Dr Jon Blackwood

Tell us something people may not know about you.

If I hadn’t become diabetic when I was 16, I would probably be in the Air Force now because that’s what I wanted to do when I was that age. It probably would have been a disaster for the military and an even bigger disaster for me.

Why did you apply to become a Reader?

I just felt it was the right time to do it. I had been working at RGU for three years, I’d done a lot of research projects and I’d been involved in an informal way in the development of research within Gray’s School of Art. I felt that, as the opportunities opened up from the job re-grading exercise that the management here undertook, it was the right time for me to see if I met the requirements that they set.

Tell us about your research?

It’s about cultural ecology, which is a study of how all the particular actors in a territory work together, integrate and produce a cultural scene. We’re talking about artists, audiences, art critics, funders and businesses who choose to sponsor art, publications about art, the way that art is talked about and discussed online – it’s all of these things and how they knit together. It derives from an old biological notion by a German biologist called Ernst Haeckel. He was interested in the beauty of nature, but also the ways in which a species develops in response to its ecosystem. There’s a way in which that can be mapped onto the world of contemporary art and the ways in which artists and art workers respond to the circumstances in which they find themselves and how they adapt and develop as a result.

I’ve done a lot of work in Scotland, Bosnia and Macedonia and the output of the artists in those three territories are very much conditioned by the cards they’re dealt – in terms of available finance, cultural infrastructure and audiences for art.

My research has had a number of impacts including the first book on contemporary art in Bosnia and Herzegovina in English, and that’s been very widely read and commented upon. I’ve written an article for the national newspaper, Oslobođenje (Liberation), in Bosnia and Herzegovina on contemporary art. In Macedonia, my exhibition has been widely commented on and reviewed in the Macedonian press and regionally. But, importantly it’s about bringing back some of the lessons from other countries – where there’s very little by way of cultural infrastructure or support – to Scotland where there’s still plenty. There are strategies for cultural resilience in those lessons that are going to be important for people here to reflect upon and understand in the coming years.

What are you most proud of?

I think the thing I’m most proud of is securing a grant from The Carnegie Trust in 2015/16 that allowed me to conduct research in Macedonia to produce a book on the range of contemporary art being produced there at that time. It was based on 25 interviews with a range of people, including artists, curators, art workers and also a long essay by myself. It looked at the relationship between art, culture and the politics in Macedonia at that time. It allowed the reader to put the picture together for themselves. I was proud of that, not only because it was challenging research but because it was the first book that came about because of this particular small-grant initiative promoted by The Carnegie Trust. I think it did a lot to promote many of my friends and colleagues who I’ve been working within Macedonia. Ultimately, it resulted in an exhibition of six selected artists at Summerhall in Edinburgh in the Autumn of 2017.

To be able to write seriously about this kind of art in English and to produce an exhibition from it was terrific for me and something that I look back upon with great satisfaction.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

In 2019, having the opportunity to pursue a body of research that you’re passionate about, to engage with successive groups of young people to discuss contemporary art with them while turning a salary for it is an incredible privilege. Jobs like this are increasingly rare to have, and I think this mixture of engaging with students and passing on the benefit of your experience while at the same time developing your experience through research is an incredibly rewarding thing to do.

Reader is a Grade 9 role which looks to promote those who have achieved a significant level of activity in Research. If you are interested in applying for a Reader position, take a look at the Annual Appointment Process document.