Art turning left - Tate

Teachers Pack

Art turning left: how values changed making 1789–2013

2 teachers Pack Art turning left: How Values Changed Making 1789–2013

the exhibition at tate liverpool offers an exciting multi-sensory environment for students of all ages to investigate a wide spectrum of works and media. its range spans four centuries of artistic production including: painting, textiles, prints, posters, video installation, performance, sculpture, wall hangings and banners. it provides a platform for thematic discussions and the potential for cross-curricular activities including art, music, history, geography, design and literature. the thematic sections of each room ask questions such as, ‘Do we need to know who makes art?’, ‘Can art affect everyone?’, ‘Can art infiltrate everyday life?’, ‘Does participation deliver equality?’ and ‘How can art speak with a collective voice?’

this pack focuses on five key works from the exhibition and is designed to support teachers and more advanced students planning a visit to the exhibition. it includes points for discussion and suggested activities for use in the gallery or classroom. it also includes information on the Office of useful Art, a working office located in the

exhibition offering programmed and drop in opportunities to discuss, debate and question art’s purpose and value and an invitation to join the useful Art Association. the pack has been designed for you to download and either print or project in the classroom.

for further details about visiting tate liverpool with your group see: www.tate.org.uk/learn/teachers/school-visits-tate-liverpool

email [email protected] Call +44 (0)151 702 7400

A special school group price for exhibitions is available if you book and pay at least two weeks in advance.

intrODuCtiOn

Art Turning Left is the first exhibition to examine how the production and reception of art has been influenced by left-wing values, from the eighteenth century to the present day. the direct involvement of visual artists in the political arena connected to the social and ethical values of left wing politics can be traced to the french revolution, when artists such as Jacques-louis David granted permission for their artwork to be reproduced to support the republican cause and versions of David’s iconic image The Death of Marat 1793–4 feature in the exhibition.

Art Turning Left takes a thematic approach, based on key concerns that span different historical periods and geographic locations. they range from equality in production and collective authorship to the question of how to merge art and life. the exhibition moves away from the political messages behind the works and claims about the ability of art to deliver political and social change, and instead focuses on the effect political values have had on the processes, aesthetics and display of artworks.


JACques-lOuis DAViD The Death of Marat 1793–4

MAxiMilien luCeL’aciérie 1894

JuliAn treVelyAnRubbish May be Shot Here 1937

JereMy Deller AnD AlAn KAne Folk Archive 2000–2006

rutH ewAn A Jukebox of People Trying to Change the World (ongoing archive since 2003)

tHe OffiCe Of useful Art

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Not by pleasing the eye do works of art accomplish their purpose. The demand now is for examples of heroism and civic virtues which will electrify the soul of the people and arouse in them devotion to the fatherland’ – Jacques-louis David

Created in response to the murder of political theorist Jean-Paul Marat in 1793, David’s painting became an iconic image of the french revolution. reproduced and distributed with the artist’s permission during the aftermath of the assassination, it contributed to Marat’s status amongst the republicans as a martyr of the people.

David was an active supporter of the revolution both as an artist and as president of the Jacobin club. His politically charged paintings such as The Oath of the Horatii 1785 and The Death of Socrates 1787 employed the visual language of classicism in order to evoke the ideals of the roman republic. David also designed uniforms, triumphal arches and banners for the republican group and in his role of president of the Jacobins he signed the execution orders for over 300 victims of the guillotine.

JACques-lOuis DAViD The Death of Marat 1793-4

Jacques-Louis David, 1748 – 1825 The Death of Marat (La Mort de Marat) 1793-4 © Musée des Beaux – Arts. Photo: C.Devleeschauwer


On 13th July 1793, Marat, the political journalist and leader of the Montagnards was murdered in his bath by a young royalist, Charlotte Corday. On gaining admittance to his apartment with a false letter of introduction she produced a knife and stabbed him fatally close to the heart. in death, Marat instantly became a martyr of the revolution. David was invited to make arrangements for the funeral and to immortalize him in a painting. He began work immediately, drawing the corpse while it was still in the tub and details such as the green rug, sheet, wooden packing case and pen were all authentically copied from life. Marat suffered from a debilitating skin disease and had become accustomed to writing on a board placed across his bath-tub as he immersed his body in a medicinal concoction, with a bandana soaked in vinegar wrapped around his head to ease his discomfort. the evidence of Corday’s crime is also displayed in the scene: the weapon and the note which gained her access to the writer’s room (which reads in english, ‘Because i am unhappy, i have a right to your help’). However, David transformed the brutal murder of an ugly fanatic into the poetic demise of a martyr. rather than slumping backwards into bloody water, Marat’s arm and head fall forward in

a pose that echoes many religious artworks, such as roger Van der weyden’s Descent from the Cross 1435 or Michelangelo’s Pièta 1498–9.

