Can information about Preston revealed by an artist employing a dialectic methodology of interaction and mapping, while working collaboratively with a community undergoing regeneration, be made useful to a wider audience in that city?

Abstract

Artistic practice which involves processes of engagement with a participating group have developed in response to a desire by artists to deconstruct the myth of the artist as lone genius. This art practice, termed socially engaged, has sought to reconnect art with everyday life experience and social histories; thus opening discursive opportunities for collaborating groups.

Within an analytical framework I have considered Preston, the centre of my research, in terms of people's experience on an everyday basis. Preston is a new city, a place which through its inclusion in Single Regeneration Budgets, is identified as an area undergoing renewal of the built environment.

This study aims to investigate a multidirectional dialogic approach to the practice of contextual art. I have used mapping techniques for documenting direct experience of particular areas of Preston at different times of the day. I initiated face to face interaction with communities who live, work or meet in areas of Preston experiencing regeneration. I implemented a flexible framework method of practical tasks, discussion and reflection in order to explore this negotiated methodology, where the participants contributed to the developing agenda. I have also attended local meetings, community days and events in order to gain some experience of 'being local'. This multidirectional approach involved interaction with professionals working in regeneration in Preston including community development workers, museum and art gallery officers, creative industries officers, planners, urban regeneration directors and an art and cultural diversity officer. These developing relationships have contributed to the assessment of how useful the discovered particular information is to a wider audience in Preston.

The study has indicated that a multidirectional approach to the practice of art invites an expanded audience, offering opportunities to raise the awareness of other professionals working in regeneration to this area of art practice, offering opportunities for cross disciplinary discussion and analysis.

This research therefore contributes to the wider debate on the inclusion of socially responsive art as a strategy for urban regeneration. This was highlighted by the responses of city councillors at the launch event for the CD-ROM produced as part of this practice based research project. At the launch event it was suggested that this genre of art practice was a fresh and new approach to community consultation and a strategy for community cohesion. My discoveries have led me to propose a shift in the framework used to assess engaged practice. The social context of the work makes apparent an alternative theory of form, whereby the emphasis is not so much upon what is made as upon the skills of the artist to develop a relationship of dialogue, negotiation and connectivity. This encourages an inclusive and shared authorship.