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Ideas for developing a multimedia training programme for artists who work in communities

After our residencies and research, we found a strong need for a training programme for artists which would not merely cover the software, but also use the collaborative aspects on the internet for learning and exploring.

Through the experience of these workshops we realised there was a strong need for training for artists, but not just of the technical sort. We needed a chance to talk and think and develop a critical view of using the internet, of developing work for remote viewing, of using digital imagery, and so forth.

A good training programme would look more like an artists-in-residence programme, and NOT like a course. It would situate artists visibly within a community and team them with a local community arts worker as well as a technologist or scientist to research and discover and create together. Engaging the community would be one of the primary focuses for the research and experimentation. A project-based and research-based approach would raise the bar for the quality of work, and ensure the focus of the project.

The Artists

Those who would take part in multimedia training would be artists who are interested in gaining new skills, broadening their oeuvre and working in flexible exploratory ways. If artists have the interest and are open to working in collaborative ways, their prior experience in multimedia is not limiting. Training can be provided to allow even inexperienced artists to create innovative multimedia work.

'Creative Misuse' (you don't have to be an expert)
"What sets art apart from other technological endeavors is not the innovative use of technology, but a creative misuse of it... for to use a tool as it was intended, whether a screwdriver or spreadsheet, is simply to fulfill its potential. By misusing that tool-that is, by peeling off its ideological wrapper and applying it to a purpose or effect that was not its maker's intention-artists can exploit a technology's hidden potential in an intelligent and revelatory way."
"Ten Myths of Internet Art", Jon Ippolito, Curator, Guggenheim, NY, USA (my emphasis)

Training for artists 1: Exposure to international, multimedia work

In order to develop original, exciting and inspiring work, artists need to look at and see the work of others. Artists need to see multimedia work done in community settings. While there are few venues to see such work online or in the UK and Ireland, this is an important aspect of training. Artists need to see how this work can happen, how multimedia software and hardware can be a viable tool for expressing their ideas.

Good examples of multimedia work show artists how multimedia tools can explore a community's stories, sounds and images. Issue-focused work in communities has brought out stories, provocative sounds and imagery in a way that traditional art has not been able to. Seeing such work early on in the training can give motivation to the artists, and a reference for investigating ways of working.

Training artists for multimedia expression needs to include a time for viewing such work, which may be available in exhibitions, conferences and symposia, online or on CD-ROM. Ideally, a budget would be provided for such exposure.

Training for artists 2: Project based learning

Experience at Kids' Own has been that artists are well situated to learning. This makes them easier to 'teach' software and multimedia tools than the average user. Learning software needs to be done by trial and error and exploring the tool individually, with expert support and answers. Artists are accustomed to driving their own work from their imaginations and ideas. Training for artists needs to be different from training other users to benefit from their experience and background.
Artists require intense project-based training. Artists we have worked with have taken skills-based classes when they were available and have not found these easy to apply to their own practice. Project-based training harnesses the abilities artists bring to the experience. They drive their training with their needs for expression, and supply the necessary context for their learning.

Another argument for project-based learning is that it builds a structure for success. Completed projects add to their portfolio of work and become part of the artist's oeuvre- a part of his or her identity. This experience will increase the chances that artists will continue to learn the media, and open opportunities for them to find situations to work professionally. It is as simple as the difference between saying you took a course on Macromedia Flash and knowing you exhibited a work created in Macromedia Flash and are able to show your community participants a piece of artwork you have created.

Display and promotion of the project work is the final and most important stage. A piece is transformed when it is exhibited, and this helps complete the learning process of how to apply multimedia in professional artwork. There are online opportunities for display, which artists need to be connected to, yet project based work displayed in a community setting is ideal. This provides both a venue for exhibition and the transformation of the work in the most meaningful way.

Training for artists 3: Communication tools and access

Multimedia training for artists needs to include training in ICT (Information Communication Technology) to build their skills of constant learning and investigation, and widen their support options. Looking to the commercial multimedia development community gives us some cues for promoting learning. Experienced users share information in online communities, through web boards and e-mailing lists. Artists would benefit from being able to share their questions, their mastery and experience in an online setting. We should help these artists develop their skills not only in the details of a particular application but also in a new manner of working.

Software, for the artist, is unlike other media. Sculptors may investigate stone and master the variety of stone and qualities of different carving tools- but software is constantly changing. Typically, software comes out with a new version every two years. Artists need to understand that they will not be 'mastering Photoshop' they will be mastering the ability to find any piece of software that might help them achieve their project goals and master only the aspects of that program that give the desired results. They will soon be aware of the transferable tools and skills that transfer between different applications.

Most importantly, to achieve this, artists need unhindered access to the internet and training in basic communication software such as an email program and a web browser.

In Conclusion

Kids' Own recommends that artists are given opportunities for training in the context of community arts projects; as artists-in-residence. They need support not only from technicians to sit by them on intense training days, but also from the international community of artists working in this ever changing medium. They need to be trained in the manner of constant learning. Finally, they need to work to a goal of exhibition and display to bring completion and context to their learning.