...being unfinished is really part of the point

LLF: 'Some Vacant Accommodation' is a project that opens up all of the spaces (both informal and formal) of SVA to artists but, perhaps even more importantly than that, it also opens up an architectural framework to questions from artists about the possibilities of practice, ideas, culture, perceptions, and about the very asking of questions themselves.
It seems that conversation and exchange are at the heart of the project, which can be seen in the extension of 'Some Vacant Accommodation’ into dinners and events and it will of course spread out through rumour and documentation. The historical precedent it seems to be pointing to is the dynamic, or elastic, space-of-events that was set up by Alan Saret and Jeffrey Lew in the New York space 112 Greene Street in the early 1970s. There artists basically could do what ever they wanted - from digging into the floor to changing over art works and extending out into the street.
How will 'Some Vacant Accommodation' continue its infection into the programme of SVA?

DT: Good question. 'Some Vacant Accommodation' has developed out of this very particular moment in SVA’s history. And although in reality this is only part of a process that started ten years ago, this moment could be said to be the point at which the artist led project becomes the Institution - the major capital project, led by a major architectural practice from the capital, nears completion, the money has been raised, the expectations are there, the building has clean new lines and a heating system - it’s what everyone has worked for…
So 'Some Vacant Accommodation' could be seen as a final fling, a last chance to mess the place up before we have to settle down to being a sensible grown up centre of cultural production, (even if we avoid becoming ‘Stroud Art Centre’).
And the whiff of nostalgia is defiantly never far from the scene as we prepare for the opening tomorrow.
But whilst there is this melancholic undertone of loss, the event has also been billed as a ‘statement of intent’. Personally I see it as a challenge not only to the architectural framework but also to the ideas of development and regeneration that underpin much of the arts sector that we operate within. Maybe this is purely symbolic as well, but it seems important to be able to take this space - which has been thought about so much, planned, decided upon and had so much money spent on it - and say well, what if we decide this sculpture studio is a theatre now, this toilet is a cinema or this office is café….. because if we cant bite the hand that has fed us so well, what’s the point.
But how will 'Some Vacant Accommodation' continue its infection into the programme of SVA?

CG: oh yeah, how to continue the infection? through the expansion of documentation, allowing the artists to participate more in that information resource and having more control over those histories...

LLF: So creating an elastic sense of what the project is? Ever pushing at limits in order to create a discursive space.. . .
This thing about controlling histories seems really important - especially at a moment when the eyes of SVA are on the future. Making this a statement of intent rather than a final moment before a loss of freedom must be an essential stance to take in order to maintain SVA as a space of ideas rather than a function of its new institutional status.
Surely this is a moment of seeking a set of possibilities through the future framework rather than reflecting on lost possibility.

CG: in the sense of the future, we had a nice moment today when deciding on what work to hang where. We were in a space in which the past was being evoked by one immaterial work and the possible future by one sensual material piece. I liked the fact that really this was still just an empty studio which has not been allocated to anyone yet. So we were really experiencing that kind of limbo, and expanding that state, making it the most important thing to feel now. This also seems to relate to the nearly two and half days of events and exhibits, a little glimpse into what is a continuum of work both for the artists involved and for the project based side of the organisation. I'll bet that on Monday another project will be suggesting itself...............

LLF: And suggesting itself not only to those making work but those coming along too, and then those that do not physically see the project but come across it through anecdote. By creating a series of events the audience (or receiver / visitors / viewers depending on what you prefer) too will continue the work - effectively SVA at SVA works as a comma not a full stop.
Important as these strategies are - what do you think 'Some Vacant Accommodation' will look like? It will be interesting to see how your predications line up with the actuality.

DT: My original idea for a title for Some vacant was Unfinished Business - No one else liked it so it was dropped - but as to what the show/event will look like.... as I still have to construct my own piece of work as well as set up half a dozen other artists’ work and try and finish writing the programme/works list (some of which also haven't been made yet) ... I think there's a strong possibility that Some Vacant might look, well, unfinished at 6 tonight....

LLF: In a way 'Some Vacant Accommodation' is all about making business unfinished - but not the usual sense of the term. It seems to be concerned with making ideas unfinished - opening things up. So being unfinished at 6 is really part of the point......