Richard Pheonix’s bio is this.
Richard Phoenix is an artist whose practice includes painting, music, writing, and collaboration. His current interests include looking at access, learning and structure and how art and music can create spaces that remove barriers and make new forms of normal. He looks to create nuanced and impactful ways to evaluate and communicate his role in different collaborations: as an associate artist within learning disability arts organisations; a musician within D.I.Y. punk bands; working with school groups within an arts institution; as a “student” within non-institutional arts education. Recently a part of the Conditions Studio Programme in Croydon, he also works for the learning disability arts organisation Heart n Soul as their Associate Artist. He was an artist-in residence within Tate’s Schools and Teachers department; founded the not-for-profit organisation Constant Flux and wrote DIY as Privilege: A Manifesto which was published by Rough Trade Books in 2020.
Fusing Time / Tentative Ideas
This piece is a piece of text adapted from Derek Jarman’s artist manifesto “Tentative ideas after one year at an Art School”. He speaks a lot of themes and ideas about how art schools teach us perhaps the wrong thing. Intercommunication and how arts must stay together. The lack of audience interaction.
“The painting school says you are not a painter. I am proud” I felt this deeply. I feel we are always told what to do. What the correct work is, how we should execute things. Art is always subjective there is no right or wrong. Better or worse.
I found the piece engaging and captivating. I always try to look beyond production and with this video even though the sound recording was not that great I decided to listen and embrace his words and the video rather than nitpicking. It felt at times a waffle of information and catchphrases. But the structured poetry words really hit home after I paid attention. It was like little messages of beautiful wisdom.
I really enjoyed the drumming and saxophone playing in the background of the vocals. Really set the scene.
D.I.Y.as Privilege – 3 Point Manifesto for Musicians
Richard Pheonix published a manifesto via Rough Trade Books about his experience working since 2006 with and supporting people with learning disabilities. He wrote the manifesto after watching a band play in Brighton on stage. They were all people with disabilities and he said it was one of the best gigs he’d ever seen.
The manifesto is about the privilege of doing DIY work. The idea that anyone can do it themselves. The manifesto speaks about how to rethink the idea of DIY scenes and work in the points back in the scenes. How they are not just a linear concept. Its fluid. I also feel like it’s been made to redefine how we can help people with disabilities. Amplifying voices and sometimes being invisible helps others be visible.
Here are some of my favourite manifesto points.
7. Don’t assume what’s accessible; ask and learn.
9. There is an audience for everything and ideas of what is ‘good music’ will always be political.
1. See the privilege in being able to Do It Yourself.
12. The more invisible you make yourself, the more visible others will be.
Post Lecture Reflection
Richard had a very calm aura about him. He seemed dedicated to everything he spoke about. It was very nice to see a practitioner stand behind his ideas and his work and seem really proud of what he’s doing.
Richard began the lecture by speaking on his background and growing up in Watford. At age 16 starting punk bands with his brother and his best friend. He began getting involved with the DIY punk scenes in the area and had a real sense of the community. Through all this work in the DIY scenes, he really came to understand the scene.
Richard then moved to Brighton and started working with Carousel. A charity that works with people with disabilities. He remembers the first important moment that sparked his thoughts on the whole idea of DIY privilege. He saw a band playing live in the Blue Camel Club. Disabled people were the complete band and it surprised him. He had never seen a band full of disabled people and it made him wonder why we never see that. He says it was one of the best gigs of his life. I can understand this statement he spoke of. When I think properly I can relate to what he’s said. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a live musical performance with solely disabled people. I wonder why that is. Do we as a society exclude these people? Or are the barriers too large for them to overcome that society sets?
After this moment he decided to start creating a scene and help disabled people. He contacted a finish band and got them involved in the London scene to tour with another UK band. He said he loved facilitating and wanted to help other people.
It came to a point where he moved back to London and one of his friends put out an open call for a zine for artists to do a one-page submission. He started thinking about his work and what he does and where he stands in the scenes. He wanted to engage in the scene that he came from and really talk to that scene and almost ask them and himself a question.
He did a one-page print relating directly to DIY scenes and what they are part of. What can they do to make the scene more accessible? The privilege was the idea. What is the DIY privilege? He decided to write a manifesto. He then felt he hadn’t written enough and followed up his manifesto with a full book pitch to Rough Trade Books. It was accepted.
He also speaks about chapter 9 in his book and the idea of mainstream music and his hatred for it. Coming from an underground scene he found it tasteless and not as interesting or as much depth as the other things he would listen to. Through working with a young disabled woman. He found himself loving the classic cheesy pop music he would hate when he was younger. This sparked his thought process to think about the privilege he has to be able to find and listen to underground music. Perhaps his hatred for it had been ignorant. Not thinking about why people like mainstream music. The access? The ease? This made me think about my own passions and weigh the differences between them. I’m questioning my own privilege.
He then spoke about what he does now and he works for a charity in Deptford helping disabled young people create music and he also paints and does other things. He showed us some of his work and I was really amazed. The band he works with who are entirely disabled have toured the world. I wonder why I’m amazed by this? Is it societies expectations of disabled people that have already given me an idea of what they are capable to achieve? Richard said something that really struct with me which was about the story the media chooses to present about disabled people. It’s always about a disabled person overcoming their disability or someone really struggling. It’s never just that they are normal people. It’s almost impossible to be normal in the media narrative of being a disabled person.
I found the lecture to be really uplifting. It gave me food for thought of my privilege and how society can hinder progress and make people disabled as Richard put it. I will put more accessibility decisions into anything I plan now. I think it’s important to be inclusive.