DIT 2026: Gillie Kleiman – Disciplined

What

We often talk about Live Art and experimental performance as not belonging to any discipline. Nonetheless, we are still engaged as a field in various infrastructures, training schemas, sensibilities and audience frameworks belonging to one or more ‘disciplines’ of artistic practice. This DIT project will explore the ways in which relating to existing disciplines can be a curse and an opportunity, attending to questions of craft, education, audience, resource and cultural value in relation to this theme.

I hope that working together around this theme might encourage: identification of hitherto held assumptions and unconscious leanings; an advanced articulation of relationship to discipline, including to the notion of Live Art as outwith discipline; new ways to navigate discipline-focussed institutions and presenters; a sensitivity to individual skills and abilities related to discipline-specific craft; tools for working with others with different disciplinary agendas; and language for speaking with audiences on our work. I think that these could support us as artists in both our making processes and our administrative and promotional work, as well as supplying the field with some new ideas.

We will work together over the course of three days in the context of BUZZCUT, which will not only give us plenty of time to dig in, but also a shared context with works we can see together and draw from in our exploration. We will spend time watching, reading, discussing, as well as experimenting with transforming existing works into new disciplines, inventing training methods for changing disciplines, and perhaps imagining new disciplines altogether. I will ask participating artists to contribute ideas ahead of time so I can build in a wider set of desires and dreams than just my own!

Where

Activities will take place in person in Tramway, Glasgow, as part of BUZZCUT.

When

• Wednesday 15 April, afternoon (2-5pm)
• Thursday 16 April, all day (10am-5pm, with a lunch break)
• Friday 17 April, morning (10am-1pm)

Who

This project is for all artists working at least some of the time in the sphere of Live Art.

Selection will be randomised, using the following criteria before picking with a generator:

• Practising, professional artists (Self-identifying! The amount of time we spend or the amount of money we get through our work are not the criteria.)
• As a group, we work in relation to a wide range of disciplines.
• At least 25% of the artists will be artists from the global majority, so we ask a question about this to ensure an intentional selection process.
• We will prioritise those who can commit to attending at least half of the time.