Disability Arts Online

Damien and myself were commissioned to do the project as disabled artists. Our experiences of this territory are different.

My disability (Laryngeal Dystonia) struck 8 years ago, but took so long to diagnose and manage, that the concept of disability is a relatively recent one for me. I have mixed feelings about being labelled a disabled artist: my life as an artist preceded my disability by many years. Nevertheless, it was a great relief to be able to declare my disability and feel free to ask for help with practical difficulties rather than trying to underplay them for fear of losing work.

Damien has dealt with disability issues since she was a teenager. Our first conversation made me realise that although I am older than her, she is much more experienced at dealing with the challenges and frustrations of the territory. I am still a novice.

There were two main aspects of the project which made me think about the potential pitfalls of a Disability Project.

Pitfalls

Firstly, timing and planning. The project started about a month later than scheduled. A period of intensive research and work was therefore compressed into a narrower band of time. For different reasons both Damien and myself have to work in a paced and measured way to avoid aggravating our conditions and intensifying the fatigue of managing a disability.

Damien is Deaf and has to solve practical problems, including finding interpreters, (and sorting the consequent Access to Work paperwork) and dealing with a Repetitive strain Injury condition.

I rely on p/time art teaching; my condition and art must fit round the timing of regular voice operations and side effects. I live in fear of voice and health crashing in the middle of a term (this happened during the project).

The project was run by sensitive and responsive people so it was possible to discuss these problems (whereas I still find myself reluctant to explain the full extent of my difficulties to my regular place of work).

Nevertheless, practicalities are central to management of health, disability and art. When timing doesn't work, the consequences can be severe, so perhaps the perfect disability project, were it to exist, would place efficiency and time management at the top of the priority list.

Publicity

All three artists shared the same frustrations about the publicising of the exhibition. There is a fascinating touring show called Tales from the Boarders, comprising historical documents, memorabilia and three thoroughly researched and realised works of art. But initially, we were not named in any of the publicity. Our potential contacts, networks and audiences were therefore cut out of the process at the beginning. Artistically the work covers areas of music, sound, drawing, digital art, paper-casting and much more. The universal application of a show exploring themes of childhood development, political, social and educational history, the changing treatment, attitudes and definitions of disadvantage and disability… and much more, was missed. It was disappointing to be invisible in the middle of so much potential interest.

After feedback we were eventually named on the fliers as contributors (which evoked ideas of garden fêtes) and had to push a little harder to be mentioned in the publicity as artists. Again, we were able to feedback and have things changed, but timing is key to publicising a show; the later you do it the less effective it becomes. Again, with the added baggage of disability, sorting publicity and press releases in a rush, means the risk of further exhaustion - especially if you have to first make the case that it needs to be done at all.

My own feeling is that having done our jobs and delivered the artwork, and enabled the ticking of the disability funding box, our professional expectations as artists were not fully understood. I find myself wondering whether tick boxes and funding applications create an administrative framework where the point and value of art in itself, and the passion artists feel to communicate, may be missed.

Both these criticisms are made with the proviso that all three artists were happy to have worked with people who were sensitive to requests and invited and responded to feedback. The criticisms are an attempt to consider the experience in the context of a Disability Project. I would be interested to know (as a novice) whether these criticisms may be common to other such projects.

I loved the residency, with its themes of voice, memory and retrieval - I pushed my work and ideas further thanks to the opportunity it offered. I would happily work again in this territory, but with a little more wisdom about the potential plusses and pitfalls of Disability as a category applied to Art and artists.

For more information about the artists commissioned for Tales From The Boarders please go to Damien Robinson and Anne Teahan.