TrAIN

TrAIN Associate Project Partner

Rebecca Fortnum is currently Reader in Fine Art at University of the Arts, London and subject leader for the MA Fine Art at Camberwell. Her research falls into four related areas; a visual art practice; artists’ processes and their documentation; contemporary women artists; fine art pedagogy. Rebecca has been an Research Fellow at Lancaster University, an Associate Lecturer at Central St Martins and Chelsea School of Art, a Visiting Fellow in Painting at Plymouth University and at Winchester School of Art, a visiting artist at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a Senior Lecturer at Norwich School of Art and Wimbledon School of Art.

She has received several awards including from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, the British Council, the Arts Council of England, the British School in Rome and the Arts and Humanities Research Council. She was instrumental in founding the artist-run spaces Cubitt Gallery and Gasworks Gallery in London and in 2007 her book of interviews, Contemporary British Women Artists was published by I B Tauris. Between 2008 – 9 she was a recipient of the Art House’s Space for 10 award, a lead international artist for the TRADE project in Ireland and participated in METHOD, a cultural leadership programme for artists.

Rebecca’s TAP project allowed her to invite the internationally known Swiss artist San Keller to Camberwell to continue and build on initiatives by Peckham Space and others taking place at Camberwell that establish the college as a hub of activity for contemporary art practices in the public realm. During his visit Keller was to give a three day masterclass with a group of postgraduate students as well as deliver a UAL-wide lecture.

San Keller is an international artist who is at the forefront of relational/event/audience engaged art practices.

‘Keller is at his most convincing when he uses his deceptive aura of sincerity, and his knack for audience interaction, to survey the rituals and pecking orders of the art world itself, perusing the unsavoury pleasures of social hierarchy and other distinct intellectual routines specific to the field, such as the fantasies of permanence and posterity, the wishful notions of trust and communication between artist and audience, and the patchy historical sensibilities that make things even more arbitrary than they need to be.’
- Tirdad Zolghadr, Frieze, April 2007

At the heart of Keller’s practice is a consideration of location for example he ‘does not attach more importance to showing his work in blockbuster exhibitions in New York, Kyoto, Berlin, London than he does to presenting in small exhibition halls or public spaces such as streets and squares’. His often provocative actions provide challenging reflections on human behaviour, using art practice not as an end in itself, but as a way of confronting and questioning his audience’s response and cultural capital. Click <a href=“http://www.museumsankeller.ch/”Link to external website">here for more details of his practice.

Because of the dust cloud in 2010, San could not come and take the 3 day workshop as originally planned. In the event he came later in the year, July, whilst the MA Fine Art exhibition was in progress. This meant that he saw the students’ work and responded with individual critiques. San also performed the two ‘actions’ below that left students curious, bemused and not a little tired:

THE LONG WAY HOME
The students meet up at the school building at 8pm. After deciding which participant should arrive home first, the whole group and San Keller then start their long journey home. From the school building the way leads in stages to each participant’s home. Safely returned the participants need to take the remaining participants into their homes and serve them a simple meal, then the host will go to bed*. After the last participant has arrived home San Keller has to negotiate his journey home alone.

*MONOLOG
How do artists think about their work at night, when they lay down in their beds to go to sleep? What thoughts nag them or give them a sleepless night? Is life in the art industry really professionalised throughout a twenty-four hour day? Alongside conceiving, organising and communicating projects, is there still time for fundamental, existential thoughts? Or are artists so exhausted by big business that at night they can fall into bed with an easy mind?

When the remaining students bring their host to bed they turn off the light and remain outside of the student’s room, listening to the thoughts that she speaks out loud until she falls asleep. Then the remaining students leave the place.

San Keller’s visit was challenging and exciting, demonstrating to staff and students how far an practice can go in its relation to audience. We hope that we have not seen the last of San Keller at the University!