Social Works? Open - Issue 2 2021

Introduction

Social Works? Open is an Axis archive project exploring the field of social practice art through artist writing, research and reflection.

Issue 2, published in 2021, followed the first edition launched at the Social Art Summit in 2018. Developed in partnership with Social Art Network, this issue captures a moment shaped by pandemic, protest and transformation in socially engaged art.

Editorial

Lucy Wright, Editor

Welcome to the long-awaited second issue of Social Works? Open, Axis’s journal for and about social practice art. It’s been almost three years since the first issue launched back in November 2018 at the Social Art Summit in Sheffield, and I think it’s fair to say that both the landscape of social practice and the world in which we live and work has changed significantly in the time between. 

We’d had the idea of creating a second issue of the journal for a long time, but the strange and unhappy events of 2020 made recording the thoughts and experiences of social artists an even bigger priority. Artists working with people were undeniably hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic as face-to-face activities were cancelled and social inequalities deepened. But at the same time, the role of social art is more crucial than ever, providing new ways to stay connected in spite of the distance and offering models for a more equitable ‘new normal’. 

Although the impacts of Covid-19 certainly weigh heavy in many of the articles in this issue, this is not a pandemic-themed edition. The last 18 months have also seen the powerful resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, government back-pedalling on trans rights and the continued spectre of male violence, among many other injustices. We deliberately cast the net very wide when calling for article submissions, receiving a huge number of really high-quality proposals dealing with a wide range of topics most important to social artists right now.

For Axis, the last three years have also seen major developments in our provision around social practice art. Following the completion of our ‘Models of Validation’ project with Prof Amanda Ravetz (Manchester Metropoltian University), in 2020 we began work in earnest on Social Art Library (SOAL), a new artist-led online archive of projects and resources for social art which we’re really excited about. If you haven’t already done so, please do check it out at www.socialartlibrary.org, and consider sharing some of your work with us! We’d love for you to join us by becoming a ‘SOALmate’! 

We’re also delighted to have also been working closely with Social Art Network (SAN) to create stronger infrastructure and support systems for artists and the communities they work with, including via our new interactive Social ARTery platform, which aims to provide an ethical alternative to the mainstream social media giants. In fact, this edition of the journal is brought to you in partnership with Social Art Publications, an incredible new SAN initiative to provide cut-price ISBNs and peer support for social artists who want to put their work into print. You can find out more here: www.socialartnetwork.org/sap/social-art-publication. 

(To get a better idea of how everything fits together and for a sneak preview of some of our future aspirations for the collab, see the ‘field map’ by R.M. Sánchez-Camus below)

We hope you enjoy this collection of writings and word-image productions by social artists in the UK and beyond! If you’d like to get in touch with any feedback, please do so at: hello@axisweb.org, or use the hashtag #socialworksopen on Instagram.

Happy reading!
Lucy Wright — Editor

Field Map by R.M. Sánchez-Camus

The movement of social practice art is growing across the UK and there is a powerful energy held by creative practitioners to grow and support the sector. 

Building new ways of working, of sharing resources, of redistributing hierarchies and supporting cultural democracy is a huge collaborative act. If you are reading this you are part of it, invested in the creative future of what our world will look like by creating new ways of being and sharing. 

The following map playfully navigates the terrain that Axis is developing and its new and developing partnership with Social Art Network. We don’t have hard boundaries or strict definitions but rather fluid states of sharing and co-creating. We are leading together in building future blended spaces for artists to work and engage with people in meaningful ways. 

The bigger problems that we collectively face, the harder we all work to come up with bigger solutions to help mitigate those impacts and dream of a better future together. Some of this terrain is real, some is hopeful, some is imaginary. But we are working hard to keep all the dreams alive and be a lifeline for artists and the communities you work with.

R.M. Sánchez-Camus
Artist working with and for Axis & SAN

Contributors

Alix Rothnie | Amelia Hawk | Lucy Lound | Dana Olarescu | Gavin Rogers | Melody J. Sproates | Kenn Taylor | Madinah Farhannah Thompson | Georgina Tyson | Sophie Huckfield | Sarah Jury | The Turnpike / Hannah Gaunt

Legacy

Social Works? Open marked a significant step in Axis’ commitment to socially engaged practice, creating a permanent record of critical writing in the field. Originating from the Models of Validation research project, the journal evolved into a trilogy that captured the expanding scope and depth of social practice in the UK and beyond.

Issue 2 built on the foundations of the first edition launched in 2018, reflecting on a period of profound social change and renewed artistic purpose. Together, the Social Works? Open journals form an enduring resource that documents and celebrates the ideas, collaborations and artistic contributions shaping socially engaged art.

As part of Axis’ initiative archive, this record ensures that the thinking and practice from each edition remain accessible to practitioners, researchers and audiences, supporting ongoing dialogue and development in the field.