Thanks for dropping by … here’s what I’m going to do here. I’ll let you know about some of my art work, the events and projects I’ve organised and how this can be weaved into my services in people management (human resources), digital marketing and business development as well as bespoke projects.
So here goes. One of the things I’m proud of was bringing together Horace Panter of The Specials to talk with Rawtrachs [link], a DJ, about growing up in the West Midlands and experiencing racism. I’d connected with Rawtrachs through my soft sculpture art work and he’d spoken alongside my work called Coffin. [link – me talking about the work and reciting a poem written for the work by Ian McMillan]
Just to draw you back into my services, so far this would be communication, collaboration, promotion and working as part of a team – all useful in the workplace or managing projects.
Anyway, back to the story. I remember the day very well. I’d gone to the Wetherspoons in Walsall (St. Matthew’s Hall) with the Coffin and we’d put it on a table at the front of the pub. Then I’d recorded Rawtrachs’ response to the question “If you were at the funeral of England what would you be saying goodbye to?” Rawtrachs had closed by saying that he felt that music created “unity” and brought people together, citing The Specials as an example of this. [link] Fast-forward a few years and that’s why I contacted Horace Panter to see if he would like to meet with Rawtrachs to discuss this.
Whenever I’ve shown the Coffin work I’ve always made it clear that it is a question, not a statement and I have mixed with some great people with this work. Some people are mixed race and ethnic minority and I wanted to ask all types of people to see how they relate to this country. There’s been some interesting responses, some have written in the Condolences Book that accompanies the Coffin and others have responded with poetry and performances. There’s some of the footage on the Coffin Facebook page. I’ve found people through “X” which was then Twitter – namely Ian McMillan – here’s the link to his poem which is a response to the question.
So how’s this relating to business you may be thinking. Well, I made the question open to interpretion and I was looking for subtlety in the responses rather than strong fixed views. One of the responses that sticks out in my mind is written in tiny lettering in the centre of a page in the Condolences Book and reads “Is it though?” I liked how the response was enquiring and that is the purpose of this art work, to open up discussion and to look at different responses. If you are interested in me working with you on any projects please get in touch to discuss, this could be looking at Employee Engagement, working with you on policy development and bringing people into job design. Just let me know what your project is and we can take it from there.
Have you got a piece of work to discuss? You can call me on 07949 777462 or send over some basic details and I’ll be in touch.