You find yourself in a teenagers bedroom, looking through cupboards and drawers then queuing to get into the toilet to read what is on the walls. You find ultra-violet lights, t-shirts, beer mats, press cuttings, pictures of musicians, photos of him with his mates, photos of residential streets, stereoscope viewers hung under a skylight and an anthology of graffiti from the gents’ toilet in the British Museum.
You may well find everything you need to know about Deller in this room; all of the themes which arise in the rest of the exhibition are here in some small form. Perhaps the most prevalent is that of wanting to find ways of seeing things, to shift perspective on life, people, situations, history, tradition, identity, music………..
A full sized replica of a tea room, a steel band playing Joy Division and a Colliery Band playing Acid House, paintings and drawings by fans of the Manic Street Preachers, photographs of America, unrealised projects, a car destroyed in a Baghdad bombing, banners from processions, exhibition posters, bats, a Welsh wrestler and a re-enactment of a miners riot.
Ok, so most of Deller’s work is made whilst espousing the gallery context, and so what we see is documentation, missing out on the wow factor of stumbling upon of being involved in his work as it is intended. This might afford us an intriguing perspective however, of overseeing his output, of being able to draw lines between things that might not be apparent when in the middle of any one event. There is though that niggling thought of ‘I wish I was there’, but that’s the same for most things, right? I mean, there’s lots of things that have happened which I have wished I was there for, a lot of them either too long ago or too far away, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t appreciate them in some way, or their significance, or that they can’t have significance for me. Does it?
The Battle of Orgreave, probably Deller’s best known work, captures a little something of this. His documentary of the momentous re-enactment of the 1984 clash between miners and Police is in a way documentation of documentation. The film is accompanied by a room of articles relating to it, with a timeline of events stretching around the wall.
The room with the shell of the car suggests it is intended to spark conversation, but has more of a reverent atmosphere than any other. There is a consideration of death here, something not seen in the other works. The vehicle, sat on it’s low plinth is close to being a monument rather than ephemera, something only otherwise hinted at in Deller’s unrealised projects. He proposed that the car be placed on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square with the proposal being rejected alongside another featuring a lifesized model of Dr. David Kelly sat on it’s edge.
Deller’s work is unconventional. His freedom to make artwork on his own terms, equally influenced by Warhol and unbounded by a lack of art-school education, that was well described in the brilliant Culture Show special about his work is clear to see. His work is entertaining and you might even learn something. Best of all for me, it is played on a level that means it can be universally enjoyed through it’s subjects, spectacle or substance (I read one writer who said ‘I challenge anyone who has ever had a record collection to not enjoy the show’).
Above the Deller show is a David Shrigley show. Your ticket gets you into both exhibitions. Shrigley is well known for being accessible and sat on the fringes of art as well; it’s almost certain everyone has at least considered buying one of his greetings cards at some point. I’ve decided not to write at length about the show, but to give you a top 5 countdown of highlights:
5 – A biscuit nailed to the wall
4 – Finding the Deller ticket gets you into the show
3 – A rather large cup of tea
2 – A taxidermied rat
1 – Seeing Richard from Pointless (he’s much taller than you think).
So I may be being a bit disingenuous. I realise Shrigley is a surrealist and that his work is meant to make you think about things a bit, but I just get a bit bored of it sometimes. It works as a short sharp aside, but a whole show is a bit much for me. Sorry.
So back to Deller. The show is called ‘Joy in People’. Joy in all their idiosyncrasies and oddities, joy in their struggles, joy in their survival, joy in humanity. This show will make you smile, perhaps laugh, perhaps cry. You might even learn something. I did.