CAUTION publication extract
An extract from the CAUTION publication – written by lead artist and curator Sinéad O’Donnell, where the artist introduces the beginnings of the project.
This book and DVD gives an insight into the creative journey experienced during CAUTION with the participating artists. Available to buy from the Artsadmin Bookshop.
On the Side
Sinéad O’Donnell
I was diagnosed as dyslexic in 2004 and since then I have been researching what my identity is within the disabled community and if there is something that could link with my work as an artist, educator and curator. How to get the things to merge? I called this research ‘on the side’. It was a territory that was completely new to me. Were there others like me and, if so, what impact did this have on their artwork?
I began to approach other performance artists to ask if they also identified as disabled. I gradually began to form an understanding of disability in the context of performance art and felt that disability was not part of the discourse because of social stigma and the marginalisation of disabled people in society. Disability is, however, obviously an issue within performance art because it is part of a person’s ‘being’.
The artists I chose to work with for CAUTION have all been a great support to me in the past. They have an incredible affinity and have all dedicated their lives to making experimental and performance art. Most of them have never addressed disability in their work. I asked each artist to take this journey with me step by step over two years and to develop work they have never considered doing before. The process was cumulative and each artist built upon ideas generated by previous encounters with me connecting all of us and acting as a catalyst for the progression of the work and the gathering of material and documentation.
The CAUTION book which includes a DVD and a talking text CD is availble for £5, this publication details the creative journey experienced by lead artist and curator Sinéad O’Donnell with the participating artists Sylvette Babin, Mariel Carranza, Paul Couillard, Poshya Kakil and Shiro Masuyama. For this publication, each artist was invited to contextualise their experience of a project that aimed to re-examine their art practices and personal ideologies. Additional perspectives are provided by the project mentors Aaron Williamson and Boris Nieslony. The DVD includes video works documenting the research process. The book is published by Artsadmin.
Buy the CAUTION book and DVD from the Artsadmin Bookshop