final section – and room of 3D, interactive lasers in a smoke filled which you can push, pull and throw around the space.  

Commodore PET (first fully integrated “appliance computer” that included everything needed - even a tape deck!)

Early synth machine used on tracks such as Billie Jean by Michael Jackson.

The show itself is friendly to all ages and the visuals and interactive nature of everything made it a real all-rounder. The information is quite an addictive read and it's quite dazzling to see just how far we've come summarised in front of you. Some of the machines dating back to the 70's look so foreign to anything we use now its laughable.

The people watching was fairly fascinating also (always my favorite past time), namely watching frustrated kids not understand why the relic computers don't have touch screens etc. It's OK kiddies, you're not to know that in the ‘olden days’ you had to wait 10 seconds for the computer to think about responding to what you’d pressed, and that you had to give the computer space to think because, if you press the same button too many times or too quickly the whole thing was likely to crash... 

The history of computers and computer games however was not my main attraction. So let’s talk about 2 things. (1) The launch of Devart by Google and (2) Will.i.am’s cheeky collaborative contribution.

 Selfie

Devart by Google is tackling a new edge of the art world – art made using code. The project seeks to push the boundaries of what can be created using art and technology and is highlighting code as a creative form. Now my experience of digital art is largely researching it to find cringe-worthy, fantastical drawings akin to World of Warcraft or some sci fi flick – aka NOT boundary pushing contemporary art. 

Devart and Google thankfully are changing that stereotype for me. Their Digital Revolution commission is clever, witty, a bit fantastical and fun all in one section. From a 3D printer currently titled Co(de)factory  by Karsten Schmidt where anyone one can submit a design idea. To the Wishing Wall by Varvara Guljajeva and Mar Canet which translate your spoken wish into a butterfly on a butterfly or the winning piece Les metamorphoses de Mr. Kalia by Cyril Diagne and Béatrice Lartigue where Mr Kalia – a figure on a screen with the ability to follow your every move which encouraged an awful lot of wiggling and shaking from every age who had a go. And the best bit about the winner, you can use this piece yin your own home, yes digital art is coming to you if you don’t to go to it. With the ability to log in to wifi and get a guided tour to each piece by the artists themselves what more could you ask for? Well, if I was going to be really picky then I would have said a slightly larger breadth to the styles (interactivity and sound seemed paramount to most pieces) but really, I’m being very picky.

  Les metamorphoses de Mr. Kalia by Cyril Diagne and Béatrice Lartigue

The Treachery of Sanctuary by Chris Milk

And then of course the afore mentioned Will.i.am / Yuri Suzuki collaboration. I read the description and cringed a bit at the thought of Will.i.am playing at the art world, Yuri Suzuki is already a successful sound artist and designer but what possible ego trip could this be for the musician?! Actually, I ate my words - it was fantastic. The ‘live concert’ featured three pyramid instruments that contained xylophones in new forms playing themselves to the tune of a 3 ft tall singing projection (designed by Suzuki) of Will.i.am’s face created using projection mapping which follows you around the room in various lurid forms. It was like the Wizard of Oz on acid, I stood there, mouth open, slight smile, impressed. This was the point where I was on the pixelated band wagon.

‘Dreamin’ About the Future’ collaboration by Wil.i.am. and Yuri Suzuki 

Other sections like the room of 3D interactive lasers which you could move was definitely more interesting for the kids although worth a see. The information on how this technology was used in films like Gravity was fascinating. Overall the ebb and flow of the show was great and it really gave you a good impression of just how far we've developed technology over the past 50 years.

Overall we've reached a point where no matter how hard you fight it and want to rubbish digital arts – it is happening and it is loud and sometimes in your face and can be so clever you can’t get your head around it. Of course some is still seriously lacking in innovation but gone are the days of digital art being stills of your favorite computer game hero. But the scary and goose bump raising (yes – artgeek.com here) thing is that I really don’t know what the limits are to this genre, if we can create 3D lasers, alternate worlds, screens that mimic your every move, generate photo like images from nothing at all then where will this take us?

Z space has been opened up to the arts and I’m hugely excited to see where it goes.

And one prediction I’ll give is that entities like Google will pioneer the collecting of new media art, probably encourage a new breed of online gallery and seize and promote a section of the industry. Hey Google, when you are ready – look me up, I want on board.

