some questions for the gardeners

·      What are their aims?

·      How will they gauge the success of this experiment?

·      Is it more relational? (it is done within an institution, with no implications unto the community existing outside of this microtopia?)

·      How will they orchestrate participatory involvement?

·      Are they to take a back seat and pass on authorship to the participants who will tend the garden, or will they involve themselves in a collaborative dialogue with ‘the SCA community and beyond’? The outcome of which may in some way change the make up of the institution.

I want to highlight these questions before we engage with Lucas Ihlein and Diego Bonetto in the talk, so that we can engage with them and determine for ourselves, what kind of project this is, and what implications it will have for  the student community at SCA.

Grant Kester, in his book ‘Conversation Pieces’ outlines elements of evaluation for participatory/community art projects. These basically throw out a series of questions, some of which I’ve pointed out above.

An important element is that of change. Kester studies community art projects and evaluates them in regards to how participants/audiences are changed as a result of them. This can be from an observers point of view, as our outlooks are challenged and maybe changed. Or it can be the change of the artist or specific community that has been worked with. This is just one element, and one which I find fascinating. IN terms of this garden project, I would like to know what kinds of changes will happen as a result of it.