The Rant
Profiled
Steffan Jones-Hughes
is a visual artist based
in north Wales. He has
exhibited widely, most
recently in The National
Eisteddfod of Wales,
and in Brussels and
Amsterdam.
Creative
Vultures
He has worked with
many galleries,
universities and arts
organisations, including
Tate Liverpool, the
Regional Print Centre
(Wrexham), and Arts
Council England in
Yorkshire.
Where do you draw the line when it comes to sharing ideas?
Steffan Jones-Hughes rants about artists who help
themselves
I generally like sharing my knowledge,
and most of the artists I know like
sharing too, but there are some who
don’t find this so easy. In fact there
are some who are so ambitious that
they’d do just about anything to get
ahead at the expense of their peers.
I’m sure we’ve all had experience of
helping others and not getting much
in return - not that we do it for the
reward - but even a thank you would
be nice sometimes. This makes me sad,
sad and a bit angry!
As artists we are often influenced by
others - none of us work in an artistic
vacuum - but there are times when it
goes beyond an artistic conversation
and treads painfully close to plagarism.
It isn’t OK, in my book, to work with
someone, find out exactly how they
do something, mine them for ideas, and
then go away and use those ideas as your
own without acknowledging the support
others have given you.
It’s fine to share, but really, where is
the solidarity, where’s the intellectual
property right? There’s ambitious, and
then there’s just plain rude. It’s bloody
hard to make a living as an artist as we
all know, and we need to stick together
or at least not do each other over.
There are some in the arts who are happy
to ask you about what you’re planning to
do over the coming year, who then just
‘happen’ to do something very similar.
I hate the question “can I just pick your
brain?” - it’s horrible and it describes
perfectly the act of these creative
vultures.
It is only through negative experiences
that I have learned that not all artists
appreciate support given or acknowledge
assistance, as they bask in the glory of
a successful project. I like artists who
know what they want to do and have a
clear personal vision, but you don’t need
to be hard-faced to be a success.
Steffan Jones Hughes, May 2014
He is currently Arts
Manager for Wrexham
County Borough Council
and director of Oriel
Wrecsam.
You can follow him on
Twitter @steffanjh
See Steffan’s profile
on Axisweb >
Have your say >
NOTES FROM WALES | AUTUMN 2014 26