AUTHOR ! AUTHOR !!

I was asked this week what my role is as Artist in Abbeyview – and what is my role with the the other artists involved? It got me thinking, where does the trail of an idea or artwork start from? Is the idea of ownership important?

After working as a curator & director at a gallery space in Glasgow called Bulkhead 1997– 2001 and receiving the NESTA (National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) fellowship 2002 – 2005 I decided that I would work in collaboration with fellow artists. This moulded the way in which I set up my time in Abbeyview by inviting 8 people to think with me collectively, forming the SEE EYE artwork in March. In the remaining time until March ‘08 I have set up several artworks with 10 other artists, using ideas born of my observations of and access to Abbeyview, as well as my interests in general. I feel that to break down the idea ‘tree’ of each artwork would be a distraction from the outcome, but I think it might be of interest to discuss who is the author of an artwork.


The Tweed Street idea came to me while travelling from Dunfermline centre to Abbeyview on the bus, on which I have a view of people lives through their front windows. After meeting with Marisa Privitera I thought it would be good to have her energy focused on meeting people and have her photograph the people’s windows. It develop as she responded to Abbeyview by photographing the people on the street and buses. After her photographs were finished I started to wonder how best to show these works. I decided it would be good to show them like ‘Lost Cat Posters” on the Tweed Street. The context is very much part of this work.


This brings me to the development of the R.A.D.A.R. (Random And Dynamic Art Risks) artworks, to create unforeseen happenings. This was set up to challenge myself and the artists about place, public and collaboration.

Sophia Pankenier’s RADAR artwork ideas can be found in our past blogs. Last week Sophia completed her drawings in New York where she is living at the moment. I initially introduced Sophia to the local Abbeyview hardware shop K&K Factors and came up with setting up a hand-drawn shop in her New York apartment, far away from Abbeyview. It was only last week when I received her lovely drawings that I realised my fascination with K&K Factors shop in Abbeyview was not complete, thus the idea started to grow. I purchased 14 objects and decided to draw them and display the images in the shop. You will be able to see them from 19th November 2007. These will be for sale at the same price as the objects were purchased for. Both our drawings will be produced in a limited edition 32 page book, of only 100 printed. These will be available from 19th November 2007 in various locations around Abbeyview.



Students at Woodmill High School will create a follow up to the K&K Factors shop artwork, in response to this, also drawing objects from the shop and selling them for the same price. The artwork asks the question “What is the price of art?”.



These are only a few examples of my working practice. In these artworks we become jointly the author, my role as artist might be the starting point but in the end the outcome is most importantly a collective one. (The Fly)


Photographs © Nicola Atkinson Does Fly