The Intended Audience
In Adam Arvidsson’s (2019) book, Changemakers, he describes a condition of people yearning for connection and productive change from a space of precarity during periods of flux. I see myself as one of these people, and am sure there are others seeking the same. The motivation to pursue this project was first and foremost for myself. But it is also for fellow students, practitioners and educators that are navigating their studies, curriculums and careers within creative industries seeking change even when a tangible path to change seems unclear. Through the course of this project I hope to involve those who are engaged in, those who are frustrated by and those who can influence the current systems we occupy.
Engagement So Far
My intention with this first part of the project was to make myself and my conversation partners audiences to one another. I did so by creating a framework to engage in mutual dialogue, rather than a one-sided interview. In the case of work that place such a demand on participants and audiences, they, ‘must exhibit a commitment to the idea … and be willing…’ to involve themselves (1969: p.190). The willingness of all those involved, needless to say, greatly impacts the nature of the results.
Thus, I see my conversation partners as participants, contributors and audiences to the ideas presented through my work. They are those who are willing. Willing to be involved, share and listen. Have an attitude of care towards making some change, however small or impossible it may seem. I reached out to people in my networks expressed what my project was aiming to explore, and chose five people who were most willing to discuss the subject of creative pursuit under Capitalism – and all of the other connecting threads.
The response post-dialogue was encouraging: each of the people I conversed with felt these were absolutely necessary conversations to have. We agreed that these are conversations we have with each other all the time. But often they’re conversations we brush off as we resign to the fact that nothing can be done.
In the context of this project, the process of documenting and being able to look back and reflect on the thoughts and feelings we express in such conversations, many (including myself) felt it would be incredibly useful to tangibly pick up on the systemic failures we come up against all the time. Things we are all aware of, yet we find that we cannot focus on them as they are concerns that are much larger than we as individuals can meaningfully deal with.
On sharing the completed publication back with those whom I dialogued with, again I was encouraged. All were interested in what the others had to say. And comforted by the commonalities in our experiences. Beyond that, they were even more intrigued by those with different perspectives.
I have also shared the publication with friends and fellow students on MAGCD. And one of the bits of feedback that stuck out to me was that each the individual character of each of my dialogue partners shone through. It was very important to me to preserve the qualities of the very idiosyncratic characteristics and human dynamics within dialogue.
Plans For Future Audience Engagement
To involve people outside of MAGCD and those I have dialogued with, I have arranged to speak to a group of 14 final year students at London College of Fashion studying BA Critical Practice in Fashion Media on April 21st 2023.
I will be speaking with them about navigating creative career paths within the current condition and distributing copies of the publication. I will also engage them in a group discussion, to encourage them to share their experiences, perspectives, hopes and concerns as they are on the precipice of entering the creative industry. This will be an opportunity to receive feedback on my project, but also to push it forward. Perhaps it is a chance to ask them about what they speculate the future might look like? Or how they might like to be engaged in these types of discussions further? Perhaps this may give me ideas on how these conversations can be facilitated through different formats and circulated in different ways?
Additionally, this project is also aimed at those in positions of power within creative industries and institutions; for their acknowledgement of these issues they should be concerned and involved with. For now I will specify the audience within my reach at university: heads of college, those who allocate funding, work in careers development, student union leaders, those who develop curriculums and initiatives. This is a bit more nerve-wracking but I think it would be important to at least make an attempt to engage with someone in such a position.
To keep it specific. I might try to send a copy to the Head of College at CSM, Rathna Ramanathan. With Rathna being a Graphic Communication practitioner and working within publishing I can get her perspective on the format, design and circulation of my project. And also, hopefully start a discussion on some of the topics covered through the dialogues as well. Along with the publication I will include a note outlining key points about the project and publication that can help me open a dialogue with Rathna.
Further Development
I think while I am still a bit unsure about where to take this project next, there are a few threads that I can follow to help me get there.
The first being: how can such dialogues can take place and be documented on a different scale. Can there be a bigger discussion with more people? What might that look like? Can this be a physical group workshop? Or a digital forum? How can this be circulated in other ways? Can the content from this publication be translated into prompts for further discussion?
The next being: if the first part of this project was about exploring the present conditions. Can the next part of the project be about involving others to speculate and visualise scenarios for the future?
Bibliography
Arvidsson, A. (2019) Changemakers. Cambridge: Polity Press. pp 1 – 38.
Halprin, L. (1969) RSVP Cycles: Creative Processes in the Human Environment. New York: George Braziller.