following classical rules for proportion, the painting is simply composed with a strong emphasis on the vertical lines of the lower part of the image. Almost half of the canvas is empty space which encourages the eye to focus on the sculptural form of Marat’s lifeless arm draped over the side of his tomb-like surroundings. Bathed in soft light, he is glorified in death.

Copies of David’s painting were made by his studio and prints were distributed as political propaganda. following the end of the terror, the original oil painting was hidden by Antoine gros, one of the artist’s pupils. David himself was tried for his part in the revolution and died in exile in Belgium after the fall of napoleon. in 1886, his family offered the painting to the royal Museum of fine Arts in Brussels where it is currently displayed. the exact number of copies made is unknown, but surviving versions exist in museums at Dijon, Versailles and the painting in tate liverpool’s exhibition is on loan from the Musée des Beaux Arts, reims



ACtiVities

finD other examples of art used for propaganda and to disseminate ideas. How might Marat’s image have been distributed if he had lived in the modern era ?

MAKe your own artwork in response to a current news story, using different materials (eg pencils, collage, photocopiers, digital, video etc) you could incorporate the image into designs for banknotes or labels for food and drink in the style of King Mob’s prints or Cildo Meireles’s Coke Bottles (also in the exhibition).

COMPAre David’s painting to other versions of this subject (eg Paul Jacques Aimé Baudry, Charlotte Corday 1860 or edvard Munch, Death of Marat 1907, Pablo Picasso, Death of Marat 1934, Vik Muniz, Pictures of Garbage 2010). Describe your personal responses to these different approaches and talk about materials, style and interpretation. Are all of these artworks trying to communicate the same message?

DisCuss how the deaths of famous people are represented in art. find images of Daniel Maclise, The Death of Nelson 1859–64, Henry wallis, Death of Chatterton 1856 or sam taylor-wood, Soliloquy I 1998 and discuss how the artists have represented these subjects and why.


furtHer resOurCes

warren roberts, Jacques-Louis David, Revolutionary Artist: Art, Politics and the French Revolution, university of north Carolina Press, 1992

http://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/giulialasen/entry/visual_analysis/

http://redwood.colorado.edu/jesryan/words/marat.pdf

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PY2eqakpkzg (simon scharma’s Power of Art: Jacques-louis David, full episode)


Maximilien Luce, 1858 – 1941 L’aciérie 1895, oil on canvas, 1160 × 890 mm © Association des amis du Petit Palais, Genève, Suisse

MAxiMilien luCe L’aciérie 1895

‘I saw a factory: steelworks, black furnace plant, and construction of machines. This is astonishing.’ – luce

Painted during a period of social and political unrest in france, this work depicts a group of steelworkers gathered around a blast furnace, their muscular forms silhouetted dramatically against its orange glow. the phrase ‘vers la lumiere’ or ‘going towards the light’ had connotations of liberty and democracy during the third republic and luce presents a vision of collective productivity where his labourers look towards a brighter future.

Maximillien luce was part of a group of revolutionary artists in late 18th Century in Paris who became known as neo-impressionists (also called Divisionists or Pointilists due to their painting technique of applying dabs of pure colour to their canvases). these artists adopted the scientific approach to colour and light initiated by georges seurat in order to achieve vibrant dynamism in their paintings. the eye blends colours rather than the artist on his palette.luce shared not only the radical painting techniques of artists such as Paul signac and

Camille Pissarro, but also their political ideas. An active socialist, he contributed illustrations to anarchist publications and many of his paintings addressed social and political issues of the period.

