A few more links for you from the Arts Council’s Creative Case site (hosted by Disability Arts Online) – where the essays presented link to the work of our amazing PUSH ME artists. This time it’s the turn of Caroline Bowditch and Sue Austin.
Caroline Bowditch’s former work with Scottish Dance Theatre as Dance Agent for Change is reported in Shifting Ground:
“Caroline is the embodiment of a dance agent for change. She continues to challenge my own thinking through her work both in advocacy and artistic practice. In fact it is the symbiotic relationship between these which I think is most profound and therefore having the most effective impact… Her personal generosity is infectious but also enables her to probe deeply in challenging the structures and assumptions which are prevalent within our (dance) culture. Quite simply, dance in Scotland is richer and more buoyant because of Caroline.”
And Looking Again focuses on Sue Austin’s work, aligning it with that of Danny Gregory – both of whom make us reframe our view of the world. The article begins by discussing Portal – a photographic image of Sue in her wheelchair underwater that has led to the development of her Unlimited Commission.
“To me, the photograph reads power. It shows control, self-determination. It’s about dreaming and then becoming. I find it impossible to ‘read’ disability negatively in this context – even the bright fire station red of the wheelchair serves as affirmative punctuation. Like many artists, her work focuses on identity and how her identity as a disabled person influences artistic practice. She is constantly questioning – her role within the processes she engages in, the specific ‘gaze’ she brings to the work, viewing the world from the level of a wheelchair and also the assumptions others bring with them that shape and skew their ‘view’.
Susan says: ‘My studio practice has, for sometime, centred around finding ways to understand and represent my embodied experience as a wheelchair user, opening up profound issues about methods of self-representation and the power of self-narration in challenging the nexus of power and control that created the ‘disabled’ as other.’”
Still a few more to come – its all good stuff so follow the links and stretch your thinking round the creative case – all thoughts welcome!