Interview with James Prevett

When and why did you start working with participatory art? Was it out of your own need, on your own initiative or through an invitation, assignment or other reason?
Over the years, I have been involved in various organisations and groups who have championed a participatory approach to creativity. I worked with Encounters in the UK who ran events and participatory exhibitions beginning in Sheffield in the early 2000’s and then moved to other areas of the UK. Their methodology was specifically to design participatory projects and interventions that inspire creativity, dialogue and exchange between people of all ages often through the idea of storytelling. I was involved with them for several projects in Sheffield and also as part of the Venice Biennale of Architecture in 2006. I also worked for Access Space in Sheffield UK for many years around 2005 running their arts programme. Access Space is a creative technology hub that at the time encouraged people to work together to make their own computers and creative projects using recycled technology and open source software. It has now ceased its open doors policy and is concentrating on creative technology projects. These experiences, alongside being part of a collective studio organisation, S1 Artspace in Sheffield, and working for SPACE studios in London- a membership studio organisation perhaps outline my understanding of how we engage in society together. 
But participatory art can mean many things. It could mean, amongst many other things, taking part in a workshop, it can mean interviewing people, it can mean inviting people to work with you, it can mean developing a whole project together with people. This makes it, much like its parental term ‘art’, very subjective. 
Personally, I have quite an ambivalent attitude towards the term ‘participatory art’. I often feel uncomfortable with the idea of bringing art to other people. Maybe it is the slightly ‘missionary’ feel to it or enlightening the un-initiated. I make art, but the aim of the work is never to work together with other people in a participatory way. It is more that it fits the needs of the project or the idea. In the very broadest terms, the aim of making art for me is to create something that explores consciousness and our involvement in the universe (I recently  saw this used as a definition for Magic!) There are always much more specific details and situations that drive the work. And this is important. For me, things are deeply entangled with each other. Nothing happens in a vacuum, so by degrees everything involves other people and other things at some point. The relationships between these things are what counts.  That said, it can be useful to explore the variety of this term. To see it as a broader term to indicate art that is more open to the involvement of other people in the creative processes. 

What do you believe are the artistic qualities of working with others?
I think that this is totally dependent on how the work is structured. I personally like working with other people to create something as it provides unexpected approaches and interventions that can adjust how things are viewed. 

When you think of working with others, what are you thinking of?
Why? What is the point of involving others in the project? What does it bring? How can we work together? What can I bring? What can I offer? What do I expect? What do I want to get out of the encounter? I find it important to be as clear as possible with myself to avoid using other people to advance something for my own gain. 

How do you experience the conditions for your work with participatory art?
At this particular moment in time, with a pandemic, it is very difficult to involve other people. I am working on a project in London that involves interviewing people about the objects they have in their homes to make some sound works form radio broadcast. We completed 9 interviews before the COVID-19 pandemic hit but the rest have not been possible. I feel like conditions for working together have significantly altered in a short time. The chance for doing things digitally is possible but there is always a gap. For us it was important to interview people inside their homes, to bring a distinct understanding of the person’s own relationship for their home and us being in their home. This brings a unique sound quality to the recording that is not possible via digital distance. The extension of this project is to make a sculpture for the interviewees for their home. I am trying to continue this part of the project.

Do you enjoy participating in other people's art projects as an active audience? How does it make you feel?
No, not especially. I often retreat from encounters with art that requires my participation, unless it is in workshop or event style setting. In galleries, if a work asks me to take my shoes off, I am instantly suspicious for the reasons that require my involvement. I am wary of my own participation being aestheticised. Something I am very wary of with my own inclusion of other people. 

How do you assess whether a participatory project is successful or not? How does it feel when it is successful, what is the gain for you?
This is such a difficult question to answer. For me it is about how we can create an interesting thing together. And to do this in a challenging and fun way. However, I think the success for me is nearly always based upon the artistic merits of the work. How does it work? What does it do? 

Do you have a target group that you usually turn to or that you are more interested in working with? If you are addressing an inexperienced art audience, what is your drive to specifically work with them?
I do not work with specific target groups. It is nearly always dependent on what the work is and its terms of engagement. For Parties for Public Sculpture, I invite other artists to work with me to make a party for a public sculpture. The terms and conditions are negotiated for each one. We work together as artists, sometimes this is a deeper involvement, others this is very light and people have a clear idea of what they wish to do. They ofter choose to involve other people in their idea both as collaborators and as audience for the event.For Things for Homes / Homes for Things, the involvement has come from people voluntarily taking to be interviewed. The interest here was exploring how sculpture exists in the domestic, and I wanted to interview people who didn’t really have a specific relationship to art. 

What would you like to get out of a network and a platform for participatory art?
It would be good to be in contact with people and explore different approaches t working with other people. Hopefully this leads to some enriching encounters. 

Interview conducted in October, 2020.
http://www.jamesprevett.com