A
A discussion questioning the ethics of Ethnography within Contemporary Art. Or the internal dialogue of a slighlty confused art student considering ethnograhy and ethics within Fine Art.
Frances Healands Crirical Report 2018 University of Lincoln
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Contents Page 3 Introduction Page 4 Chapter 1 Page 10 Chapter 2 Page 18 Chapter 3 Page 21 Conclusion Page 22 Bibliography
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Introduction This paper is written in the style of a Socratic dialogue, a system used by Plato, Socrates and various philosophers to voice their internal dialogues and explain their meaning, often using characters as semiotics for their own selves. Susan Koba and Anne Tweed describe Socratic dialogue as "the conversation that results from the Socratic method, a discussion process during which a facilitator promotes independent, reflective, and critical thinking" (Hard-toTeach Biology Concepts, 2009). I have favoured this method, as discussion for me it is a good way to assimilate and understand complicated theories and strategies. This work is intended to introduce these topics to A-level or B-Tec students showing an interest in the areas mentioned and aiming towards further education. This dialogue demonstrates my understanding of the role of the artist as ethnographer in 2018 and how it has developed over the decades, questioning the pitfalls and misinterpretations of the artist wishing to pursue a path of anthropological enquiry and offering a possible alternative avenue to explore ethnography in a more ethically considered mode. Discussing Theorists such as; Hal Foster, and Stephen Johnstone, artists such as; Francis Alys, Sophie Calle, Janet Cardiff, Susan Philipsz and Kathrin Bohm, addressing the ethics involved in the creation of work based on culture. The ’other’ and the turn to the Everyday are key terms used in this paper and are defined within the essay. We begin in the University of Lincoln library, where Fran meets...
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Chapter 1 The Library, Freshers Week. It was Fran’s first time to the university library, struggling to cope in a new
environment full of people half her age, young, beautiful and full of life, she felt out of place and so headed to the library to familiarise herself with the huge building, and find refuge from the bounty of youth. As she went to enter the lift to the 2nd floor where the Fine Art books reside, a blue haired, spectacled, woman, juggling several reference books, not very successfully, tried to exit, as they passed each other they collided, sending the tower of tomes tumbling to the floor. Both apologising profusely, Fran bent to help the woman collect the books, looking at the titles as she gathered them. “Are you studying art?” asked Fran, holding a book published by The Whitechapel Gallery. “Yes, just starting my third year, I am writing my critical report, hence all the books.” “Cool,” Fran replied, “I’m doing art too, just starting first year, I can’t wait to get stuck in. What is your report about?” The woman took a deep breath, “Well, I am looking at the role of ethnography within Contemporary art, to cut a long explanation short.” She looked apologetic, knowing that the subject could be confusing, having tried to explain to her family on several occasions and watching their eyes glaze over the more she tried to explain. “Oh,” said Fran, her forehead furrowing, the woman could almost hear the cogs of her mind whirring. “What’s Ethnography? No wait, what defines contemporary art? And who’s this Hal Foster?” gushed Fran, glancing at the cover of the book, then handing it back to the slightly, familiar looking woman. The woman smiled, and said, “Fancy a coffee and a chat? I could do with discussing this subject with someone, it would help with my writing. My name is Fran.” Tucking the last of the books in her backpack and holding out her hand in a gesture of friendship.
