How to survive as an artist in the metropolis
January 2018
London, once a city with overlooked spaces open to occupation and experimentation, has become an increasingly difficult environment for emerging artists. Those graduating from art school now find fewer spaces in which to work, with affordable studios a thing of the past. In the five-year period between 2014 and 2019, it is predicted that 30% of artists’ studios in London will be lost (see GLA’s Artists’ Workshop Study).
In response, artists are challenging and re-inventing the studio. Could it be a park bench, an online space or a public building? As artists, can we resist the tide and find new ways of reinstating art practice within the heart of the city?
Selected students from Central Saint Martins will construct fully functioning studios in Tate Exchange. Drop in and select a studio (or a series of studios) and join in a wide range of practical activities incorporating the many and diverse ways in which art is made today.
For this, Victoria held a ‘Mandala of Community Identity’ workshop and invited the public to illustrate the various layers of their inner and outer identities, instigating conversation surrounding community, connection, and collaboration.
The visually constructed workshop then transformed into a holistic ritual or performance within the group to express the journey from their outer layers to their inner.
