Gil Nicol DASH presentation #dash_AB2015 @lightsgoingon

Gill Nicol www.lightsgoingon.com
Why is it so difficult to define yourself as a Disabled artist?

So this short presentation is from my own personal perspective, as someone working with contemporary arts and its audiences, making contemporary art accessible, in whatever form that takes. So my view is one from the outside looking in, and around.
And to prepare for this today took ages! I think because of the question itself. It speaks of many things – of visibility, of language, of power. I ended wondering if it was now in fact, the right question for 2015.

1. Why is it so difficult to define yourself as a disabled artist? Awkward Bastards symposium Thursday 12 March 2015 Gill Nicol lightsgoingon.com

2. Woman artist Black artist Disabled artist Male (able-bodied, heterosexual) artist

3. Might it be because able-bodied people don't define themselves as able-bodied, so why label oneself as disabled?  ‬ ‪It flags up difference, not acceptance ?‬ (producer)

4. I ncreasingly , disabled artists do not want to/feel the need to define themselves as 'disabled' in the same way that in recent debates black writers have made it clear that they don't want the label 'black' just 'writer'. Why should you have to wear your disability on your sleeve in this way? The only time when it's relevant is when seeking funding or showing work as part of a specific disability event or festival . (artist)

5. It’s not about disability, but more about bloody good art.. (curator)

6. I resist labelling myself any more than an artist (not visual artist, sculptor etc ) - it feels as though it might be limiting, and make me more mindful of people’s preconceptions about what any of those roles are or what they mean. ( artist)

7. a collapsed field

8. A r eturn to making A desire to collaborate Personalised accounts of art A turn towards the body, the sensual – the experiential

9. ‘Labyrinth of Living Exhibits’, curated by Aaron Williamson at the H unterian Museum, Royal College of Surgeons, 2011

10. Labyrinth of Living Exhibits

11. Katherine Araniello , Labyrinth of Living Exhibits, BiPAP 1 (Living Experiment)

12. Judith Scott (1943 – 2005)

13. ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT BODIES OF WORK—‘INSIDER’ OR ‘OUTSIDER’— PRODUCED ANYWHERE, AND UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, IN THE PAST TWENTY YEARS Matthew Higgs, Director , White Columns

14. Shinichi Sawada (1987-)

15. Thank you