It's all about relationships

Seminar discussions have focused on the role of the artist and his/her responsibilities and relationship to his/her audience. 

Stephen Willats’ diagram of the dynamic relationship between artist, audience and society is handy because it gives a sense of the constant interplay between all those involved in the creative process. According to Grant Kester (Conversation Pieces:10), ‘the emphasis is on the character of this interaction, not the physical or formal integrity of a given artifact or the artist’s integrity in producing it’. Yet, while the artist may cede control over outcome, and focus instead on what Roxane Permar calls, ‘creating situations that build relationships – either in the moment or long-term as a result of the situation’ (comment made during Seminar 11), the artist does remain the key responsible actor.

If the responsibility is to accommodate artistic freedom it cannot be bound to an imposed moral code. Yet at some level the artist can be held accountable both by the audience and by wider society for radical deviation from social norms. It seems to me that artistic, rather than simply moral, integrity in socially engaged art, seems fundamentally to be about practicing awareness. More specifically, this might be awareness of the relationships between the elements of Willats’ diagram, and how they might play out in a particular creative process. A process that demonstrates this awareness in planning and execution may not be socially positive, or morally uplifting, but at least it is likely to have integrity.

talking to the ghosts

The main qualities or skills a socially engaged artist might therefore need are about awareness of relationships.  Stephanie Knight, for example, is described by Artworks Scotland as, ‘specialising in social justice and human rights, international collaboration and reconciliation…a collaborative researcher in applied theatre and organisational development, international leadership and management. … extensive experience in lecturing and education and in developing pedagogical and research methodologies with applied theatre and arts practitioners’. Helguera (p.x) writes of the value for socially-engaged artists in ‘gathering knowledge from a combination of disciplines – pedagogy, theater, ethnography, anthropology and communication, among others’

It seems that a great deal of the learning in SEA is about knowledge of self and others. As these relationships will change in every new, unfamiliar situation and set of individuals, one is always learning.

During the Forest Day in Project Wild Millbuie I was struck by the differences between the children’s responses to their environment and how that might be reflective of their home ‘culture’. Many of the children are of farming stock and familiar with being outside. But one boy regarded every insect or predatory bird as potentially dangerous and frightening, and nearly stamped on a few bugs before I could explain. Two of the girls had a real fear of any sort of bug, butterfly, did not want to go to the toilet outdoors, and found the boggy ground unpleasant. Having become familiar with my own children’s love of anything alive and indifference to wet and dirt I realized what an enormous challenge it is to enable children like this to feel really ‘free’ in a natural environment. And if these are rural kids, imagine how much more difficult it might be with fully-evolved urban children! 

So I felt that my responsibility as the ‘artist’ was to create a variety of situations conducive to stimulating creativity. Not all participants will respond to the same things. Luckily, with these children, I found that the boy, absolutely loved ‘going for a walk’ and ‘the boggy bit’, and even appreciated the bugs in the end. The two girls really enjoyed choosing their special tree and making nature sculptures.  According to the Head teacher, it was really positive for these children to have experienced the day and been challenged in their own comfort zones, as I was challenged in mine. The Forest has an identity and you meet it on its terms, not yours. After all, it is all about learning about relationships.

The Forest Day!

Finally, after a postponement due to staff issues, we got out into the Forest on 23 April, the first Thursday after the Easter holidays.

We did so much and it was such fun. I've written it up in detail in my Final Project portfolio, but here is a taster...

We stopped and looked, listened, touched and smelled lots of things. We did shows and told stories, made nature sculptures, counted rings, found feathers, lots of tracks, a dead frog and a dead bird, live tadpoles and a nesting osprey!

A highlight was going off-track and the crossing of the bog. The children took turns leading and pathfinding through the undergrowth, checking on the welfare of the group and alerting them to wildlife. They really enjoyed taking control and I could see it was a real challenge for some of them to decide on a good route in such wild country. The various leaders then realized the power they had and led their charges along the boggiest bits, absolutely loving the squelchy moss and water. We had to cross a narrow plank bridge and made the most of dipping their boots in the water as they crossed. The smallest girl struggled a bit with the terrain, but managed it and loved the bog! Then we crossed an area of moss several feet deep, which was quite a challenge for some, but so soft and sinky! They loved the feel of it - sat on it and bounced on it. 

