The Unlikeliness of Us

The article is a perspective piece that discusses two projects developed within the BA Fine Art undergraduate course program at Central Saint Martins (University of the Arts London). These teaching projects came about through experimental collaborations created to explore the potential of art as a practice for personal resilience and well-being, and also a material methodology for developing new networks. I discuss art as a method for connecting communities in place, which, in these instances, comprise recent graduates, elders, and art students. I also focus on the often underestimated value of art as a tool for connecting with others through socially engaged and participatory practices. I consider some of the opportunities art practice offers to enable the development of new communities in place through the process of pairing those who, under the usual circumstances of their lives, would not expect to meet, and the productive interrogation of place and difference these pairings offer.

Article for special edition 'Cultures of Resilience', stemming from the UAL-wide research project led by Ezio Manzini, UAL Chair of Design for Social Innovation, and Jeremy Till, CSM Head of College and UAL Pro-Vice Chancellor.