Is it because people use to save money?

Everyone is looking at cutting costs but with that comes quality. We’ve recently been sent some documents that seem to have been written by AI. When you see the word artisan, it’s a red flag 🚩! Unless you’re buying a loaf of sourdough that is!

Increasingly public art strategies and artist briefs are coming to us from developers who have employed architects and planning teams to write these documents. We are then approached to pick this work up and manage the commissioning programme. This is not the best way to work and quite frankly not best practice. We do not advocate that artists to submit concept ideas without any payment and we do not choose the ‘best idea’ without interviewing artists. We do not ask for ‘quotes’, we include a considered budget. Yes, the artwork is bespoke to the development not ‘off the shelf’ as described in one brief.

We also question the local authorities that sign off these strategies, is it because councils are overstretched or don’t have guidance in place to refer to when establishing the quality of these documents? Perhaps, again, it is down to costs….

So, if it is coming down to cost, how can we create real value and use budgets well? Bring us in early when we can produce something that has meaning, that reflects the communities, the location, the past, the present and future. Our work is not a tick box exercise.

We know the value of an architect and landscape architect; we know the value of a planning team. We can’t do their work, and we wouldn’t even try. Should they be doing our work? We do however like to collaborate, to be an equal among equals, not to become rivals.

We pride ourselves on being trusted advisors who are seen as an extension of the client’s team, taking ownership of delivery.

Our value comes from the knowledge, experience, industry contacts and track record we have established and bring to our curation and project management. We acknowledge the need for an artist’s voice in our work and always work with an artist when creating our documents. So, we deserve to have our voice as Public Art Consultants heard too. We are part of the creative process.

How is AI affecting your world and at what cost?