Can I Borrow the Picasso? Cultivating Social Collecting Practices

This study investigates collecting and encountering contemporary visual art through practices which, at present, are rare in Scotland. Inspired by international, long-established collections discussed in this thesis, the title explicitly asks the question: can I borrow a work of Modern art. The study that follows re-directs that question focusing on current collecting of contemporary art and pursues related threads of enquiry; from practical questions to understanding the participatory experience to theoretical contextualisation. Adopting an ethnographic methodology, this research aims to understand and compare three practices: group collecting; artotheks (or art libraries) and community commissioning. Beyond deploying familiar ethnographic methods, such as participant observation, interviews and case studies, this methodological position follows contemporary ethnographic practice. There, as here, researchers are actively involved in the projects studied, and the subjecthood of participants is respected, even fostered, as well as probed. Theoretically, the lens of gift exchange as described by Marcel Mauss and others, notably Roger Sansi, provides a tool for analysing the nature of the relationships described in the case studies and how these relate to other contemporary art practices, such as socially engaged practice and relational aesthetics. Group collecting is revealed to be a highly enjoyable activity for those involved and also perceived as an opportunity for extending knowledge of contemporary art and engaging with artists. However, as a model which sits within the commercial framework of the artworld questions of financial accessibility, obligation within exchange relationships and the necessity of existing proclivities to purchase art remain. The second case study involved the creation of an art library, modelled on those operating across Germany. While the findings detail many practical considerations, the conclusion notes that a local artothek allowed borrowers to experiment with living with a range of artworks without any financial risk. Moreover, it created a social space and opportunities for discussion and consideration of art and other matters. The final case study demonstrated that a school group of young people and one teacher could work with a mediator to commission an artist to make work for their school, following a protocol developed by the French organisation Les Nouveaux commanditaires. The study reveals what is involved from each perspective and analyses arising relationships. Examining these three processes together demonstrates that each model could be adopted more widely and a supplementary report provides points for consideration for anyone interested in doing so in or beyond academia. In studying these systems I show how Sansi's writing on participation, art and gift-exchange can be extended beyond art production to collecting and encountering contemporary art, thus maintaining the agency of all those participating