The Art Stops Here

[TIm Jeeves]

Yesterday morning, in bright and remarkably warm sunshine, I went down to St Thomas's Place and planted 12 tulip bulbs as a memorial to Shaquille Maitland-Smith's life.

This was not an artwork/intervention/performance; simply an attempt to mark a tragedy with a gesture and hopefully the growth of new life.

It helped fulfil the need to do something that I have been struggling with ever since hearing about Shaquille's death.

It will change little, but what is altered will matter.

[rajni shah]

Hi Tim

Just read to the end of your blogging, and your residency. It was a really interesting journey.

It strikes me that you're coming up against some really interesting questions: am I doing enough? how can I best make a difference?

I was thinking about these things a lot too, that's how I arrived at the idea of gift as intervention, it struck me as something I could make happen that felt true to 'me' and what I had to offer, but also could create an opening for others. In the end, though, that first bit seems the most important. Because for years, I was stopped from making 'socially engaged' work because I feared I would offend someone, not do enough, or not have the right experience. Then I realised that if I focused on making work that was about having conversations with people and offering them gifts, I knew perfectly well this was something I was capable of. It was what I have to offer. And having realised this, the work could begin.

Of course, it took me to places where conversations were difficult, where my motives were questioned and where the work was doubted. But because I felt sure of the journey, these things added colour rather than disillusionment.

The tulips: I love this as a final gesture. And I wonder, is the separation from the idea of 'artwork' what made it possible? It's just you, planting flowers. But your work is just you, making. If you had planted a thousand flowers in the night, would it have become an artwork then?

Just some more questions (and a beautiful image) for your onward ponderings.

Finally, thank you. I hope the residency has felt fruitful and timely.

rajni.x.