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2 minutes later, Zing Café, LPAC. The women sat on the sofas opposite each other, emptying sachets of sugar into their lattes, strangely, both had picked a wooden fork over a stirrer and held it by its prongs, slowly mixing in the granules. Fran looked up, “Those wooden stirrers are pathetic,” she smiled noticing that Fran was doing the same. Same name, same course, same quirks, she thought. Taking a pause to compose herself she began to explain. Contemporary Art is art produced during the late 20th and early 21st century. Ethnography is the branch of anthropology in which different cultures are studied and described. (Collins, 2018) Ethnography within Contemporary Art is a systematic study of societies or cultures and usually involves the artist fully immersing themselves into the life of their subject to gain a ‘true’ experience, stemming from movements such as; realism and conceptualism, often with a minimalist approach, often evolving into a practice led method. Are you still with me? Fran nodded, scribbling in her notebook. Harold Foss “Hal” Foster (born 1955) is an American art critic and theorist known for writing a paper, ‘The artist as Ethnographer’ 1996. Responding to a paper written by Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin (German: 15 July 1892 – 26 September 1940) who was a German Jewish philosopher, cultural critic and essayist. An eclectic thinker, combining elements of German idealism, Romanticism, Western Marxism, and Jewish mysticism. Hal Fosters’ paper, ‘The artist Ethnographer’ reflects on the words of Walter Benjamin,’ The author as producer’, (1934), in which Benjamin calls for the advanced artist to stand on the left “to side with the proletariat”. This seems quite a noble stance to take and today this paradigm continues into contemporary ethnologic art however this has evolved from the proletariat to ethnic histories. Foster says by doing this the artist risks losing the identity of the work to that of social outreach programme, economic or public development. “But what is wrong with that? If help is needed, why not give it?” Page 5
“Okay, fair point, but then the artwork loses itself within the outreach
project, that, is only a good thing for the artist if it is what they intended from the piece. Foster also points out that unless the artist is a member of the ‘othered’ community then they have automatic right to be a spokesperson for that minority and so becomes defined by their ‘otherness’. If the artist is not ‘othered’ then they have no right to speak for the outsider, particularly the white artist for the othered colonial.” “Otherness?” “Not white and privileged.” “So, what he is saying is…You need to be black to paint black?” “Well, you could put it like that yes, but that’s a very simplistic view and just a tad racist. Foster terms it “the other is always outside the bourgeois institution.” Meaning that he is against presuming to speak for others.” “I think I agree with that, unless you, the artist, have experience of a culture, as in born in to the place or religion then they have no place to represent that subject.” “Thinkers like Hal Foster, in the 90’s and early twentieth century and then Kris Rutten, and An Van. Dienderen discussed the ethics of ethnographic art and whether the artist should be a member of the community to produce work creating a dialogue around diaspora, culture and ethnic routes. In an essay Revisiting the ethnographic turn in contemporary art, (2013) the writers surmise that Hal Foster placed the ethnographic turn in contemporary art high on the agenda of cultural studies.” “Now, we realise it is a Realist assumption that the white artist is blocked from the ‘others’ primal psychic and social process, society is more acceptive today of cross-cultural art, empathy is a good emotion and art can be a good medium to express that empathy, as long as the consequences of the work are positive for the subject or at least not detrimental. There has been an increase in artists and curators taking an interest in ethnographic and anthropologic studies within the art world since the 1990’s, leading to a number of exhibitions and discussion forums around the topic, although anthropology has been emerging in the art scene since the 1960’s. In 1995 George Marcus and Fred Myers predicted “Art has become to occupy a space long associated with anthropology, becoming one of the main sites for tracking, representing, and performing the effects of difference in Contemporary life.” Foster (1995) and Irving (2006) criticise the underlying neo-colonial or Eurocentric assumptions of certain projects and critically Page 6
assess the power relations at work (based on the previous colonial, political or socio-economic relations of the artist).” “The criticism accuses the artist of exoticizing and presenting their subjects in a pre-modern context or of exploitation and in some cases, I agree. The work of Francis Alys, a Belgian born, Mexican based artist, in collaboration with Rafael Ortega and Cuauhtemoc Medina created the work When Faith moves Mountains, 2002. He invited 500 volunteers to Lima in Peru, gave them shovels and asked them to move a 16,00-foot long sand dune in Ventanilla, four inches by forming a long line and shovelling the sand forward bit by bit. The artwork was documented on film and with photography, the film edited to a 34 -minute long, three channel video installation, was purchased a year later for the Guggenheim Collection, New York.”
Here we have attempted to create a kind of land art for the landless, and, with the help of hundreds of people and shovels, we created a social allegory. This is a story not validated by any physical trace or addition to the landscape. We shall now leave the care of our story to oral tradition…. Only in its repetition and transmission is the work actualised. (Alys, 2002)
“When Faith Moves Mountains is my attempt to de-romanticise land art”.
