THE CONTEXT FOR THE REPORT 24
DEFINITIONS
In our report for Axisweb, Validation beyond the gallery, (2015: 3)
we used the phrases ‘beyond the gallery’ and ‘work outside
of the gallery system’ to indicate the group of artists that our
research found lacked access to validation. We also referred to
socially engaged art as a broad umbrella term used to describe
a wide range of practices in this area, including collaborative,
participatory, interactive, public and live art.
In this report, we opt for the term ‘social practice’ to
emphasise artmaking in which social relationships are integral
to the work. We stop using the term ‘socially engaged art’ (with
which we began the research) in an attempt to get away from
the suggestion that art and social life are separate entities
unless and until they are sutured together.
At the same time, we recognise that there is no perfect
terminology and below we list some of the other terms that
expand, co-exist alongside, or cut across our use of social
practice.⁴ The discomfort and often times disagreement about
these terms demonstrates how labile are the experiences they
attempt to name and how important ongoing dialogue, cooperation,
agonism and dissent remain. The challenge for the
field, and any research we would argue, is how to achieve sharp
analysis of moving phenomena to support well-informed policy,
whilst remaining equitable.
Socially Engaged Practice
1. Flexible and encompassing a wide range
of public practices and engagement levels
“The term ‘socially engaged’ art is often employed in a
broad way to describe a wide range of practice, including but not
limited to: collaborative, participatory, interactive, public and live
art. Artists use and interpret these and other terms in a variety of
ways, representing different stances and degrees of engagement
with the art market and gallery system. This system is itself
diverse, comprising commercial and public galleries and
different routes via which artists might be assimilated into it.
This can include being ‘represented’ by a gallery or conversely
‘employed’ within an education wing.” (Ravetz and Wright,
2015: 3; emphasis added)
2. Co-authorship/co-production
“When referring to the term socially engaged photography,
we mean activities or projects where photographers and
communities / individuals come together to co-author or co-produce
visual representations of the world around us. The process
behind the work produced is often as important as the final
photographic work, and projects are often reliant on collaboration
and discussion. The work often reflects multiple
voices about a particular social, political, economical (sic) or
environmental issue, rather than that of a single artistic voice.
(Socially Engaged Photography Network (SEPN).⁵ Open Eye
Gallery; emphasis added)
Participatory Art
1. Wittingly or unwittingly disruptive
“Operating at the edge of normative social structures , participatory
art confronts us with new questions. It disrupts the concepts
and disciplines within and between which it works, abandoning the
security of those existing forms and so challenging us to become
more self-aware. The disruption is not always conscious or
deliberate, but it is the unavoidable result of stepping into no
man’s land.” (Sholette, 2010: 27. Our emphasis)
2. Act of joining in
“… emphasises the act of joining in” and “… the creation
of art by professional artists and non-professional artists.”
(Matarasso, 2019: 47)
Community Arts
1. Culture shaped by the creativity of all
“[…] aimed to give shape to the creativity of all sectors of
society, but especially to people living in areas of social, cultural
and financial deprivation.” (Bishop, 2012: 177)
2. Artistic activity characterised by dialogue
with a community
“ Community art is artistic activity that is based in a commu -
nity setting, characterised by interaction or dialogue with the
community and often involving a professional artist collaborating
with people who may not otherwise engage in the arts.”
(Tate Art Terms)
SOCIAL PRACTICE ART AND ARTISTS
Social practice artists work closely with participants and /
or audiences. They use social relationships and structures as
the primary medium for their work. Their practice is characterised
by how it brings together social and artistic values. At best,
social practice achieves artistically powerful results, leads to
new awareness of social conditions and can on occasions stimulate
beneficial social change. Much of this happens despite a lack
of beneficial infrastructure, and does so on restricted budgets.
Social practice covers a wide range of different concepts,
skills and approaches. When asked to describe the routes they
had taken to working in this way, the artists who took part in
4 Adapted from Susan Jones, personal communication,
in response to an earlier draft of this report.
5 https://openeye.org.uk/socially-engagedphotography-network/