When you move to a new place, you often learn new terminology. Recently, I've heard many references to "single tracking." This is when trains going in multiple directions all share one track due to some malfunction with another track, causing major travel delays. This seems to happen frequently on the Metro lines in DC.
It's reminded me of a conversation I had recently with a colleague about the existence of a "single track" in academia. This colleague expressed that there seemed to be only one acceptable course to follow as a faculty member seeking tenure and promotion to full professor. While some may argue that there are many valid approaches to professional development, they do lie within a certain range of activity. Basically, the expectation (for a visual arts faculty member) is to show your work at galleries and museums of increasing stature over the course of your career, to speak at conferences or give workshops, and to be published in books or magazines.
I'm oversimplifying a bit, but the point is that some activities are valid (or deemed to be worthwhile as demonstrated, in part, by promotions or raises based on the sum of those activities), while others have very little worth. So while doing an art workshop with people from your community may have some worth as "service," it would have more value if you then had an exhibition of these works at a gallery. It would have even more value if it was an exhibition of your own work done in collaboration with the community. And that value would be further increased by the status of the gallery.
But to look at it another way, which of those activities is really the most valuable? Is it the experience and learning for the people in the workshop, or the experience of the people who see the exhibition? Both have value in different ways, but I would argue the core strength of such a project is in its original intent--that is, in the workshop designed as an experience for the workshop participants. As an artist, shouldn't this be what I care most about?
Unfortunately, our current academic structure places the emphasis on public stature, not individuals' experiences. Thus, in order to be successful, a faculty member has to choose which activities to pursue according to their effect on professional standing. This is not to say that you may only pursue those most "valuable" activities, but you must arrange your time and efforts in such a way as to put the bulk of your energy into these areas.
I have been asking myself over the last six months about the value of what I do. This idea of "single tracking" has caused me to realize that I've been on one track that runs certain equipment at a certain speed to a certain destination. I have defined what is of value, to a large extent, based on that track. Now I've hopped the rails and am free-wheeling over rough terrain, shaking loose my bolts and rattling my engine. This is redefining how I think about what is of value in my work.
If I am to continue making work that has no tangible reward--its purpose is not to make money and no there is no direct professional consequence (as in faculty status or salary)--why am I doing it? I believe that art can change people and can therefore act to change the world, which sounds naive even to my own ears. But I make work that is about experiencing a viewpoint that is not your own, causing us to question our perception of the world around us--and I really do hope to produce change, little by little, in the people who interact with my work. That has led me to working with people with disabilities, to open up the gallery for viewers to become participants in making a work of art, and to explore in greater depth what an artist in community might look like.
Pulling my roots out of the fertile Iowa soil only to be plopped into the hard clay of Virginia has resulted in transplant shock (a time during which a plant has to adjust to its new environment before its roots regain their strength and start working their way into the soil). I'm in the process of being transplanted, my roots and leaves in shock but recovering and beginning to grow again before new flower buds will set and fresh fruit will ripen on the vine.
