Unit 2 - Professional Practice - Residencies - Alvaro Barrington shares his Reflections

Robert Rauschenberg's Night Shades and Phantoms.

Alvero took part in a residency in 2018 at the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation. Although only a couple of months it was a wonderful opportunity he seemed to have appreciated. I would like to look into residency as a way of furthering my practice and I was interested to hear what he had to say.

https://vimeo.com/310660074

https://ropac.net/video/222-alvaro-barrington-reflects-on-robert-rauschenberg/

I like the way Alvaro talks about artist and their processes, he speaks simply and slowly, savoring his words, and thoughts about something he is deeply connected with. I think that is the appeal, he connects, and in this case, he is a bridge to Rauschenberg's work and the man behind the work.

I think it is important to pick a foundation or sponsor who is simpatico to your way of working.

I am a huge fan of Rauschenberg, his love of the every day, and his slight disregard of rules and established, expected protocol, in both process, conception, and realisation.

He has fun. I heard a Nobel prize winner talk about his work this week, he also mentioned fun and spoke about playing with ideas. Alvaro has fun, he was enjoying the talk, which in turn made it enjoyable to listen to.

The show was great almost playful, probably a result of the fun that was had creating the works.

This deeply connected investment they all have in their work has given them that edge to push further beyond their initial response and what they had intended to do.

Not unlike those fighting for their lives and what they believe in against those who fight for some paymaster.

This aspect of involvement, concern, and connection seems imperative to a successful outcome.

This collection of thoughts, moments shared and engaged with collaboratively, adds to the success of the piece, in this case, a talk which I attended, about works reflected upon by someone who embraces the ethos of collaboration, about someone he was inspired by, a man who promoted and lived by collaboration and inspiration from the everyday.