Playing for Time: Making Art as if the World Mattered

by Lucy Neal

This groundbreaking handbook is a resource for artists, community activists and anyone wishing to reach beyond the facts and figures of science and technology to harness their creativity to make change in the world.

This timely book explores the pivotal role artists play in re-thinking the future; re-inventing and re-imagining our world at a time of systemic change and uncertainty. Playing for Time identifies collaborative arts practices emerging in response to planetary challenges, reclaiming a traditional role for artists in the community as truth-tellers and agents of change.

Sixty experienced artists and activists give voice to a new narrative – shifting society’s rules and values away from consumerism and commodity towards community and collaboration with imagination, humour, ingenuity, empathy and skill. Inspired by the grass-roots Transition movement, modelling change in communities worldwide, Playing for Time joins the dots between key drivers of change – in energy, finance, climate change, food and community resilience – and ‘recipes for action’ for readers to take and try.

Praise for Playing for Time...

‘This book is full of wings – wings that are ancient practices, that are community, arts, modernity, wings of global learning for local concerns. Lucy Neal’s anthology of possibility offers a salmagundi of thought,knowledge, options and hope. It’s all here. An almanac to dip into and then create – in the kitchen and the window box and the garden, locally, in community, regionally, nationally, globally. The seeds of change are in us. This is a book to help us grow.’ Stella Duffy, author and founder of Fun Palaces

‘It’s so important that the role of artists in making change is being systematically and beautifully addressed. Playing for Time , holds the keys to the possibility of transformative action.’ Bill McKibben, environmentalist and founder of 350.org

‘A remarkable book that pulls no punches. It’s most enduring image is the poignant flock of passenger pigeons, drawn in sand on Llangrannog beach in 2014, the 100th anniversary of their extinction. It’s an image that will not leave my a message of loss, but also of hope, from which we must, and can, learn.’ Dame Fiona Reynolds, Chair of the Green Alliance

‘“Barren art”, Kandinsky wrote, “is the child of its age”. But prophetic, powerful art is the “mother ofthe future”. A better world will be born of such art, and Lucy Neal’s wonderful cornucopia should beat the elbow of everyone helping in its midwifery.’ Tom Crompton, Common Cause Foundation WWF

‘A total delight’ Rob Hopkins, Co-founder Transition Movement

‘A hand-book for life’ Rose Fenton, Director Free Word.

‘A remarkable achievement’ Neil Darlison, Arts Council England

‘Beautiful from the first sentence’ Laura Williams

‘Deeply nourishing’ Mike Grenville

‘A beauty of a book’ James Marriott, Platform

480 pages, Paperback

First published September 8, 2015

Reviews

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A comprehensive and detailed documentation of community arts practice in the UK that are built off sustainability and environmental practice. Coordinated by Neal, it takes written examples of artworks from over 60 artists who have worked with diverse artforms and communities. There would be something here for anyone with an interest in this area, from food sustainability to activist art. The book concludes with resources - recipes for how to create community art projects and a substantial reading list.

Where Neal writes, there is a nice blending of contemporary environmental theory and art theory. Unfortunately, the book is, marred by a lack, of editing including commas, where they really shouldn't be, many typos, and some unusual made-up words ("pre-prepared"?!?). The structure is also hard to follow and not very logical. These problems take from what is otherwise a wonderful resource, and it is still very easy to recommend Playing for Time to any artist with a community-based practice.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. It is very much about collaborative, community based art work encouraging people to think about their communities, resilience and sustainability. Local sustainable food was a continuing theme. One of the projects looks at transitioning local practice, with the aim of more people in a particular area growing hops for local beer or growing food in areas around bus stops, with the idea of encouraging foraging. Librarians and libraries were key to many projects as there were strong information elements in some of the art works and projects - "the librarian is in". Reading through it sounded like there were collaborations with makers and craftivists as well. Another theme in the book was moving from bystanders to activists, with art, action and inclusion.

There are many ideas for how libraries could work with their communities, without the book being explicit about their inclusion. There was an excellent council project, called the Remakery, where (obviously) things were remade, including wood, textiles, bikes... This is a an excellent fit with maker spaces, as this is another slant on that, and brings together skills in the community, and through reuse, is good for the environment. Creativity was a key part of the Remakery as well, and it helped skills up people with classes in sewing, carpentry, computer repair.

Many projects would lend themselves to collecting material for local studies, like the wonderfully named 'Happiness bottles', recording happiness, and the diarykeepers project where locals recorded what was happening in their gardens. The Happy museum project manifesto is "exploring how contact with cultural experience can kickstart healthier and happier communities".

There is a lot that is whimsical within the book and a lot which is practical. For many of the projects sufficient information is provided so that others can implement in their community, including hints about partners, costs and so on. It is very much about connecting people to other people and to place. They are projects which connect diverse communities and are inclusive. It is highly illustrated to show the projects with lots of description (so you could make the project happen).

It is not a book to be read quickly. It took me a long time to read, mainly because it is large and heavy, and so was not a commute read for me. It also had lots of ideas to think about, and I will read it again.

I did a search on Trove and this book is held in four libraries in Australia.

[Andrew Walby · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hugely ambitious book, which identifies/articulates collaborative arts practices as central to addressing concerns about planetary crisis and issues of sustainability; it ought to be a key addition to the growing body of literature on this subject. The book includes the work of a huge range of artists, activists, and other expert contributors working across energy, food, finance, and climate change sectors, who, it argues (and demonstrates through case studies, and documentation of projects) are central to giving "voice to a new narrative" - shifting consumerist values towards community and collaboration - to empower people in communities and networks to be agents of change. I was particularly drawn to section / themes of re-skilling; re-wilding; a return to making and an appreciation of craft, and repair.