a week full of work and wonder – projects that rock my boat

It’s been a really fascinating week for me. As many people know, the workload when you are a freelance producer can be pretty dull sometimes. Writing strategies, funding applications, contracts, H&S reports etc. can be more than tedious, but it’s all part of the job. Then there are weeks like this one – when you close the lid of the laptop and go out with the artists you are working with.

That’s what this is all about, getting people together to make things happen, meeting non-arts partners, getting inspired, finding common ground and sharing knowledge. The real world is wonderful place, we must not forget that when locked in our virtual world of browsers and budgets.

So what have I been up to? Mostly meeting people with brains the size of planets and imaginations to counterbalance that.

Monday: measuring boats for Withdrawn and meeting a sustainable fisherman with Luke Jerram

Tuesday: spent with  Bideford Black commissioned artist Sam Treadaway, meeting horticultural technician Peter Winfield from Bristol Botanic Garden; robotic specialist Ben Winstone from UWE robotics department; and Peter Bennett from Bristol University interaction & graphics department.

Wednesday: spent the morning talking to Mark Clancy, the new director of Dean Heritage Museum in the Forest of Dean. Great to have someone with arts experience for the New Art Gallery Walsall so nearby. Very promising. Lunch and time with Friction commissioned artists Tara Downs and Bart Sabel was a great way to catch up with their plans for an interactive artwork that explores concepts around process, engineering and cogs.

And a wonderful thing that came from that conversation was the link between the word ‘cog’ as in mechanical to ‘cognition’:

the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses

Today is catchup day, battling with an incoming cold and hoping to spend much of next week reflecting and assimilating these lovely learning days.

Then back to the desk to keep making these things possible.