Many anarchist artists were forced to leave france in order to escape imprisonment and luce found a safe haven in the industrial area of Colliure, Belgium. At Charleroi he discovered a dull, monochromatic landscape: ‘As far as colour is concerned it is almost absent.’ However, he found the ideal subject matter for a neo-impressionist in the iron and steel plant. Paul signac who visited the factory with him wrote: ‘there are multi-coloured pyrotechnics, fireworks, sparks everywhere ... i see here the reign of fire! sunsets,turners as i see them in a dream with multiple lighting so rather than the hard labour of poor men.’

following industrial action in 1889, the 80,000 workers of the Charleroi area began to achieve reforms to their working conditions and pay. luce depicts men who are physically exhausted, but also strong and resilient. they are not defeated by their work or the modern machinery that surrounds them but they work


with it to build a better future for themselves and their families. luce shared the anarchist’s ambivalence towards mechanisation and found it both frightening and beautiful. On the one hand it was oppressive to the workers, but on the other hand it was necessary for alleviating hard labour.

By positioning his men with their backs to us, the artist draws the viewer into the scene and places us behind the barrier to witness the dangerous but visually spectacular process of pouring molten metal into troughs. working together, they are the heroes of the revolution.

MAxiMilien luCe L’aciérie 1895

furtHer resOurCes

Vivien green and giovanna ginex, Divisionism/Neo-Impressionism: Arcadia and Anarchy, guggenheim Museum Publications, 2007

Corina weidinger, Fatigue, Machinisme, and Visual Spectacle in Maximilien Luce’s l’Aciérie nineteenth Century Art worldwide, Vol 12, issue 2, Autumn 2013

http://www.19thc-artworldwide.org/index.php/autumn13/weidinger-on-fatigue-machinisme-and-visual-spectacle-in-maximilien-luce-s-l-acierie

ACtiVities

lOOK at depictions of work in artworks of Vincent Van gogh, Jean-francois Millet, ford Maddox Brown, gustavo Courbet. How do they compare to luce’s depiction?

lOOK at examples of Pointillism or neo-impressionism. talk about colour, form, light, brushstrokes etc. Compare and contrast the paintings of signac and seurat which show ordinary people working and at leisure. why do you think these artists were revolutionary in their time?

MAKe your own pointillist paintings using a cotton-wool bud instead of a paintbrush.Describe your own utopian vision of the future. where would you live? How would you live? Create a picture of your ideal world perhaps as a collaboration

reseArCH the processes involved at an iron and steel foundry on youtube. talk about how these metals have affected our everyday lives.


JuliAn treVelyAn Rubbish May be Shot Here 1937

Julian Trevelyan, 1910 – 1988 Rubbish May Be Shot Here 1937 © Tate / The Bridgeman Art Library


trevelyan was the first artist to be recruited by Mass-Observation in 1937. this pioneering social survey organization was founded by tom Harrisson, Charles Madge and Humphrey Jennings with the aim of producing an anthropology of the British people and giving a voice to the under-privileged and often ignored working classes.

One of the locations chosen for study was Bolton, where trevelyan recorded his observations of ordinary people going about their lives in photographs, water-colours and collage. in his autobiography, he recalls carrying with him a suitcase of scraps and magazines, scissors and glue to his chosen site. He would work on the spot, battling with the elements and often attracting attention of inquisitive passers-by. the locals commented that he had caught the mood of the current anti-litter campaigns in Rubbish May be Shot Here and accurately conveyed ‘the worker versus royalty feeling’ which the artist felt may have been prompted by the headlines incorporated into the texture of his industrial landscape.

1937 was the year King george V died and was succeeded by edward Viii who, in order to marry a divorcee, was forced to abdicate in favour of his brother who was subsequently crowned george Vi. Most of the cut-out heads in this collage are taken from newspaper photographs of the coronation or represent successive generations of the royal family. the smiling child, however, is taken from a shredded wheat advertisement captioned ‘the food for general fitness.’ the solemn grandeur of the factory chimneys and cotton mills in the background provides a backdrop of silent stability that contrasts with the chaotic foreground where royalty is mixed indiscriminately with domestic objects, vegetables and surreal, primitively drawn fish.

trevelyan contributed three paintings to the international surrealist exhibition in london 1936, and this collage follows the classic surrealist technique of combining different realities. its mixture of cabbages and kings is possibly a reference to lewis Carroll’s Alice through the Looking Glass, a favourite source for many surrealist artists. Rubbish

