Tony Benn, first in the Ministry of Technology, later Secretary of State for Industry under the Labour government, was an enthusiastic advocate and supporter of APG from the early days of he industry placements, and approached other influential government departments and organisations on APG’s behalf. His department also made APG a modest grant to make Read more
On Thursday, I had a meeting with John Hill, Education Officer at Flat Time House, the artist John Latham’s house in Peckham, to discuss the possibility of a University of Salford student Live Site Project at Flat Time House. This is a special opportunity to undertake work in an internationally-reknowned gallery and project space in Read more
Revisiting some of the industry correspondence from the early days not viewed yet to see if there is any more insight into how they operated. The unsuccessful company approaches are in themselves very interesting-there’s lots of evidence of Barbara Steveni’s relentless persistence with follow-up requests (all very polite and friendly), often over years.She just refused Read more
Today I looked in detail at an important article about APG in ‘Studio International’ magazine – ‘APG:The Individual and the Organisation. A Decade of Conceptual Engineering’ by John A. Walker from 1976. As the magazine is too frail to photocopy, I spent a long time reading and copying out relevant passages.I realise a lot of Read more
Today I have been revisiting the industry placements, and the correspondence between APG and industry bosses. I am interested in how the specific role of the artist within the organisation was defined and amended as the placements progressed, and also the placement from the industry perspective TGA 20042/1/2/51 Artist Placement Group. Correspondence with industry.[c 1967-1979] Read more
Today I gave some thought to the piece of writing I intend to do for submission to “Tate Papers”, their highly-respected, peer-reviewed on-line journal.The Tate Papers essay could be something to do with ‘success’ and ‘failure’, and what this meant to the artists and organisations/industries, maybe just focussing on 4-5 industry placements (which I Read more
Today I returned to Tate Britain for my last intensive stint at Tate Archive. I had pre-ordered items to study so got straight in there. The Tate was amazingly quiet today, almost deserted, as, since my last visit, the Turner Prize and Pre-Raphaelite shows have finished, and there’s a gap until the Kurt Schwitters Read more
‘Artist Placement Group’ – Offer For Sale.1971 .This is a seminal APG manifesto and the most important summary to date of their aims and activities. TGA 20042/4/1/7. APG . Printed material – Published + unpublished material. …‘Some artists had long considered the commercial gallery as incompatible with art. Although many galleries had extended their scope Read more
Joseph Beuys and People Power. Joseph Beuys contributed some seminal writings about the power of art and social change which have much in common with APG ideals. He came into contact with thenm through their Symposia activities in Germany and Holland. “Artist Power is not People Power. But it is and must be seen to Read more
Last night, I went to the final Public Event on the APG Show at Raven Row, on the Archive, which is of course amazingly relevant to what I am doing. The Politics of the Archive. Thursday 6 December, 6.30pm.(From Raven Row Press Release)… “Archives can Read more
