Debate

This is an account of an art project entitled 'Debate' which I was involved in at Speakers' Corner, London, on Sunday 21st November.

The event was organised by London based artist group The Dogfood Idea. It involved a group of artists going to Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park and conducting an 'exhibition' by engaging in the etiquette/process/traditions of Speakers' Corner. My contribution was to conduct a questionnaire, which I filled in as a I asked members of the public questions. 

Questions included 'So what are you doing here today?', 'What is most important to you, or what do you love most?' and 'Would you like to ask me any questions?'. The questions essentially were aimed to open up conversation. At the end of the questionnaire I would offer it to the subject to keep. Most people were quite willing to talk to me, and most kept the questionnaire. The event was mainly focused over a one hour period, so I didn't speak to a huge number of people. 

The questionnaire also included some images of my photographic artworks, so I came away with some interesting comments on them. Some people were pretty indifferent to them, one guy criticised an image's ISO (I explained it was taken with a camera phone). Because of the atmosphere at Speakers' Corner, other people would gather round and sometimes join the discussion while I was talking to someone, which was good, and wouldn't have happened somewhere else.

I think my key interests were speaking to strangers, (more exoteric?) public responses to my (photographic) artwork, the questionnaire as an art form and exploring personal versus institutional validations of my artwork (i.e. what did I get out of the project, and what did anyone get out of my artistic contribution?). It was good to go outside, practice 'art', and to discuss with strangers. It was sometimes like an art college crit or tutorial. I think this owed to the Speakers' Corner tradition. The questionnaire format seemed like a good platform to exhibit my work. I often feel like the explanations I give when I'm discussing my work is actually part of the work, I like the idea of personal encounters as artworks.

The event curators/organisers commented that Speakers' Corner is currently dominated by (Male) Christian and Muslim orators and assumed that the artists' participation would make for some alternative contributions. I think that an interesting element of my involvement in the project then, is the fact that I am a Christian, although I didn't discuss this with the curators. I included the following references in my project proposal for Debate:

• I am currently working as part of a collective called Archipelago, which has received a commission from Cornerhouse, Manchester as part of their projects program. The project is due to go ahead in January/February 2011. Part of my contribution involves a questionnaire.
• Medical questionnaires (I am currently training to become a healthcare professional, and use questionnaires with patients).
• Evangelism. The artist who brought this project to my attention once told me that my approach to art was 'evangelical'.

The 'evangelism' inspiration really spanned two ideas. Firstly the idea of wanting to take art to everybody, and secondly the phenomenon of approaching strangers on the street, which also happens within Christian evangelism. 

http://www.thedogfoodidea.com/ (information, pictures etc under 'newsblog')