As my time as Longhouse guest editor draws to a close, I’ve been considering how I’ve found the online residency and what impact it has had on the development of my practice.
It’s been a fascinating experience which I have thoroughly enjoyed throughout the two months. Looking back on my plan for the site, it’s clear that the content I produced developed in different ways than I first imagined - different opportunities opened up while other paths shifted course. I’m happy with how it developed in this way and think it’s helped me realise the benefit of having a plan that is able to respond over time. I’ve also learnt a great deal about just how much time needs to be dedicated to developing focussed online content, either for an organisation or individual artist and I’m now eager to build on this experience going forward.
The most valuable element of the residency has been the framework for writing about ideas and sharing experiences and interests surrounding working in the public realm. It is this focussed space which has allowed me to recognise trends and identify patterns in my own work and the work of others. Making contact with lots of fellow public realm artists has also been particularly rewarding and the diversity of artistic backgrounds people have come from has broadened my appreciation of what a ‘public realm artist’ might be.
Predictably, the time has flown by leaving me wanting to carry on and add more info to the site. On the technical side, I’ve learnt a great deal about working behind the scenes with websites and now feel I have developed a much better appreciation of how to write in a style that suits different online contexts. A more painful learning experience has been to understand the value of backing up laptops on a regular basis – last week my hard drive failed resulting in me loosing a great deal of my work – a lesson to artists everywhere!
I’ve recently added a few more organisations to the ’Networks’ page which is looking pretty comprehensive as a resource now and two additional artists, Tom Milnes and Kerry Morrison have been added to the ‘Artists’ section - two of Tom’s videos can also be viewed in ‘No Comment’.
Thanks to Longhouse and everyone else who’s helped me out with things. I’m looking forward to following the next guest editor’s take on the role!
