Joy in People: Jeremy Deller

I have recently been developing an obsession with the Southbank. Last week I went twice, once to see Comedy of Errors, starring Lenny Henry, review to follow – we saw it for a fiver! - and once to see Jeremy Deller’s exhibition at the Hayward Gallery.

Jeremy Who?

Admittedly not a traditional artist of the high form I would forgive you for not knowing the name. I first encountered Deller whilst working on a piece for my MA on the archaeology of sites of former protest. I was really fascinated by the ‘Battle of Orgreave’, so much so I jumped on a train to look at the site, got into all sorts of scrapes and met nice northern ladies in bun shops.

Anyway, Deller was also pulled into the orbit of Orgreave and produced a re-enactment of the battle, with former miners playing policemen and former policemen playing miners.  ‘Its going to take more than an art project to heal wounds. But was definitely about confronting something; to look at it again and discuss it’. I thought this sounded like a man I could get on with and when his name appeared on the Hayward list I paid it a visit.

‘To look at it again and discuss it’

This is the thread that runs through all of Deller’s work. The Joy in People exhibition included some of his earliest works (illicitly exhibited originally in his bedroom whilst his parents were on holiday), to It is what it is (2009), a discussion on terrorism and UK involvement in Iraq. He looks at the domestic proximity of cafes (2009) and bedrooms (1993) to big open landscapes , Exodus and Beyond the Walls (both 2012). Working with a number of mediums; including paper, photography, music, film and in fact people, Deller provokes discussion on a number of issues from war and peace, Britain’s heritage, to ageism and the plight of a transvestite wrestler.

His methods are arresting. 

They take you by surprise and they encourage discussion. 

Only Deller would build a life-size operational 1970’s style cafe for a carnival float; and encourage visitors to sit, drink tea together and contemplate what is worth saving, and protesting about.

By the people for the people

Deller uses a number of actors to people his exhibitions. One part of the gallery was a big black wall with ‘I <3 Melancholia’ written on the wall and a youth dressed in black just sat reading for hours. The people in Deller’s exhibitions often don’t say much, or directly interact with you. Rather they are there as sign posts and discussion points. I must say I totally missed the real person who had experienced war-torn Iraq sat in ‘It is What it Is’. In sum, ‘Deller makes art by the people for the people –and it is often fun and uplifting as a result’ (Sooke).

Common-Culture

I went to visit this exhibition with a dear friend who ‘appreciates art’. I think going on my own to this exhibition would have been an altogether different experience; the discussion would have been decidedly one-way. In its ability to provoke discussion Deller’s work is communal and it encourages community cohesion. At another level this is ‘common-culture’ in that it makes art from the common every-day world. I think it has taken me quite some time to see Deller’s work as ‘art’; a few years ago I would not have recognised scruffy t-shirts and quirky placards as art. I credit my MA, Dan Curtis, Elle McAllister and Caz Challis as well as the numerous artists at TAP for teaching me that ‘art’ doesn’t have to be ‘pretty’.

I loved this exhibition so much so I bought the pinbadge. Its on til 13^th May and is a steal at only £10. It truly celebrates ‘Joy in People’.

Down and Out in Paris and London – George Orwell.

A couple of weeks ago my sister and I visited Paris and I thought I’d do some literary recreation and picked, Down and Out as my holiday read. I’ve liked Orwell since I read 1984 and so I suspected I’d also like Down and Out.

Tramps in Metropolis

Down and Out follows the docu-drama of Orwell’s life.  I call it docu-drama because rather like the recent fad for scripted reality tv, the book is based on real experiences but not a series of events in factual order and without embellishment. After quitting the Indian Imperial Police Orwell moved to Paris, wanting to become a writer and imagining he would eke out his living from journalism. This didn’t really work out and he was soon so poor he was working the tramping track and long hours as a plongeur or scullery maid. At the promise of a job he moves back to London but life is hard here too. The persistent poverty forms a suitable background for Orwell to tell a number of funny tales and to sermonise on the plight of the poor.

