(d). The commissioning group model
From NodelWiki
Summary: NODE.London becomes an organisation that raises funds and then distributes those funds to artists for projects. It produces events or Season(s) or Festival(s) and it may appoint guest curators to curate these.
Arguably, two of the great strengths of the Node.London event in March 2006 were:
1) It was outward facing – encouraging the production and public display of media art to audiences and artists.
2) It emphasized process – pains were taken to articulate an open process of selection and curation.
Let’s go even further and say that this would not have been possible without funding from the arts council which was distributed among the different venues around London. However, public funding bodies such as the Arts Council will always be answerable to bureaucratic and political interests, leaving them unable to take the necessary risks for real development in media arts. In order to pursue the lessons learned from the 2006 event, it would be best if Node.London became the kind of 'third party' organisation that would enable artists and organisations to pursue more work in the 2 directions listed above.
Based on this, it's possible that Node.London could best promote and support media art in London by directing its efforts towards independently commissioning media art. Node.London could become a kind of Artangel ( [[1]] ) for media art.
It could concentrate on acquiring the necessary resources, contacts and partnerships to provide the artists or organisations selected with the necessary support to create exceptional and inspiring works. Node.London as a ‘commissioning agency’ would have a permanent staff. It would be run by a board of directors who would have the final say on the projects. Its main objective would be to ensure the successful completion of the works commissioned. The staff would provide logistical and other kinds of organisational support for activities. The board would select the works to be commissioned. It would have a rotating membership (lets say term limits of 2 years) with clear objectives and powers.
The advantages are that it would allow Node.London to commission projects that might not get funded otherwise. By dealing with funding bodies and other potential stakeholders, it would also allow the artist to focus on their work and not funding proposals or promotion.
