Cardiff Council Residency.
I’ve just begun a new residency set up by Made in Roath working with Cardiff Council at County Hall. The first meetings I’ve had with them have had a very polite but stuttered quality; anything could happen, but once processed through a complex of secretaries, consultations, meetings, emails. This is the strange, and sometimes intangible, substance of the political work that happens there.
At each meeting the council ask me when I would like to start. It seems that neither they nor I know what the start is. I always say that I’ll start next week, though I’m sure it’s already begun. We don’t really know the start, and we certainly don’t know the end.
It’s interesting to discuss art events with people who don’t have a lot of experience in the visual arts. The people who work at Cardiff Council work in a highly pressurised and complex environment. They are not immediately at ease with something open ended or unpredictable, and where the measures of success are not clearly identifiable. Also, the question of trust was raised. Was I there to be provocative? Might I create something shocking? If art is not in a traditional medium is it more likely to be provocative or shocking? Might I use the position for some political aims? They, undoubtedly worry about what it might look like to the public.
These are all things to explore: The substance of the work that takes place there. The role of a work of art in a place where no one has time to ponder. The role of an artist reflecting on this already well documented and accountable public body. The terrifying spectre of ‘The Public’ looming over everything that happens. The buildings themselves and their weird carpets.
Sam Hasler
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