Olympic Ambitions

Mudlark have just been shorlisted for the Artist Taking the Lead (ATL) Programme in the West Midlands. We are part of a shortlist of 5 and after an initial R&D process we will be pitching our developed idea in early October to decide the final winner for the region.

I have just returned from the workshop day in London where we met up with the 59 other artists who are on the shortlist for the whole country. The day included a tour of the Olympic Park as it stands now. We were treated to the full PR experience – how the build is 6 months ahead of schedule and all the rest of it. But something of particular interest was the fact that the site is so contaminated from past industrial usage that they have to clean the soil which they do by boiling it! So now dirt is no longer dirty. The architectural highlight is the aquatics centre designed by Zaha Hadid which will look like a giant floating manta ray.

The day comprised a series of briefs by various key members of the Arts Council and the Olympic Committee explaining the ethos both in terms of creativity but also with reference to branding/licencing  and perhaps pivotally: sustainability. This is the buzzword for the Games and everything from the construction through to the T-shirts has to be sustainably produced and sourced. So this may be a decider in who they select for the ATL commission.

The only thing which was strange and rather predictable was the default artist position of getting all uppity and upset when the word McDonald’s was mentioned as one of the sponsors. Which immediately led to a cold hush settling over the branding exec’s talk. Artists always see themselves as the self-righteous voice of the oppressed, when artists traditionally have always courted the money of the rich and powerful and it was no different today. There is a large pot of money available for ideas to be developed made publicly available to any creative person who wished to apply and it was made clear to us from the outset that the sponsors may want to use us in promoting themselves within the context of the Olympics but yet we become squeamish when we realise that we are not insulated from the sources of the money we seek. We may not want to jump into bed with the Devil but we at least except that sometimes he makes it possible for us to explore radical new ways of expressing creativity.

I think the heady mix of arriving in Canary Wharf, passing through very tight security, being whisked to the 22nd floor of an Apprentice opening shot skyscraper and then being wined and dined like hedge fund managers left everyone indulged but slightly out of sorts. Trying to negotiate their place amongst all the shiny surfaces and views shared with the “masters of the universe” (not he-man though).

All in all a very interesting and informative day where I felt that the presentation team where as transparent and open about the experience as it possible and I think we’ve now got alot to think aobut and do between now and October.