May be Shot Here is revolutionary in both form and content: hierarchies are subverted, pomp and pageantry ridiculed. trevelyan’s selection of material for this collage is perhaps more deliberate and humorous, than his embracing of chance might suggest. snippets of seed catalogues that refer to successful propagation and germination of plants, the importance of fertiliser and good, pure stock, provide an irreverent commentary on the state of the monarchy in Britain. the rolling heads may also subversively hint at the fate of their french counterparts during the revolution.



furtHer resOurCes

nick Hubble, Mass-Observation and Everyday Life: Culture, History, Theory, Palgrave Macmillan, 2010

Julian trevelyan, Indigo Days: The Art and Memoirs of Julian Trevelyan, scolar Press, 1996

Dawn Ades, Photomontage (World of Art), thames and Hudson, 1986

boltonworktown.co.uk/trevelyans-suitcase/

www.youtube.com/watch?v=svtgT6g4-64 (documentary on tom Harrisson)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=esXmczgd9e4 (Mass-Observation)

ACtiVities

DisCuss the use of collage, photomontage and appropriated images in radical political art (eg futurism, Berlin-Dada, situationist international, león ferrari etc). Make your own collage or poster to demonstrate against something you feel strongly about.

COllABOrAte with your fellow students to create a ‘Mass-Observation’ project on your school or local area. take photographs, short films, make sketches, write descriptions etc, in order to capture the character of the location and its inhabitants. use local newspapers, sweet papers, labels, bus tickets etc and incorporate photographs, drawing and other media.

finD other examples in the exhibition of artists using everyday materials such as newspaper, labels and packaging in their artworks. Discuss links between art and everyday life.



JereMy Deller AnD AlAn KAne Folk Archive 2000 – 2006

‘If Pop Art is about liking things, as Andy Warhol said, then folk art is about loving things’ – Jeremy Deller

Jeremy Deller’s practice engages on a broad level with popular and traditional culture, blurring boundaries between artist and viewer and incorporating a wide range of media. He has collaborated with Alan Kane on a number of projects that are concerned with challenging distinctions between ‘high art’ and ‘low art.’ Folk Archive is an authentic visual record of contemporary popular British culture described by the artists as a ‘celebration of subjectivity’. Compiled over a period of six years, it brings together a range of objects created by a cross-section of the community and documenting diverse events such as morris dancing, gurning competitions and political demonstrations.

Kane described the curatorial role of the artists in this work: ‘for me at the moment it is as valid to bring things into a gallery as it is to produce things to put in a gallery. it is no different to picking up a paintbrush and picking a colour. the decision-making thing – what you show, what you like – is connected back to being an artist.’

Folk Archive was acquired by the British Council in 2007 and has been made accessible to the public in the form of a self-contained touring exhibition and through an online virtual exhibition. the latter was created in collaboration with Deller and Kane and is intended as both a catalogue of the works and a visual guide that can be explored online. see: http://www.britishcouncil.org/folkarchive/folk.html

Jeremy Deller & Alan Kane, The Folk Archive (2005) Snowdrop the Mechanical Elephant by the Clare Family, Egremont, Cumbria, 2004. © The Artists. Courtesy British Council Collection


wHAt is fOlK Art?

• folk art expresses cultural identity and the shared values of a specific community. it often reflects traditional art forms of a specific group eg tribal, ethnic, religious, gender etc.

• folk art is primarily utilitarian and decorative – produced for a purpose rather than for purely aesthetic reasons.

• traditional techniques and processes are usually passed on and taught within the group rather than through formal training or education.

• Much folk art is produced anonymously and independently of the fine art world. it is free from influence of art movements, academic theory or conventions such as perspective – hence its characteristic naïve style.

JereMy Deller AnD AlAn KAne Folk Archive 2000 – 2006

ACtiVities

DisCuss the differences between ‘fine art’ and ‘craft.’ find examples in museums, books or online for your students to study and compare. think about the stories behind the objects – who might have made the object and why?