First of many

Down and Out is Orwell’s first published work. Reading it I was reminded of several themes I recognised from other novels written by Orwell. The reactions (scornful) of the tramps towards clergymen was reminiscent of the attitudes towards religious subjects in 1984. Similarly the diatribes at the close of the book on the lives of the poor and how they might be improved reminded me of other Orwellian essays (like How the Poor Die and Why I Write) I read as a teenager. The keen awareness of inequality found in Animal Farm has its nascence in Down and Out. When you think about it, it is quite remarkable, here was a man educated at Eton and the descendent of gentry, quite au fait with Henley who recognised there was a great divide to be crossed, and eventually crossed it for several years.

Intellectual Snobbery

I am a great fan of Orwell’s. During my teenage years his works offered a mirror in which I could see myself reflected. That is not to say that I went to Eton and was related to gentry but rather here was another person with a brain that worked well, faced with the dilemma of inequality  and trying to solve the problem.

I did feel, however, that Orwell could be accused of intellectual wankery. In the copy I was reading there were several times when words were not translated. Boris’ floosie can get food by pretending to be enceinte; Orwell gets jobs in grotty hotels as a plongeur and the majority of men in the lodgings were stevedores. Reading this book has been really good for my acquaintance with Wikipedia and the stevedore word has a really interesting borrowing from Portuguese that rewards investigation. This habit, of throwing foreign nouns in as if your reader will understand, reminded me of reading T.S. Eliot in 6^th form. When you read The Wasteland for the first time it can feel bland and uninteresting; but when you are given the keys to all the cultural references suddenly a whole world is opened up and you declare the man a genius! The same, I would say is true of reading Down and Out, at first it might just seem like prohibitive intellectual wankery but further reading adds to the narrative.

Literary Comments

I imagine the literary amongst you think this is all very fine but are wondering whether it is worth reading the book! I thought it was funny, in places, and it made me do a lot of thinking, about dirt in hotels, the tyrannies of urban landscapes and the commonality of human kind. He draws some very endearing characters and on occasion is capable of brilliant description. But generally, the book is quite raw and lacks the comprehensive brilliance of his later fiction.

A lively read which complemented my travels across Paris and London very well but not his best work 3/5.

Construction

Opposite the house which is being demolished (see last post), where only a poetic lampstand amongst the rubble remains, a building at the opposite end of its life cycle is being built, with a purpose, as a health centre. (not sure why image on its side, not artistic!)

This has got me thinking about what we build and why we build it. Much as I'd love to claim this was an architectural post it is, as ever, a social anthropological one.

The Sun
My office is in Wapping. It is normally a very bland, grey place full of middle-class nothingness. No drama, just Waitrose and a couple of flats built in old docks, used by commuters as part-time homes. But this week the Dock has been awash with film cameras, photographers and TV presenters, one of my colleagues even claims they saw Reggie Yates! All this hubbub in my usually grey environment is in response to one man and his workers. And it got me thinking about the story the Paparazzi would tell? How would they embellish or alter events? What version of the truth would they tell? How much is constructed?

Syrian Sunsets
This got me thinking about the ongoing conflict in Syria. Now I am not for a minute trying to suggest that what has happened in Syria is anything but terrible, nor that Assad is not some kind of tyrant. However, isn't the truth always more complicated than the headline? One of my friends is a Syrian national living out his life in Syria and you know, he does the same things now as he ever did before, he takes his kid to school, he meets friends for coffee. He is not in fear of his life. Yes, he feels sad that his country is not one, but he does not live life in fear. What do we lose by simplifying a narrative? This is something I've been considering in my work, thinking about PR and how we have to simplify a story to fit it in a word-count, what is lost in the edit? How does that change what we create, construct or build?

The Sun rises, it will also set.
Two buildings, on opposite sides of a street. One demolished because the ground below it proved unstable, one built to heal the sick. And I wonder have either ever read the story about the man who built his house upon the sand? Unless they've got lorries full of ballast they're in for a rough time of it!

What are you building? Where are its foundations? Do you trust the building won't fall down? And is all that you see merely a construction?

Exposure

In light of the increasing concern of individuals and corporates about privacy, exposure and vulnerability I thought I'd write a little post.

Facebook-face

The internet world got significantly rocked when facebook launched its 'timeline' layout because it seemed to leave more of our histories exposed to a wider range of people. Employers, especially but not exclusively in the digital world, have made it quite clear that they are using facebook to get a background history on applicants and the number of people caught out moaning about jobs, then facing the sack grows everyday.

