Month: February 2010

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“The Woodsman”: Chance for Council to decide? #woodsman

Those who are interested in “The Woodsman” may wish to know that at the next Council meeting (18 February 2010 at 6pm) I will be moving the following motion for discussion:

“The Council welcomes the demonstration of public support for reinstating The Woodsman in St Martin’s Square, recognises the talent and generosity of Dave Chapple in giving The Woodsman to the people of Basildon, and commits to its restoration and reinstatement in St Martin’s Square at the earliest practical opportunity.”

It is the last item on the meeting’s agenda – and the agenda is a very long one as it will also deal with setting the level of Council Tax (there is therefore a danger that it might not be reached).

The Council meets in the St George’s Suite and it is a meeting open to the public (public question time is the first item on the agenda – questions have to be submitted in writing three days before (the deadline is usually regarded as 10am on Monday).

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In defence of Neanderthals: a reader writes

In my recent post ““Progression”: ‘extraordinary attitudes’ that did for “The Woodsman”?” I questioned why “Basildon’s Conservative Party acts like a Neanderthal collective when it comes to  public art?”

This prompted one irritated reader to point out by email that this comparator was unfair to Neanderthals. As I explained in my response, I had actually worried about that myself, but decided that, on balance – and after a careful read of Wikipedia on the subject of the Neanderthal – the issue of artistic activity in Neanderthal society is still significantly contested enough for me to err on the side of cliché.

However, upon reflection, the fact that it is even contested suggests the possibility of its existence in Neanderthal society in a way that could not possibly be true of Basildon’s Conservative Party.

Read for yourselves:

“How dare you make such allegations in your Blog!

I refer to your posting of 3rd February in which you liken the Basildon Conservative party to a Neanderthal collective.

I speak on behalf of that extinct community which continues to receive a negative image as a result of ill-considered remarks such as yours. For many years Neanderthals have been treated as sub-human simply because of the physical appearance of their skull. For years they were thought to be stupid and dumb as no hyoid bone had ever been found, indicating that they had vocal chords. And then twenty years ago, in 1989, a Neanderthal skeleton was found with the hyoid bone intact, and suddenly anthropologists deigned to grant the Neanderthals the power of speech – but they were still considered to be ignorant.

The trouble is that time has a strange effect on artefacts, and Neanderthal artefacts are 50,000 – 60,000 years old. Some years ago a carved bone was found in a Neanderthal cave. And last month there was the discovery of Neanderthal “make-up” artefacts in southern Spain suggested that they were “capable of symbolic thinking”.

It seems that we started off with a negative image of the Neanderthal and only concede that they have positive aspects when there is archaeological proof. I believe that Homo neanderthalensis was as civilized and cultured as the Homo erectus of 50,000 years ago. At least the Neanderthal’s left some artefacts behind by which we can judge them. The way the Basildon Conservative party is going, there will be nothing left of Basildon’s culture 50,000 years hence!

May I therefore request that when seeking a comparator in future, you do not impugn the reputation of the Neanderthals by associating them with the Basildon Conservative Party.”

However tongue-in-cheek it might sound, the point is a valid one. As the BBC is demonstrating in conjunction with the British Museum (see “A History of the World in Objects – a brilliant idea from the BBC”), our history is told through ordinary objects. We regularly impune Neanderthals for a lack of sophistication, based on little more than cartoon caricature and a lack of physical evidence.

Read more on the story of the Neanderthal ‘make-up’ containers.

Read more on the story of the discovery of the Neanderthal ‘face’.

Prehistoric art is a subject I’ll return to at a future date. In the meantime, suggestions for a more appropriate comparator to Basildon’s Conservative Party would be welcome.

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And yet more pointless municipal vandalism…

Sometimes a picture says all that can be said. For some reason, Conservative-controlled Basildon Council has decided to rip out the relatively recently constructed features that distinguish St Martin’s Square. When the bid to the Government for money for new lighting was discussed, this wasn’t. (Nor were the design and placement of the lights, but that’s another story.)

When Em’s family visited for the first time they commented on how pleasant and unusual that part of St Martin’s Square looked. How sad that this is the last picture I took of it.

Demolishing St Martin's Square

Demolishing St Martin's Square

I can’t help feeling that these Conservative councillors care less and less about the area and more and more about building some lasting concrete (!) legacy. Exactly the criticism they made of previous Labour councillors. Is it any wonder that people give up in despair?

