Art poor

[Тютчев]

The Art of the poor

Diana Machulina

Jeremy Deller. (Co-authored with Ed Hall, Alan Kane, Scott King, Matt Price, William Scott, Andrei Smirnov and Marc Touché). "From one revolution to another." Program "carte blanche" to the Palais de Tokyo, Paris, 26.09.2008 - 18.01.2009.

The "carte blanche" to the Palais de Tokyo itself is interesting in that it violates the separation of labor in the world of contemporary art: the artist offered to do a large-scale curatorial project. Jeremy Deller, got the opportunity, handed over power to further, going beyond the art world - and within its curatorial project "From one revolution to another, exhibited works made by artists and not intended for exhibition in general: the collected facts Deller art exhibitions do not need, because they are part of everyday life. Their appearance is connected with everyday life and social situation of the British. Each of these things Deller considered in connection with the historical context.

The basis of the exhibition are hung from the ceiling halls flags made by Ed Hall to protest demonstrations. Compound embroidery and appliques, bright-colored fabric - and all this not for political parties, but for the striking unions, for railway workers and prostitutes, for a forum of retirees and for students who do not want to close their school. And it's true: why art should belong only to the non-poor? Ed Hall considers the struggle of trade unions for their rights sufficiently heroic to portray it as a battle scene, as a political prisoner - not only worthy of treasury stock photo in full face and profile, but most of this portrait, which is usually only available to those who are rich enough to order it . Hall is developing a "social banners" from the early 80's and a quarter century has created over 400 works of art for the street action.

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Under the banners of protest is a collection of objects, photos and video documentation - "Folk Archive", compiled Deller and Kane to the "Millennium" - the image of the end of the millennium, is very different from the official image of happy humanity. There are many products that were seized from the context of political actions and expressed as a work of art. Thus, loyalists and republicans Northern Ireland are competing to create a "fresco", describing from first to last floor of their homes firewalls symbolic paintings, slogans. The owner of the house in Cardiff, retired, who have failed to pay the increased rent for his house and lost all hope to stop the city government, wrote a manifesto on the plywood, which scored the window of his house. So the bureaucratic rigidity became public, and bold "imposition" of the facade are the envy of any designer.

 
There are many works not related to politics, but somehow having a social function. They are often linked with unsettled life and poverty. Many things have expressed a reproach to society, in something similar to "driven things," Arkhipova. But its creators have tried to construct a collection of objects that will survive them personally, while he refused to take their works of art. But things are collected Deller, often altruistic, done for the public or for loved ones, are useless in everyday life, but claimed the right to beggars on the "cultural leisure", with no need to pull it from above, but create it themselves.

Peter Clare fashioned mechanical elephant almost life-size average specimen of the Indian breed, moved her legs, which raises the trunk, with a twitching leatherette skin folds. He has done this thing, after City Council has not kept its promise to bring urban children at Christmas this elephant from the zoo. Alas, the price of an elephant stood up, and the mayor was forced to explain to distraught children, that the city can not afford such waste of resources. Childcare unlock the creative potential of Clare. Deller, this thing impressed not only by its "Victorian futurism", she performed as "proof that spent thousands of hours, but not thousands of banknotes, and it is - a labor of love."

The exhibition can be seen and the actual children's creativity - photo pictures with chalk on the pavement. Children write the words "No smoking" or "No sex". Deller vain includes children "graffiti" in the exhibition. In these pocherkushkah identified various problems of adults, about which they themselves are unaware. I was once very interested in a boy of eight who were taken out passionately about the underground "Bauman" in chalk on the sidewalk, the words "Death of Satan" and next adorned figure, reminiscent of a bourgeois-style windows to Growth, fat, hat, but a naked and with large penis . His drawing children called "homeless." Such interpretation of the adult children's ideas of consciousness stops quiet steps to curb the question: where are we straying?

Adults in situtsii pressure sometimes fall into childhood - Deller said it. In his project, he tracks the direct connection of folk art from the turning points of history, paying special role of the industrial revolution. At the next bend of the road a man realizes that he owns no car, but it - them. The metal creature - his only companion in the work, and Deller captures touching attempts to give the car a soul, revive tools. Workers draw smiles on the nose of the bulldozer, cleaner displays aerography face the dragon on the brush cleaner. Contests tuning are also included here as an attempt to make a batch thing something personal. Sometimes the machine becomes a way of communication, a layer of dust on the car can be a forum where, in response to the usual "Wash me!" there is direct speech machine: "I'm not dirty, it was conceived" or "Not me, my - better kitchen garden planted here." This historically grounded joke - even in 1840 a resident of Manchester, wrote to the Committee of Healthy Cities of the excessively high rents on the ground. He lamented that the town houses are crowded side by side with factories, air pollution, and residents can not afford either the garden or the park - they have no hope for a meeting with nature.