Francis Alÿs in collaboration with Cuauhtémoc Medina and Rafael Ortega When Faith Moves Mountains (Cuando la fe mueve montañas) Lima 2002 Page 7 Private collection © Francis Alÿs Photo: Video stil
“Wait, how can land art be of any use to someone with no land?” And what
is the hidden meaning to this social allegory then? What is it highlighting? “The piece was created for the third Bienal Iberoamericana de Lima (Ibero-American Biennale of Lima) and inspired by Alys’ first visit to the City, observing the social devastation after the collapse of the Fujimori Dictatorship.” “The Fujiwhatsi Dictatorship?” “Alberto Kenyo Fujimori was president of Peru from 1990 to 17th November 2000, when he fled to Japan as allegations of far reaching corruption began to emerge. He was subsequently removed from office by the Peruvian Congress. In my opinion all Alys is doing is exploiting the indigenous population through free labour, this piece has been represented in museums and galleries around the world and the artist will have gained financially or through exposure each time the work was displayed, the profits were not given to the people involved in the actual labour or donated to a suitable local charitable organisation. What I found particularly interesting about the artist and his statement about the work is that he has spent most of his career creating land art, but maybe this is a discussion for another paper.” “Wow, is that what he intended when considering the production of the piece? To use the local people and keep the expense of the creation to a minimum?” “I can’t answer that, but another quote about this work by himself is,
“Maximum effort, minimum result”
Thus, in my opinion, summing up this work on behalf of the labourers perfectly. Alys seems to think that the experience of taking part in such a big statement should be enough to compensate the workers for their labour.” “I am sure that keeps their bellies full and a roof over their heads, in a time of social unrest.” Said Fran sarcastically. “Since the 1990’s artists such as Lan Tuazon, Nikki S. Lee, Bill Viola, Francesco Clemente, Jimmy Durham and Susan Hiller have expressed a shared concern with anthropologists for the ‘Politics of representation’. “Politics of representation?”
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In short, the factors involved when one body represents another and how
that is perceived by the receptors. Does that make sense?” Fran nods in agreement. “In a post-colonial, globalised world, cultural boundaries are being lowered, as people migrate from one place to another, generations born in one culture or religion but raised in another means that ethnicity should be becoming less of a restriction for creating work however although attempts have been made by some institutions, the artworld seems to me to still be biased towards the white male. Again, maybe a discussion for another day, but linked to the politics of representation, by the way a gallery or institution selects artists to commission or exhibit .” “The art world is making moves then to be more inclusive and for artists to consider the ethics of what they are producing.” “Yes, more recent decades have shown anthropologists collaborating with artists, artists creating projects generating anthropological insights and art projects that are produced as outcomes of ethnographic research.” Fran looked at the time on her phone.” I’ve got to go,” she said, “look at these events and we can catch up on your thoughts in the future if you like?” handing over some notes out of her book. The Tate hosted a conference entitled ‘Fieldworks’, (2003) in which guests were invited to discuss the dialogue between art and anthropology. “The artist as ethnographer”, Conference, 2012, Musee du Quai Branly, Paris.
Proffessor George E. Marcus speaking at the Fielworks conference, Tate modern. 2003
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Chapter 2 The Library, 2nd floor, reading week, October. Fran slowly wandered down the aisle of metal shelves, mumbling the
reference number under her breath searching for the right book, when she noticed someone beside her. “Hey,” Said the other Fran, “How’s it going?” “Great!” Said Fran, “I was hoping to see you, I have been thinking about what we discussed and have a few more questions.” “Do you have time now? We could sit and chat, I have a bit more written now so could do with your help again, I’ll get the coffee.”
