Whitechapel

One of the prime functions of setting up the artists group Format I was told, was to create a critical and honest space for members of the group to have their work and ideas tested. A simple claim at first but one that is very difficult to maintain. Having said that the discussion that format provided for my emerging research was thorough, engaged and much needed.

Goshka Macuga's exhibition at the Whitechapel gallery provided an initially intimidating space to present to the group, being held as it was, in front of the Guernica Tapestry as gallery visitors and touring groups wandered around the table stopping to eavesdrop on our discussion. Very quickly however the crowds melted away and the setting of the round table and the backdrop of the tapestry lent the discussion a seriousness that I have never experienced before. The response from the group was tough, it was critical, it was honest and it was a privilege.

So I want to thank the members of Format, Suzanne, Claudia, Matt and Ronnie for making the trip and making the day worthwhile and thank you also to Jo Longhurst whose clarity of though was invaluable.

Liam

Response: Some thoughts about discussion.

Of course an intellectual enrichment through experience, dialogue and exchange is another seductive narrative, and a romantic one at that. But the potential benefits from dialogue by far outway any worries about the nature of that exchange. Experience is meant to be transformed into palatable narratives, sometimes heavily simplified and often embellished, in order to continue and maintain an intellectual and lucid lineage.

But there is a danger to assume that because a dialogue exists and is lucid it automatically means something: is real. Academics and artists often attempt to escape from certain entanglements of life so that they may better engage with their real and in doing so present themselves with the illusion of choice and freedom, but it is a choice and freedom set out by their own terms and engaged with by like minded colleagues and individuals. I do not mean to say that what results from that engagement does not produce interesting outcomes, merely that the clarity produced through their working process may present a quasi-aesthetic sense of having achieved something meaningful, something authentic.

So, the artist is in some sort of exile and is free from certain sections of her/his existence but by engaging in a dialogue supported by the perceived common ground of his/her peers, is she/he really free at all?

I really enjoyed the last Format meeting - big privilege to hear about Iran from the perspective of artists. Shame I didn't manage to talk to Farshid in the pub - but did learn a lot from Barang. I was really taken with a couple of Farshid's books - his translation of Camera Lucida is a beautiful object and his book on Amnesia (not the full title) has stayed with me.  The way he uses photographs and juxtaposition to look at  exile and memory resonates. I liked his work and could relate to what I took to be his sentiments about the dangers of superficiality. From what Barang said, the situation in Iran is complex and there's a rich artistic culture with a plethora of highly educated women. The threat to this seems to be coming as much from commodification as from Islamic fundamentalism. Well that's my take on it anyway who knows! I've been reading some of Goethe's ideas recently about the nature of civilised society and some of what Barbang and Farshid had to say about Iran seemed to be closer to Goethe's ideals than the west is currently managing. 

Freethinker Farshid and exile

Nihilists! Fuck me. I mean, say what you like about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least it's an ethos.

I haven’t found myself thinking about nihilism in a long time and Farshid’s understated talk and disposition has resurrected such thinking. He talked of meaninglessness in relation to his work and in fact the constructed nature of identity and how the artist is an ‘exile’ in his own land. Certainly the artist’s life can be one of estrangement and indeed the photographic medium has this in built in its mechanism, distancing one from real lived experience. If this self-imposed critical, detached life, in the shadows, away from the mainframe of society, is a form of exile, either romantic or not, I disagree that it can be attached to (Irish) nationalist longings. It is something far more of a universal condition, that afflicts those who are searching and do not accept the narrative myths, or moral constitution offered by what Lacan referred to as the ‘Symbolic Order’ (hierarchical organizations that structure society). In these terms the artist searches for oppositional force of freedom or sense of truth that is shaped by desire. I deduce and interpret  Farshid’s thinking to be a pointing out of the absurdity of much of what society holds dear and stands alone against a tide of mediocrity or at worst fascism, depending on the part of the planet or period you exist in. Farshid stands beside the existentialist tradition in western philosophy and extends a hand to us. It is personally life affirming to acknowledge this and reminds me of one central tenet and reason to continue the pursuit of art, that is the enrichment through dialogue and people and places that are discovered. Or is it just another seductive narrative to follow, with the illusion of choice and freedom? Is the artist exile really free or just as confined as those he surveys around him?

Picliam Farshid and exile

Now me: The notion of exile I think is a very interesting and historically significant consideration for the artist/commentator. However there are some important distinctions to be made when using this very emotive word. Of course the general view of exile is one of a forced migration through political, cultural/racial or economic forces. This of course carries with it a deep sadness, firstly from an unwanted and usually violent removal from ones home or place and secondly from being forced to live 'as an exile' in an alien culture, to always be an outsider. The danger is that there can be an easy identification with the pathos of this outsider label. These thoughts are more of a personal consideration. I come from a place that mixes myths of authenticity and deep belonging, (we are one of the few western European peoples to refer to ourselves as 'a race') and a continual contest as to which authenticity has legitimate claim to the 'home place'. Growing up in Belfast I felt threat of the state against claims to Irishness, whether political or cultural. Because of this and the fact we holidayed in Donegal every summer throughout my childhood, I held quite an idealised notion of the Republic as place were I could relax into my uncontested, unproblematic identity...