Being the first country in the industrial revolution, Britain has not yet parted with the rituals of the agricultural period. Deller is skating video documentary of the annual burning barrel on the main street, a tradition rooted in the XVII century, the dance of men, crowned with antlers, and the object Repeymen "- the result of competition in the Scottish Kvinferri. Each year, local residents are the jury your resume, and the successful applicant receives the right to wear body-fitting flannel suit. The winner must pass through a field of heather, which completely cover his outfit spines. The reasons for such loyalty to tradition Deller defines as "the boredom and misery" - this is the only chance to have fun in the province, and an attempt to attract tourists. No wonder most of these rituals performed in winter, when all agricultural work stops and tourist industry is the only means of income. Many of these provincial initiatives intersect with the Russian artistic experiments: the festival of sculpture from the hay and twigs in the fields of England reminiscent of Polissky, and one of the participants' Championship grimaces "Avdyei Ter-Oganyan invited as a" final exhibition in his Berlin gallery.

There is also a new "rituals" that do not go back to the local traditions, and specifically designed to attract tourists - fifteen-minute costume version of the Bastille, which show on the anniversary of the events several times a day in London's Soho, or the annual carrying the cross through the streets. Everyone carries his own cross, but if you make this show - for it is finally paid.

An attempt to save his financial situation makes the representatives of British small businesses to invent such signs and advertising that they can be successfully displayed at any art fair. But they have more right to exist than the fair objects, as is clear to function, but that advertise some products at the fair, is not clear.


All this "redi-maid art," folk-archive - only one part of the exposition. Deller worried about the relation of art and history, he sees a direct correlation here. What is the relationship of labor and art? Under some versions, the art is possible in a situation of surplus and the emergence of free time on version Deller, confirmed that he collected material - art can be produced in cases of abject poverty, as a popular remedy for depression, as a universal "anti-crisis measure" - material and psychological . One part of the exhibition is devoted to how to its knees born British glam-rock. This section begins with a quotation from the Manifesto of the Communist Party: "аll this solid that melts into air". The collapse of the industry was the beginning of the entertainment industry. "Miners" have begun to develop "velvet goldmine", a gold mine of show business.

Childhood Deller had just those years when due to lack of electricity plants have worked only three days a week. Days out of work have combined non-workers in a rock band. In the Russian folk phrase "plant stand, and the country are some guitarists" confused cause and effect: guitarists appear when other classes left. This enthusiasm for British music and was a splash of emotions, and hope to break out of people to turn out nobody wants ordinary laborors a star.

A key exhibit in this section - picture of the famous wrestler Adrian Street. He was born in "Dynasty" of miners, and his future was predetermined. My grandfather went to work at a mine in 13 years, father - at 14, Adrian - 15. From the outset, he wanted to engage in wrestling is very popular at that time in Britain. The comrades laughed at him, considering him too fragile for such studies. At age 16 he ran away from the mine, and in the same year he became the champion in an ultralight weight. However, wrestling was hard work: giving of 40 fights in a month, Street could not contain himself and his young pregnant wife. He understood that to be the most powerful enough - the entertainment industry requires the original image. Thus he became the "Queen of professional wrestling-whore." Street won the fashion contest, he gained fame after he started to go into the ring long-haired, fair-haired diva, with abundant makeup, with glitter on his chest and gold tights. He also became engaged in modeling clothes, and his belongings were Elton John, David Bowie and Marc Bolan. Photography, impress Deller, was made for the article-biographies Street in the newspaper "Sunday". Street, took picture myself in the background of the abandoned mines in his youth with his father and those who said that he would never realize his dream. For Adrian, it was a small revenge for Deller this picture - a bright visualization of how the world turned upside down, and it happened within one generation.

For the miners the only way to get to the pages of metropolitan newspapers had such a dubious honor to spend the background for the showman. In other cases, the newspaper miners ignored: the 17 mnogotirazhek only one mention about the famous clash of miners and policemen, "Battle of Orgrive" reinaktment which made Deller. The media chose to ignore the popular unrest.


A world of contemporary art, with its hierarchies and quarries, auctions and collections preferred to ignore the "art workers", all marginal initiative. Thanks to the efforts Deller this layer of culture come to the attention of art connoisseurs, and the question arose: do not grow if the contemporary art outside the art world? Maybe it figures art hangouts - dubious marginalized, separated from life, no one but himself, not necessary, but the real art belongs to the people? Items collected at this exhibition, are creativity not as a luxury and extravagance, but as an innate quality of human vital activity.

An entire section devoted to creativity of prisoners, and never indicated that the work done in the enforcement of art therapy. This is the escape from prison, convicts can afford.

Things Deller brought into the showroom - just a change of object representation. But reading about the history of creation and existence of the exhibits, you realize that there is an alternative viewer and the artist, being with him in close contact, and an alternative to museums and exhibition halls of the space "exposure". All of this art-world would be worth to take into account and try to open my small circle of producers and consumers of contemporary art.

Diana Machulina
was born in 1981 in Lugansk (Ukraine). Artist. Works as a freelance reporter with the newspaper "Culture", "Time of news" and a portal OpenSpace.ru. Lives in Moscow.

Photo to article:

1. The mechanical elephant nicknamed "Snowdrop", family Claire, Egremont, Cumbria, 2004
2. A professional wrestler Adrian Street and his father was a miner, 1973. Photo: Dennis Hutchinson.
3. Flags Ed Hall, 1984-2008
4. Front-manifesto, Clare Street, Cardiff, Wales, 2001
5. The work of prisoners. "Anatomical imagination", "Welcome," "A Room with figures. 2003-2004