Zing Café, some moments later “I’ve been thinking, isn’t the work going to be biased by the opinion of the artist? Foster and Irving mention the assumptions of the neo-colonialist.” “It could be, the upbringing and education of an artist could affect their view, as could their personality and their research method, this is where the politics of representation get involved, and should always be considered when making this kind of work. The onus is now shifting from not just the artist but to the institution and curator to choose their projects more wisely, in a simple sense. “ “Foster suggest that the artist wishing to take the anthropologic journey risks their work becoming that of a tourist’s journal and not an objective picture of cultural reality.”Fran sips her coffee, listening. “Like holiday snaps on safari?” “Yes, that’s it. You have been thinking about this.” “So, what is the solution then? Is there one? “Well,I feel, that a turn to the Everyday is a safer avenue to explore ethnography. An artist must live somewhere, and so, they become part of the resident population naturally. For example; moving to Lincoln I felt like a became a part of the City and as a resident I began to get familiar with certain sights, sounds and smells, I wanted to contribute positively to the society I am part of, even if only for 5 days a week, for 3 years, it is my 2nd home. As an artist I still try and look at Lincoln with the same fresh eyes as 2 years ago. “ Page 10
“Wait, what do you mean by a turn to the Everyday?” “The banal, the quotidian, the obvious, the common, the ordinary, the infraordinary, the background noise, the habitual? [….] How are we to speak of these common things, how to track them down, how to flush them out, wrest from them the dross in which they are mired, how to give them meaning a tongue, to let them, finally, speak of what it is who we are.” -George Perec, Species of spaces, 1974
“The poetics of noticing.” “What happens when nothing happens?” “It began with artists such as Ian Breakwell, Diary, 1964-1985, in which he records everyday circumstances. Watching what is happening around him and simply writing it down.” 17.3.1974, Leeds-London train 7:25 pm The woman in the corner seat wears a green velvet coat trimmed with imitation fur, and knee length maroon suede boots, she falls asleep sinking into the corner of the seat. Her red velvet skirt rides up around her thighs; her mouth falls open and is reflected in the window, superimposed in the night landscape outside. The trains parallel with a motorway: cars and lorries rush into her mouth, their headlights full on. She wakes up coughing.
“The things a person does every day, the route they take to school or work, the routines they habituate, these occurrences become familiar to the point of unnoticeable, the person gradually doesn’t see these things any more. Have you ever been traveling to a location? A journey you do so often that you get to your destination and can’t remember clearly the journey you took? Or are taking a familiar route and notice a building or structure that must have always been there, but you don’t remember seeing it before. The artist that studies the everyday notices; patterns, sounds and subtle banalities that looked at differently become the beautiful and noticeable again or the abject realism under the fantastical overcoat; the mask of gentrification of an area, hiding the displacement of the undesirable natives to other more affordable areas. The increase of people sleeping rough or the rail of warm clothes left out for those in need. These details are often overlooked or ignored, purposefully or through naivety, an anthropological, politically minded person may want to show the metaphorical other side of the fence, this is the ethnological study that interests me.” Page 11
“Since the 1990’s contemporary art has become more focused on the
everyday, however there is some who would say that it is just going out and stumbling across something interesting, I disagree with this school of thought. The process of ‘seeing’ is so much more than bumping into a butterfly emerging from a cocoon and coincidently just having to have all the equipment to capture the rebirth in full glorious technicolour with surround sound.” “How does the Everyday relate to ethnography? And if everyone presented their diary as art it would be a bit boring.” “Yes, I agree, if all an artist did was present a list of daily observations, then art would become a bit mundane yes, but I like the way Breakwell describes what he sees, I want to read more, but the entries are only short, I think that one of the reasons I like it is because you know there is no more, it teases the reader.” “Each art practice or movement must start somewhere, this kind of work led to others experimenting with the idea and it is still developing and evolving now.” “The artist is telling a story of observation. Sophie Calle, French writer, photographer, installation artist, and conceptual artist, I feel does this well. This is her statement on The Hotel, 1981.” “On Monday, February 16, 1981, I was hired as a temporary chambermaid for three weeks in a Venetian hotel. I was assigned twelve bedrooms on the fourth floor. In the course of my cleaning duties, I examined the personal belongings of the hotel guests and observed through details lives which remained unknown to me. On Friday, March 6, the job came to an end. “ - Calle, pp.140-1.
