Hinting and Tipping

by Ruth Barker, 13 Apr 2011

Hello,

I met with Peter McCaughey yesterday, to discuss the progress on the Hints and Tips books. They’re looking good, but we still have a lot of work to do.

We had a few really interesting conversations about the ethics of editing, and also of attribution. After some discussion we felt that we liked the anecdotal style of the comments we received, and that this was actually quite important to try and preserve. It’s important to me that we don’t give any sense that we think we have the unequivocal ‘solution’ to public art. I think keeping the personal nature of the contributions will retain that sense that these are a series of generous voices sharing their personal views and experiences. This is specifically why they are so valuable, and so worth reading.

It seems as though we’ll also be directly attributing each contribution – unless anyone tells us that they’d prefer their views not to be credited. I’ll soon be contacting everyone whose words will appear, to check that their details are correct.

Again, there was a conversation that took place about the implications of saying where a particular comment came from. At first I was worried that by contextualising the contributions, we might inadvertently make a hierarchy for them (we might be unintentionally implying that the reader attach more credence to Comment A from Ms Internationally Renowned Practitioner, that to Comment B from Mr Recent Graduate). But Peter persuaded me otherwise. It is, he reminded me, important that we remind ourselves of the context from which someone speaks. Mr Recent Graduate may have a far more incisive view, and one that’s far more relevant to the majority of us, than Ms Internationally Renowned. The challenges he faces may be far more recognisable, and urgent, and it’s important to recognise and respect his individual experience and perspective. It’s hard to do this if we don’t know who he is. Context is, as ever, everything. And personal testimony is an important part of the mix. That said, so is the choice for anonymity, so of course we’ll be respecting that, too.

It was good to see the progress though, and I’m looking forward to getting the books to printing stage. I think the first run will be very much a first edition – full of omissions and things that in retrospect we will wish we’d done differently. But that’s ok, I think. Things change so fast in this field that sometimes it’s good to get a flawed but sincere attempt out there at the right time, rather than missing the moment by waiting for perfection.

I may have to revise my opinion on that last one, but for now at least, I think it’s the right route to go down. Thankyou as ever to everyone who has been so generous with their time and thoughts. We really appreciate having such great material to work with!

Hope you’re all well,

more later,

R.