text by Andy Fairgrieve
The programme has now been run each year at the Glenfiddich Distillery since 2002. From the outset it was desired that the programme should involve itself with contempary conceptual art. That it should be international in it scope and that above all the residency should revolve around giving the artists space, time and resource.
In the first year 50% start up funding was secured from Arts and Business Scotland. Each year since the programme has been 100% funded by William Grant and Sons. In those early days a frequently asked question was, why should a whisky company want to become involved in art? The answer always, why not?
Whisky itself is a sensual, esoteric pleasure. The method of production is a subject that can be explained scientifically yet remains an art. While across the industry itself there is an understanding which values the importance of dedication to ones craft, and knows that special things take time to develop. It can be seen that the qualities required to make good art and good whisky are not dissimilar. In addition to this, the fact that the programme was being run by one of the few independent family owned companies left in the industry gives an even great strength to the project. William Grant and Sons have a strong track record of innovation while maintaining tradition. With a history of decisions that at the time seem to go against the accepted norm yet go on to make perfect sense.
Over the first three years the programme sourced artists only from around Europe, including high profile Scottish artists such as Kenny Hunter, Roderick Buchannan, Jacqueline Donachie, Louise Hopkins, Christine Borland and Ross Sinclair. Other participants were drawn from France, (Philippe Bazin, Matthieu Laurette, Matthieu Manche) Spain, (Montserrat Soto) Austria (Willhiem Scherübl, Michael Kienzer Wolfgang Capperalli) Germany, Denmark, Italy and Sweden. Also included each year was a recent graduate from Gray's School of Art in Aberdeen. On average each year has seen 7 artists in residence.
Selection is achieved through contacting a number of galleries and curators working in the countries artists are to be drawn from. They then provide a list of names they feel are suitable for such a programme. Final selection is made by the residency project team, Consisting of the project team based at the distillery and brand managers from each country the artists are drawn from. Each artist is given a monthly payment, a production budget, accommodation in a self contained house on site and travel expenses. Studio space is provided within the artist's living space but if required other, more suitable work spaces can be provided across the site.
In 2005 the programme was extended to bring in artists from around the world reflecting Glenfiddich status as a global brand leader. In this year as well as artists from the UK (Alison Watt) France (Bertrand Gadenne) and Germany (Jochen Flinzer) the door was opened to artists from Argentina (Claudio Caldini) Canada (Myfanwy Macleod) Taiwan (Chen Hui-chiao) and USA (Warren Niedich).
2007 saw another major adjustment to the programme with an increase in material budgets bringing the total residency award to £10 000 plus travel and accommodation for each artist. Another big change has been the decision to broaden the scope beyond simply just visual art and include other forms of creative expression and to these ends this year we appointed our first musician/composer in residence Edinburgh based John Kenny. Also for the first time we asked artists for a rough proposal of how they intended to spend their time during the residency as part of the overall selection process. This not only reflected the increased confidence the company has it in its programme but also indicates the development of curatorial drive that has began to emerge almost organically over the previous years.
This drive was born out of the one simple truth about Scottish malt whisky. Across the industry each distiller uses the same three ingredients, malted barley, spring water and yeast. These ingredients are then all put through the same processes of mashing, fermentation distillation and maturation, yet each distillery still manages to produce a spirit with its own unique character.
In short Glenfiddich single malt can only be produced at The Glenfiddich distillery. With this truth in mind for 2007 we have perhaps been more prescriptive than we have been in the past when issuing terms of reference and briefing artists. Desiring that not only do they produce work that they could not have produced else where but also that they should be responsive to the location.
The Glenfiddich Distillery offers a wealth of inspirations to the inquiring and responsive mind. From the heritage and history to the community and environment. The brand itself and the process it undergoes in production are all valid areas for artist examination just as the iconic status the spirit enjoys in relation to a construction of national identity could be. For truly creative and enquiring minds there is no shortage of inspiration to be found at Glenfiddich.
So that residents have adequate time to observe, absorb, reflect and create. We insist that only artists who can commit to a full term of three months should be selected. While we are happy to allow artists to spread this time over a number of weeks we still desire to create some form of community over the main months of summer. This reinforced idea of an artist's village, a term first employed by Taiwanese artist Chen Hui-chiao as a descriptor of her experiences in residence during 2005. In that, while the act of creative expression is often a solitary affair. We feel it is important that the artists participating have a social support group of their peers. The interactions between the artists are in themselves often as interesting as the work they go on to produce.
Of course one extra element of the programme is the lasting impressions made in the minds of the artists and how these are translated into future works long after they have left the hills of Speyside behind. |
