Is
using William Smith’s Geological Section
from London to Snowdon, Showing the Varieties of the Strata, and the Correct
Altitudes of the Hills (1817) an act of appropriation or détournement? Or
is it an intervention?
Appropriation is the adoption of the
iconography of another culture, using it for purposes that are unintended by
the original culture (Wikipedia). The original culture is voiceless. This is
not what I am doing since I work within and re-present my own culture; that of
capitalism Smith helped to create.
Détournement is the subversion of a work of
art. Peter Kennard’s (b.1949) Haywain
with Cruise Missile uses a détournement of John Constable's The Hay Wain, created for the Campaign
for Nuclear Disarmament in the 1970s (Tate).
I am not subverting Smith’s work: I am adding
another layer. How is this done? It is created outside the conventional studio
by sharing skills and knowledge, with artists and farmers, so that the piece
plays a more active role in society. This layer is indeed an intervention. The
Artist Placement Group (APG, 1966-89) used art interventions to reposition the
role of the artist in a wider social and political context.
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