CreAte your own folk archive by inviting all of your class to contribute a handmade object, item of clothing, photograph or ticket from an event. it could be from any era, place or culture. Discuss how to display the archive: a) in the classroom and b) online.

reseArCH other works by Deller and Kane. what else have they made? Do they always work together? Do they involve audience participation? Can art be created by a team of people or should it be made by an individual? Discuss workshops and collaborations in art (eg william Morris, Omega, Picasso and Braque, guerrilla girls, David Medalla etc).

furtHer resOurCes

Jeremy Deller, Alan Kane, Bruce A. Haines, Folk Archive: Contemporary Popular Art from the UK, Book works, 2005

Owen Hatherley, Militant Modernism, Zero Books, 2009

www.britishcouncil.org/folkarchive/folk.html

www.jeremydeller.org/

www.bbc.co.uk/dna/collective/a4055717



Ruth Ewan A Jukebox of People Trying to Change the World Ongoing archive since 2003 © Ruth Ewan. Installation view Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe 2012 Photo: Stephan Baumann, bild_raum

‘I am interested in viewing history not as a remote past but as alive and connected to the present and latent with ideas for a possible future’ – Ruth Ewan

ruth ewan (b 1980) is a scottish artist who often works in collaboration with groups or individuals. Many of her works have explored the power of sound and music in disseminating radical ideas and addressing social injustice.

A Jukebox of People Trying to Change the World is an ongoing archive of protest and political songs, collated by ewan and made accessible to the public via a CD jukebox. ewan began this project in 2003, choosing a wide range of material from different eras, cultures and genres of music. Arranged in categories such as, ‘Poverty’, ‘feminism’, ’Peace,’ ‘Civil rights,’ ‘ecology’and ‘slavery’ are songs by such diverse performers as Black Sabbath, Billie Holliday, John Lennon, The Glasgow Song Guild and The Tibetan Singing Nuns.

this work is concerned with the ways that radical ideas are circulated through song and how some become mythologised whilst others

are forgotten. All of the songs address social issues, some directly political and related to specific subjects or events, whilst others are vaguely utopian or carry a universal message.

ewan describes her practice as being ‘conceptually led but socially realised’ and audience participation and engagement plays an important part in the creation of her work. Visitors to the exhibition are invited to browse through the pages of the index of the jukebox, select and play the music of their choice. ewan also welcomes suggestions for songs to be added to the collection (these may be sent to her at [email protected]).

As an ongoing project, the jukebox has inspired a number of related activities and events. Squeezebox Jukebox 2009, a giant accordion, was created for the Altermodern exhibition at tate Britain 2009. throughout the duration of the exhibition, two musicians played songs from A Jukebox of People Trying to Change the World on a daily basis. Also in 2009, the entire content of the jukebox was broadcast live, day and night at the Frieze Art Fair.



wHAt Are PrOtest sOngs?

• throughout history, songs have been used in demonstration, to express commitment to a cause, promote group solidarity and to effect social change.

• Britain has a long tradition of protest songs stretching back to the mediaeval period and The Cutty Wren, an anthem against feudal oppression dates to the english Peasants revolt of 1381.

• Protest songs cover a spectrum of musical genres, including folk, gospel, heavy metal, punk rock and hip hop.

• examples of protest songs include Bob Dylan’s ‘Masters of war’, John lennon, ‘give Peace a Chance’, the sex Pistols, ‘god save the queen’, Paul robeson, ‘go Down Moses’, Black sabbath, ‘war Pigs’.

tate liverpool's young people's group, tate Collective have been working in collaboration with ruth ewan on an artwork for Art turning left, You feel like a threat, don’t you? the title of the work relates to a conversation between tate Collective liverpool and ruth ewan, wherein they discussed how young people use and relate to the spaces which they inhabit. the artwork exists as a booklet edited, designed and constructed by tate Collective, ruth ewan and design collective Åbäke, available to pick up in the exhibition.



ACtiVities

finD examples where art and pop music overlap (eg videos and cover designs of Damien Hirst, sam taylor-wood, Peter Blake, Julian Opie etc). Discuss the relationship of image and music in their work – is art used to illustrate, advertise or to enhance your experience of the songs?

