I guess it happens to everyone.

by ruth barker, 9 Apr 2009

Hello,
In the very first blog posting I made, I mentioned a public work I was developing for St Johns Hospital in Livingston, as part of the Functionsuite / Artlink programme. You may have noticed that I haven’t mentioned it since. At first that was because it wasn’t appropriate to make the work public yet, but last week things became a little more complicated, with the result that the work (or at least my part of it) won’t be going ahead.

It was interesting that I hesitated in discussing this on the blog, and so it’s reminded me in a very real way how hard it is to talk about the failure of a project, even in a case like this where there appear to be no hard feelings on either side. There are certainly none on my part, and I don’t think that there are any on the side of the commissioners – Artlink in this case. If they do now hate me, they’ve been very discrete about it!

So what happened? Basically there was a breakdown in communication and, crucially, I had not been given a brief. I know, I know, I know. It was silly of me not to insist! Especially as this is actually the second public work I’ve been involved in where problems have arisen due to the lack of a clear brief signed off by both parties. On the first occasion the situation was saved by a fantastic project manager (I must give credit where it’s due and name Deborah Kell of RMJM architects for her skilled artist/client mediation) and the project in that case went ahead with only a brief delay.

This time, no brief and a lack of clarity at the outset as to the final budget led to my developing a proposed work that was inappropriate. Rather than either compromising the original idea or starting again from scratch, I chose to retire from the project with the blessing of Artlink, who conceded that I had been placed in an impossible position. For me, the situation was made more difficult because the people at Artlink are so great: aside from being personal friends with several of the people involved in this regretable situation, I’ve found everyone involved to be warm, generous and sincere in their approach to both the works commissioned and the contexts in which they’re made.

So now I’m left trying to figure out how I feel about the whole thing. It’s hard to pin down, but essentially I feel foolish, certainly, but also disappointed because I wanted to see the work happen. I feel guilty for making mistakes, but frustrated because my time and energies have come to nothing. I am genuinely relieved because the situation (before the decision to abort was reached) was making me anxious and unhappy. I’m also sincerely regretful because this is the first time I’ve been so deeply immersed in a piece of work that now won’t be realised. I feel like I’ve failed in a very real way and I do feel that I’ve let people down. But I also own that I’m more than slightly intrigued by the possibility of working with Functionsuite again – something which I really hope will still be a possibility.

The end of one project has a habit of casting one’s eye towards the next and perhaps I have to see this purely as a learning experience – albeit an expensive one in terms of time. Artists: learn from the mistakes made by others: Make sure you ALWAYS agree a brief! Even when, as in this case, you’re working with/for really lovely people whom you like and respect. I’ve written ‘even when’ but do I really mean ‘especially when?’ Ouch! That’s hard to admit, but I’ve a feeling it may be true… We may want to believe that our friends are infallible, but perhaps, after all, they’re not.

I’m glad in the end that I’ve told you of my woes. Honesty is always the best policy after all, and hopefully this less than glorious exposure will encourage others to talk about their projects ‘warts and all’. Be brave, bloggers. After all, failures happen to everyone sometimes (don’t they?! Reassure me here!).

More later,
R