As I continue to think about my ongoing MFA research at the beginning of my final term (with the final degree show, in June, appearing on the horizon) I am thinking a great deal right now about generosity.
I’m not long back from the first two weeks of a professional placement at the wonderful Oriel Ynys Mon on the island of Anglesey in North Wales. There, the whole team made me feel extremely welcome and gave me a tremendous experience of two weeks of busy changeovers and exhibition installs. I was definitely the oldest work experience person they’ve ever had (!) and I’m very grateful indeed to the whole team for being so generous with their time, trust and knowledge.
But this is not the only example of generosity that I have found on Ynys Mon. Similarly generous to me have been the team at Lein Amlwch, and especially Walter Glyn Davies, for helping me to learn, discover and understand more about the railway line to Amlwch that they are working hard to restore and which is the subject of my MFA work and final show. Not only have they been very generous to me as a visiting artist offering nothing more than curiosity (and no ability to speak Welsh), but also they are being remarkably generous to this old railway line that has not seen a train since 1992.
Restoring a dormant 17-mile railway line is no easy task. “Every single inch”, says Walter Glyn, is “back-breaking and often heart-breaking”. And it’s being done by people who are unpaid volunteers, out in all weathers, and in the face of no small degree of opposition or indifference. Every rock, every weed, every sleeper and every inch of the line will need their generous spirit of optimism , determination and sheer hard work in order to achieve their goal of seeing trains run on the line again.
This makes me think about generosity in terms of my own artistic response, and perhaps of art in general. It’s not generally a word applied to artists, but I find myself asking why not. There are plenty of examples of artists being accused of being appropriative or exploitative of their subject (here’s a very recent example from last month) and I’m very mindful of this.
So how do I reflect the spirit of generosity that I have discovered, in my work and also in my approach? There are some simple principles that I am adhering to:
Don’t take anything away from the line unless it is of zero (or marginal) use and I have permission. The line belongs to Network Rail, after all, and Lein Amwlch have a license and lease that permits them to work there.
Return those items wherever possible.
Don’t seek to impose my own artistic or authorial view on the railway line, its stories and its people. The future of the railway line is not mine to prejudge or predict. Rather, act as witness, collector or reflector of what the line and its people tells me.
Listen, don’t speak. The last thing the people of Anglesey want or need is another Englishman telling them what to do or think.
Credit and collaborate. There are good examples of this in art too - Sol Lewitt for example.
I have some practical ideas too… and will share them again soon.
Diolch!
Cheers!