Sustaining All Life (SAL)

Is it Art?

In SAL, people get to listen to each other in turn, confidentially and for equal time. They may be in the forefront of the climate crisis in the Maldives or in Kenya, or may be challenging people in the UK to take action, and they get to share their thoughts and feelings about it and become more effective. People are requested to listen encouragingly and not refer to other people's turns.

But is it Art?

SAL activists staged a fundraiser to help indigenous people and others to get to COP26 and be heard. Gathering work from artists in London involved in the project we exhibited it all at the auction to attract bids. I entered four drawings of my own, one of which raised a goodly sum. Despite encouragement I refused the auctioneering role (would that have been Art?) but then thought I could have done a better job than those who did it. Is it Art to grab every opportunity that presents itself? Probably.

Claiming these activities as Art for me began when Will Cobbing spotted the Listening Project I ran in Brixton during Unit One. This involved displaying my hand sewn banner in the street and with a small group, listening to passers by about their feelings on the issue of climate change. Will's comment made me reconsider my connections with artists such as Jeremy Deller, Simon Starling , Gillian Wearing and Grayson Perry. Suzanne Lacy's description of 'new genre public art might be appropriate as it blurs the boundaries between activism and art. Culture Declares Emergency has also blurred those boundaries.