RE: Audacious experiments in

Roman, Michael (michael.roman@caere.com)
Tue, 19 May 1998 16:07:39 -0700

I don't know... I think this was an impressive "Artistic" stunt.

I laughed.. out loud at work. Certainly there is some artistic value in
that!

Roman

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Lile Elam [SMTP:lile@art.net]
> Sent: Tuesday, May 19, 1998 3:39 PM
> To: talk@art.net
> Subject: FWD: Audacious experiments in
>
> art
>
> Hi folks,
>
> Someone forwarded this story to me today and I thought you
> might enjoy it.
>
> -lile
>
>
>
>
> [www.telegraph.co.uk]
>
> > Students make an exhibition of themselves
> > By Nigel Reynolds, Arts Correspondent
> >
> > THIRTEEN art students given a grant and sponsorship of £1,600 to put
> on
> > an exhibition spent the money on a week's holiday on the Costa del
> Sol
> > and returned home claiming that the trip was conceptual art.
> >
> > Two sponsors, including the Leeds University students' union, which
> > gave a grant of £1,126, said yesterday that they had been misled by
> the
> > students. They claimed that the stunt gave art a bad name and
> demanded
> > their money back.
> >
> > But the 13 students, the entire third year on Leeds University's
> Fine
> > Art course, said their holiday - when they swam, sunbathed and
> visited
> > nightclubs - was designed "to challenge people's perception of art"
> > and to make people discuss whether there was any limit to what could
> be
> > described as art.
> >
> > One of the students, Matt Dunning, 22, said: "It was essential for
> us
> > to go to the Costa del Sol because that courted controversy." A
> fellow
> > participant, Emma Robertson, said: "This is leisure as art. It is
> art
> > and it was an exhibition. People have very set ideas about what art
> is
> > and we are interested in the media reaction because we want people
> to
> > discuss what art is."
> >
> > About 60 lecturers, local artists and fellow students invited to the
> > first-night party for the exhibition - enigmatically titled Going
> Places -
> > were surprised when they entered a gallery empty except for a large
> bowl
> > of sangria, the sound of flamenco music and a drama student dressed
> as
> > an air hostess with a megaphone.
> >
> > As they stood around, uncertain what would happen next, they were
> ushered
> > on to a double-decker bus, driven to Leeds-Bradford airport and left
> in
> > a bar overlooking the arrivals area. A short time later, they saw
> the
> > entire troupe of laughing, sun-tanned, third-year students - who had
> used
> > the money to buy £185 flight-and-accommodation packages - march
> through
> > Customs armed with souvenirs from the Costa del Sol. The two groups
> met,
> > the stunt was explained and they all adjourned to the bar again,
> running
> > up a bill of £180. They spent a couple of hours discussing the
> meaning
> > of art before they were bussed back to Leeds city centre.
> >
> > The students' union, which said it had been led to believe that the
> art
> > students were mounting a more traditional exhibition and that the
> grant
> > of £1,126 was for framing, materials and hiring a gallery, suffered
> a
> > serious humour failure yesterday. Ruth Wilkin, the union's
> communications
> > officer, said: "We have asked for the money back. When we gave the
> money
> > there was no mention of any holidays. We have very limited resources
> > and we are trying to raise £20,000 for a minibus with access for the
> > disabled. It is fairly outrageous and pretty upsetting to see some
> of
> > our students taking money for a holiday when it should have been
> spent
> > on a much worthier cause."
> >
> > Myles Dutton, who runs the Dixon Bate art shop in Leeds, was one of
> > several commercial sponsors who gave more than £400 for what they
> thought
> > was a conventional exhibition. He said: "I gave £50. It's not a lot
> but
> > I feel I have been duped and I want my money back."
> >
> > A university spokesman declined to condemn the students and said:
> "It
> > should be noted that on little more than £1,000 they managed to
> spend a
> > week in Spain, hire a space for the exhibition, hire the
> double-decker
> > bus and keep a tab behind the bar at the airport. They got a lot out
> of
> > it."