Whilst posting about our teenage crushes at the time seemed cool, now it just seems embarrassing.

This poses some interesting questions about social media and exposure. We willingly post photographs, declarations and videos on the internet, we use it as a place to share lives with friends and family who might not be close enough to experience them first-hand. We willingly expose ourselves to those we trust. But what about the other people viewing the content, the public, the perverse, the political or just the unknown? When it is posted on the internet it is exposed in a way that may be impossible to reverse. Does that cause us to re-evaluate what goes online and why? Does it affect our ability to be vulnerable with those we love? And knowing your private internet world is, in fact, quite public might cause us to look on our pasts and what we choose to keep from them in a different light.

Undocumented Dancing

Last weekend I went clubbing. It was really fun. It was in Shoreditch and was a good night out. They do great cocktails. OK you want to know where it was, The Book Club. I went out with colleagues from work and it was good fun. About 11.30 we were dancing to some reggae (I know I'm thinking of this video too) and I suddenly noticed no-one in our group had a camera and you know, I was relieved. Its not that I was behaving badly but there was something liberating in knowing that all my silly dance-moves wouldn't be coming back to haunt me I was free to be vulnerable because I would not be exposed.

Amongst a generation of instant-documenters it was refreshing to think the only store of the evening was my own memory. And its a good memory.

Inside my living room

These photos are of a house on my commute to work. It is being demolished due to subsidence.

 It grabbed my attention immediately.

Don't you find it interesting how we can look directly into someone's living room. The initial shots reminded me of Blitz photos I've seen, a whole house sort of ripped in half.

We can see into all the rooms as if it were a doll's house, there is no privacy.
All is exposed.
This is particularly poignant from a social anthropology perspective, given as the Englishman's home is his castle, and the gate his drawbridge (good old Foxy!).

What makes you feel exposed? How much vulnerability is too much vulnerability? And what does knowledge have to do with exposure?

Merry Christmas! Fröhliche Weihnachten!¡Feliz Navidad!

 Its been a while hasn’t it?! I’ve been learning Bengali and knitting, watching Tolstoy performed live above pubs and meeting many friends for festive meals. I thought given the season I might share a little festive anthropology with you on Christmas Traditions.

The nights are closing in and its so cold you’re losing touch with your toes! It must be nearly time for a winter celebration; for a Merry Christmas! Ever since I first travelled to Europe as a teenager I have been fascinated by our shared European heritage and the way it is expressed in such different ways. Never was this truer than with our divergent celebrations of Christmas. So I decided to explore three different expressions of Christmas; from English, German and Spanish perspectives.

Disclaimer: Every family is different and doesn’t necessarily do the things listed below. In no way is this supposed to be an exhaustive description.

England

Christmas is quite a contracted celebration in England. Although children mark advent with Advent Calendars most of the focus in on 24^th-26^th December. The Christmas Trees are put up in family homes from the start of December. On Christmas Eve traditional families might go to Midnight Mass but most families start preparations for Christmas Day. Christmas Eve (24th December) is the time when Father Christmas visits overnight leaving presents for good children in stockings (large socks). He and his reindeer are often made welcome through the provision of food items laid out for them such as mince pies and a carrot for the reindeer. Both Christmas Day and the day that follows (Boxing Day) are national holidays in England. The 25^th December is the central event and the day on which presents are given and received. Christmas Day is also the day when the large Christmas meal is eaten, typically including; Turkey with stuffing and cranberry sauce, ‘pigs in blankets’ (chipolatas wrapped in bacon) and Brussels Sprouts. These are followed by mince pies, a Christmas pudding (a fruit dessert) which is often set alight with warm brandy as part of the ceremony, and sometimes Christmas cake. Modern English Christmas Days are also accompanied by lots of seasonal television such as The Snowman.

