Since reading about this prize I have been quite intrigued to how anyone or any people are chosen to receive 500 thousand pounds to create a piece of art. From all of the 'winners' of this competition, I think I've not heard of maybe three winners, the rest I have either seen or heard of. Im not one to disrespect the opinions of all of the committees, as they have obviously full filled their social and civic duties, but don't you think the initial selection process should of had a non-name policy, so to give everybody who are not known a chance to win. A good example is this fellow Mr Pacitti, check out his web site and tell me does this man need extra funds and or support to create art? He's doing pretty well in my book, greedy fellow. http://www.pacitticompany.com/
androgynous
Gimmick over Legacy. Shame. But not surprising given the nature of the arts in this country.
Anonymous
i'm sad for huts
suffolkman
Anonymous
Is it just me, or is Robert Pacitti's project very far removed from what he proposed? I understood the main project to be the film 'On Landguard Point', and yet now we're told that it's a mass research project on the concept of 'home', with the film being relegated to mere mention at the end of the blurb about the project. I am concerned that all this project really offers is gimmicks (flags and feasts), in order to satisfy the requirement that it be reflective of Olympic values, and not much in the way of legacy, perhaps the most important issue of all. I don't find it at all satisfactory to spend £500,000 of public money without some more tangible legacy than the film itself, which will make little future impact once the Olympics are over, work experience for a select few, and memories for the rest. Please reassure me that we're not wasting our money.
Thomas. B Clarke
I've read the comments and Matthew LInley's blog response with interest, and congratulate Robert Pacitti on his win. The only criticism I have is of the following sentence in Mr. Linley's blog: "During this whole process I often found myself wondering how a new or emerging artist would manage a £.5million budget and the stresses and strains which go with that." I'm sorry, but shouldn't this have been part of the Arts Council's job? To make sure that all the artists had help with dealing with the funds? I'm an artist from Suffolk, and I've certainly never dealt with a £500,000 budget and probably never will! Seems to me to go a bit against the aims of Artists Taking the Lead, that any artist, respective of experience could apply...
Maggie Crawley
I sincerely hope that education is a major part of this project, as learning about the concept of 'home' is important on so many levels. It would be a great missed opportunity if children especially were only allowed to participate in the loosest of senses, as opposed to deriving something real and tangible from their involvement.
Anonymous
Thank you to everyone for your congratulations!
Please sign up to our 'On Landguard Point' mailing list to hear more as the project develops!
What a pity that only the hutliving and song cycle teams have been generous to congratulate Robert Pacitti on his success. It makes one wonder whether the negative comments directed at the very worthy winner have come from either the beekeeping or hopscotch teams. I can't wait to see the Pacitti project come to fruition, and I hope he makes space for a shepherds hut and a performance by the Prince Consort of a piece by Cheryl Frances-Hoad. I actually loved both of those projects, and very much enjoyed reading their blogs, so I hope that their projects will come to fruition in some form.
S Mason
I think it looks brilliant. It is hard not to win and it is hard if you had your heart pinned on a project that didn't make it, but I'm sure there are other ways to get the projects completed on a different platform. The person who is "outraged" must have very little going on to have to use up so much emotion on something that is actually really beneficial to society. Why doesn't he/she use all that angry energy up on something more useful? I'm glad money is being used to support a local artist... just think of all the other useless places it usually goes. This is a wonderful way to support creativity on a local and global level and I'm excited to watch it develop. Now, I wonder how to be one of the 1000 at the feast?... ;-)
Not Wearing White Stilettos in Essex
It was both a privilege and an honour to chair the panel which selected Robert as the AtL winner for the East. I've followed this debate on line with interest and posted my personal response on my blog - which you can find here http://matthewlinley.wordpress.com/
Matthew Linley
As usual the money's gone to the person who already receives funding. Typical, and a real shame for the region, which would have benefitted from a new voice blowing it's trumpet.
Anonymous
The winning project seems somewhat disjointed, and not at all a reflection of the whole of the East of England. It also seems a tad strange to fly black flags to welcome people. That said, I hope it's a major success. It should be, for £500k of public money in these economically straightened times.
Anonymous
Congratulations to Robert from the Eastern Invocation Team. A job very well done, and we're all looking forward to participating along with the rest of the region!
Cheryl Frances-Hoad and the Prince Consort
Goodness me, Angry of East Anglia, what a selfish, arrogant judgement to make about an artist. Open your eyes, please. Go on, it wont hurt. You might see something that will make your day go a whole lot better.
Barney, Egham
What a fantastic decision. A project with true reach and participation at last. Seems Robert Pacitti has some enemies in the East. That's a shame, because they will miss out on something really amazing. Black flags, feast, live events, community events, legacy film, local artists, new commissions, live trade exhibitions...come on guys...THINK!!!
Supportive of South West
Ben and I send our very warm congratulations to Robert and his team. I have no doubt that Robert worked extremely hard, and will continue to do so for the East region. I really look forward to seeing how the project progresses.
Hutliving was shortlisted on the very day we moved to Dorset so after the last few crazy weeks I shall now start to unpack a few boxes and say hello to the neighbours.
All the very best.
Nancy J Clemance
Anonymous
There is no doubt that this will be thought provoking and the very nature of Pacitti's work cannot fail to make us ponder on our actions and the world we live in. If something feels disturbing then there is probably a good reason for it - as for any other kind of reaction. Perhaps even 'Angry from East Anglia' might benefit from this work if he/she has an open mind.
Anonymous
Clearly public opinion meant nothing to the judges...
TT
The panel have clearly missed the point. The Olympics is all about legacy, and the 'winnning' project (which doesn't seem very winning to me) appears to offer no real legacy at all. In fact, most of the money will need to be spent on black paint and black flags. Great. Where's the education projects? And how will the whole population of East Anglia derive anything meaningful from this at all, other than getting fat from eating a lot of food? No WOW factor here...
