The promise of the affordable artist's studio: Governing creative spaces in London

Moreton, Simon

Abstract

The role of artists' organisations in populating and popularising postindustrial urban areas is well documented. However, what are less apparent are analyses of how spaces of artistic production are organised and governed in these areas. This paper explores, via an analysis of organisational documents and practices, the techniques used by London-based affordable studio providers to imagine, calculate, and make material low-cost workspace for artists. The argument made is that the negotiation of competing agendas around the production of cultural, economic, and social benefit by affordable studio providers has led to the emergence of a specific form of affordable studio. This analysis will thus show how configurations of creative space emerge from mundane techniques of measurement and governance. © 2013 Pion and its Licensors.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 10, 2012
• Publication Date: Mar 1, 2013
• Deposit Date: May 11, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: May 11, 2016
• Journal: Environment and Planning A
• Print ISSN: 0308-518X
• Electronic ISSN: 1472-3409
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 45
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 421-437
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1068/a44598
• Keywords: arts organisations, creativity, governmentality, calculation, artists' studios
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/939632
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1068/a44598
• Contract Date: May 11, 2016