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Q&A: RYAN HUGHES oN WoRKING THE NETWoRK
How important is it to have an
online presence after graduation?
It’s absolutely crucial to have a solid
online presence in those early years
out of art school. It allows audiences
to engage with your practice even
while you’re not showing, and this
includes curators and folk involved
in programming events. Maybe 90%
of the shows and projects I’ve been
included in have been as a direct
response to my online activity.
Likewise, when I put together shows,
other people’s online presences
are key to who I invite to work on
projects.
Did you have a strategy?
I don’t think a strategy as such is
necessary, but it’s important to post
frequently – and I don’t think one
slightly dodgy studio shot in between
ten photos of you doing shots at your
friend’s birthday and that funny
picture of a cat walking on its hind
legs really counts as a post! You
need useful content. And if what
you’re posting is going to become a
physical thing, remember not to give
everything away online; leave the
audience wanting to see the finished
work.
What networks have you been
developing and why are they are
useful?
The networks I operate within are
constantly in flux and are frequently
international. Recently, I’ve been
connecting with artists, musicians
and organisations in relation to my
[RHP] CDRs project, which explores
the relationships between sonic
and visual production through
commissioning new work and
programming events. over the past
three months I’ve worked with artists
from Malaysia, Scotland, Germany,
the Netherlands and America – that’s
purely through networking.
It’s useless to follow someone on
Twitter and propose a project without
any sort of relationship. You need to
pay attention to what that person’s
posting and start a dialogue around it
to discover if a project might happen.
For example, I met Kamal Sabran, a
fantastic Malaysian sound artist and
researcher, online in 2009. I bought
his album, we spoke a lot about ideas
we were playing with and gradually
became friends. Then, earlier this
year, I commissioned him to make
new work; the slow burn approach is
most effective.
It’s also important to remember how
useful effective networking can be
locally. It’s great to meet friends of
friends, and quite often that can be
a great way of being brought into
projects you would have otherwise
just attended as an audience member.
What advice would you give to new
graduates regarding their online
presence?
Keep up a frequent stream of high
quality content and build meaningful
relationships. You need to be
passionate about the work as well
– otherwise, trying to promote it
through networking is just flogging
a dead horse. It’s also important to
remember that networking is a two-
way process – it’s not just about what
you can get from networking but also
what you can offer. It’s very easy to
give your practice context through
what you share, link to and post
online. By sharing a meme you tell
audiences about your politics, sense
of humour, temperament, etc. If your
audience know these things then they
can read your work more accurately.
What didn’t they tell you at art
school?
Things like how to pack and ship
your work properly; when to expect
payment and how to ask for it; how
to actually find shows and projects to
work on; being able to sense what is
genuinely an ‘opportunity’. A lot of
logistical, quite business-like stuff,
really. I managed to pick up a lot of
that sort of information quite early
on through working in galleries and
museums as a technician, as well as
through showing frequently during
the final year of my degree and since
graduating. The other thing I wasn’t
told is that as an artist you will never
have time to sleep properly or have
any kind of down-time; it really does
take all of your time to do it right!
ryan Hughes
graduated
from BIAD at Birmingham
City University in 2011 with
BA (Hons) Fine Art. A skilled
networker, Hughes’ practice
explores the importance of
networks, while his work
often uses technology-related
motifs.
Ryan Hughes,
Untitled (Firewall)
, 2012.