“In my opinion, studying the everyday on their own doorstep the artist is observing the anthropology and ethnography of their own environment and society, this is done mostly through field work and often results in a research led practice.” “But Calle places herself in that role solely to snoop? It is an art project. Is it an art project? Now I am confused.” “Calle is employed as a chambermaid, she may have an ulterior motive, but that is her job description and therefore she is a chambermaid. Calle is a slightly unusual character anyway, she is a dedicated artist who sets rules and parameters to live her life by for certain durations of time.” Page 12
“Let’s look at Calle’s piece, Room 30 part of Hotel, 1981, comprised of
two framed works, set one above another, the highest comprises of a photograph of a large bed with a highly decorative bedspread and ornate wallpaper, titled Room 30. Below the framed text hangs the 2nd part of the piece a series of 5 monochrome photographs of furniture and the absent occupants’ belongings. This method is known as field research, Calle collects photographs, descriptions and thoughts of her time as a maid, assembles them and presents them as a provoking series of diptychs. Underneath the photograph in the same frame are 3 paragraphs of text. An excerpt from the text reads” Wednesday March 4, 1981. 11:20a.m. I go into room 30. Only one bed has been slept in, the one on the right. There is a small bag on the luggage stand. A beautifully ironed silk nightgown lies on the chair that has been pulled up near the bed: it clearly has never been worn. Everything else is still in the traveling bag. All I see there is men’s clothing: grey trousers, a grey striped shirt, a pair of socks, a toilet kit (razor, shaving cream, comb, aftershave lotion), a dog-eared photograph of a group of young people surrounding an older woman, a passport in the name of M.L., male sex, Italian nationality, born in 1946 in Rome…..
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“Doesn’t this then run the risk of the work becoming a documentary, or
even diaristic? Ian Breakwells’ work is interesting, but it is just a diary of daily quotidian.” “Well, documentation is important. Your tutors must be telling you that all the time. If you mean something on television that Sir David Attenborough presents then, no, although the work could be informative or give factual evidence it is not a documentary; the medium used, the intention of the artist and the interpretation by the audience is an important factor to how the work is received. Documentation is another art form but presentation and artistic content effect whether the piece becomes a documentary or is an art piece and, in theory, it could be both.” “You say the Everyday is the study of normal things that happen, but Calle asked someone to write her a role to play, that isn’t ‘normal’, everyday life.” “I, did ,say that she is an unusual character. Calle adopts personalities, follows people and generally uses a mode of enquiry like that of a detective following clues and producing results of her findings. This is the everyday to Calle,look at some of her past works; Chromatic diet,1997 and The Birthday Ceremony, 1981-1998.”
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The fieldwork, and practice led method strikes a resonance with my own
practice, start at something that was noticed, why was it noticed? What more can be found out about it? Where and How? Who made it happen/caused it. On many occasions these simple questions have sparked a journey of artistic enquiry for myself resulting in a culmination of information interpreted into anything from hand-made, hand printed books, to stories based on fact, historical medical records, embellished with imagination and then written in chalk as a performance, one occasion the journey was sparked by the homeless, a sad but enlightening journey for myself, ethically the piece posed obstacles, how to make work about peoples misfortune without exploitation. I chose to make many books and distribute them back amongst the homeless of Lincoln, it contains information on how to get help if needed. This project is still ongoing. “Okay so it’s not a documentary like that narrated by David Attenborough, and the diary approach has evolved but now I am confused if the work is influenced by the artists ‘self ’ and they produce work based on fact and embellished with imagination, how is that ethically okay?” Think about it, is the artist making an example of anyone thing and profiting from it? Is she ‘othering’, or belittling the subject? “No, but looking through people’s things?” Sophie Calles work within the hotel was rather risky, I agree, my upbringing is to respect other’s privacy, but curiosity is a strong feeling, and aren’t rules meant to be bent? The work does pose some ethical questions. Did the occupants of the hotel know they were the subject of her work? If they did, how did they feel? Did they care? Calle is an artist that is very much aware of the ‘self ’ within her work, this is what gives it that secretive element, as though looking into the artists life. A voyeuristic experience. “I am still not convinced.”
