JEREMY DELLER
Jeremy Deller's performative works emerge from an almost anthropological approach that connects fine art and popular culture, often to reveal the artist's political concerns. They are frequently made in collaboration with others and have involved working-class marching bands from the North of England (Acid Bass, 1997), Manic Street Preachers fans (The Uses of Literacy, 1999), various California residents (After the Goldrush, 2002), and Alan Kane (the on-going Folk archive begun in 1999). For the Manifesta 5 biennial (2004), held in San Sebastian, Deller organized a public parade of the city's hidden social groups and associations, giving voice to the marginal and invisible communities in a city overwhelmed by political division.
The strike of the National Union of Mineworkers in Britain during 1984, plays a crucial role in several of Deller's best-known works. His most direct exploration of the strike came in The Battle of Orgreave (2001), a partial re-enactment of one of the most violent clashes between striking miners and police in a field near the Orgreave coking plant. With the support of the arts organization Artangel, Deller staged a spectacular re-enactment of what happened on 18 June, 1984, the day of the strike's most violent confrontations, orchestrated by a leading historical re-enactment expert Howard Giles and performed by 800 people including hundreds of local residents, and a number of police and picketers from the original encounter.
The event took place on June 17, 2001, and was filmed by director Mike Figgis. Figgis's documentary spliced footage of Deller's version of the conflict with photographic stills from the clashes in 1984, along with archival material and firsthand accounts by Orgreave veterans, thereby mixing "truth" and "re-enactment throughout. The collaborative project thus provided an alternative version of recent history, addressing the media's role in portraying "reality," and responding to the fact that the BBC had manipulated footage in order to show the police in a favorable light.
The archive Deller composed of materials used to prepare for and gathered in relation to the project is a work in itself and includes texts, interviews, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, photographs, and other objects from the strike. Through these artifacts an even more layered story of The Battle of Orgreave's history can be read. The archive thus contributes to Deller's understanding that the actual reenactment was less important than the instigation of a long-overdue discussion about the original event.-B.V./E.F.
http://www.diacenter.org/claerbout/index.html
http://www.the-artists.org/ArtistView.cfm?id=DEF7D35B-846D-4539-9E17D5A54E8CB930
http://www.deappel.nl/hauntedbydetail/who/claerbout.htm
http://www.photography-now.com/artists/K06368.html
http://www.artfacts.net/index.php/pageType/exhibitionInfo/exhibition/10691
http://www.boilermag.it/gallery/David-Claerbout
http://www.stylusart.com/noticias/davidclaerbout/davidclaerbouten.htm
http://www.galerie-ruediger-schoettle.de/kuenstler/claerbout/claerbout.html
http://www.artnet.com/artwork/423794582/_David_Claerbout_The_Stack_Movie_Still_2.html
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1248/is_2_92/ai_113232747
Born 1966 in London, Great Britain
Lives and works in London, Great Britain
The Battle of Orgreave, 2001
Directed by Mike Figgis based on Jeremy Deller's historical reenactment 17 June 2001
Film, transferred to DVD, 60'
Commissioned and produced by Artangel Trust, London
Directed by Mike Figgis based on Jeremy Deller's historical reenactment 17 June 2001
Film, transferred to DVD, 60'
Commissioned and produced by Artangel Trust, London
Jeremy Deller's performative works emerge from an almost anthropological approach that connects fine art and popular culture, often to reveal the artist's political concerns. They are frequently made in collaboration with others and have involved working-class marching bands from the North of England (Acid Bass, 1997), Manic Street Preachers fans (The Uses of Literacy, 1999), various California residents (After the Goldrush, 2002), and Alan Kane (the on-going Folk archive begun in 1999). For the Manifesta 5 biennial (2004), held in San Sebastian, Deller organized a public parade of the city's hidden social groups and associations, giving voice to the marginal and invisible communities in a city overwhelmed by political division.
The strike of the National Union of Mineworkers in Britain during 1984, plays a crucial role in several of Deller's best-known works. His most direct exploration of the strike came in The Battle of Orgreave (2001), a partial re-enactment of one of the most violent clashes between striking miners and police in a field near the Orgreave coking plant. With the support of the arts organization Artangel, Deller staged a spectacular re-enactment of what happened on 18 June, 1984, the day of the strike's most violent confrontations, orchestrated by a leading historical re-enactment expert Howard Giles and performed by 800 people including hundreds of local residents, and a number of police and picketers from the original encounter.
The event took place on June 17, 2001, and was filmed by director Mike Figgis. Figgis's documentary spliced footage of Deller's version of the conflict with photographic stills from the clashes in 1984, along with archival material and firsthand accounts by Orgreave veterans, thereby mixing "truth" and "re-enactment throughout. The collaborative project thus provided an alternative version of recent history, addressing the media's role in portraying "reality," and responding to the fact that the BBC had manipulated footage in order to show the police in a favorable light.
The archive Deller composed of materials used to prepare for and gathered in relation to the project is a work in itself and includes texts, interviews, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, photographs, and other objects from the strike. Through these artifacts an even more layered story of The Battle of Orgreave's history can be read. The archive thus contributes to Deller's understanding that the actual reenactment was less important than the instigation of a long-overdue discussion about the original event.-B.V./E.F.
http://www.diacenter.org/claerbout/index.html
http://www.the-artists.org/ArtistView.cfm?id=DEF7D35B-846D-4539-9E17D5A54E8CB930
http://www.deappel.nl/hauntedbydetail/who/claerbout.htm
http://www.photography-now.com/artists/K06368.html
http://www.artfacts.net/index.php/pageType/exhibitionInfo/exhibition/10691
http://www.boilermag.it/gallery/David-Claerbout
http://www.stylusart.com/noticias/davidclaerbout/davidclaerbouten.htm
http://www.galerie-ruediger-schoettle.de/kuenstler/claerbout/claerbout.html
http://www.artnet.com/artwork/423794582/_David_Claerbout_The_Stack_Movie_Still_2.html
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1248/is_2_92/ai_113232747