CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 65
THE PILOT STUDY
The pilot study ¹ had targeted artists and commissioners
who were considered to already have achieved success and
a degree of validation, with first-hand experiences of having
been validated.
Commissioners had been asked about their role in
supporting artists working mainly outside the gallery system,
deciding who the best artists to work with are, how these artists
achieve visibility and reputation and the main advantages and
disadvantages of the current system.
Artists had been asked about the main routes to visibility
and a nationally successful career; different ways used to measure
success, the comparative impact on an artist’s professional
status of a top tier gallery exhibition, or a significant project
in a non-gallery context, incidence of institutional training to
prepare for social practice, routes to finding out about the ‘top
players’ in the field, degree of satisfaction with the way artists
working outside the gallery system are validated and how to
improve things.
The pilot concluded that the values of social practice
artists and their requirements and desires for validation
diverge significantly from the gallery (art world-as-network)
model. Social practice artists consequently have less influence
within these networks, in part because the commissioning practices,
funding streams, artistic and ethical values, outputs and
outcomes of social practice are not fully compatible with those
of the contemporary art world and art markets.
The current research confirmed the validation gap, adding
evidence to existing insights and accumulating new evidence
for four further thematic interlocking issues
• Difficulty articulating social practice,
including creating definitions and
negotiating roles and values;
• Unrealistic / unreasonable expectations
from project partners (e.g. commissioners,
participants, members of the public);
• Lack of support and infrastructure
for social projects;
• Perceived second class status of
social practice in the art world.
It modelled how artist-led networks can connect with one
another to share expertise and support, becoming communities
of practice, while linking further to relevant organisations,
funders and commissioners.
OVERVIEW OF ISSUES AND CHALLENGES
These insights can be formulated as four challenges:
a. External roles & awareness: these
concern the place and profile of social
practice in the artistic community and
wider society. There are challenges
in defining, its role and purpose,
its community and workings. There is
a perceived second-class status of
social practice in the art world.
b. External commissioning & participation:
artists, commissioners and funders
report unrealistic and uninformed
expectations from project partners
(e.g. commissioners, participants,
members of the public).
c. Internal support and resources:
There is a lack of support and
infrastructure for social projects;
there are felt to be low levels of
funding given the expectations and
demands of the tasks required.
d. Internal capacity building: lack of
skills and training, under-established
communities of practice and network
functions, lack of professional support
systems for social art practitioners
and stakeholders.
1 Beyond the Gallery, 2015.