When artist David Batchelor unveiled a glow-in-the-dark skip as the central attraction of a Brighton arts festival in 2012, the press were divided along familiar lines. The Telegraph and the Daily Mail dismissed it as proof that they were correct in their opinion that modern art really was rubbish. The left-leaning Guardian critic Jonathon Jones felt that the “…fluorescent… glow mystically transforms it from a neglected ordinary thing into the magic stuff of art.â€
There is a proud tradition in art of drawing attention to things that are otherwise ignored. David Batchelor’s skip was the latest in a line of controversial art pieces that can be traced back to the anti-rational, anti-aesthetic Dada movement in early Twentieth Century New York. One of their leading proponents, Marcel Duchamp, submitted a urinal to an exhibition put on by the Society of Independent Artists at The Grand Central Palace in New York. The piece was later lost but Duchamp made six ‘replicas’ in the 1960s that are valued at £2 million each! We live in hope that one day the original may turn up in one of our skips.
At WT Skips, we think that art has a place everywhere. Rent a skip from us and you may be lucky and get one that has been painted by local artist Mik Richardson. At two special summer events, Mik has transformed our basic yellow skips with some poignant and quirky decoration. Designs include mythical dragons and an interpretation of the ride-on snails at Joyland fun park.
To book one of our “neglected ordinary things†call us on 01493 668118.