"Dialogue, A discipline for collective learning and inquiry, can provide a means for developing such understanding. Proponents of dialogue claim it can help groups reach higher levels of consciousness, and thus to become more creative and effective." (Shein, 1993)

The studios are an odd temperature, a slight chill but overall, too warm and without air. We gathered around a diptych, all sixteen of us, most silent, most engaging their core as they stood rigid for a thirty-minute discussion. My decision to wear brand new white/ silver trainers which my boyfriend has bought for me in an art studio with wet paint everywhere was seeming like a misguided one.

The conversation was initially created with the omission of the artist's voice, a conversation about them and in front of them, but without them. A group tutorial. A group crit. A crit. Crit. Critical review. Critical evaluation. Critique. With the introduction of the artist's voice,”they speak!”, an observational commentary becomes a dialogue. Is one more constructive than the other?

I'm left wondering in what format the critiquing and comparing, and cross-examination of works took place at 'Womanhouse', the short-lived project in 1970's California. Perhaps seen as more important was the 'essential part of the art-making process." consciousness-raising"' (Dudley, 2014).

Consciousness-raising.

Raising the consciousness.

Consciously collaborating through communication.

Rising in consciousness.

Consciously risen.

So then, let's consciously rise in consciousness.

If everyone can be seated in pairs opposite their partners, yes tutors are included in this, and you will be discussing a question with each other for three minutes before feeding back into the collective consciousness (the collective brain).

The engagement with my previous works (that pose a question, that pose ideas or thoughts) was too introspective, too private, perhaps eventually beneficial to others if the subject was engaged with and altered the mind enough that behaviours mutated as a result, but likely not. How to engage meaningfully, with people who have little time and many reservations? A series of letters on a wall, easily ignored or bypassed in favour of nude/naked body splayed on canvas. Not necessarily a bad thing but a bad thing for my understanding of dialogue and how dialogue and collaborative thinking can enhance individual practice (seeing it as a form of peer mentorship). Let's rectify this.

I'm going to ask you a question. This question can be interpreted however you want to, do pay attention to the words that I'm using.

"If you got paid enough, would you take the money and run?"

Three minutes on the clock.

I peeled myself from the desk upon which I was perched and sank into the floor because I was involved in the discussion too. Of course, I am a peer, and this is a peer discussion.

This question, initially a scribbled all-capital-letters page in my notebook (in a pen I enjoyed but have since lost), prompted a myriad of other questions for me: what is enough? Paid in what? What does taking the money mean? Am I physically running? Is the money physical cash? Is it in coins? Am I weighed down by a sense of law, by morals, by the weight of a thousand fifty pence coins?

I was not alone in these questions, but the heavy veil of anxiety and fearfulness that shrouded the conversations of most students was unexpected. Students responded anxiously: "did I do something awful for the money? I'm guilty, aren't I? What do I have to do for the money? Could I just stay put with the money? Why do I have to run?'

There was a status and role divide.

Students were anxious and unwilling to do whatever might be required even if it meant financial security. They took the word 'paid' and decided you were being paid for something: a service, an act, an item. Was it worth it? Was the service worth the financial reward? Was it a fair transaction? It was approached with severe suspicion.

Tutors weren't running away from something, but running to it, and in line with the culturally relevant topic of fair wages for teachers and nurses etc, they began to discuss fair compensation for labour. They were running towards aspirations, towards creative freedom unbound from being tethered to a job that wasn't fulfilling emotional, or spiritual needs. l am now running towards more sessions like the one mentioned above, I had great feedback from the participants and people said they liked the intentionality of the discussions and that it made them consider things in a unique way. They were keen to do it again. This future dialogue-inducing and encouraging environment will be thoughtfully considered in terms of the physical space, the participants, the seats upon which they are sat, the politics of the furniture and the time at which and for which it takes place.

In addition, to further understand peer mentorship and collaborative creation alongside, and enhanced by, dialogue (or consciousness-raising) I have begun an experiment of weekly collaborative sessions with another CM student. In a controlled and consistent environment, we document ourselves existing, discussing, and creating.

I hope my consciousness is raised.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Dudley, E. (2014) Womanhouse: Hollywood's 'bad-dream house' of feminist art, Southern California Public Radio. Available at https://archive.kpcc.org/programs/offramp/2014/07/11/38158/hollywoods-bad-dream-house-of-immersive-feminist-a/

Schein, E. H. (1993) "On dialogue, culture, and organizational learning." Organizational Dynamics, vol. 22, no. 2, autumn 1993, pp. 40+. Available at: Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A14606098/AONEu=anon~334ee3cc&sid=googleScholar&xid=1bd696e5.