Practice of Commissioning Contemporary Art by Tate and Artangel in London

Abstract

The practice of commissioning contemporary art has become much more diverse and complex than traditional patronage system. In the past, the major commissioners were the Church, State, and wealthy individuals. Today, a variety of entities act as commissioners, including art museums, private or public art organizations, foundations, corporations, commercial galleries, and private individuals. These groups have increasingly formed partnerships with each other, collaborating on raising funds for realizing a diverse range of new works. The term, commissioning, also includes this transformation of the nature of the commissioning models, encompassing the process of commissioning within the term. Among many commissioning models, this research focuses on examining the commissioning practiced by Tate and Artangel in London, in an aim to discover the reason behind London's reputation today as one of the major cities of contemporary art throughout the world. The purpose of this research paper is to examine in detail how the selected projects by these organizations have been realized, how they have influenced the art world, and if they were successful in fostering creativity. By conducting thorough case studies of Tate and Artangel, this research aims to be responsive to processes and aesthetic, relational, contextual and emergent dimensions of arts practice. Another objective is to accurately capture the information relating to participation, organizational mission and strategy, impact and influence of the commissioning practice. By concentrating on the commissioning, this research paper draws attention to the increasing importance of the co-production of projects between the artist and the third entity, in this case, an art museum and a not-for-profit art organization. Contemporary art and commissioning cannot be discussed separately. Many artworks today cannot be realized without being commissioned mainly due to the financial reasons. Whether commissioned by the state, private individuals, corporate sectors or art institutions, many experimental, temporary, ephemeral, less-finite, research-based, and documentary-reliant works are created within a system that cannot be produced on the artists own. Therefore, these projects have become prone to relying heavily on the commissions to support the production. In effect, studying commissioning practice becomes essential when discussing contemporary art. This research draws conclusion from examining the city of focal point for contemporary art today. There are many reasons London has become prominent in contemporary art scene among other global cities like Paris, Berlin, and New York. Nevertheless, this research grounds its argument in art theoretical and historical context

therefore, it explores how these organizations and the art they commissioned and produced have brought changes in individuals and communities and how they pioneered in innovatively commissioning contemporary art. This study characterizes each model in terms of principles of operation, artistic practice, relationship with the participants, audience, local, and global environment. It also identifies implicit and explicit strategies for fostering creativity and engaging with audience groups. In addition, it aims to track the initiation and evolution of key areas of strategic development of commissioning and implementing the selected projects. In seeking to put art in its place, this research focuses on the links between commissioning practice and Londons transformed role as one of the worlds major international cities for contemporary art.