> I'm interested though in what people think about applying for residencies as
> there
> certainly seems to be a lot of them
> these days and artists it would seem must spend a lot of time doing paperwork.
>
> Does the work of applying reward the opportunities offered?
> Would it be better if agencies actually approached who they want to offer a
> residency too?
I've rarely applied for a residency because until recently I had children to
consider, however I did one residency in Aotearoa for
2 mths in Whanganui taking my then 6 year old son with me and leaving the other
with his father and it was fabulous.
And it was an excellent networking opportunity for me.
Here in Europe where I've lived for the past 20 years I've not applied for any
residencies because it was not possible to take a child with me
or it was geared for a single person, or because of my age. I moved to the
Netherlands when I was 29 and most residencies and other opportunities have an
age
limit of 30 or 35 and in those first years it was impossible for me with young
children to apply anyway.
However I've done short term projects, 2 or 3 week things which were like
residencies in that I had accomodation and some funding and often there
was a goal at the end such as a festival or exhibition adn I've found even the
more chaotic experiences useful.
Such as being stuck in the North of Finland for 2 weeks with promises of
equipment for a video installation and then finding that there was
nothing and no tools and being with people who seemed so distant.
So I just had to go and find a solution. (I usually make it a mission to learn
a handful of phrases of the language when I'm somewhere
and having done this for years, now that's not such a big deal, until I hit
Finnish :))
Anyway even that was an amazing experience because of the difficulties and
although I swear I'll never ever want to have any sort of network in Finland
(:))
of course the experiences I had, have made me a richer person. And I have
amazing footage. At one point I was so angry with my inability to communicate,
that I
took my video camera and set it up on a tripod in the middle the town's central
intersection and footpath,
and filmed people passing by while staring back at them. So I'd say that even
chaotic residencies are useful.
I'd argue for institutes keeping open calls because it is an opportunity for
fresh blood. If institutes only invite those they want, they will only get the
known.
And besides if an institute wants a particular artist they can always invite
that artist to apply, or alternate the process,
with one year an invite and another year an open call.
Re: the work in applying. Well I don't do this very often, but if I do apply, I
see the process of applying being about
sorting out how I present what I'm presenting and so even though, I
particularly hate having to write an "artist statement" in Dutch
I know it isn't a waste of time because it is about types of message or path
or vision (in words) which for me is also part
of the art making /presenting process, even if I not conscious of this type of
process, while working on a new project.
na / cheers,
Sonja
_________________
www.sonjavank.com
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