Sunday 21 March 2010

Looking for this I found this and am none the wiser about either. Dan Bodah played a track from the LP this morning.

I'm finishing off another funding application here, mostly a straightforward and clear process in this case. But there's a section on 'evaluation' where you have to detail 'how you plan to monitor the progress of your activity and to evaluate your achievements from the start and throughout the activity'. Again, that sounds fair enough ... until you start to think about it. If you're any kind of artist, evaluation is what you do. All the time. In fact, given that no-one is going to be fed, clothed or sheltered by my making music, the only motivation left for doing it is to do it as well as possible, and constantly redefining the criteria for that is part of the process. Is what I'm doing any good? How do I make it better? Is what I've just done any good? Is it worse than what I was doing three years ago? If so, why? Is what I mean by 'good' now more appropriate than what I meant by 'good' then? Did we work well together that week? Why wasn't so-and-so on quite as good form as s/he was the time before? What can we do to make sure s/he gives their best? Is anyone out there interested in what we do anyway? How do we fit in with what's going elsewhere? Are we looking in the best places to find our audience? Trying to provide a detailed plan for a structured evaluation is a bit like being asked to explain how you intend to keep your respiratory system going for the next week. It's certainly possible, but the response is likely either to be fatuous or exceedingly lengthy, and either way it won't  actually help you to breathe.