Rooting around on the Council’s website I found the notice to tender for the contract. Strangely, there is no information in the appropriate section to say who got the contract. To that end, concerned residents might wish to be aware that the tender has just closed for further works to Compass Square (I believe Compass Square is the area immediately in front of the Bascentre). I wonder if the Council will say who has secured that?

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Welsh poet laureate Gillian Clarke: a poem for Haiti

Sometimes poetry can bring home the reality of a situation like nothing else. Walking through Coombe Woods last weekend, listening to the Today programme, they had a feature on the live poetry reading being held in aid of Haiti. The Welsh poet laureate Gillian Clarke read a poem she had written specifically for the event.

You can hear it on the BBC website.

The post of Welsh national poet is very recent, created in 2005. Gillian Clarke is only the third poet to hold the post and her work is a potent reminder of the power of poetry to capture the raw essence of an event or situation, even in this technology-obsessed age.

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What do Tesco and China have in common? Honest…

With China’s most recent Internet crackdown, and privacy campaigners periodically rumbling about Tesco’s ‘Big Brother’ Clubcard arrangements, you could be forgiven for thinking the answer is something hyper-linked.

However, this time it’s not.

I don’t know what is stirring in the heavenly ether but, with curious synchronicity, it would seem that in both Tesco and China there has been an outbreak of public pyjama-wearing.

I must confess that it has never occurred to me to head to either the supermarket or Shanghai in my pyjamas, even though there is a 24 hour garage at the Roundacre roundabout with a neat little M&S attached.

Anyway, from what I can deduce, it would seem that when the pyjamas are in latitudinal alignment, the prognosis for ex-pig farmers and errant footballers is uncomfortable…

For more on the Tesco story take a look at the BBC.

Fore more on the Shanghai story see this Boing Boing post.

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Lord Hanningfield: suspended from Conservative Party; resigns as Leader of Essex County Council; faces criminal charges #essex #conservatives #hanningfield

Paul White, known to most as Lord Hanningfield and leader of Essex County Council, is to face six criminal charges under Section 17 of the Theft Act 1968 (Section 17 is the part of the Act that relates to “false accounting”).

He, along with three Labour MPs (Elliot Morely MP, David Chaytor MP and Jim Devine MP), have been summonsed to appear at the City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court at 2pm on 11 March 2010. The maximum sentence that could be applied under Section 17 is seven years’ imprisonment.

As these cases have been investigated by the police, the authority responsible for prosecuting is the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). Interestingly, although defence lawyers for those charged have raised the issue of Parliamentary privilege, the Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer QC is clear in his statement that “the applicability and extent of any Parliamentary privilege claimed should be tested in court”.

Parliamentary privilege is an ancient privilege granted to parliamentarians, however the extent of its protection is both widely misunderstood and fiercely contested. When the Speaker made a statement to the House of Commons on 3 December 2008, regarding the arrest of Damian Green MP and entry into his offices, he reminded Members of Parliament  that, according to Erskine May (Parliament’s authoritative companion guide to procedure), parliamentary privilege has never prevented the operation of the criminal law. He also restated the position of the Joint Committee on Parliamentary Privilege in its 1999 report that “the precincts of the House are not and should not be ‘a haven from the law’”.

In respect of the specific charges against Paul White (Lord Hanningfield), Keir Starmer QC said:

“The charges allege that between March 2006 and May 2009, Paul White dishonestly submitted claims for expenses to which he knew he was not entitled, including numerous claims for overnight expenses for staying in London when records show that he was driven home and did not stay overnight in London.”

According to the BBC, Lord Hanningfield has resigned his front bench position as Conservative business spokesman and stood down as leader of Essex County Council. David Cameron also requested that Lord Strathclyde, the leader of the Conservative opposition in the Lords, suspend the Conservative whip with immediate effect.

Keir Starmer QC’s closed his statement with the following:

“Can I remind all concerned that the four individuals now stand charged of criminal offences and they each have the right to a fair trial. It is extremely important that nothing should be reported which could prejudice any of these trials.”

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“Be-Longing”: Eva Sajovic’s exhibition opens at the 198 #sajovic #gypsies #travellers #roma

Wednesday evening, after work, I took a taxi to 198 Railton Road, home to 198 Contemporary Arts and Learning. A few days earlier I had received an invitation to the preview of its new exhibition of photographs by Eva Sajovic, the Slovenian artist I have blogged about previously.

