Lou Baker
Curiosity, creativity, conversation and community
What is socially engaged art?
Living sculptures, 2018, installed at ‘disquiet’, Walcot Chapel, Bath
Socially engaged art is art that’s collaborative, often participatory and involves people and communities as the medium or material of the work. It stimulates debate, collaboration or social interaction and potentially creates community. The participatory element is key.
Relational aesthetics
Safety net, 2017, at ‘Refuge: in search of safety’, Fringe Arts Bath
Relational aesthetics is a term first used by art critic, curator and art historian Nicolas Bourriaud in 1998. It refers to installations and interactive events designed to facilitate community among participants, both artists and viewers. Rather than producing objects for individual aesthetic contemplation, relational artists attempt to produce new human relationships through collective experiences.
My accidental introduction to social engagement… The others: a self portrait at The Embroiderers’ Guild Scholars’ exhibition, The Knitting and Stitching Show, Alexandra Palace, London, Sept 2015
What I call my accidental introduction to social engagement happened in 2015. I was awarded The Embroiderers’ Guild Scholarship so was invited to exhibit at The Knitting and Stitching Shows in London and Harrogate. These are large trade shows for everything to do with textiles, with an art gallery area; this is where I was exhibiting. I was expected to be there with my work from 10-5 every day for 9 days in total.
The others: a self portrait, 2015, installed at The Knitting and Stitching Show, Alexandra Palace, London, Sept
I was, frankly, rather nervous about exhibiting in this context as I thought that most visitors would want to see traditional, decorative, beautiful, benign textile art and my large, body like soft sculptures are far from that! I had planned to sit quietly and knit and try to avoid any awkward interaction but I realised, almost straight away when I saw how people were responding, that if I did I’d miss an amazing opportunity to engage with my audience. So began the most wonderful time.
All the babies I might have had II, 2015 and Nobody 1, 2014, installed at The Knitting and Stitching Show, Alexandra Palace, London, Sept 2015
I had to make myself quite vulnerable as my work is very personal but I found it cathartic to talk to people who had had similar experiences. There were hugs, tears, lots of laughter and many stimulating conversations about life, and art. There were also some people, inevitably, who disapproved, or couldn’t understand what I was doing, or couldn't see the point, but that was all part of the diverse range of responses.
Conversations with visitors at The Knitting and Stitching Show, London, Sept 2015
And I wrote down what people said. I knew I wouldn’t be able to remember everything so I captured what I could in a sketchbook. It was very interesting to see how people responded when I said ‘Oh! Do you mind if I write that down?’ It seemed to validate what they were saying and most people then elaborated and wanted to say more. It was an astonishing experience and I was hooked!
Art as a curiosity hook….
One of the things I loved about it particularly was seeing the way that my work sparked curiosity‌.
Do you mind if I write that down? documentation published on Issuu (Search for Lou Baker Artist)
I’ve documented most of my participatory projects, with images, participants’ comments and sometimes my reflections, as digital booklets on Issuu. Search for Lou Baker Artist.
I knit therefore I am, 2018 & 2019
It’s obvious to me that art can engage people, particularly, possibly, because of the materials and processes that I use. I tend to knit whenever and wherever I can and I find that strangers will often talk to me…. It’s like a people magnet….
IN. BRS. 2019.39, Shadow sacks over dark pool, 2019, installed at B-Wing, Shepton Mallet Prison, a collaboration between Lou Baker and Scott Sandford
I want to make art that makes people think, that provokes a range of conflicting responses, that makes public things that are normally private‌.
Relational antagonism
Don’t wash your dirty laundry in public, 2016, installed in an empty shop in Bristol
…..so I was excited to read recently art historian Claire Bishop’s critique of Bourriaud’s relational aesthetics. She talks about what she calls ‘relational antagonism’, where art produces ‘sensations of unease and discomfort rather than belonging’, sustaining ‘a tension among viewers, participants, and context’. She suggests that this is caused by engaging people from ‘diverse economic backgrounds’ who are not ‘gallery-goers’.
Safety net, Sept. 2017, installed at ‘[dis]place’ at The Vestibules, City Hall, Bristol
Most of my participatory installations have been in unexpected places, not in art galleries, so they are more likely ‘to engage different or difficult-to reach populations’ (Leavy, 2015, p 233).
So far I have developed 3 different forms of participatory installation. The first is like Safety net, the installation here. Visitors are invited to reflect on a theme, then add their thoughts to an installation, usually on a label, and add something else as well. There have been many different kinds of responses - thoughtful and touching, funny and sweet. Clearly each person reads and responds to what others before have written so that it becomes a collective response.
Day 1 Safety net, 2017, at ‘Refuge: in search of safety’, in an empty shop, part of Fringe Arts Bath
Day 15
The space is also transformed as each interaction changes not only the aesthetics, but the form of the installation. Here, over 17 days, a public place became a more private space.
My future, 2017, St. Werburgh’s Primary School, Bristol
I have facilitated a number of these installations in various different spaces: At a local Primary School as part of a day for year 6s thinking about their future.
Comfort/discomfort, 2018, installed in a prison cell at ‘Subversive surfaces’, Town Hall Arts, Trowbridge, elastic, labels, cloth
Comfort/discomfort, 2018, in a prison cell at ‘Subversive surfaces’, Town Hall Arts, Trowbridge, elastic, labels, cloth
Tethering our thoughts, 2019, ‘Incendiary’, Stroud Valleys Artspace, Stroud, string, labels, fruit nets
Tethering our thoughts, 2019, at ‘Incendiary’, Stroud Valleys Artspace, Stroud, string, labels, fruit nets
Feedback cell, 2019, at ‘B-Wing’, Shepton Mallet Prison, Day 1 to Day 16, netting, labels, cloth
Feedback cell, 2019, at ‘B-Wing’, Shepton Mallet Prison, Shepton Mallet, Day 1 to Day 16, netting, labels, cloth
Safety net, 2017, at ‘Refuge: in search of safety’, Fringe Arts Bath, May & at ‘[dis]place’ at The Vestibules, City Hall, Bristol Sept.
Visitors seem to appreciate having space to reflect on a theme, and the ritual of responding, by writing a label and tying some cloth to the installation. There’s creativity in it, a sense of a collective action, it stimulates conversation and promotes a sense of belonging.
Living sculptures: self, selfie, selves, 2018, installed at ‘disquiet’, Walcot Chapel, Bath, September
Living sculptures is my second kind of participatory installation. Visitors are invited to become a living sculpture by trying on a selection of wearable soft sculptures. Again, being not only encouraged to touch, but to wear these sculptures stimulates thought and conversation.
Living sculptures: prison series, 2019, installed at ‘B-Wing’, Shepton Mallet Prison
This, rather darker, second series was made in response to a decommissioned prison.
Don’t wash your dirty laundry in public, 2016, in an empty shop in Bristol
My third type of participatory installation involves inviting visitors to take away free clothes.
Lou inside Safety net, 2017 at ‘Refuge: in search of safety’, Fringe Arts Bath
Preparing for this workshop has made me think about what I do in terms of social engagement and why I do it. Basically, I’m interested in people! I want to set up situations where the public can interact with my work, with one another and with me. I’m especially interested in people who wouldn’t normally be interested in art, hopefully enabling them to have a voice. There are definitely performative aspects to my work; I am the connector.
This cartoon makes me smile! It helps me to remember how important it is to be genuine and transparent in all I do.
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