There was the special tree spot – an area of lovely misshapen Scots pines.  The kids really enjoyed picking their favourite tree and spending some time with it. The children then told why they had chosen that tree and what was so special about it.

special tree

Once they had looked at the bark etc. they began climbing and swinging and really behaving like great wild little animals (in the best sense). 

Making music from a cone and a feather

One boy found a feather and larch cones and explored all the different kind of sounds they could make together. 

At one of the three burial cairns I told the true story that a farmer who wanted to use the stone from the cairn c.1800 had found huge human bones in it. ‘There were found on their removal human bones of a gigantic size, among the rest a skull sufficiently capacious, according to the description of a labourer employed by the farmers, to contain “two lippies of beer”.’ (Hugh Miller Scenes and Legends, 1835). At this point something happened that made me realize how immersed in their imaginations some of the kids were. A boy in our group found the note to us from the other group on the cairn, but was scared by it and tore it up. He said he thought it had really been left by ghosts. Once we had calmed him down we pieced the paper together. Luckily we could read it because it was beautiful. It read:

I’m older than the trees

I have bones in my rocks

I have rocks in my bones

My spirits flow in and out

Of the rocks til the end of time

My people must sleep

Please do not disturb…

We love Millbuie! (and sausages)

We could have done with two days to fit everything in that we wanted to do, and some things will need to wait until another day. But overall the feedback from the children and adults and Facebook comments that evening confirmed the Day was a great success.  We have definitely started building the special relationship between the children (and adults) and the Forest that the project is all about.

At the end of the day we returned to Wester Brae for a bonfire, sausages and marshmallows.

The ospreys are back!

Art, like life, takes its own time. This morning I spent at least 3 hours looking closely at a piece of silk, dyed grey and rust. I looked, placed it, turned it and re-placed it in relationship to another piece of silk until, it felt 'just right'. Last night I worked on a piece of tapestry, each thread and colour closely woven, building up a fabric that has a little 'life' of strands, the whole thing somehow a record of many tiny moments of decision, all existing in relationship to each other. 

Last school term ended hectically, with staff off ill, and the children and teachers I saw looking worn out, frayed, faded. So it was that the Forest visit planned at the end of March could not happen because a key staff member was off exhausted. The time wasn't right. Term starts again on Monday 20th April.

Meanwhile, out there in the Forest, there is a meeting of many story journeys and the weaving of a mad crazy beautiful tapestry of LIFE! When I go out at dawn now to do bird counts, my ears have to untangle the sycopated song of chiffchaff, fresh from Africa, from wheezing siskin, tinkling goldfinch, the tiny whinny of the crested tit, the rattle of redpoll and the rest. 

Most exciting of all, after a tense wait of at least two weeks since they were first expected, the Osprey are back at both nest sites! Their journey traces a thread over 5500 miles long from the coastal swamps of the Gambia, across the sand of the Sahara, the Atlas, Spain, the Pyrenees, the Low Countries, Essex tarmac, Peak District gritstone and on up, and up and up, to that very special branch on that particular tree, the one that felt just 'right'... All in their own time. But how many stories they could tell!

So I think the Project Wild Millbuie can take its chance too. 24th April is the new day we hope will work. The new time means adaptations to the plan. We will have to take a new route to avoid disturbing nesting osprey and red kite, but the children stand a good chance of seeing them too.

Another development is that I have booked the local storyteller into the school for 1 May to tell tales of the Millbuie. He's sure to weave a bit of magic into the mix. 

On a more serious note, I have had a positive response from the Forestry Commission. I will be meeting the FCS ecologist and community outreach person so I can start to match up what I am doing in the Forest with the Resolis children with what might happen with other Black Isle schools, and talk about how we might use this chance to make sure that all that rich web of Forest wildlife is protected and made richer. 

It is all about the creative imagination, making new stories. And time...