[caitlinsmyth]

Dear Art World - I Used To Eat Crayons But Now It's Different.

Dear Art World,

Please see the attached letter in reference to my application to be a bigger part of you. 

You see, I'm desperate to make you bigger and better and I've been working on my education to do so for 27 years now. You have my undivided attention.

What started with eating the crayons has moved on, and now well I'm pretty much infatuated with you. I love to love, hate and simply not get art, I love when you feel something or an art work/performance/piece touches on a memory or familiarity, or when you really just like whats going on but don't know why, it makes you calm, or anxious, or angry or excited. I love that it can have that power and well, don't you think just about everyone should be able to experience that with a completely free mind to form their own experience.

How amazing that this industry has no right or wrong answer.

I want to help you open up to even more people, not be afraid that sometimes it might not go your way. Sure, people may not get it or like it or think it's down right ridiculous but at least they think SOMETHING. More people need to think SOMETHING about the arts. 

I'm a very practical person, I can facilitate more confidently that I can create. I want to facilitate you. I want to facilitate new audiences to experience what I get to experience, show them that there is art out there for everyone. I want show you as approachable from the most niche and new corners of yourself. 

I'll be waiting for my chance to thrive through you - come and find me. 

[caitlinsmyth]

Tides of Trends - Don't blame the Hipster

I just read this great article on the Guardian online all about end of the ‘hipster’ trend. It talks about how the original concept of the hipster - a subculture of men and women that value independent thinking and counter culture - initially used in the 40s in reference youths that fought the norm - listened to jazz music, followed their own path wherever it took them. It now has become a general description of anyone who wants to look, think and behave in a certain way, key areas being for men; sporting a large beard, turned up jeans, tattoos etc and for women; stripes, oversize denim jackets AND jeans, thick rimmed glasses, hat perched on the back of ones head, big sweatshirts. It also touches on the now negative connotations of being  a certain type of hipster (the apparently fake one…) - trying too hard, going through the motions, living on mummy and daddy’s bank roll etc etc. 

It got me thinking back to the Lloyd Johnson exhibition I worked on at CHELSEA space - based all on the rocker clothing designs of Lloyd Johnson - a clear mod. The rockers and the mods both followed these trends to break away from the post war government and society they were brought up in.It was such a new concept that to actually commit to the movement in any way meant you could only go whole heartedly fourth into breaking cultural rules and you were making your own clothes and searching for elusive literature and music and events you needed for the ride.

This got me thinking, are we viewing these new trends and the people who follow them in the same way as older trends have been viewed - as forward thinking avant garde styles and people who are trying to view the world in a new radical way. When really maybe we should be viewing them differently… For me a lot of the newer trends I see, hipster, normcore etc etc have been born during the internet culture, where more and more information has been available to anyone who wants to find it - Google current fashion trends and you get 54,600,000 results. Specifying to hipster trends still results in 7,640,000 hits, that’s a pretty confusing place to try and find your voice.

We’re overloaded with magazines, social media and the internet which all depict what is the most cool and avant guarde ways to dress, think and be seen and we now have everything possible available to us at the drop of your hat. I think it’s this overload that has changed the way we find our styles. No longer are people trying to push the boundaries of their lifestyle and using a trend to define what they believe in and explore new ways of thinking. Instead these new trends provide a way for people to find a place and a community to define themselves by. 

Yes this seems less rock and roll and for a while I’ll admit I was saddened that my generation looked unlikely to make any leaps forward in culture. But instead we’ve hit this technological revolution and we’re all fighting to acclimatise and find a place within a world that is much smaller.  

So my new perspective on trends - hipsters or others. Is that this is my generation’s way of coping with a quickly changing world, finding a sense of community when we don’t talk to each other anymore and when someone on the other side of the world can be as close as your mates on the other side of a city. So we don the clothes, the accent, the interests and exist as a part of something until we know ourselves better in this overloaded world….

Don’t blame the hipster, they’re just trying to fit in…!

Here is the article that prompted this rather heavy Monday action.

[caitlinsmyth]

Vogue - British Models - a very British look

'Whatever packaging they come in, British models are real women. They are living, breathing, wonky products of our vibrant island nation, a place where tradition and anarchy sit side by side, where difference is celebrated and beauty is often found in the strangest of places.'