To call 198 a gallery is to do it a disservice. Rather, it describes itself in the following way:

“198 is a pre-eminent cultural space in Brixton, which explores the rich diversity of artistic practices informed by globalisation and emerging cultural identities.”

Sajovic’s exhibition, focused as it is on the experiences of Gypsies, Roma and Travellers in the United Kingdom, Italy and Slovenia, could not find a more appropriate home. The minimalist, white-washed lines of the 198 are the perfect contrast with Sajovic’s vibrant pictures that capture the raw and sometimes confused emotions that arise at the intersection of diverse migratory cultures and the settled community. Perhaps most humbling is the sheer force of will required by Gypsies, Roma and Travellers to maintain their traditions and social structures in the face of overwhelming hostility, mistrust and misrepresentation. As Sajovic’s pictures, and their accompanying stories remind us, the persecution of difference is as great today as ever it was – the UK, Italy and Slovenia representative of European societies where society appears to deem it acceptable to discriminate against travelling communities in a way that it would not contemplate with those from other minorities.

Eva Sajovic's “Be-Longing” at the 198

Eva Sajovic's “Be-Longing” at the 198

For me, talking to two Travellers living in Southwark, the greatest irony is that the value that drives them to maintain their traditions above any other is the same as that of their fiercest conservative critics: family. It is the belief in inter-generational support, of the transmission of knowledge and tradition from one generation to another, that creates the tremendous familial bonds in travelling communities. How sad it is that as the settled community laments the loss of that ideal, the communities that are the object of so much of its hatred earn that ire as a consequence of living out that same ideal. Sajovic spoke movingly of the warmth and generosity with which she was received upon gaining the trust of the communities she worked with. For me it all gives Matthew 7 a very modern context:

“Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged. And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.”

Matthew 7, 1-5, New Living Translation

An exhibition of photographers of travelling communities may not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking how to spend a couple of hours of an evening. However, this initiative represents another small but very important step in helping to foster understanding between settled and travelling traditions that are steeped in a mutual suspicion that is centuries-old. Be adventurous and give it a go – and see something special from an exciting new talent.

And enjoy Brixton and the 198.

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“The Power of Creativity”: Lib Dems launch arts vision paper #libdems #arts

On December 15 2008 Nick Clegg delivered a speech to the think tank Demos entitled “Why I am a Liberal”. It was both passionate and philosophical, a very personal evocation of liberalism that captures the essence of political empowerment:

“A Liberal believes in the raucous, unpredictable capacity of people to take decisions about their own lives… A Liberal believes a progressive society is distinguished by aspiration, creativity and non-conformity.”

Today, Don Foster MP, the Liberal Democrats Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, launched “The Power of Creativity” – a vision document for the arts that translates Liberal ideals into political commitments, policies and aspirations.

As the document highlights, the first Chairman of the Arts Council was John Maynard Keynes, the noted economist and lifelong member of the Liberal Party. He set out a clear mission for the Arts Council:

“The purpose of the Arts Council of Great Britain is to create an environment, to breed a spirit, to cultivate an opinion, to offer a stimulus to such purpose that the artist and the public can each sustain and live on the other in that union which has occasionally existed in the past at the great ages of a communal civilised life.”

In the current political and economic climate, funding, innovation, local support and creative risk-taking are all in jeopardy.  Our own experience in Basildon, with “The Woodsman”, “Progression” and The Wat Tyler Sculpture Trail are testimony to the low priority that the arts receive in terms of support from local government, particularly where politicans are obsessed with enormous capital projects to cement their political legacy. Foster’s paper seeks to sustain Keyne’s original and Liberal vision for the arts in these more uncertain times.

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“The Woodsman” – Basildon Community Video Club’s video story (now on DVD) #woodsman

A reader has been in touch to explain that the “Basildon Community Video Club” produced a video recording the story of the tree which was used by Dave Chapple to produce his sculpture “The Woodsman”. Filmed during 1995, the 20 minute documentary shows Dave Chapple at work creating the statue of “The Woodsman” from the trunk of a fallen tree from Langdon Hills.

The Essex Media Workshop based in Parkside, Pitsea, has now transferred the original VHS tape onto DVD. I have been in touch with them and those who would like to see the story of how “The Woodsman” was made can purchase a copy. The Essex Media Workshop are a registered charity in England and Wales that specialises in helping charity groups and disabled organisations realise their video projects. Any proceeds from the DVD will help them continue the valuable work they do with all manner of vountary groups.