CreAte an artwork in response to one of the songs from the jukebox. this could take the form of a drawing, painting, collage or sculpture

DisCuss: Can songs change the world? Can art change the world? Have any songs or artworks changed the way you feel or had an impact on your life? Compile your own jukebox of songs you feel have tried to change the world. you could send suggestions to ruth ewan for inclusion in her ongoing jukebox project.

furtHer resOurCes

ruth ewan, Ruth Ewan, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Dundee Contemporary Arts, 2012

Dorian lynskey, 33 Revolutions Per Minute: a History of Protest Songs, faber and faber, 2012

Hardeep Phull, Story Behind the Protest Song: a Reference Guide to 50 Songs that Changed the 20th Century,greenwood Press, 2008

http://www.ruthewan.com/index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protest_song

http://rateyourmusic.com/list/sadeyedlady/top_30_protest_songs/2/


10am – 5pm dailyfree entrance with your exhibition ticket. your ticket will be stamped so that you can come back to take part in public events.

the Office of useful Art is a working office, within the exhibition Art turning left, which promotes the new movement of Arte Util or useful Art. the Office is not an art installation but a working room that acts as part of a long term campaign to develop a renewed understanding of art, as a process that plays a fundamental role in shaping the world; to have real effect in peoples lives, as part of ordinary life and not as a rarefied experience – in short it is art that comes up with answers, not just questions.

the project has come about through a collaboration with grizedale Arts, based in the lake District, and liverpool John Moores university as part of an ambitious five year project with the internationale confederation of european museums: the uses of Art and the legacies of 1848 and 1989. throughout Art Turning Left, the Office will function as a recruitment centre for the Association de Arte util (Association of useful Art), thereby

growing an active community of people with the ambition to support art that works to effect change and is valued for what it does.

the office runs in parallel to the Museum of Arte Util at the Van Abbemuseum in eindhoven, where the museum is to be taken over my examples of projects that fulfil the Criteria of Arte util selected by the Advisory Board of the Museum of Arte util.

through the work of the Office we hope to re-animate the concept of art as a process that humanises and enhances ordinary life and, in turn, develop our institutions in the same way. in this regard looking back to the origins of the socially integrated art gallery and museum and 19th century Mechanics institutes.

in liverpool visitors to the office will be able to learn about projects in the Museum of Arte util and suggest or showcase other examples of activity that might been seen in this way such as community action, design projects, inventions, gardening projects, that could be seen as art-like and making a contribution to society. Our Office of useful Art is a place

tHe OffiCe Of useful Art

where you can take part in workshops and discussions, a place to read, listen, join in debates or make things as part of your exhibition visit or to come back to at another time. you can join in and take part in growing the useful Art Movement with your school or college group, as part of your community group or as an interested individual.

we can even focus on a specific art work by moving it into the Office for a time posing questions such as ‘what is an art work useful for?’, ‘Can you use art in everyday life?’, ‘what difference can an art work make to your life?’. if you are interested in these questions or have questions of your own, then we would like to hear from you.

there will be a series of programmed events that you can come along to or you can propose to hold an event in the Office. Please contact [email protected] for more information.


art Turning left study day and Teachers’ workshoptate liverpool, Art Dock studio wednesday 27 november 2013 10.00 – 15.30

free As/A2/BteC students: maximum 4 students per school

working with artist Alan Birch students will have the opportunity to see our forthcoming exhibition Art Turning Left and explore a range of printmaking techniques in the studio. Alan Birch is a printmaker with over 15 years experience working in schools, galleries and creative organisations. He is the print specialist at the whitworth Art gallery in Manchester and is based at Prospect studios in waterfoot where he runs regular printmaking workshops. His workshops, using specialist water-based printing inks and a portable printing press, provide participants with the opportunity to generate drawings, explore the printmaking process, create their own plates and print their final piece.

this is followed by a free session for teachers 16.30–18.30 with refreshments.

Booking is essential for both events via website or Box office on 0151 702 7452

iJade conference 2013:art for life: Race, gender, disability and class-critical discourses around participation and arts educationuniversity of Chester research and innovation Centre and tate liverpoolfriday 15 november and saturday 16 november 2013

4th annual iJADe (international journal of art and design education) and nseAD (national society for education in Art and Design)

£150 (£130 nseAD members)fee includes all day friday and saturday sessions, refreshments and lunch, but does not include accommodation of evening dinner.for registration and further information please contact [email protected]

eVents

Art turning left - Tate

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