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“Okay, look at this piece by Janet Cardiff, The missing voice, 1999. In
this work she takes the audience on an audio walk of Spitlefields, London, starting from the Whitechapel library and a book, Dream of Darkness (1989) by Reginald Hill, and out through the usual traffic of the streets. The tour includes; soundtracks from films, readings, and folly art, the walk is based on fact, the trail and the buildings exist, but Cardiff embellishes the factual tour imaginatively to take the listener on a thrilling exploration of Whitechapel. Cardiff ’s additives to the facts turn a normal tourist guide into something completely different. No one thing, or person, is being exploited through this piece and her method was fieldwork based. To create the piece Cardiff had to physically walk the streets, get to know the buildings, and frequent the library to choose the starting book.” “An immersion into the streets and community of Spitalfields. A collection of facts. A production of the analysed results into an audio tour with a difference. An ethnographical journey through London wi...” Fran clears her throat and interrupts “Janet Cardiff is Canadian born, based between Germany and Canada, London is not on her doorstep.” “No but she is not questioning the cultural status of the area she is simply telling a story.”
https://www.cardiffmiller.com/artworks/walks/missing_voice.html Page 16
Fran stops and thinks then suggests.
“What about Susan Phillipsz then, she is Scottish born, works with sound and sculpture and won the Turner prize in 2010 for her sound installations the first time such an artwork had been nominated. The piece Lowlands was broadcast from under-used or unnoticed spaces like the Clyde walkway, Glasgow, she uses her own voice and sings untrained and unaccompanied a 16th century Scottish ballad, Lowlands. Susan Philipsz searched the streets for the right locations, familiarising herself with lesser used spaces, an artist noticing the unnoticed, she then changes the space simply by adding her own voice. She gives a voice to the past by resurrecting an historical ballad.” “Phillipsz work is haunting, it is purely audio, the audience adds their own visuals by way of the direction in which they look and the sparks of their imagination. The work is inspired by her own culture and society, there are no embellishments, she takes nothing but gives to anyone who happens to encounter the work. Does that meet the criteria for an ethically sound (excuse the pun) ethnological art work?” “Yes, I think it does…I’ve got to go, I’ve got a lecture, see you soon.”
https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/turner-prize2010/turner-prize-2010-artists-susan-philipsz Page 17
Chapter 3 Private View, Project Space + AADEast, December Fran stood in front of the piece, musing on the context when she felt a tap
on her shoulder, she turned to see Fran, smiling and proffering a bottle of beer. “Hi,” she said, “how’s the writing going?” “It’s done,” Fran replied, a smile of accomplishment settling on her face, “I handed it in today, the deadline is tomorrow and that is my birthday, I wanted it all completed, so I can enjoy the day.” “Oh, well done, I am pleased now I can ask you my last few questions.” “Go ahead.” “So, the safer option for an artist is to turn to the everyday and study the world immediately around them, but what about contributing positively to a society? We discussed Cardiffs’ work and I like that she utilises spaces that aren’t normally used, how can an artist turn their work into a continuing legacy? When the exhibition was over Cardiffs’ influence within the space was over too. The spaces returned to their underused and overlooked status. Her work only changed that for a short while. Surely an impact should stay, rejuvenating the spaces positively, forever?” she paused, sipping her drink. “I don’t think I am saying this right, art should give something and leave it there for everyone, and public art should keep on giving.” Fran took a swig from her beer and considered what the other Fran had said. “You feel that a work made from a political or ethical motive should contribute positively to its subject and continue to make that change?” “Yes, Alys work didn’t really do anything to change life for the people who engaged with the work, and he didn’t really create a dialogue around the conditions the people endured at the time nor the politics behind their situation, in my opinion.” She paused, looking at the artwork in front of her.” There must be a way to highlight sensitive issues, engaging with ‘others’, without exploiting or worsening their circumstances.” “I agree, this relates to Fosters idea of a social outrach program, there has been a more recent turn in contemporary art to create work with a legacy, avoiding Fosters notion and producing art that engages the audience, encourages their participation, and ownership of the product. Page 18
Kathrin Bohm is an artist that does this well. She is German born and has been living in England and working in Lincoln recently, she specialises in community art projects, I discussed with her a project based in Essex, my home county.” “No way, I’m an Essex girl too, whereabouts?” “Southend, and Thurrock mainly. You must know about Dagenham then. The closing of the Ford car plants and the decline of the quality of life for people in that area due to the loss of work?” “Yes, I am aware of that history, sad really.” “Yes, it is and unfortunately, it’s getting worse everywhere, Kathrin Bohm looked at the history of Dagenham and the local industries pre-Ford. She organised a Hop picking, which has become an annual event, the residents of Dagenham walk the countryside gathering hops, which is then produced into fruit juices and sold in London, at a higher price than locally, with the profits returning to the community of Dagenham. The people designed the labels on the bottles and have total ownership of the business. Bohm is one of a trend of ethnographic and anthropologic artists who are instigating a move towards ‘art as business’ under these outlines.” “Groups like Assemble have built whole community access buildings complete with fully fitted, free to use, workshops encouraging the local community to engage with the arts and produce their own artistic legacy.” Kathrin Böhm is an artist and founding member of Myvillages
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“Now that’s more like it, I can see that it is okay to study other cultures than your own, a good way to do this is to engage the community with the work the artist is making, encouraging an on-going project that the community learn new skillsfrom and take ownership of, forming a sustainable practice.” “Yes, and that is the way I am now developing my practice, I’ve got to go now, we are doing our secret santa tonight.” She hugged the younger Fran and left towards the Fine Art studio, as she turned the corner she looked back but the other Fran had vanished. That’s weird, she thought...