Germany

The way other countries celebrate has always interested me and having a few friends with connections across Germany I asked them what made Christmas. One of the most popular activities was going to the Christmas Fair and drinking warm spiced drinks with friends. This activity has not been missed by the opportunistic tourism boards in England who advertise flights to German markets; where you can apparently buy authentic wooden toys and eat mountains of wurst, Stollen and gingerbread.  The Christmas Tree is an important tradition introduced by the Germans to European Christmas accompanied by its companion, mulled wine. Christmas extends out as far as St Nicholas Day, a day unrecognised in England. In some areas, the gifts from St Nicholas arrive on St Nicholas Eve. If presents have not been given on St Nicholas Eve, then it is on Christmas Eve, the focus of the Christmas time, when gifts are shared. Christmas also stretches out to Epiphany in January; when people, particularly children, join parades and other activities around the town dressed as the Three Kings. German Christmases seem much longer than English ones.

Spain

Spanish Christmases begin with the celebration of their patron saint, Mary on December 8^th, the day of the immaculate birth. As a thoroughly Catholic country the celebration of Christmas follows the church calendar quite tightly. On Christmas Eve (Nochebuena) the main Christmas meal is eaten often featuring lamb or seafood; quite separate from the American influenced Turkey. On the subject of Christmas food, Spain is famous for its turron or nougat. Most homes will feature a beléne or nativity scene and in some areas the scene also features the El Caganer, or defecating shepherd. The origins of this unusual onlooker to the nativity are cloaked in the mists of time. The Spanish never miss out on a chance to dance and so unsurprisingly have a Christmas dance, called the Jota. The modern world has had its impact on the Spanish too with the El Gordo Christmas Lottery. The 28^th December is also a celebratory day on Santos Inocentes which acts a bit like ‘April Fools’; often a child is made mayor for the day and his/her wishes are honoured as if they were the real mayor. This is just as well as children have to wait until the feast of Epiphany for their gifts in Spain. The night before there are processions of children dressed as the kings. The reindeer and St Nic are replaced by tired camels and kings who are the present givers. The camels are placated with straw left in shoes; a little reminiscent of the German tradition of food left in shoes. The 6^th of January is also a national holiday celebrated with hams and seafood.

The contrasting traditions of the three nations are neatly summed up in one little tradition; the Christmas Cracker. In Spain they appear not to exist. The first Christmas Crackers probably contained sweets and the ‘cracking’ feature was decidedly secondary. In England they are contextualised by their season, ‘Christmas’ and have lost all reference to sweets. An archetypal cracker would include; a Christmas hat, a tacky toy and a cheesy joke – the joke is meant to be bad, that’s the point! German Christmas Crackers are called ‘Knallbonbon’ a name which reflects both the ‘cracker’ and sweet components of the tradition. Although I have to admit I’ve never seen a German Christmas Cracker!

So, that’s my little walk around Christmas traditions in Europe; there are some interesting similarities and peculiarities I think you’ll agree! What do you do in your home that’s unique to your family, or country? Do you know where those traditions come from? Why not ask a family member or a friend about their traditions?

Have a very Merry Christmas and see you in 2012!

Top Boy: Good exposure for East London?

Recently I have secured a full-time job working with young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) in Tower Hamlets, London (this is a deprived part of England’s capital city). Working in this environment has made me view media on the subject of London's East End with quite different eyes.

Over the last two weeks Channel 4 have aired a four-part drama called ‘Top Boy'. It follows a few months in the life of a thirteen year-old boy called Ra’Nell. Ra’Nell’s life is far from easy; his Mum is hospitalised with a mental illness and his best friends get caught-up in selling drugs. Not every drug-dealer is stereotyped; there’s Heather, the pregnant mum seeking a better life for herself and her baby and will grow cannabis to get there, or the twelve year old pushers who join the gang for a little bit of pocket money and kudos. Neither is it wall-to-wall violence; the plot-line is nuanced, and addresses issues such as missing father figures and the desire to belong as well as the ‘reality of London life’.

The writer of the series, Ronan Bennett says he got the inspiration for the programme one afternoon walking through his neighbourhood in Hackney when he saw a twelve year old selling drugs outside the supermarket. Two-years of research followed, meeting all-sorts from dealers to journalists, social workers and school-children. The programme is deliberately not preachey. In the Guardian, Bennett writes, ‘We don’t want to discuss the issues thrown up by what I’ve seen and heard. That’s not drama. Drama is story, character, the creation of a world. We want to take viewers viscerally and emotionally to a place they have heard a lot about but don’t really know’. So in many senses it is a work of fiction, but it is going to provoke a reaction.

