Jill Randall – Tate Project

Today, I looked at accounts and photographs of actual artists placements – great to look at some visual material when so much of it is text. Several questions arise, and these are also questions I have had to deal with in my own industry residencies:-

The APG artist knew why he wanted to be in industry, but he didn’t know what the experience would be…APG’s industrial experience received much adverse comment. Was it subversive or bolstering up the status quo? Was it really trying to implement change? Was it political or apolitical? What exactly was it trying to do? What was the new relationship? In what way would the artist interrelate and with what effect…”  TGA 20042/4/1/12 (c 1980s)  ‘The Artist Placement Group: A Social Strategy for Art’, by Christine Butler

TGA 20042/4/1/17 ‘Pieces of sea fall through the stars: three voyages 1974-75’, by George Levantis Placement with Ocean Trading and Transport Ltd.

I was attracted by this evocative title in the archive – George Levantis undertook a series of placements on merchant ships at a time when artists practice was expanding to include time and journeys as the context and actual artwork – ((Same time when Richard Long was starting his ‘walks’ as artworks.) I looked at catalogue/book of photos recording journeys with OCL (Ocean Trading & Transport Ltd). His position was understood to be there to relieve boredom at sea – captain imagined he might do painting classes.. !!!! everyone was mystified when it became apparent he was not going to do this, and this caused resentment. He moved between and deck and bridge – crossing hierarchies of ship rank and  designed own uniform with epaulettes with crossed brushes and palette!!-this startled officers! Pressurised to sketch portraits in bar at night – fulfilling expectations of traditional artist! Generally got on well and was assimilated into community. Its always about making connections people to people . He made ad hoc constructions around the ship with bamboo and canvas-”Pieces of sea fall through the stars”, and also performance works. He had undefined function  on the ship and this became source of ideas – he became attracted to navigational charts and watching night skies and constellations from the bridge.

1954 was start of ”Art as Concept” – i.e. Conceptual Art -John Latham (apg artist and massively influential figure) his scientific theories of time and drawing on new theories of day were central to this.

Mentions the Gregory Fellowship at Leeds University being the only precedent for apg’s artist and industry placements -sponsored, open-ended association between artist and university. In 1965, there was no ’community art’, no ‘time-based’ art, no ‘artist placement’, or artists films or artists events. Climate wholly antipathetic to these ideas.