The ‘Give/Gift’ Project

"...the importance of the gift was less the object than the act of exchange" ....."objects are evaluated in terms of worth, not their value" Jennifer Craik Fashion: The Key Concepts The giving of a gift establishes a relationship. It creates a link between artists and the creation of work. When gifts circulate within a group their commerce leaves a series of interconnected relationships in its wake and a ‘cohesiveness’ emerges. This unique collaboration was envisaged as an exploration of this ‘cohesiveness’ in practice. Fourteen artists were selected to take part in the project which arose theoretically from conversation between researchers on the work of Marcel Maus and Lewis Hyde. International selected artists from a range of disciplines including performance, dance and the plastic arts including new technologies came together to explore creative making through their particular medium. Each artist was asked to exchange an object, artwork, image with another artist which would then inspire, influence and transform their own creative practice. Artists were asked to share specific narratives around the gifts they were giving with many of the collaborators developing the impact of project through the gift exchange informing the working within their own creative communities. In this way artist Japanese artist Kakuko Ishii worked with school children as a workshop practice to develop the works and UK artist Michelle Trip used the project to inform her work with local communities.The transformation of the exchanged gifts was been documented as part of the project narrative and was featured both on social media and a dedicated websitewww.givegiftproject.com enabling the viewer to understand the story and outcome of each artwork before they were exhibited both in the UK and several international venues as well as being featured in conference presentations internationally.