studio visit ethics

I’ve spent the day catching up on approximately 2 months of emails. 2 months, yeah. We went a bit out of office to finish the first draft of the book we’re writing, and I was kind of dreading today! Scared of coming back to website-life because of all the emails I knew we’d have to face. But, to my surprise, it was a fun shift because there were so many I was glad to read – stuff that I also think our audience would like to know about. This is one of them ->

Studio Visit Ethics is a guide and a tool that artists can use ‘to address the often unequal power dynamics that arise during studio visits.’ The project was led by Feminist Culture House, a curatorial and editorial platform based in Helsinki, with the research laid out by designer Anh Ngo. And I love it! The _studio visit _is one assumption of the bizarre practice of working in the arts, and I’ve been on either end of the dance (and also in the middle, advising the artists I mentor and hooking them up with various contacts). But what’s the point? And if you do know what the point is, how can you make sure you get your point across, score points, or take point? I have found that both parties often have secret hopes for the outcome of a studio visit. Maybe the artist wants the curator to offer them an exhibition, or the curator wants the artist to provide them with research. But yeah, when we want things from each other and don’t know how to communicate those desires (because we don’t have the words, or because we feel the need to be modest and professional and implicit) it can be so pointless. Or messy! Or a waste of time, or worse than that. Inappropriate and exploitative. The flowchart by FCH is one reference towards establishing fairness in that encounter and I am glad to know about it :) and relieved our inbox is at 0 again :) phew

If you have a good resource to send our way, please email [email protected] and I will let the rest of our audience know about it.