DIY: 2014 – Gillie Kleiman ‘Criticism is community’

This DIY is about criticism of all kinds: written reviews, official evaluation, post-scratch feedback sessions, and the Chinese whispers of “they said your show was shit”.

Project Summary:
Criticism is seen as highly individualistic: it is one person’s opinion about one other person’s actions. It is there to better that one person’s future work, or to allow another to feel clever by making a comment. This DIY proposes that we see criticism as community-building, wherein we can not only support the development of work through offering criticism generously, but also contribute to an ongoing sense of mutual support and investment in the shared world of performance. It will likely include things like pretending to be an Arts Council Artistic Assessor or nauseating blogger, mocking-up the worst possible scratch feedback facilitation, and working out what a ‘radical evaluation form’ might be, in an attempt to expose some of the practical, artistic and emotional effects of criticism in the work that we do, and to find a way through them.

Dates, times and location(s):
Evening of Friday 5 September, and 11am-7pm Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 September

Central Leeds, tbc

Application Procedure:
This DIY is suitable for artists with some experience of giving or receiving criticism, and who have some relation to the idea of Live Art as a community of people engaged together in something shared, whatever the details of the practice. It is recommended that artists have at least two years of professional experience.

Applicants should send their CV, along with a short (written or recorded) description of their interest in and experience with the focus of the DIY, to Gillie Kleiman cc'ing Aaron Wright.

Though there will be a small budget available to cover a small proportion of costs, participants should plan to arrange their own travel. Hosting for visitors with Leeds-based artists will be sought, subject to availability and suitability. Artists will be required to prepare a dish to share at a pot-luck meal on the first evening. Other basic food will be provided during the workshop.

Deadline, noon, Monday July 21st.

The artist:
Gillie Kleiman is an artist.  From Gillie’s practice of dance and choreography emerge artworks that manifest as performances, texts, and events, presented in contexts associated with dance, theatre, live art and experimental performance, throughout the UK and across Europe. Gillie is one of eight artists who write for, edit and organise the activities of BELLYFLOP Magazine. She has worked in a range of education and community contexts for more than a decade, and has moonlit as an Artistic Assessor for Arts Council England since 2010. Gillie is currently supported by Artsadmin’s Artists’ Bursary Scheme.

Contact:
Gillie Kleiman

This project is part of DIY 11: 2014 and is supported by Compass Live Art.