ABSTRACT
This chapter begins the chronological outline of my collaborative and participatory art projects with communities. It commences with contextual information on the development of “process art” through to the activist and community art of the seventies, touching on the impact of Marxism and feminism. Early influences on my practice are introduced, followed by first attempts to move the work from an institutional framework into the social sphere. Projects summarised include the London/Berlin Series, which involved interactive events undertaken on a scholarship year in Germany. Next is the image and text work of The Present Day Creates History, shown in local libraries. This is followed by a description of video, posters and an exhibition that supported the Bethnal Green Hospital Campaign, and finally “visual pamphlets” produced in collaboration with health unions for the East London Health Project.
