Tramway, Glasgow. March 2007.
Tramway art centre had the great idea of hosting an event about “socially engaged art” — art that connects with society, communities, and ordinary people. The price of entry for people on low and no incomes: £100.
Which put me in a bit of a bind. I was, at the time, precisely the kind of person the event’s subject matter claimed to care about, and exactly the kind of person the event’s ticket price cared nothing about.
Being in this income bracket, the only way I could attend was to raise the money by begging. So that’s what I did — a live art performance of hat-passing, asking strangers, friends, and passers-by to fund my entry to an event about art engaging with society. You can’t really get more socially engaged than begging to attend a discussion about social engagement.
Sadly, I only raised £43.45.
So the piece ends not with a bang but with a shortfall. Begging for social engagement, I achieved 43.45% social engagement — which, given the subject, feels less like failure and more like an accurate result. The performance and film document the attempt, and leave the event’s real question where it belongs: on whoever priced it.