"Community feature film" ay? Watch out Avatar...
Since reading about this prize I have been quite intrigued to how anyone or any people are chosen to receive 500 thousand pounds to create a piece of art. From all of the 'winners' of this competition, I think I've not heard of maybe three winners, the rest I have either seen or heard of. Im not one to disrespect the opinions of all of the committees, as they have obviously full filled their social and civic duties, but don't you think the initial selection process should of had a non-name policy, so to give everybody who are not known a chance to win. A good example is this fellow Mr Pacitti, check out his web site and tell me does this man need extra funds and or support to create art? He's doing pretty well in my book, greedy fellow. http://www.pacitticompany.com/
Gimmick over Legacy. Shame. But not surprising given the nature of the arts in this country.
i'm sad for huts
suffolkman
Is it just me, or is Robert Pacitti's project very far removed from what he proposed? I understood the main project to be the film 'On Landguard Point', and yet now we're told that it's a mass research project on the concept of 'home', with the film being relegated to mere mention at the end of the blurb about the project. I am concerned that all this project really offers is gimmicks (flags and feasts), in order to satisfy the requirement that it be reflective of Olympic values, and not much in the way of legacy, perhaps the most important issue of all. I don't find it at all satisfactory to spend £500,000 of public money without some more tangible legacy than the film itself, which will make little future impact once the Olympics are over, work experience for a select few, and memories for the rest. Please reassure me that we're not wasting our money.
I've read the comments and Matthew LInley's blog response with interest, and congratulate Robert Pacitti on his win. The only criticism I have is of the following sentence in Mr. Linley's blog: "During this whole process I often found myself wondering how a new or emerging artist would manage a £.5million budget and the stresses and strains which go with that." I'm sorry, but shouldn't this have been part of the Arts Council's job? To make sure that all the artists had help with dealing with the funds? I'm an artist from Suffolk, and I've certainly never dealt with a £500,000 budget and probably never will! Seems to me to go a bit against the aims of Artists Taking the Lead, that any artist, respective of experience could apply...
I sincerely hope that education is a major part of this project, as learning about the concept of 'home' is important on so many levels. It would be a great missed opportunity if children especially were only allowed to participate in the loosest of senses, as opposed to deriving something real and tangible from their involvement.
Thank you to everyone for your congratulations!
Please sign up to our 'On Landguard Point' mailing list to hear more as the project develops!
http://www.pacitticompany.com/content/newsletter-subscription
What a pity that only the hutliving and song cycle teams have been generous to congratulate Robert Pacitti on his success. It makes one wonder whether the negative comments directed at the very worthy winner have come from either the beekeeping or hopscotch teams. I can't wait to see the Pacitti project come to fruition, and I hope he makes space for a shepherds hut and a performance by the Prince Consort of a piece by Cheryl Frances-Hoad. I actually loved both of those projects, and very much enjoyed reading their blogs, so I hope that their projects will come to fruition in some form.
I think it looks brilliant. It is hard not to win and it is hard if you had your heart pinned on a project that didn't make it, but I'm sure there are other ways to get the projects completed on a different platform. The person who is "outraged" must have very little going on to have to use up so much emotion on something that is actually really beneficial to society. Why doesn't he/she use all that angry energy up on something more useful? I'm glad money is being used to support a local artist... just think of all the other useless places it usually goes. This is a wonderful way to support creativity on a local and global level and I'm excited to watch it develop. Now, I wonder how to be one of the 1000 at the feast?... ;-)
It was both a privilege and an honour to chair the panel which selected Robert as the AtL winner for the East. I've followed this debate on line with interest and posted my personal response on my blog - which you can find here http://matthewlinley.wordpress.com/
As usual the money's gone to the person who already receives funding. Typical, and a real shame for the region, which would have benefitted from a new voice blowing it's trumpet.
The winning project seems somewhat disjointed, and not at all a reflection of the whole of the East of England. It also seems a tad strange to fly black flags to welcome people. That said, I hope it's a major success. It should be, for £500k of public money in these economically straightened times.
Congratulations to Robert from the Eastern Invocation Team. A job very well done, and we're all looking forward to participating along with the rest of the region!
Goodness me, Angry of East Anglia, what a selfish, arrogant judgement to make about an artist. Open your eyes, please. Go on, it wont hurt. You might see something that will make your day go a whole lot better.
What a fantastic decision. A project with true reach and participation at last. Seems Robert Pacitti has some enemies in the East. That's a shame, because they will miss out on something really amazing. Black flags, feast, live events, community events, legacy film, local artists, new commissions, live trade exhibitions...come on guys...THINK!!!
Ben and I send our very warm congratulations to Robert and his team. I have no doubt that Robert worked extremely hard, and will continue to do so for the East region. I really look forward to seeing how the project progresses.
Hutliving was shortlisted on the very day we moved to Dorset so after the last few crazy weeks I shall now start to unpack a few boxes and say hello to the neighbours.
All the very best.
Nancy J Clemance
There is no doubt that this will be thought provoking and the very nature of Pacitti's work cannot fail to make us ponder on our actions and the world we live in. If something feels disturbing then there is probably a good reason for it - as for any other kind of reaction. Perhaps even 'Angry from East Anglia' might benefit from this work if he/she has an open mind.
Clearly public opinion meant nothing to the judges...
The panel have clearly missed the point. The Olympics is all about legacy, and the 'winnning' project (which doesn't seem very winning to me) appears to offer no real legacy at all. In fact, most of the money will need to be spent on black paint and black flags. Great. Where's the education projects? And how will the whole population of East Anglia derive anything meaningful from this at all, other than getting fat from eating a lot of food? No WOW factor here...
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