The photo at the top of the page was taken outside my work place in Tower Hamlets. Here it is almost as if the poster were a mere window onto the world. From my own new knowledge of this world I’ve ‘heard a lot about but don’t really know’ I’d say the characterisations were fairly accurate; the characters sound like East Londoners and their stories of broken families and peer-pressure are familiar. This is, however, only half the story. As Phil Hogan’s generous Guardian Review puts it, ‘the neighbourhood remained strangely benign: community thrived, kindly voices filled the market, mothers went to church and kept a tidy house. The sun shone on this picture of hardship’. And this is exactly my point, amid all the disaster there is great hope, rising from the streets of East London. When speaking to one local resident about the programme, interestingly he felt it was really unhelpful; when I asked about it he just said, ‘its not like that for everyone; its a bit too dramatic’. If this is a world we ‘don’t really know’ are we being informed by this programme or are we just being given new prejudices?

Today has been an interesting day for me in terms of East London and its reputation. Two young men from East London have been confirmed as dead, after being hit by a train on the line I use to get to work in the mornings.
This is a tragedy.
Two lives cut short by walking well-used railway lines. It has had a big impact on the local community who knew these lads and grieve for them. On the other hand; three Tower Hamlets heroes have today been received national recognition for their extraordinary progress into employment at the London European Social Fund Awards. All three winners are over-comers who battled against the odds of personal circumstance to achieve great things. We can choose which of these events we choose to publicise, record and turn into docu-drama and I know which one I’d rather talk about.

So, whilst Bennett did plenty of research to get his authentic East End it is important to remember that this, indeed, a dramatic representation of the truth; squished into just four hours of television and designed for impact. But is it sending the right message? And is any publicity good publicity?

You can watch Top Boy here.

St Paul's Tent City - whose voice is being heard?

This week I was set the task of setting up an online discussion on current affairs, aimed at 16 year olds in just 500 words. 

Here is my attempt:

Since mid-October, some 200 tents have sprung up around St Paul’s Cathedral. The tents represent the English version of a worldwide occupation movement with satellites in New York, South Africa, Rotterdam and Athens. The movement claims that the aim of the occupation is to reclaim public spaces, for the public, but has a strong ‘anti-Capitalist’ theme in London. The occupation represents a shift in the way the public protest, away from marches towards occupation or sit-ins. Although the genesis of the St Paul’s site came from the Occupy Wall Street campaign it is quite transformed by the location of the site, outside one of London’s most significant landmarks and religious sites. As there has been plenty of discussion as to what should happen to the tent city it is interesting to think about who has the right to have their own voice heard and why?

Protesters

The protesters outside St Paul’s have been non-violent and are camped on public property; as such they cannot be easily removed without a specific sanction. With increasing levels of legislation being applied to traditional methods of protest, criticism of the government has arguably become more difficult. Many of the protesters camped outside St Pauls continue to go to work and have created a learning environment. Is the occupation just an innovative way of getting through a legal loophole providing accountability for banks and governments?

Local businesses

For many local businesses the situation looks quite different! The tent city occupies a large space in the heart of the city from which it criticises, amongst other things, capitalism. This has had a detrimental effect on the sales of many businesses, but this occupation is particularly lethal for the small businesses. Local businesses often do not have the support of other outlets across the country or investors to support them like their larger counterparts. One of the occupation aims is to criticise these big commercial enterprises; is it possible that the protestors are actually having the inverse action to that which they planned, by cutting off small businesses and barely denting the sales of the big firms?

St Paul’s Cathedral

The location of the protest is just outside one of the most internationally recognised church buildings in the UK, St Paul’s Cathedral. When the tent city arrived the church had to shut its doors for health and safety risks. It has been shut for nearly two weeks now at a daily cost of £23,000! Buildings like St Paul’s cost a lot of money to maintain and £322,000 will take a long time to raise alongside ongoing costs. It is the first time the church has shut since the Blitz (1940’s) and tourists and worshippers alike have missed out on its services. Should protestors gathered for political reasons be able to stop other people from religious worship?

As the tent city looks set to stay, maybe it is time to consider whose voice is being heard?

What do you think? And what role do you think social networking plays in our understanding of these events? Write your comments below, but remember that only polite messages will be posted. Anything deemed offensive to any party will not be posted; democratic debate is encouraged.