Axisweb Research Validation beyond the gallery | Page 16

“When things work there’s not
really an unpicking, there’s a
knowingness.”

12

Aspects used to measure success
Measures of success suggested were mainly sociallyorientated and/or intrinsic: artists preferred to make
relational judgements about the extent to which
they had achieved quality, through measures such as
how much participants are impacted by work, ability
to co-produce the work with participants, knowing
people feel proud to be part of it and potentially
effecting change for individuals or communities.
Several openly challenged the terminology and
quantification of success.
Successful for who? … It’s not vocabulary I
would even think of… I find it too bureaucratic
and too funding-application-like, the language
of fundraising and I try to escape it in my
practice.
(Ania Bas)
…when things work there’s not really an
unpicking, there’s a knowingness.
(Steve Pool, Poly-Technic)
Many artists spoke of success as related to quality,
linked to ask