Fantastic writing on the strength of British models coming through by Robert Fairer in this months Vogue. I love the description of British beauty - Fairer hits the nail on the head but I think this extends way beyond just models and into a lot of us British women. Yes, now I see what the British look is…

[caitlinsmyth]

Lensculture Exposure Award 2013 - Private View

I've recently been paying more and more attention to Lensculture - an online platform which aims to champion the best photography from around the world - no small task there. 

I have to say that I am enjoying their site and even more so their Facebook page feeds which are a relentless stream of interesting photography based information, I love that I can log on throughout the day - and I'll be honest I am thoroughly bored of the drivel people put on Facebook so there are really not many reasons I want to log on anymore - and find a new interesting photographer or a project I want to read more about, which means the Lensculture feeds really are a highlight of my dwindling wall content.

Lensculture also run photography competitions and last night saw the show 31 Contemporary Photographers open at London College of Communication. The exhibition consists of 31 photographers, who hail from 20 different countries and who all either won, came as a runner up or were a finalist for the Lensculture Exposure Award 2013. I was invited down by their collaborators Genesis Imaging who have produced all the artworks for the show. I'm lucky to have been working with Genesis now for a year or so on the printing and mounting of artworks (this is about the most concise explanation I can offer regarding what they do as their professional advice, guidance, support and the amount you can learn from each of them make up a huge part of why they are so good at what they do).

The Exposure Award is an open call competition that aims to showcase the best photographers from across the globe who work in all genres of photography. Again, no small task there for Lensculture, and at first I did wonder - if you are going to tackle everything everywhere - how on earth do you do that well and not offer a slightly, well, mediocre or diluted exhibition. 

On arrival I was quickly educated in how.

London College of Communication lies in Elephant and Castle, a huge University building which even some of its staff agreed from the outside doesn't look all that inspiring. When you enter though and are directed up a set of stairs you arrive bang in the main exhibition space which is in a high walled, light and bright cavernous area of the college - immediate impact on arrival. 

The curation of the show - undertaken by Genesis Imaging's Creative Director Mark Foxwell - was fantastic. Entering at the top of the stairs you need a second or two just to take in the unexpected size of the space in, classically framed photographic works by finalist artists are on your left and lead your slightly dazed self into the exhibition calmly with a familiar exhibition visual, they kind of allow you a minute of comfort before you hit the arresting work of the competition winner. I particularly enjoyed Nick Ballon's piece here of the empty shell of a plane - very haunting through its simplicity.

The Lab Project - Nick Ballon

This section then leads you onto the wall which houses the winning artist - something you are well aware of from the moment you reach the top of the stairs but as I said the impression the space makes means you need to allow time to adjust. 

Artist David Favrod displays his winning series Hikari at least 6 ft high on the main wall - it bowls you over not in a polite soft way but in a way that you need to take a five minute step back to contemplate the scale of it before you begin to notice the details - amazing!

Hikari - David Favrod 

After this moment you can then begin to discover the detail; the choice to keep areas pixelated, the artists hand painting over an image, the composition of each photograph. The project is based on the idea of shaping memory and how Favrod, as a child, has appropriated memories that are not his own and yet been influenced by them all. The construction of the piece does translate this, a sort of collage of slightly uneasy and not quite right scenes which seem fragmented but are brought stunningly together via colour and composition. I really enjoyed it - a very worthy winner and an artist I have firmly pegged as one I will keep my eye on. 

The rest of the exhibition thankfully does not try to compete with this work but carries on with the ebb and flow you were presented with initially. Interesting works - beautifully composited, and from the weird to the wonderful - Yijun Liao's series 'Experimental Relationships' presented me with an almost comical series of odd private moments;

Homemade Sushi - Yijun Liao - from the series 'Experimental Relationships' 

The way the couple look defiantly at the camera really begs you to question whether it is rather you that is looking that is not the norm instead of what they are doing in each image.

Overall I felt this was a really strong show, the selection of the winner and runners up was fantastic (selected by a judging panel brought together by Jim Casper the founder of Lensculture) and the artworks had been produced and curated perfectly by Genesis Imaging.

This really cemented Lensculture in as a platform to watch for me and I urge all photography fans to sign onto their newletter and Facebook page feeds.

The exhibition runs until the 5th April at London College of Communications see here for further information.