Things to remember when entering into a commission, competition or application for working in the public realm sector are, commitment, collaboration, communication, risk assessment, site assessment, building a team of other professionals, post completion, reflection time and costings.
When working in the public art sector undoubtedly you will be working with other people be they clients, collaborators or fellow designers/builders/architects and potentially public service officials like the police and ambulance service if required etc… Being organised, considerate and knowing when to delegate will be key skills to master for successful project completion. You will need to factor in relevant constraints or requirements into your design and adjust this accordingly. This may inevitably compromise your design but this is something which should be expected and planed for and also be part of your talent as a designer maker. Knowing your skills and also drawing on other makers skills, knowledge and professional judgement will help to create a good relationship between the design, client, collaborators and the finished product, which would have a positive impact on future work for all involved.
As the artist you will need to take responsibility for how the work is produced, the safety of those producing it, where it is produced, making sure the materials and design are fit for the purpose and be safe for the public in the setting in which it is to be sited. All of these things need to be factored into you costing of the work which will need to be done for your proposal or at least a good estimation of what it might entail.
Site considerations of access, weather conditions which would affect the piece or surrounding environment, community engagement – how the public use the site already and what they want to use it for in the future and how you see the site being used in the future, what the client requires from their brief – how feasible this is?
Click here for a link for how to do a risk assessment and other good advise!
It also may be appropriate to push forward your own ideas if you, as the maker and designer think would work better and to not be afraid to push for this.
Public Realm 