Art and resilience: The spatial practices of making a resilient artistic career in London

Abstract

This paper focusses on the spatial practices of resilience put in place by individual professionals who face changes and challenges related to their life and career aspirations. In the frame of changing labour markets, and a transition to precarious work in post-Fordist regimes of production, this paper draws attention to the case of visual artists in London. Through a multi-scalar approach to the analysis of resilience, the paper shows that artists have to learn how to navigate through temporary and flexible work arrangements by learning skills that enable a strategic adaptability. A resilient artistic career is portrayed as a geographically situated process that is often played out through complementary and alternative communication channels and spaces that are mostly located outside the mainstream and established art system.