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Conclusion Hal Fosters understanding of ethnography was probably limited compared
to today, the field has expanded, with contemporary art teaching practices encouraging the student artist to explore outside of the gallery setting and away from the critique of the bourgeoise institution and its post-colonial tendencies. The 21st century artist as ethnographer is turning towards socially engaged methods using participation and intervention to create a dialogue with their audience, and the participator, which can often be both at the same time. The artist often choosing to work in communities that have suffered a socioeconomic trauma or that have been over-looked, sharing their skills and knowledge, encouraging social cohesion, communication and well-being through art, creating sustainble pockets of acces to the arts for everybody. I feel that this, is the noble stance to take that Walter Benjamin suggested in 1939, and if done with the right engagement and ethics in place, is a way to create work around culture, ethnicity, diaspora, working with the people and opening avenues for dialogue around art, closing the gap between the bourgeoise and the ‘other’ through shared common goals, breaking the barriers of language, education, nationality and class. Socially engaged practice is also associated with activism because it often deals with political isssues like those mentioned above. Artist Suzanne Lacy coined the term ‘New Genre Public Art’, I feel that this is the way that ethnography within Contemporary Art has beeen developing, incorporating and learning from elements discussed in this paper to travel this path creating an ethically considered, socially engaged art practice.
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Bibliography Alys, F., 2002. A Thouseand Words: Francis Alys talks about When Faith moves moutains. Art Forum, Issue Summer 2002, pp. 108-109. Alys, F., n.d. Moma.org. [Online] Available at: https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/1091 [Accessed Friday 17 August 2018]. Anon., 2018. Sophie Calle. [Online] Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/calle-the-hotel-room-28-p78301 [Accessed Friday 17 August 2018]. Anon., n.d. [Online] Available at: http://www.whitechapelgallery.org/exhibitions/social-sculpture/ Anon., n.d. s.l.:s.n. Claire Doherty, 2004. Contemporary Art from Studio to Situation. London: Black Dog Publishing LTD. Clifford, J., 1998. Te predicament of culture twentieth century ethnography, literature, and art. London: Harvard University Press. Coles, A., c2000. Site-specificity the ethnographic turn volume 4 de-,. London: Black Dog Publishing. Collins, 2018. English Dictionary. s.l.:s.n. Foster, H., 2009. The Artist as Ethnographer. In: C. Doherty, ed. SITUATION. London: Whitechappel Gallery, The MIT Press, pp. 74-7. Johnston, S., 2008. Everyday. London: Whitechapel Press. Mcevilley, T., 2009. Frieze. [Online] Available at: https://frieze.com/article/documenta-11-1 [Accessed 16 June 2018]. Kwon, M., 2002. One Place after Another:Site Specifity and Locational Identity. Londn: MIT Press. Nordquist, R., 2017. ThoughtCo. Socratic Dialogue (Argumentation). [Online] Available at: https://www.thoughtco.com/socratic-dialogue-argumentation-1691972 [Accessed September 2018]. various, 2018. wikipedea. [Online] Available at: www.wikipedia.com [Accessed Friday 17 August 2018].
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