The video of “The Woodsman” being carved is available from: Essex Media Workshop, Parkside, Basildon, SS13 1NL.

The price is £4 (or £5 inclusive of post and packing).

Please order via Andy Alexander at the Essex Media Workshop, Tel. 01268 555 771 or via e-mail at andy@essexmediaworkshop.co.uk

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“Progression”: ‘extraordinary attitudes’ that did for “The Woodsman”? #woodsman

Following my post on “Progression” and “The Woodsman” I made contact with the artist Michael Condron, the sculptor commissioned by Basildon Council to make “Progression”. I thought it courteous to draw his attention to the fact I was blogging about his work. His response – which he is happy for me to share – is an extraordinary and depressing indictment of the lack of courtesy and general ignorance of Basildon Council (and by extension its Conservative administration) in its dealings with artists and issues of public art:

“The attitude Basildon DC has shown towards it’s public art is pretty extraordinary, and fortunately not the kind of behaviour I’ve come across elsewhere.

The relocation of my Progression sculpture was not something I was consulted on.  Whilst I’m not entirely happy with the new situation, it is better than the artwork rotting in a storage yard somewhere.

You mentioned NYC’s percent for art programme in the blog, and I wonder if you’re aware that Essex County Council also has a percent for art policy.  Many commissions have been funded by developers through “section 106” planning requirements, including my recent Life Cycle installation at Hanningfield reservoir.

Generally speaking public art is vibrant in Essex!”

What is particularly depressing is that, whilst Basildon’s Conservatives neglect and rip out our public art, the record of Essex County Council, another Conservative administration, is a national leader when it comes to supporting public art. As Condron notes, Essex does indeed operate a percent policy for art. Art in the Open singles out Essex as its case study for best practice in “embedding public art within Council-led capital projects”. The page on commissioning guidance states:

“Essex County Council (ECC) has been commissioning art in the public realm as part of its Capital Development Programme and Essex Design Initiative for many years.  It was the first County Council to develop and adopt the principle of a public art policy in the late 1980s.  In 2002 it adopted a Percent for Art policy and, more recently, has developed a central budgeting process to create a new fund, the Public Art Common Fund, that draws money directly from ECC’s capital programmes budget, enabling the public arts team to plan longer term.  This has lead to the development of a three-year programme of more substantial commissions under the banner of ‘Genius Loci’ (‘Spirit of Place’).  These commissions are predominantly permanent but also include some temporary work to help highlight and pave the way for the permanent.”

What’s more, Essex demonstrates that it truly understands the purpose of public art:

“ECC seeks to commission art in the public realm to:

  • Improve the aesthetics of the built environment
  • Enhance a sense of community and place
  • Foster community pride and ownership
  • Celebrate artistic achievement
  • Reflect a ‘spirit of place’”

To demonstrate how serious Essex is about supporting public art, Art in the Open explains how the County Council organises the staff that support public art:

“ECC believes in an embedded and informed approach to commissioning art in the public realm.  It runs workshops and organises study trips to support internal development and understanding; the public art team sits within the built environment department, ensuring a close working relationship across planning and development teams; a Public Art Strategy Group, chaired by a cabinet member and including officers from across the council, helps keep an informed overview; occasionally, external organisations are brought in to provide additional commissioning support.”

And the big question in local government is always the money:

“Funding streams:

  • Percent for Art: up to 1 per cent of almost all capital builds across the council. This has been consolidated for 2007-2010 as the Public Art Common Fund where 0.74 per cent, £2.14 million, has been designate for Genius Loci. The continuation of the Common Fund beyond 2010 is subject to approval by the Council and is depended on a successful bid from the Public Art Team.
  • Money can also be brought in through section 106 (however, this mechanism is dependent on the policy of the local planning authority not the County Council).”

To be honest, it is a pretty extraordinary commitment from a local authority and I applaud Essex’s seriousness in making public art accessible and relevant – not shoved away in corners as museum pieces to be visited.

So why is it, with such a leading example so politically and geographically close to home, that Basildon’s Conservative Party acts like a Neanderthal collective when it comes to  public art? I can’t answer that. However, I can only think that the “pretty extraordinary” attitude identified by Condron was a principal contributing factor to the appalling ruin of “The Woodsman”.

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